Changed to wet Food-No Poops!

osmg

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Over the past week, I've switched my 2 adult cats from a mostly dry food (Natural Choice) to 100% wet food (Wellness) diet. Both cats are a tad overweight (14 & 15lbs.). On their dry food diet, they both ate less then the recommended amounts. They seem to like the wet food but don't eat that much in a sitting. (no more than 1/4 of a 5.5 oz can each). I started feeding them 3 times a day. They are eating no more than 4 oz each total daily!

Over the past 24hrs, I've noticed no stools in their litter box. They are urinating but nothing else. I thought maybe there wasn't enough fiber in the Wellness wet food so I gave them a handfull of the dry Wellness. One cat threw it up!

Should I be worried here? Two concerns here: 1. They are not eating enough wet food for their size and I know it's dangerous to let overweight cats to lose weight to fast. 2. Are my cats constipated? What should I do?

Thank you,

Osmg
 

xocats

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I am also in the process of adding more wet food to my cat's diets.

My guess would be that a much slower transition, from dry to wet, would have enabled your kitties digestive systems to adjust to the change. If they do not poop for a couple of days, I would take them to the vet to rule out another problem.

Please keep us informed. Many of us are begining to realize that wet is usually better than dry or at least an important part of a good diet for our furbabies.
 
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osmg

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I agree that maybe I should have transitioned a bit slower. Since the one cat vomited the dry food, I'm worried about "backtracking" and adding in a little dry now. I don't want to upset their digestive system anymore. Thanks for the advice.
 

hissy

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Please do not put your cat on a diet decided by you, but by your vet. It is possible that the cats are now finding another place to poop besides the litter pan. How many pans do you have? You should have one pan per cat and an extra one besides. If you vet is aware of this new diet program, and has seen and evaluated your cat, your best bet is to give him a call and ask for his opinion.
 
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osmg

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My vet is a proponent of kibble diets for most healthy cats. I do not agree. I certainly didn't think that transistioning my cats from a dry/wet diet to 100% wet would be a major change. I throughly believe it is much healthier for my cats. My 2 cats for years have shared one large litter box. I have never had any litter box issues with my two cats. My cats are healthy and I feel much of their weight problem stems from eating mostly kibble. I don't know if they are hiding some poops around the house so I'll have to take a look. Perhaps another good thing for me to do is find a different vet! Thank you greatly for your opinion.
 

hissy

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The reason I expressed concern is because if your cats are overweight by your determination and you put a fat cat on a self-imposed diet without a vet's advice and the cat loses weight to fast, it can cause major health issues with the cat. Personally, I feel the dry cat kibble is highly over-rated and my cats get mostly wet food with some dry. But that is just my personal opinion-
 
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osmg

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Hissy, I agree with you 100%. Nevertheless, my purpose switching them over to wet food was for heath reasons and not to initially lose weight. I had planned to provide both cats with an appropriate amount of food to maintain their weight. I just wanted to get them off a 85% dry 15% wet diet.

I feed both cats some kibble today to see if the extra fiber would help them eliminate. Nothing as of yet. I will continue with the kibble and attempt to reduce it much more slowly. Thanks for the advice.
 
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osmg

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Originally Posted by sharky

Try slower...
Absolutely. Like I said, I am adding some dry food back in and take it much slower. Thank you for your input.
 

pat

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I would also consider adding in some laxatone if they do not go by tomorrow...a little bit as directed on the package is not going to hurt - though you can always run this by your vet first.

I agree that switching them, imo based on what I'm learning, to a wet food diet will have benefits, and think the advice re a slower transition was spot on.

I would not be using wellness though, due to my belief that garlic is not a safe ingredient for cats - but that is a matter many have a varying opinion on
 
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osmg

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Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

I would also consider adding in some laxatone if they do not go by tomorrow...a little bit as directed on the package is not going to hurt - though you can always run this by your vet first.

I agree that switching them, imo based on what I'm learning, to a wet food diet will have benefits, and think the advice re a slower transition was spot on.

I would not be using wellness though, due to my belief that garlic is not a safe ingredient for cats - but that is a matter many have a varying opinion on
Sammy my boy just made a handsome poop! I'm so proud of him! I'm still waiting on his sister Cleo but I have faith. I've heard about concerns of garlic in Wellness. What wet foods do you have high regards for? Thanks.
 

xocats

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Bravo Sammy.

Now come on Cleo...it your turn.


I was going to try Innova lite canned for my cats. I just bought a can. I was shocked to discover garlic was listed in it's ingredients. On Innova's web site it was not listed as an ingredient. Also...I looked at the bag of dry Innova Lite at the store. Garlic is listed on the bag but not on the web site's ingredients. I called the company but did not get a clear answer. Until I am comfortable with the ingredients that a company is including in their food...I will not use it. It is not worth the risk.

I am still feeding my babies Nutro Complete Care Weight Mgmt. Dry & I have increased their pouches to 2 a day. The pouches are expensive but I have decided to make any food changes slowly. What happened with your kitties is a good lesson for all of us.

I did not know that I was reading wet food labels incorrectly until a few day ago. I have a lot to learn. There is some really useful info. in this forum if you put in a search about food.
Please continue to share any new info. you get...I will do the same.
 

elizwithcat

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Originally Posted by hissy

Please do not put your cat on a diet decided by you, but by your vet. It is possible that the cats are now finding another place to poop besides the litter pan. How many pans do you have? You should have one pan per cat and an extra one besides. If you vet is aware of this new diet program, and has seen and evaluated your cat, your best bet is to give him a call and ask for his opinion.
The only things vet recommend to me is Science Diet. And not just one vet, all vets around here do that. I am not trusting the vet's opinion on what to feed the cat. I found an article on the net on what too look for in a good food, and it's shouldn't have rice as it fist ingreedient. It aslo shouldn't have by-products. Science Diet got both of these, yet the vets recommend it like it was manna from heaven and cure for all diseases known to cat kind.
As for no poops on wet food, that's kind of peculiar. One would imagine cats should poop more on wet food. Maybe they did find a place someplace else?
 

elizwithcat

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Originally Posted by xocats

Bravo Sammy.

Now come on Cleo...it your turn.


I was going to try Innova lite canned for my cats. I just bought a can. I was shocked to discover garlic was listed in it's ingredients. On Innova's web site it was not listed as an ingredient. Also...I looked at the bag of dry Innova Lite at the store. Garlic is listed on the bag but not on the web site's ingredients. I called the company but did not get a clear answer. Until I am comfortable with the ingredients that a company is including in their food...I will not use it. It is not worth the risk.

I am still feeding my babies Nutro Complete Care Weight Mgmt. Dry & I have increased their pouches to 2 a day. The pouches are expensive but I have decided to make any food changes slowly. What happened with your kitties is a good lesson for all of us.

I did not know that I was reading wet food labels incorrectly until a few day ago. I have a lot to learn. There is some really useful info. in this forum if you put in a search about food.
Please continue to share any new info. you get...I will do the same.
My cats don't like any of the premium foods. But if I give them Friskies, they eat that as if there was no tomorrow-must be all that junk in it. They are not getting anymore of that, though. I feed them Nutro Natural Choice pouches and they do eat them, altough with not as much entusiasm as they did when i gave them Friskies as a treat. The problem is my cats would only eat chunky foods and all the premim foods I tried were pate. My cats do not eat that.
 

amy-dhh

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I'm a kibble-feeder but I did do research on cat foods and personally liked the ingredients of Natural Balance the best...

In the canned, Ultra Premium Natural Balance first 6 ingredients are:
Chicken, chicken broth, chicken liver, duck, salmon, carrots...
 

gayef

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I don't much care for dry food either ... in fact, I was debating it's "merits" with another breeder/friend this very afternoon.

In Siamese cats (and this is probably true in all cats - don't know, can't say for certain) gingivitis is a common problem. I believe it is due, in part, to genetics, but I also believe it is, in a large way, due to the high glycemic index rating of the specific types of carbs they use in dry foods. I'll take Corn Listed As The First Ingredient For $100, Alec ... And the question is ... the date of the last time you saw a cat walk off into a field of corn, grab him up an ear and shuck it down to have himself a good old meal? *humming tune to Jeopardy* What is .... NEVER????? *ding ding ding*

Corn metabolizes down into a sugar. So does white rice. So do most of the other carbs they use to bind together dry cat foods a whole lot like we use breadcrumbs to bind together a meat loaf. And our kitties don't always have the luxury of brushing their teeth after each and every time they eat this stuff. So it is kind of like a steady diet of Frito's all day long and never brushing your teeth. Yuck. The plaque builds up under their little gums and build tarter. The tarter has sharp edges and cuts the gums, allowing all that bacteria to enter and thrive. The result? Gingivitis, which has been linked to early chronic renal failure and diabetes. *sigh*

I HATE dry food.
 

dawnofsierra

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I can see why you were so shocked to see garlic listed as an ingredient in Innova. After much protest by their consumers, Natura removed garlic from their Innova Cat Canned recipes. They print their labels so far in advance, though, they have not yet reflected the change. I have corresponded with the company several times about this matter, and have been fully assured there is no garlic in the Innova Cat Canned Regular or Lite formula. If this was not the case, Sierra would absolutely not be eating their Canned Lite, and I would by no means recommend their products.
 
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osmg

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As a final note, Cleo made her poop last night! I guess reducing the carbs (fiber) out of their diet too quickly created some problems. I know Wellness is very low carb. I'm shocked that so many good things are said about Wellness and they still have garlic in their food! They also have alfalfa which I think is not wonderful either. Thank you everyone for you great opinions. I'm very pleased with this forum as a new member. This is a wonderful community!

osmg
 

christine chand

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You mentioned using "pouches". Are these the Nutro Natural Choice pouches? If so is this the weight management formula (blue pouch)? How much do you feed per day? I justed started added this to my cat's diet along with Authority Lite canned.
 

xocats

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Bravo Cleo... you finally pooped.
Don't you love this forum where we can openly applaud for a good poop.


I am pleased to learn that there is a cat food company that is responsive to new info. about what is good for our furbabies. Please read (dawnofsierra) Stephanie's post about Innova removing garlic from their canned food.

Way to go Innova.

Thanks for letting us know Stephanie.
 
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