Sensitive tummy's need help.

Hi group, ok I have posted on here that I use Wellness brand kitten food. And have had many discushions about it. I still think it a great product. But I think it is too rich for my babies tummy's. When I got them from this lady, she said they have always had a problem with what food they would eat. So she fed them Purina Cat chow, adult food. They also had fleas when I got them. So I felt she hadn't been taking very good care of them. So I slowly switched them over from the cat chow to wellness brand. And it has been almost a month and they still are having problems with the food. Now I know they have worms, we wormed them. And will be doing it again in two weeks time with a better product. But until then should I try and switch them to a more sensitive type of food for this type of cat? Or could it just be the worms I haven't gotten totaly out of them yet? And that was their problem even back when they were living with this other lady. Woudn't switching now be just too much for there poor systems? Let me know what you all think.


Francine

i think switching too many times might cause problems. Cats are creatures of habit so if you must switch try to do it slowly.... and I'm sure a more experienced person will be along shortly to help you out. Good luck and keep us posted.

Here are my simple to very simple diet food

Nutro natural choice

California natural

Natural balence venison and green pea ...

My memory is horrible how old are your little tykes??

A month should be plenty of time for a young tummy to adjust ( I say two weeks for a good shot)

Hi, I am new here, but I worked at a vet for about a year and learned a great deal. I have both my kitties on Science Diet, and I really feel it's an excellent food. If your kittens are having any diarrhea or loose stool it could be because of the dewormer, and you may also see some worms in the stool as the system flushes them out. If you should try switching foods, it is a good idea to do it very slowly. But as always, consulting a vet is the best advice anyone can give. Good luck

Not enough information- what is wrong with the kittens? How old are they? How often are you feeding, how much are you feeding? You said you wormed with a product- did you get that product from your vet or the grocery store? You say you will worm again later with a better product, is that better product coming from your vet?

Originally Posted by hissy

Not enough information- what is wrong with the kittens? How old are they? How often are you feeding, how much are you feeding? You said you wormed with a product- did you get that product from your vet or the grocery store? You say you will worm again later with a better product, is that better product coming from your vet?

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They are 17 weeks, they have been given their shots and worming meds. But I just found out that the worming med (strongid) doesn't kill most of the worms out there that cats can get. I got the strongid from a friend who owns an animals shelter. So the next meds will be Drontol I think it is called. Will make certain before I ask for it at the vets. They are fed 3 times a day about 2 cups for both kittens. They don't eat it all, so it isn't like they aren't getting enough. They I guess have always had a sensative tummy, but I think that is due to there having worms all their lives. If this isn't enough info, let me know and I will fill out more. Thanks for taking the time to help out.


Francine

Sounds like you might be overfeeding them. 2 cups apiece? Or two cups overall? My vet has a saying- fed the cat/kitten not the bowl. Cats have really small stomachs and we often overfeed them not realizing this. Also stick with one quality brand and don't switch or if you feel you have to switch do so slowly mixing the old food with the new one over a period of weeks, not days. Some people feel if they feed Friskies canned (for example) they can feed all kinds of flavors of friskies canned and the cat won't react- but they do, they get stomach upset, diarrhea and can become dehydrated. That is your biggest concern keeping kittens hydrated.

I also think it sounds like you're probably overfeeding them. That alone can cause diarrhea (even in kittens/cats that don't have worms). Growing Kittens do need to be fed three times a day until they're about 6 months old, I would just put less food out for each meal. At 6 months you can reduce feedings to twice a day. Wellness is a super premium food so they really shouldn't be eating as much as if you were feeding them a cheap grocery store type food. My four (adult) cats eat Innova Light. I put out one cup in the morning for them to share (in two bowls) and one cup at night (in two bowls). There's usually food left in at least one of the bowls when I get up the next morning. I do supplement their dry with canned food though, because I'm concerned that they don't drink enough water. I split one (6 ounce can) between all 4 cats morning and night. Only two of my cats really eat the canned food though. The other two just take a few bites and walk away (so the other 2 finish it for them).

Thanks everyone for responding. I did feed them about two cups each time, but they never ate the whole thing. But I will cut them back to one cup a day. They don't have diarrhea any more, but their stool still is softer then I like it to be. I think their tummy's just can't handle the wellness brand. So I am looking at changing their food, but only after I have seen them settle down a bit. We have another worming and some meds to give them yet. So I thought after they have settled down with that, then I would slowly change them to Nutro natural choice kitten food. It said on the package that it was good for problem tummy's. any other brands that any one wants to ad that are good for problem tummy's?



Francine

If your baby is an adult with a sensitive stomach (or, if he/she is picky), I'd hvae to highly reccommend California Natural. I feed my babies that...my older kitty is picky and stubborn when it comes to food. Since Cal Natural only has 5 ingredients in it, your cat is less likely to stick his/her nose up at it. Also, since the recipe is quite simple, its less lkely to upset kitty's stomach

Originally Posted by frawri

Thanks everyone for responding. I did feed them about two cups each time, but they never ate the whole thing. But I will cut them back to one cup a day. They don't have diarrhea any more, but their stool still is softer then I like it to be. I think their tummy's just can't handle the wellness brand. So I am looking at changing their food, but only after I have seen them settle down a bit. We have another worming and some meds to give them yet. So I thought after they have settled down with that, then I would slowly change them to Nutro natural choice kitten food. It said on the package that it was good for problem tummy's. any other brands that any one wants to ad that are good for problem tummy's?



Francine

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Like Hissy said over a few weeks.. this is a huge change from kitten chow... I use it for my sensitive dog and cat ( I also work for the company ) I find it great for sensitive kids ... I love cal natural also if you can find it if the Natural choice doesnt work....

This is the first artical I have read to support Science Diet. My vet has my kittens on Hills i/d because of diarrhea and soft stool issues. I had very bad trouble with the diarrhea from Wellness Kitten food and I think the dry kitten food as well, but have had good luck with the foods mentioned on thie thread.

I wanted to add that my vet has asked me to limit the amounts I am feed both my 7 and 10-11 pound kittens. The 7 pounder always had soft stool and diarrhea and a full tummy. She gained a poind over two weeks once.

Then litter box problems I think are from smelly obxes.

So nw I feed the Hills whit the hope of moving th Natural Balance or Halo's Spot's Stew (cat food) maybe Evo,

I was so impressed with how much and how fast this kitten was eating, I figured she would grow into a big cat and stand up against my otheer friendly, but still pushy dominant kitten.

When I cut back on the amounts, the boxes began to smell humdreds of tiems better.

Are they only having problems with dry food or wet or both? Has he been to the vet and tested for worms and treated if he had worms? Also, tapeworms, which come from ingesting fleas, don't show up on fecal tests but are easily treated with treatment of med.

I would feed them predominately a wet food diet and supplement with dry. I used to feed Tumbles wet Innova EVO cat/kitten canned and Taste of the Wild dry. The TOTW dry was too rich for him, so the vet put him on Royal Canin Intestinal HE, a prescription food. He's still fed a predominantely wet food diet at 1 year, but we still give him about 1/4 or so cup of dry food daily as a "snack".

As for Science Diet, the prescription food is good. The over the counter stuff is not so great.