Switching foods

I decided to switch my 6-mo kitten from Purina One for Kittens to Nutro Natural Choice for Indoor Kittens. I tried to blend it in slowly, but he still has diahrrea (sp?). And the big problem is that he's only got half a tail and seems to be dragging that half into the poo and then coming to climb on my lap and cuddle and getting it everywhere. I've had to wash his rear end 5 times in the last week.

Do I just give up and go back to Purina One? Or stick with it? I'm just tired of tracking down poopy-tail marks around my house.

Thanks,

Erin

How long did you take to switch?

I IMHO suggest kittens switch over 14 days

It's only been a week so far, but I've about had it with the poopy-tail. Which of course leads to poopy floors and poopy clothes.

how much new food vs old are you giving??? are you feeding the same amount??

Originally Posted by sharky

how much new food vs old are you giving??? are you feeding the same amount??

Click to expand...

Yes, you should be doing hald of the old food and half of the new for a while!!!

kudos to you for making this healthy switch for him. it often takes time and patience as their little tummies settle getting used to the new food. i remember how long and "messy" it was switching clinton from science diet to innova evo. we switched over the course of about 14 days (as previously recommended).

i hope it all works for you and your furbaby!

I think your problems are from switching too fast. Go back to the Purina One, if that was the last food that he had firm stools on, wait until the stools firm up, and then start switching again. I go even slower than some of the others posting here and this is what has worked for me:

(ratio of newld) 1:3 - 5 days; 2:2 - 5 days; 3:1 - 5 days

So it's 15 days before all the old is out and I'm 100% on the new.

You have ruled out medical reasons for the diahrrea, correct?

I took him to the vet a couple of weeks ago because he had a cold. Not loose stools. The vet gave him and anit-biotic and eye drops. He's mostly gotten over the cold, expect for a random sneeze here and there every couple of days. The diahrrea started right when I switched his food, and I may have done it too fast. I think I started right off with half/n/half. Which then led to the poopy-tail. He seems to be doing a little bit better today. He's not much of a "burrier-of-the-waste", so I can always tell which business is his and which is Seamus's. It's definitely more solid. So I think I'll keep it up. I haven't had to wash his rear-end in 36 hrs (knock on wood) so I'm quite pleased.

Thanks for all the help and advice

Erin