switch to new food causing diarrhea?

i've gradually (over 2 weeks) switched ruby and roxy over to Natural Balance venison and green pea (dry).

they were on purina cat chow in the shelter for about 6 mos. both cats are approx 9mos old now.

roxy's stools have become very soft (not liquid). and the loose stools are giving her a red behind.

ruby's stools were never solid, and haven't changed.

should i leave them on the new food for a few more weeks, to see if their systems adjust? they both drink plenty of water, so i'm not really worried about their water intake at this time.

also, i'd like to add a canned food to their diet, but the canned food i have here at the house is Royal Canin VR (venison, again).

will it just take a little time to adjust? or is the venison not agreeing with them?

any advice/input/suggestions welcome! thank you.

The natural balance and royal canin are much richer than the purina. I would suggest mixing the purina and NB together so their tummys can get used to the new food. You might want to try a different brand or variety as well. The venison just might not sit well with them. You say they are about 9 months? Was the purina kitten food? They might still need to be on kitten food?

with cats i recomend gradually increasing new food over ten days... I call it the few kibbles of new food way...

You say in your post that you switched gradually over 2 weeks - if this is the case you did the right thing for sure.

Maybe you just have to try different foods before you hit the magic one.

opps I missed how long the switch... you may want to as Yosemite said keep trying till you find the right one..

I would recommend try a simple chn and rice as they were on a chn by product based food ... Nutro Royal Canin and California natural are all very good food s and basic...

california natural is the most basic but it is the hardest to find...


I use Nutros natural choice with good results as I have had good results with Royal canin on my oldest

thanks everyone!

chichismom - the shelter had them on regular purina cat chow. i specifically asked whether it was cat or kitten chow, and they said that it was cat chow...that they had been off kitten chow for over a month.

i have a bag of regular Natural Balance premium blend. perhaps i should switch them over to that, since it doesn't have venison in it.

should i wait a week to see if their stools firm up? or should i start switching them over to a milder kibble right now? any suggestions?

I would go ahead and switch completly to the regular natural balance, since the other one is already upsetting their tummys. But with it being the same brand it still might cause irratation. I agree with Sharky, try a chkn based food- I feed my beanheads royal canin special 33- first ingredient: chicken-something (sorry I'm at work) chkn is usually easier on the tummy IMO good luck, remember don't buy the big bags of food until you are sure they like that particular kind. Before i settled on royal canin 33, I had about 5 other small bags of food. Some they would'nt eat at all, others they would kinda play with- but the royal canin is what they decided on.Hope that helps.

i'm going to switch them over the next 4 or 5 days to Natural Balance Ultra. here's the list of ingredients. do you think it's okay? it is chicken based.

Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Duck, Lamb Meal, Potatoes, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, Vitamin E) Canola Oil, Oatmeal, Fish Meal, Brewers Yeast, Rosemary Extract, Dried Skim Milk, Natural Flavor, Dried Eggs, Carrots, Flaxseed Oil, Kelp, Garlic, DL Methionine, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Cranberry Powder, Grapeseed Oil, Lecithin, Parsley Flakes, Tomato Pomace, Taurine, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Acetate, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin C Supplement, Yucca Schidigera, Folic Acid, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (a source of Vitamin K activity), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Ethylene Dihydriodide, Sodium Selenite.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein (minimum) 34
Fat (minimum) 18
Moisture (maximum) 10
Ash (maximum) 6.5
Fiber (maximum) 3
Omega-6 Fatty Acids (minimum) 3
Omega-3 Fatty Acids (minimum) 0.5
Taurine (minimum) 0.16
Magnesium (maximum) 0.1

i've also ordered Natural Balance wet in the ultra formula and the turkey and giblets formula. i'm not concerned about them being picky. they seem to eat anything. (roxy should have been named Hoover - she's my vacuum. )

Originally Posted by mrspotts66

i'm going to switch them over the next 4 or 5 days to Natural Balance Ultra. here's the list of ingredients. do you think it's okay? it is chicken based.

Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Duck, Lamb Meal, Potatoes, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, Vitamin E) Canola Oil, Oatmeal, Fish Meal, Brewers Yeast, Rosemary Extract, Dried Skim Milk, Natural Flavor, Dried Eggs, Carrots, Flaxseed Oil, Kelp, Garlic, DL Methionine, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Cranberry Powder, Grapeseed Oil, Lecithin, Parsley Flakes, Tomato Pomace, Taurine, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Acetate, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin C Supplement, Yucca Schidigera, Folic Acid, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (a source of Vitamin K activity), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Ethylene Dihydriodide, Sodium Selenite.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein (minimum) 34
Fat (minimum) 18
Moisture (maximum) 10
Ash (maximum) 6.5
Fiber (maximum) 3
Omega-6 Fatty Acids (minimum) 3
Omega-3 Fatty Acids (minimum) 0.5
Taurine (minimum) 0.16
Magnesium (maximum) 0.1

i've also ordered Natural Balance wet in the ultra formula and the turkey and giblets formula. i'm not concerned about them being picky. they seem to eat anything. (roxy should have been named Hoover - she's my vacuum.

)

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I will only caution that this formula you listed is extremely rich due to the lamb and duck... a simplier chn would be best...
the ingrediants in red are ones I caution against

thanks, sharky. i'll go through the thread on dry food, and choose another for my girls. appreciate the help.

Yeah, I'd be careful about the garlic, not good for cats. The rest of it sounded good. Ther first ingredient is always key

i just wanted to update real quick:

i switched ruby and roxy over to Natural Balance Ultra dry food and they seem to be doing very well on it. stools have come back to almost normal. i think you guys were right - the venison was just too strong/rich for their systems.

but what i thought was interesting was the ingredients list on the bag does NOT list garlic or grapeseed oil. so, do i believe the website ing list or the bag ing list??

i'm waiting for the Natural Balance canned food to arrive so i can introduce soft food into their diet again, gradually.

thanks for all the support!

Originally Posted by mrspotts66

i just wanted to update real quick:

i switched ruby and roxy over to Natural Balance Ultra dry food and they seem to be doing very well on it. stools have come back to almost normal. i think you guys were right - the venison was just too strong/rich for their systems.

but what i thought was interesting was the ingredients list on the bag does NOT list garlic or grapeseed oil. so, do i believe the website ing list or the bag ing list??

i'm waiting for the Natural Balance canned food to arrive so i can introduce soft food into their diet again, gradually.

thanks for all the support!

Click to expand...

I would believe the bag... Natural balence is starting to change ingrediants