Best novelty protein suggestions and how to transition?

[tracy1213]

Hi everyone...
I need to transition my chicken/turkey wet food only eating cat to novelty proteins. He's always had a sensitive stomach and is super picky so I'm not sure I can just plunk down a can of rabbit and expect him to eat it without any stomach issue (if he'll even eat it at all). I know there is always a transition period involved when switching dry food but wasn't sure what the rules are for wet.

Also if everyone could tell me the best brands and best novelty proteins that helped your cat with ibd I'd really appreciate it!! He doesn't really vomit much but he's losing weight and has chronic loose stool for the past few weeks.

Strangely he used to eat duck but then decided he no longer liked it about a year ago. I tried to give him a turkey/duck wet food today and he immediately puked after eating a few bites so I'm not sure which proteins might be easiest on his stomach. Thanks again!!

 

[maggie101]

My cat has ibd and is not eating a novel prorein,whatever she wants which is shredded chicken,turkey,duck,lamb,and rabbit. Usually weruva or daves healthy and nutritious with lamb. She is on meds. No longer throws up or have loose stools. My cat peaches eats many small meals a day. Orijen canned,farmina,and fancyfeast classics turkey&giblets. She has a very sensitive tummy

 

[tracy1213]

What meds worked for your kitty? My cat had a pretty bad reaction to prednisolone so for now I had to discontinue it but am curious what else there is to try.

 

[maggie101]

What meds worked for your kitty? My cat had a pretty bad reaction to prednisolone so for now I had to discontinue it but am curious what else there is to try.

She is on a very low dose of pred. Her ibd was caught early

 

[lisahe]

Hi everyone...
I need to transition my chicken/turkey wet food only eating cat to novelty proteins. He's always had a sensitive stomach and is super picky so I'm not sure I can just plunk down a can of rabbit and expect him to eat it without any stomach issue (if he'll even eat it at all). I know there is always a transition period involved when switching dry food but wasn't sure what the rules are for wet.

Also if everyone could tell me the best brands and best novelty proteins that helped your cat with ibd I'd really appreciate it!! He doesn't really vomit much but he's losing weight and has chronic loose stool for the past few weeks.

Strangely he used to eat duck but then decided he no longer liked it about a year ago. I tried to give him a turkey/duck wet food today and he immediately puked after eating a few bites so I'm not sure which proteins might be easiest on his stomach. Thanks again!!

For our cat, at least so far, it's not proteins that irritate, it's other ingredients, like fillers and thickeners, that tend to make her barf. Low-carb, high-protein foods with lots of meat and minimal other stuff work best. She has some intestinal thickening but (fingers crossed, knock on wood) not full-blown disease but she's always had an unsettled, nervous digestive system. Focusing on simple foods, including homemade, has worked well because a short ingredient list makes it easier to figure out what makes her barf. Plus, of course, there are fewer unnecessary ingredients in the first place!

As with maggie101 's cat, we feed Edwina lots of small meals. She also sometimes barfs if she eats too much at once... Those "scarf and barf" incidents seem to happen when she's hungriest and has a fair bit of acid in her stomach. You can read more about that here, in point #3 My Cat is Vomiting - What Do I Do? (foodfurlife.com) I mention that because I'd try again with the duck, feeding a small amount, particularly if her stomach is empty. We feed Edwina's larger meals in installments, which really cuts down on problems. She also gets slippery elm bark syrup (which is soothing to the gut) with freeze dried chicken before some meals.

 

[tracy1213]

Thank you so much!!! That was super helpful!! I was really wondering myself if it was always the protein or possibly something else. I never fed him foods with carsgeenan but I noticed that all his foods have multiple "gum" ingredients and I was curious if he could have developed an intolerance towards that. I'm going to try and find some foods with protein he alresdy likes but less fillers and then maybe I can at least pinpoint whether it's the actual protein or the other stuff causing the issue. He doesn't really vomit so much lately but his stools go from solid to mush after a span of a few hours. Strangely a few months ago I would have told you he vomits constantly and has perfect poop. It switched completely!

 

[lisahe]

Thank you so much!!! That was super helpful!! I was really wondering myself if it was always the protein or possibly something else. I never fed him foods with carsgeenan but I noticed that all his foods have multiple "gum" ingredients and I was curious if he could have developed an intolerance towards that. I'm going to try and find some foods with protein he alresdy likes but less fillers and then maybe I can at least pinpoint whether it's the actual protein or the other stuff causing the issue. He doesn't really vomit so much lately but his stools go from solid to mush after a span of a few hours. Strangely a few months ago I would have told you he vomits constantly and has perfect poop. It switched completely!

I'm glad that's helpful, tracy1213 ! These problems can be very individual -- what works for Edwina may not work for your cat -- but maybe something here will be of use. What, by the way, is your cat's name?

We also don't feed carageenan. We already know that agar-agar makes both our cats barf and there's a possibility xanthan gum bothers Edwina. Her sister can eat it, though. The only gum Edwina gets is guar, which seems to be the least worst of that lot. In any case, yes, it's wholly possible that your cat developed an intolerance to a gum or some other nonessential ingredient. Edwina developed an intolerance to something in a supplement I used to use to make food; I can't be absolutely certain but (using the ever-useful process of elimination) I'm pretty sure it's green-lipped mussels that were making her barf a few hours after meals. As soon as I stopped feeding food with that supplement she stopped vomiting. Eliminating potato from her diet also had an instant effect. (Potatoes made her vomit. She also got horribly flatulent!)

Speaking of "flatulent," if your cat has mushy poop, my biggest question is: Do any of his foods contain peas, lentils, or other legumes? They're carby and very fibrous. I recall seeing mentions of cats having loose stool because of them. They can wreak all sorts of havoc.

What have you been feeding your cat? And what (if anything) is new in his diet? It's very good that he stopped vomiting but loose stool is no fun for anybody. When our cats have digestive troubles, I like to think back to what's changed... Sometimes that triggers thoughts on something new that I can blame. That got the agar-agar answer very quickly. If I don't have that quick insight, though, I start keeping a Cat Log, where I record incidents and mention the last meal fed before the incident.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi, transitioning should be slowly, in small increments of the new food. Some suggest to have the new food on the same plate, others say to have it on a separate dish, so you may need to experiment a bit

 

[lisahe]

Hi, transitioning should be slowly, in small increments of the new food. Some suggest to have the new food on the same plate, others say to have it on a separate dish, do you may need to experiment a bit

I've sometimes combined new and old, mixing or stacking... though for our cats, it usually seems to work best to start by just giving them a small serving of the new food as a little snack.

 

[Alldara]

Hi everyone...
I need to transition my chicken/turkey wet food only eating cat to novelty proteins. He's always had a sensitive stomach and is super picky so I'm not sure I can just plunk down a can of rabbit and expect him to eat it without any stomach issue (if he'll even eat it at all). I know there is always a transition period involved when switching dry food but wasn't sure what the rules are for wet.

Like maggie101 I had good luck with Wureva. The lamb one is a huge hit at home.

Instinct has LIDs which my cats liked. Dr. Elsey was a no go and so was Natural Balance and Blue Buffalo.

I've never done a slow switch for wet. And I don't think novelty protein is helpful if it's not an allergy, however limited ingredients can be best.

I also had a good time settling Calcifer's stomach with Imas Perfect Portions as it is limited and had the texture he seemed to want to eat.


I didn't see (bold so you don't miss the question), but do you use a raise bowl?

 

[lisahe]

I didn't see (bold so you don't miss the question), but do you use a raise bowl?

I'm so glad you mentioned this one -- it definitely deserves to be bolded! We do this for Edwina, too, and also spread her food out in the dish to slow her eating. So many little things help!

 

[daftcat75]

If you aren't already, I recommend splitting his feedings to three or four meals a day rather than two. Smaller meals, more often are easier on IBD cats. But they have an extra advantage for food transitions. You can either slowly transition one meal over completely to the new food or you can introduce a new guest meal in the day that is only the new food. If you go this route, start with one spoonful of the new food (about 7 to 10 grams if you're weighing food), and work that amount up slowly as he gets acclimated to a new food in his routine and his gut. If it agrees with him on both accounts, you can simply transition more of his meals over. If you find that it is not working for him, you've only messed with one of his meals. And if it was a new meal, that makes it all the more easy to revert to the old food by simply dropping the new meal from his schedule. I had Betty's lunch transitioned over to a new food only to realize that she was fixated on a batch of that food that we would never see again. It was from last cat's stash. When I realized she wasn't going to eat any of the new batches, we aborted that transition by simply transitioning her lunch back to her old food. All her other meals remained the same throughout the trial.

 

[tracy1213]

If you aren't already, I recommend splitting his feedings to three or four meals a day rather than two. Smaller meals, more often are easier on IBD cats. But they have an extra advantage for food transitions. You can either slowly transition one meal over completely to the new food or you can introduce a new guest meal in the day that is only the new food. If you go this route, start with one spoonful of the new food (about 7 to 10 grams if you're weighing food), and work that amount up slowly as he gets acclimated to a new food in his routine and his gut. If it agrees with him on both accounts, you can simply transition more of his meals over. If you find that it is not working for him, you've only messed with one of his meals. And if it was a new meal, that makes it all the more easy to revert to the old food by simply dropping the new meal from his schedule. I had Betty's lunch transitioned over to a new food only to realize that she was fixated on a batch of that food that we would never see again. It was from last cat's stash. When I realized she wasn't going to eat any of the new batches, we aborted that transition by simply transitioning her lunch back to her old food. All her other meals remained the same throughout the trial.

Thank you!!! Yes he's been getting very small meals so I will try to just add things in slowly. Strangely he's just eating boiled chicken and rice right now to help with a bad bout of diarrhea and he's doing much better. Makes me wonder how he can be intolerant to chicken if he's eating it with no issues currently. Wondering if it's the fillers vs the actual protein in his case.

 

[tracy1213]

I'm so glad you mentioned this one -- it definitely deserves to be bolded! We do this for Edwina, too, and also spread her food out in the dish to slow her eating. So many little things help!

Yes!! His dishes and water bowl have been raised months ago. That was the very first thing I tried!

 

[tracy1213]

Like maggie101 I had good luck with Wureva. The lamb one is a huge hit at home.

Instinct has LIDs which my cats liked. Dr. Elsey was a no go and so was Natural Balance and Blue Buffalo.

I've never done a slow switch for wet. And I don't think novelty protein is helpful if it's not an allergy, however limited ingredients can be best.

I also had a good time settling Calcifer's stomach with Imas Perfect Portions as it is limited and had the texture he seemed to want to eat.


I didn't see (bold so you don't miss the question), but do you use a raise bowl?

Thank you!!! Yes raised dishes were the very first thing I did months ago when the issues first started.

I may have to post yet another new thread as my cat is currently doing a boiled chicken and rice bland diet to try and stop the diarrhea and after a day it's working great. I was under the impression chicken was the problem....now I'm curious if it's possibly the fillers instead.

 

[tracy1213]

I've sometimes combined new and old, mixing or stacking... though for our cats, it usually seems to work best to start by just giving them a small serving of the new food as a little snack.

Yes very good idea...thank you. I will introduce everything in a very small amount to see how it goes!

 

[tracy1213]

I'm glad that's helpful, tracy1213 ! These problems can be very individual -- what works for Edwina may not work for your cat -- but maybe something here will be of use. What, by the way, is your cat's name?

We also don't feed carageenan. We already know that agar-agar makes both our cats barf and there's a possibility xanthan gum bothers Edwina. Her sister can eat it, though. The only gum Edwina gets is guar, which seems to be the least worst of that lot. In any case, yes, it's wholly possible that your cat developed an intolerance to a gum or some other nonessential ingredient. Edwina developed an intolerance to something in a supplement I used to use to make food; I can't be absolutely certain but (using the ever-useful process of elimination) I'm pretty sure it's green-lipped mussels that were making her barf a few hours after meals. As soon as I stopped feeding food with that supplement she stopped vomiting. Eliminating potato from her diet also had an instant effect. (Potatoes made her vomit. She also got horribly flatulent!)

Speaking of "flatulent," if your cat has mushy poop, my biggest question is: Do any of his foods contain peas, lentils, or other legumes? They're carby and very fibrous. I recall seeing mentions of cats having loose stool because of them. They can wreak all sorts of havoc.

What have you been feeding your cat? And what (if anything) is new in his diet? It's very good that he stopped vomiting but loose stool is no fun for anybody. When our cats have digestive troubles, I like to think back to what's changed... Sometimes that triggers thoughts on something new that I can blame. That got the agar-agar answer very quickly. If I don't have that quick insight, though, I start keeping a Cat Log, where I record incidents and mention the last meal fed before the incident.

It has been a long few weeks dealing with the diarrhea! He's currently on a boiled chicken and white rice diet for the last day to try and settle his stomach and so far it's the only thing that's helped. This makes me think there's something to this filler thing because he's eating chicken just fine now.

My cats are Meeko, Kylo, and Uno. Meeko is the one having the tummy trouble.

 

[daftcat75]

Thank you!!! Yes he's been getting very small meals so I will try to just add things in slowly. Strangely he's just eating boiled chicken and rice right now to help with a bad bout of diarrhea and he's doing much better. Makes me wonder how he can be intolerant to chicken if he's eating it with no issues currently. Wondering if it's the fillers vs the actual protein in his case.

If he's doing alright on chicken and rice, can you ask the vet for a couple of cans of Hills I/D in the small stew can variety? I'm not crazy about the carb content in the I/D. But it would certainly help you do a process of elimination of whether it's the chicken protein or something else in his food that's giving him the grief. If that helps, that gives you a food to fall back on while looking for others that are more affordable in the long run. Those little stew cans are as much as Rawz or Mouser in the large cans. Rawz and Mouser are brands I highly recommend for eliminating fillers. Incredible Pets sells both by the can making it easy to try a few different varieties without committing to whole cases.
Search: 9 results found for "mouser" - Incredible Pets

 

[tracy1213]

Hi, transitioning should be slowly, in small increments of the new food. Some suggest to have the new food on the same plate, others say to have it on a separate dish, so you may need to experiment a bit

Thank you! Yes with him I'm definitely going to just try a little bit at a time. Though I'm currently extra confused as we have him on a boiled chicken and rice diet since yesterday to settle his stomach and its the best he's been doing in weeks. This makes me second guess whether he's intolerant to the protein vs the fillers.

 

[tracy1213]

If he's doing alright on chicken and rice, can you ask the vet for a couple of cans of Hills I/D in the small stew can variety? I'm not crazy about the carb content in the I/D. But it would certainly help you do a process of elimination of whether it's the chicken protein or something else in his food that's giving him the grief. If that helps, that gives you a food to fall back on while looking for others that are more affordable in the long run. Those little stew cans are as much as Rawz or Mouser in the large cans. Rawz and Mouser are brands I highly recommend for eliminating fillers. Incredible Pets sells both by the can making it easy to try a few different varieties without committing to whole cases.
Search: 9 results found for "mouser" - Incredible Pets

I was just going through my many prescription cards and naturally I don't have that particular one. I did just buy him a few cans of rawz to try...naturally I didn't buy chicken because I kept thinking that was the problem. I will ask about the I/D food. What about that particular food would help me rule out the allergy out of curiosity? Would I get the same results trying a can of low filler chicken such as rawz brand? I'm definitely going to start keeping a log. The best part is if we go back a couple of months ago I had a hard time getting him to eat much of anything. Anytime I found a new wet food he liked it would never last more than a couple of days.