Dry food causing diarrhea

[AriRio]

Gopd Mornong,

I am trying to figure out what to do. I have 2 13-week old kittens i adopted on Aug 1. I fed them royal canin wet and hills dry and anticipated some adjustment. The day after inadopted them one of thrm started getting diarrhea. The vet did a fecal test and kept them over night to start some meds. The frcal test came back negative (they also tested for giardia and other parasites). My kitten continued to have really watery stool and they spent two nights at the vet. At the vet they only rrceived wet food and the vet saw improvement. When they came home after the second stay i continued just the wet food i was given until their meds finished. They had beautiful poops. However now that i have started reintroducing the dry food they are back to having really loose (melted ice cream) stools. I really beleive its the dry food.
How many days should i give it for them to adjust? Should i take them off dry food amd give them a break or try a different brand?

 

[di and bob]

I would try something different. Sometimes the 'better' brands are too rich and too much of a change, my cats got diarrhea when I switched from Purina Pro to a no grain one. I changed back. Most people will say not to give dry at all, but we have to so we can be gone overnight sometimes, it is the only vacation we get. My cats get wet food twice daily and weight management is dry because they are getting pudgy as they get older. Kittens need as much food as they can eat several times a day, they wear it off.
I have also noticed sometimes there is trouble with the 'grain-free' foods because they put something else in instead of grains like broccoli, peas, carrots, etc. Now long term they are finding it is causing problems, especially with dogs. I just stick with a brand that has been around a long time and has good reviews.

 

[AriRio]

Thank you for responding. These guys are always hungry and i want to have the dry food available to tjem at all times.

 

[verna davies]

If you are unable to give them all wet food due to timing issues then as suggested above, try changing the brand and protein of the dry food. Many cats are allergic to chicken so try to avoid that .

 

[AriRio]

The wet food they got from the vet has chicken and they were fine. The dry food has grains and gluten so i think its one of those.

 

[verna davies]

Try a grain free dry food and you could ask your vet if it's ok to give s boulardii to them and the dosage.

 

[LTS3]

Grains and junk fillers can irritate some tummies. So yes, find a kitten food that doesn't have those ingredients.

Kittens are always hungry A bowl of dry food left out all day is fine for growing kittens. When you are home, offer wet food so the kittens know what wet food is and won't have any issues eating it later in life. When the kittens reach a year old or so, you can eliminate all dry food from the diet and only feed wet. Wet is so much better for cats.

 

[AriRio]

Thank you all. The poop is settling down. But i find myself wondering about my one kittens bloated belly. Seems to come and go he's been dewormed twice and has tested negative for worms and other parasites. My vet know about the bloating and he goes in next week for vaccines.