Hello,
I've read many, many posts on this site and appreciate everyone generously sharing what they've learned regarding their cats. I have a young male cat (Tim) with many issues (and I wonder if they're all connected):
- constipation
- has had struvite crystals
- mild asthma
- possibly food sensitivities
He also has early HCM (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy).
Tim has been grain-free since he was a young cat. I don't remember when we went grain-free, but it was in the first year of his life. Tim will be 5 in July. Last June, due to a second bout of severe constipation that required several enemas to clear, we transitioned Tim and his sister Abby to a grain-free wet diet. Tim also started on 5mg of Cisapride once per day. His diet consisted of Wellness grain-free canned two times per day, with a supplemental treat of Tiki Cat or Weruva Cats in the Kitchen canned once per day.
Because struvite crystals recently appeared in his urine, we eliminated Wellness turkey/salmon and chicken/herring, along with Tiki Cat chicken/salmon and Weruva lamb (contains tuna). So his diet was Wellness chicken and turkey, along with Tiki Cat chicken and Weruva Cats in the Kitchen canned chicken. Thinking that increased moisture would also help, I started shifting both cats to more Tiki Cat and Weruva and less Wellness.
Then Tim started vomiting. At first we (and the vet) thought it was due to the antibiotic he was on in case of a urinary tract infection. We stopped that medication, but the vomiting resumed a week later and got much worse. Poor Tim has been poked and prodded by three different veterinarians - two at our regular place and one emergency vet - and he's been x-rayed and had multiple blood and urine tests. None of the tests show anything wrong.
I began to suspect a food sensitivity to chicken. Tim had had a minor bout of vomiting about a year ago, and the vet had mentioned that as a possibility with the suggestion that we try a "bland" diet. With that in mind, in preparation for Tim's return home from the vet, I purchased one can each of Natural Balance LID and Nature's Variety Instinct LID. Tim did well on each of these foods, though he did not care for them all. The one time I fed him a full meal of chicken, he vomited. I've not fed him chicken since, and he's not vomited since. So we are now on an elimination diet, with the knowledge of our vet, to remove all chicken and fish from his diet. I am also trying to remove carrageenan.
I am at my wit's end! In order to avoid chicken, fish, and carrageenan, both cats are now eating only Nature's Variety Instinct LID turkey and duck. They both really like and it, importantly, Tim keeps it down so far. But here is my concern: This is a higher-fiber food than Wellness (2% compared to 1% as fed) and also includes montmorillonite clay, which is generally thought to be good for IBS in cats, but can cause constipation in some. I've been monitoring the box, of course, and was lucky enough to catch both cats pass bowel movements this morning. Both were rather small and dry. I am not sure if this is because they're eating an even better-quality diet and have less waste (there is no odor!!), or if they're on the verge of constipation.
I am therefore concerned that Nature's Variety Instinct LID, which great for Tim's sensitive stomach, is going to cause his constipation to return. These are both very serious problems and I'm not sure what to do:
1) Keep them on this food, but add even more water to the food in an effort to get the cats to increase their intake? We are already adding a teaspoon per serving and stirring the food into a very thick soup.
2) Change food? Trying to find a canned cat food without chicken and/or fish is really difficult. My preference is to limit the protein to a single source and the carbohydrate, if any, to a single source to aid digestion. And to avoid foods with carrageenan.
3) Continue with this food and rotate with another brand? Is anyone familiar with Wild Calling? I was considering alternating Nature's Variety Instinct LID with just a few flavors of the Wild Calling in order to reduce the overall fiber/carbohydrate load, as well as reduce the amount of montmorillonite clay without eliminating it altogether unless we must.
Is anyone aware of any other limited ingredient or single protein canned foods for cats? At this point, I would even consider a food with two protein sources, as long as they're not chicken or fish, especially if low fiber/carb. Please don't recommend raw, as I'm not ready to go there yet. I want to make sure Tim's insides are healed before I consider that.
Thank you!
I've read many, many posts on this site and appreciate everyone generously sharing what they've learned regarding their cats. I have a young male cat (Tim) with many issues (and I wonder if they're all connected):
- constipation
- has had struvite crystals
- mild asthma
- possibly food sensitivities
He also has early HCM (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy).
Tim has been grain-free since he was a young cat. I don't remember when we went grain-free, but it was in the first year of his life. Tim will be 5 in July. Last June, due to a second bout of severe constipation that required several enemas to clear, we transitioned Tim and his sister Abby to a grain-free wet diet. Tim also started on 5mg of Cisapride once per day. His diet consisted of Wellness grain-free canned two times per day, with a supplemental treat of Tiki Cat or Weruva Cats in the Kitchen canned once per day.
Because struvite crystals recently appeared in his urine, we eliminated Wellness turkey/salmon and chicken/herring, along with Tiki Cat chicken/salmon and Weruva lamb (contains tuna). So his diet was Wellness chicken and turkey, along with Tiki Cat chicken and Weruva Cats in the Kitchen canned chicken. Thinking that increased moisture would also help, I started shifting both cats to more Tiki Cat and Weruva and less Wellness.
Then Tim started vomiting. At first we (and the vet) thought it was due to the antibiotic he was on in case of a urinary tract infection. We stopped that medication, but the vomiting resumed a week later and got much worse. Poor Tim has been poked and prodded by three different veterinarians - two at our regular place and one emergency vet - and he's been x-rayed and had multiple blood and urine tests. None of the tests show anything wrong.
I began to suspect a food sensitivity to chicken. Tim had had a minor bout of vomiting about a year ago, and the vet had mentioned that as a possibility with the suggestion that we try a "bland" diet. With that in mind, in preparation for Tim's return home from the vet, I purchased one can each of Natural Balance LID and Nature's Variety Instinct LID. Tim did well on each of these foods, though he did not care for them all. The one time I fed him a full meal of chicken, he vomited. I've not fed him chicken since, and he's not vomited since. So we are now on an elimination diet, with the knowledge of our vet, to remove all chicken and fish from his diet. I am also trying to remove carrageenan.
I am at my wit's end! In order to avoid chicken, fish, and carrageenan, both cats are now eating only Nature's Variety Instinct LID turkey and duck. They both really like and it, importantly, Tim keeps it down so far. But here is my concern: This is a higher-fiber food than Wellness (2% compared to 1% as fed) and also includes montmorillonite clay, which is generally thought to be good for IBS in cats, but can cause constipation in some. I've been monitoring the box, of course, and was lucky enough to catch both cats pass bowel movements this morning. Both were rather small and dry. I am not sure if this is because they're eating an even better-quality diet and have less waste (there is no odor!!), or if they're on the verge of constipation.
I am therefore concerned that Nature's Variety Instinct LID, which great for Tim's sensitive stomach, is going to cause his constipation to return. These are both very serious problems and I'm not sure what to do:
1) Keep them on this food, but add even more water to the food in an effort to get the cats to increase their intake? We are already adding a teaspoon per serving and stirring the food into a very thick soup.
2) Change food? Trying to find a canned cat food without chicken and/or fish is really difficult. My preference is to limit the protein to a single source and the carbohydrate, if any, to a single source to aid digestion. And to avoid foods with carrageenan.
3) Continue with this food and rotate with another brand? Is anyone familiar with Wild Calling? I was considering alternating Nature's Variety Instinct LID with just a few flavors of the Wild Calling in order to reduce the overall fiber/carbohydrate load, as well as reduce the amount of montmorillonite clay without eliminating it altogether unless we must.
Is anyone aware of any other limited ingredient or single protein canned foods for cats? At this point, I would even consider a food with two protein sources, as long as they're not chicken or fish, especially if low fiber/carb. Please don't recommend raw, as I'm not ready to go there yet. I want to make sure Tim's insides are healed before I consider that.
Thank you!