Grain Free - Black Stools?

[samanthaddm]

A little backstory on Clove - a feral cat I'd been feeding brought me her 4 kittens about 3 months ago. I trapped the family and got everyone vetted. Three of the kittens are bobtail, the girl, Clove, has no tail or nub at all. After she was vetted, she had a pretty bad rectal prolapse. Vet tried pushing it in, purse string, nothing worked. We eventually had to go with a colopexy. She had that done when she was spayed. Procedure worked to an extent, but she had a slight prolapse again and has a little "pucker" on her rear. Our vet is confident it will go back in as she grows.

Ok, so now onto diet. She was on Science Diet kitten at the vet and was doing pretty good on it. I don't think that food is great at all, so when she wasn't showing interest in it anymore, I switched her to Nutro Kitten grain free canned soft chicken. She loves it. After a day or two on it, I noticed black stool. I panicked with all her booty problems and took her to the vet. She got an exam and our vet believes it's the more natural food. So this morning, she seems to now have diarrhea with the black stool. Her poop has always been dark. She takes a little laxatone each day to help push things out. But I'm just wondering if grain free is doing this to her. Has anyone had any similar experiences?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
What if you eliminate the laxatone?
Would a little pumpkin help?

 

[maggiedemi]

My cats have gotten the really dark stool with grain-free dry food, but never wet food. Are you feeding her all canned food?

 

[samanthaddm]

Hi!
What if you eliminate the laxatone?
Would a little pumpkin help?

My cats have gotten the really dark stool with grain-free dry food, but never wet food. Are you feeding her all canned food?

I've thought about eliminating the laxatone but worried it wouldn't "flow" as good. Didn't think about adding pumpkin.

Yes, she's eating all canned. She's done well so far with no further prolapse on the canned.

 

[Furballsmom]

...or cut down on the laxatone maybe every other day, something like that. It may take some juggling to find the right balance for your furbaby

 

[Azazel]

I would cut out the laxatone. Constipation is caused by lack of moisture being absorbed by stools. If you’re feeding mostly wet food there should be enough moisture. It’s possible that the laxatone is now unnecessary due to the increased moisture intake.

 

[duckpond]

Some cats do well on grain free foods, some seem to not do as well. Grain free is in vogue right now, but some say their cats do not do well on it. I think different for all cats.

I would, with all of her health issues talk to the vet, has he said its ok to do away with the laxatone? I think it would be great if you could, but i would be hesitant to make any major changes for her, without vet being in on the decisions.

 

[samanthaddm]

I agree about the laxatone. I'll talk with her vet and see if we might can start cutting that out, or at least down. I feel like the grain free was so easy for her to pass, the laxatone made her tummy runny.

 

[jen]

On a side note and in response to duckpond 's comment about grain free being in vogue now: The thing to understand with grain free food is that it is a great marketing tool since that is the trendy thing for everyone to look for in pet food. However those grains are usually replaced buy things like peas and potatoes and other completely unnecessary and starchy/carby and therefore sugary ingredients which you were trying to avoid in the first place by deleting the grains. Don't just look for the term "grain free" do some research on the food you are feeding.

 

[samanthaddm]

Thanks everyone for the great advice. While I don't necessarily like the Science Diet, I have transitioned her back to it. Since she was doing so well, I hate to upset her GI system given all her problems. The Nutro appears to be a quality food, but I just feel like it's best to stick to what's working for her now.

She's thankfully hasn't had any really runny stools since the transitioning, but we've also cut down on the laxatone. We'll just keep doing what seems to work for her. Here's my sweet girl.

 

[samanthaddm]

I wanted to give a quick update on Clove. I don't think going back to Science Diet was a great of an idea. I had cut down on her laxatone, and she seemed to have trouble pooping yesterday. Plus she doesn't seem to care for it. Her little prolapse was swollen and bloody.

I think maybe it's best to keep her on the grain free. Her prolapse was looking smaller and she had no trouble pooping. I think I'm just going to have to find the right balance of diet and laxatone to keep her from having any problems going potty. It may be she doesn't need laxatone on the grain free food since it was runny.

It's still in the back of my mind that the black poop isn't normal, and I think about melena. But, she had a checkup. The vet didn't find anything wrong. She shows no symptoms of anything, just her prolapse and occasional potty trouble. She plays, eats great (the grain free at least), and is just a total lovebug. I'd think we would have seen something alarming by now if she had other issues.

Thanks for the advice and letting me vent my concerns!