I am at a loss... my cat is unable to eat any of his normal wet food without having soft stool or diarrhea

[Roxanne Gunn]

Name: Skylar
Gender: Male
Breed: Purebred Ragdoll
Age: 8.5 months

His normal diet:

Dry:
- Open Farm homestead turkey & chicken
- Open Farm pasture raised lamb
- Tiki Cat Born Carnivore chicken and egg

Wet:
- Slow cooked chicken thighs with EZ Complete premix
- Fussie Cat super premium chicken
- Fussie Cat super premium chicken with duck
- Fussie Cat super premium chicken with beef
- Tiki Cat after dark chicken and quail egg

Skylar is unable to eat any of his normal wet food without having soft stool or diarrhea ever since I introduced Dr. Elsey's cleanprotein duck dry food to his diet. Even though I did a slow transition, I didn't have much success with it as he had diarrhea since day one. I switched him back to 100% of his normal dry food after a few days of diarrhea.

He continued having diarrhea on a regular basis. I tried to isolate the food was causing him diarrhea by process of elimination and it turns out that he can tolerate all of his normal dry food but every single wet food was causing abnormal stool. EZ complete caused straight up diarrhea while Fussie Cat and Tiki Cat wet food caused soft stool.

My vet told me that it could be a dietary indiscretion or parasite so they asked for his stool sample (which turns out to be negative for parasite) and sent me home with Metronidazole plus Hills Gastrointestinal Biome Rx wet food. I did not administer Metronidazole because it's toxic to their system.

The Rx wet food that they prescribed was very helpful as he was able to pass a normal stool within 24 hours of consumption. I continued feeding him Rx wet food and Tiki Cat Born Carnivore dry food for a week before re-introducing Fussie Cat wet food to his diet. Unfortunately, even a teaspoon of Fussie Cat chicken caused soft stool. Same with EZ Complete.

After doing some research, I bought Jarrow Saccharomyces Boulardii with MOS and Adored Beast Feline Gut Soothe to help with his digestion. How long should I keep him on s. boulardii, gut soothe, and Rx wet food before re-introducing Fussie Cat to his diet? The vet tech I spoke to wanted me to stay on Rx wet food long term (months or for the rest of his life) but having to pay $48 for 24 cans every 2 weeks adds up and I'm not a big fan of it's ingredients.

 

[Roxanne Gunn]

Possible intestinal parasites? Any weight loss?

As stated in my post:

My vet told me that it could be a dietary indiscretion or parasite so they asked for his stool sample (which turns out to be negative for parasite) and sent me home with Metronidazole plus Hills Gastrointestinal Biome Rx wet food.

But no, no weight loss.

 

[game misconduct]

any food allergies? my lil sisters ragdoll has issues with diarreah. with any type of new food changes must be done really slowly in tiny amounts or he gets bad diarreah with poop all over his fur to track poop stains/smears around my dads house

 

[Roxanne Gunn]

any food allergies? my lil sisters ragdoll has issues with diarreah. with any type of new food changes must be done really slowly in tiny amounts or he gets bad diarreah with poop all over his fur to track poop stains/smears around my dads house

Not that I know of. I was able to feed him a variety of wet food (various protein and various brands) in the past without needing to transition.

The only time I do a slow transition is with dry food.

 

[Roxanne Gunn]

I forgot to add that I also did a slow transition with EZ Complete. I couldn't edit my previous post because I'm a new member.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Have you done a comparison of all the ingredients in these foods to see if something stands out? I noticed that the Fussie Cat foods all have tapioca starch, sunflower seed oil, tuna oil, as well as chicken skin. None of these items are contained in the Hill's - although it does have 'fish oil', what kind of fish might be worth looking into. Maybe one of those particular ingredients is bothering his digestive tract? I would do a thorough comparison to see if there are other differences too. I also noticed the Tiki Cat that you mentioned above also has tuna oil...

I realize EZ Complete does not contain any of the above, but if you cook the skin from the chicken thighs - perhaps it is somehow related to the chicken skin? Just a wild guess. EZ Complete does contain egg - maybe that is another trigger, given it is in some of the Fussie Cat products too? There is also something else labeled 'chicken soluble' in the Fussie Cat as well.

 

[game misconduct]

I forgot to add that I also did a slow transition with EZ Complete. I couldn't edit my previous post because I'm a new member.

welcome to the site i didnt notice that

 

[Roxanne Gunn]

Have you done a comparison of all the ingredients in these foods to see if something stands out? I noticed that the Fussie Cat foods all have tapioca starch, sunflower seed oil, tuna oil, as well as chicken skin. None of these items are contained in the Hill's - although it does have 'fish oil', what kind of fish might be worth looking into. Maybe one of those particular ingredients is bothering his digestive tract? I would do a thorough comparison to see if there are other differences too. I also noticed the Tiki Cat that you mentioned above also has tuna oil...

I realize EZ Complete does not contain any of the above, but if you cook the skin from the chicken thighs - perhaps it is somehow related to the chicken skin? Just a wild guess. EZ Complete does contain egg - maybe that is another trigger, given it is in some of the Fussie Cat products too? There is also something else labeled 'chicken soluble' in the Fussie Cat as well.

I've always bought skinless chicken thighs so that's not it. The ingredients that stand out to me (compared to the Rx food) is in bold:

Fussie Cat chicken
Water Sufficient For Processing, Chicken, Chicken Skin, Tapioca Starch, Sunflower Seed Oil, Tuna Oil, Tricalcium Phosphate, Xanthan Gum, Calcium Carbonate, Chicken Broth, Choline Chloride, Zinc Sulfate, Sodium Chloride, Taurine, Fructooligosaccharide, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Source of Vitamin B1), Nicotinic Acid (Source of Vitamin B3), Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (Source of Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source of Vitamin B6), Folic Acid, Potassium Iodide, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin K3 Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement.

Hill's gastrointestinal biome
Chicken Broth, Chicken, Pork Liver, Carrots, Rice Starch, Wheat Gluten, Spinach, Ground Pecan Shells, Rice, Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Soybean Oil, Potassium Alginate, Whole Grain Barley, Dried Citrus Pulp, Fish Oil, Dried Beet Pulp, Calcium Chloride, L-Lysine, Natural Flavor, Pumpkin, Pressed Cranberries, Powdered Cellulose, Guar Gum, Dicalcium Phosphate, Choline Chloride, Oat Fiber, Potassium Citrate, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Fructooligosaccharides (FOS), Calcium Lactate, Calcium Gluconate, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Taurine, Psyllium Seed Husk, minerals (Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate.

EZ complete premix does not have chicken skin, tapioca starch, nor sunflower seed oil yet it's the food that caused the most severe digestive issue (diarrhea) compared to Fussie Cat / Tiki Cat wet (soft stool)

EZ Complete does contain egg - maybe that is another trigger, given it is in some of the Fussie Cat products too?

I don't think so... his dry food that I'm currently feeding him right now has eggs in it (Tiki Cat Born Carnivore chicken and egg) and he has no issues with it.

 

[Roxanne Gunn]

welcome to the site i didnt notice that

Thank you!

 

[FeebysOwner]

EZ complete premix does not have chicken skin, tapioca starch, nor sunflower seed oil yet it's the food that caused the most severe digestive issue (diarrhea) compared to Fussie Cat / Tiki Cat wet (soft stool)

EZ Complete contains green lipped mussels - not sure if it is enough to cause loose stool or diarrhea, but it might. So, maybe more than one trigger? Also, don't forget the tuna oil - very well could be some other sort of fish oil in the Hill's since it doesn't specifically state that it is tuna.

Dry food is also processed differently which could have an impact on how much/little some of the same ingredients would affect the digestive tract.

 

[Roxanne Gunn]

EZ Complete contains green lipped mussels - not sure if it is enough to cause loose stool or diarrhea, but it might. So, maybe more than one trigger? Also, don't forget the tuna oil - very well could be some other sort of fish oil in the Hill's since it doesn't specifically state that it is tuna.

Dry food is also processed differently which could have an impact on how much/little some of the same ingredients would affect the digestive tract.

Hm I see.

Are these intolerances / sensitivities something that is permanent? or is it something that can heal and get better over time?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Are these intolerances / sensitivities something that is permanent? or is it something that can heal and get better over time?

I am not sure, but it would seem possible to get over a food intolerance in a young cat. Young human children do sometimes. I do know that food intolerances/allergies can happen to adult cats that have been eating the same thing for a long time. How common is it? Totally clueless on that one.

 

[mightyboosh]

I do know that food intolerances/allergies can happen to adult cats that have been eating the same thing for a long time.

Just to add my limited experience of a similar issue, I got my Maine Coon Oliver when he was ten years old.
I carried on feeding what the previous owner had always used which was a good quality dry food and he had good regular poos.
However, after a couple of years or so he started with runny poos and it obviously distressed him. He would, at random moments, run behind the sofa or similar hiding place and howl in pain
The vet diagnosed Pancreatitis and put him on Hill's Digestive Care i/d and that sorted his tummy problems.
That's the only food he can tolerate now apart from a very small amount of a certain cat pate and a few biscuit treats.
He's fifteen now and still going strong (finger crossed, toes crossed, touch wood, etc etc etc).