Kitten refuses to eat healthy food

[alannastone19]

My kitty has just turned six months old, because of persistent diarrhoea (we never discovered the cause) we were instructed by the vet to give him the Royal Canin Gastrointestinal food and Fortiflora. He loved both, was always excited at meal time and overall seemed happy. We kept this diet for a month and then when he finally had healthy solid poos for a while, we decided to switch gradually to another brand of food and probiotic (both RC and Fortiflora are too expensive). The food we introduced is called HiLife, it has just natural ingredients with a high percentage of meat so it should be healthier than the RC. At first he ate it but after a week decided he hates it, so I tried to introduce another similar brand with high content of meat a zero carbs or sugars (Untamed) and he seemed to like it at first but then stopped eating it as well. Also runny poos are back and he seems to drink more water than before. I'm trying to convince him to eat it by putting toppers (freeze dried chicken treats, chicken broth) but he's still reluctant to eat it, he leaves it and then maybe after 2 hours comes back to finish it when he realises there is nothing else to eat. He's not excited about his mealtime anymore and I feel like he started being more restless and sleeping less during the day and being destructive during the night.
Is he protesting cause he wants the old food? Should I stay strong and convince him to eat this food or should I go back to his beloved Royal Canin Gastro?

 

[FeebysOwner]

You might check out these alternatives (see link below) - comparing not only the price but ingredients to see if your kitten will eat one of them. He is young and really should be on kitten food, but hopefully all of these options are at least 'all life stages', meaning they are OK for kittens too.

Mixing some of the RC Gastro with another food might help to get him to eat others and reduce the overall cost.

Also, try using s. boulardii rather than FortiFlora. The latter isn't much of a probiotic, but rather a food enhancer. I also included a link below about the former.
4 Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Cat Food Alternatives (raiseacat.com)
Saccharomyces boulardii Probiotic for Pets (White Paper)– FullBucket Health

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

The Gastrointestinal food was dry, right? And the new food you are feeding is wet as far as I can tell. Many cats don't immediately take to canned food if they have been eating dry, so that may be part of the problem. See if anything in this article might help: Transitioning Your Cat From Kibble To A New Type Of Food - TheCatSite

 

[alannastone19]

Jiji has always eaten wet food. The Gastro food was both dry and wet. It was mousse in cans for kittens and that was the main attraction for Jiji. He was so excited to lick it and now he struggles to have the pieces of chicken in this new food. Yesterday in his poo (soft tan stool) I noticed there was a piece of chicken liver (that is in the tins with chicken and chicken broth) completely undigested. I don’t know if it’s normal to find undigested pieces of food in the stool

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

So if that's the case, you want to look for foods that are "pate", so they are smooth. Check and see if those two brands you are looking at come in that form, but since Jiji now has runny poo again, perhaps look at the foods mentioned in the article above and see if THEY come in canned varieties that are pate and hope they stop the runs. I would advise though that you introduce them slowly to prevent the issue. And definitely try using S. Boulardi as well. You can still use the FortiFlora if you want as an enticement to get him to eat (just a little sprinkle of it should do the trick, not the entire packet).

 

[cmshap]

I just wanted to comment on the probiotics.

Please consult your vet first before doing this, because I am not a vet... but I gave my cat human-children's probiotics for a few years. They were much cheaper, and I didn't have much money at the time. They helped his pooping problems and he was healthy.

Just giving out the suggestion, since you mentioned the cost being an issue.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I think the undigested food in your cat's poop means a digestive disorder of some kind, and really cannot be considered 'normal'. However, whether or not the above suggestions will resolve that remains to be seen, as it is possible one or more will.

If it doesn't then, you need to ask the vet what other types of digestive disorders might cause it and have Jiji checked out accordingly.