Frankie is an 18 month old male Ragdoll that I rescued from a terrible breedrr. He came to me at 4 months with 3 parasites and terrible diahreah. The parasites were taken care of and the only thing that has cured the diahreah is Fruitables Pumpkin &Ginger supplement canned food. I also give Wellness dry food grain free for indoor cats. He is an indoor cat, no fleas but scratches constantly and had started over grooming the inside of all 4 legs and belly to being almost bald. The only stress he deals with is the fact that I work and hes alone a lot of the day. I have the Feliway plugged in but it doesn't seem to be helping. Any suggestions?
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Ragdoll over grooming
- Thread starter meco8890
- Start Date
Hi there!
I'm sorry to hear your Ragdoll is overgrooming. Hmm....the scratching constantly makes me think that he may have an allergy/dermatitis of some sort, which could also be causing the overgrooming. An allergy could be diet related, such as a protein allergy (chicken, for example) or a contact allergy, such as the type of litter used, cleaning products, or certain materials (plastic, wool, etc.). It seems you already have him on a grain free diet. Could you switch him to a limited ingredient, novel protein diet?
Also, I noticed that the Fruitables is meant to be used as supplemental feeding only. Do you give this alone or added to canned food? Probiotics can really help with diarrhea, and can be mixed with wet food, too.
Has your cat been tested for other things that may cause chronic diarrhea? A fecal panel can be done to determine tritrichomonas foetus, giardia, cryptosporidium, toxoplasma gondii, salmonella spp., clostridium perfringens, etc.
Also, I noticed that the Fruitables is meant to be used as supplemental feeding only. Do you give this alone or added to canned food? Probiotics can really help with diarrhea, and can be mixed with wet food, too.
Has your cat been tested for other things that may cause chronic diarrhea? A fecal panel can be done to determine tritrichomonas foetus, giardia, cryptosporidium, toxoplasma gondii, salmonella spp., clostridium perfringens, etc.
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- #3
Thanks so much for responding. Yes he did have guardia and tritrichomonas plus ear mites but those were treated and I spent over $1000 on tests and x-rays but they still couldn't figure out why he still has it. I mix the pumpkin supplement with his dry. I found out in the past that he is allergic to fish so maybe I should take him off of chicken? Can you recommend another dry food or a canned food I should be giving him as well? Hes a big boy at 15 lbs. I have tried to test him by not giving him the pumpkin and he will instantly have loose stools again. As far as the scratching, there is no rash or even redness that would tell me its dermatitis. I occasionally give him a tiny bit of benedryl, per my vet, but it doesn't do much. I have tried several litters and I think this one is ok but is there one you recommend? Thanks for any help. I'm still not convinced it isn't stress related.
If the diarea/loose stools return, when you take him off the pumpkin, then you have to look at what your feeding. Is he getting the Wellness Core Grain Free Indoor? Do you give him anything else, at all? Treaties, people food, anything?
Skin issues are related to what you feed too. He is excessivly grooming, because he itches, so he may have issues with the food.
Food is not the only cause of excessive grooming, but coupled with the fact that he has diarea when you take him off the pumpkin, makes me think, its the food.
I am not allowed to say, what I really know, regarding what you feed him.
You might want to do some research on it, who makes it, their history, and recalls. Thats about all I can say, and not get into trouble, LOL.
I feed Blue Wilderness chicken, wet and dry, have seen many a posts, on their site, of what I know for a fact, that kitties who previous have had skin/scratching issues, no longer do. Blue Wilderness is also grain free, gluten free, soy free, by product free. Its made by Blue Buffalo, you get it at Petsmart or Petco.
http://bluebuffalo.com/cat-food/wilderness-chicken?pf=1&type=dry&animal=cat
Skin issues are related to what you feed too. He is excessivly grooming, because he itches, so he may have issues with the food.
Food is not the only cause of excessive grooming, but coupled with the fact that he has diarea when you take him off the pumpkin, makes me think, its the food.
I am not allowed to say, what I really know, regarding what you feed him.
You might want to do some research on it, who makes it, their history, and recalls. Thats about all I can say, and not get into trouble, LOL.
I feed Blue Wilderness chicken, wet and dry, have seen many a posts, on their site, of what I know for a fact, that kitties who previous have had skin/scratching issues, no longer do. Blue Wilderness is also grain free, gluten free, soy free, by product free. Its made by Blue Buffalo, you get it at Petsmart or Petco.
http://bluebuffalo.com/cat-food/wilderness-chicken?pf=1&type=dry&animal=cat
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #5
Thanks so much for the information. Yes i give him the Wellness Indoor Grain free but its the chicken kind. I will research and also buy a small bag today of the Blue Buffalo. So you think I should not keep feeding him the pumpkin even if I give it to him with the dry? Change him maybe to the Blue Buffalo wet as well?
Sorry for the delay in responding!
Chicken, beef, fish and grain seem to be the biggest allergen culprits, but cats can be allergic to anything. Some cats that can't have chicken also have a difficult time with other "winged" things, such as duck and turkey. It really is trial-and-error to see what works. I believe my Sebastian has allergies, definitely grains and most likely chicken and/or other winged creatures. He's currently on a strict rabbit only diet, but his situation is a bit extreme.
I would first like to recommend that Frankie get at least 50% wet food as part of his diet. Wet food has the protein and moisture cats need. Nature's Variety carries a "limited ingredient" line with flavors such as turkey, duck and lamb. They also have their regular wet foods, which are still very good, but contain more ingredients. Rabbit is one of these. Nutro Natural Choice "Soft Loaf" also has Turkey and Duck flavors and there are very few ingredients in these. I would stay away from their chicken and fish flavors. Even if it doesn't say fish on the front of the can, sometimes it'll be listed in the ingredients list. I've learned to read the ingredients. Natural Balance has a "limited ingredient" line and Sebastian used to love the Duck & Green Pea. There's also Venison & Green Pea. EVO has a 95% meat line that comes in Duck and Venison. So there are several options for you. Hound & Gatos and Addicton also have novel protein varieties.
As for the dry food, Nature's Variety carries a "limited ingredient" line in the dry, too, in Turkey, Duck and Rabbit (separate flavors; not combined together). I feed my cat Caesar the Turkey and he does well on it. Some people don't like they they use meat "meals" instead of whole meat, but I simply like the fact that Nature's Variety is a reputable brand that is made in the USA. They source their rabbit from China, however. If you decide to switch Frankie's dry food, make sure you do the transition slowly by adding in a small amount of the new food and gradually increasing the new and reducing the old food over a course of 2 weeks until you are at 100% of the new food. Transitioning too quickly could exascerbate his diarrhea.
Many TCS members feed their cats raw, and it has been a life saver for a lot of cats in many respects. You can find more information about feeding raw in the "Raw and Home-Cooked Cat Food" forum.
I would still recommend adding a probiotic to help Frankie with his diarrhea. You can add it his wet food, and most are virtually tasteless. I use a human-grade probiotic with 10 strains and very little secondary ingredients. You may not need to continue the pumpkin if the probiotic works.
You can continue to address Frankie's mental health with the Feliway diffusers if you want. Sebastian was overgrooming due to stress and I found that a combination of the Feliway and Spirit Essences Obsession Remedy seemed to really help. But again, if the overgrooming is not caused by stress, and rather from an allergy, then these alternative remedies probably will not work.
Chicken, beef, fish and grain seem to be the biggest allergen culprits, but cats can be allergic to anything. Some cats that can't have chicken also have a difficult time with other "winged" things, such as duck and turkey. It really is trial-and-error to see what works. I believe my Sebastian has allergies, definitely grains and most likely chicken and/or other winged creatures. He's currently on a strict rabbit only diet, but his situation is a bit extreme.
I would first like to recommend that Frankie get at least 50% wet food as part of his diet. Wet food has the protein and moisture cats need. Nature's Variety carries a "limited ingredient" line with flavors such as turkey, duck and lamb. They also have their regular wet foods, which are still very good, but contain more ingredients. Rabbit is one of these. Nutro Natural Choice "Soft Loaf" also has Turkey and Duck flavors and there are very few ingredients in these. I would stay away from their chicken and fish flavors. Even if it doesn't say fish on the front of the can, sometimes it'll be listed in the ingredients list. I've learned to read the ingredients. Natural Balance has a "limited ingredient" line and Sebastian used to love the Duck & Green Pea. There's also Venison & Green Pea. EVO has a 95% meat line that comes in Duck and Venison. So there are several options for you. Hound & Gatos and Addicton also have novel protein varieties.
As for the dry food, Nature's Variety carries a "limited ingredient" line in the dry, too, in Turkey, Duck and Rabbit (separate flavors; not combined together). I feed my cat Caesar the Turkey and he does well on it. Some people don't like they they use meat "meals" instead of whole meat, but I simply like the fact that Nature's Variety is a reputable brand that is made in the USA. They source their rabbit from China, however. If you decide to switch Frankie's dry food, make sure you do the transition slowly by adding in a small amount of the new food and gradually increasing the new and reducing the old food over a course of 2 weeks until you are at 100% of the new food. Transitioning too quickly could exascerbate his diarrhea.
Many TCS members feed their cats raw, and it has been a life saver for a lot of cats in many respects. You can find more information about feeding raw in the "Raw and Home-Cooked Cat Food" forum.
I would still recommend adding a probiotic to help Frankie with his diarrhea. You can add it his wet food, and most are virtually tasteless. I use a human-grade probiotic with 10 strains and very little secondary ingredients. You may not need to continue the pumpkin if the probiotic works.
You can continue to address Frankie's mental health with the Feliway diffusers if you want. Sebastian was overgrooming due to stress and I found that a combination of the Feliway and Spirit Essences Obsession Remedy seemed to really help. But again, if the overgrooming is not caused by stress, and rather from an allergy, then these alternative remedies probably will not work.
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- #7
