Sensitive Stomach Kitty

[xenathecrazy]

I have a one yr old kitty that seems to have a sensitive stomach. My biggest issue has been finding a wet food that she will actually eat and then not get diarrhea. Some brands of dry food will cause loose stools too but wet food is my biggest issue. She is very picky and stopped eating pate style so we have done chunks or shreds with gravy and she’ll eat them the best but they don’t come out well. She’ll get loose stools and then since she’s a medium haired kitty, we get either dingleberries or a dirty butt with soft remains on her rear. She does get a sanitary trim too. Needless to say it’s gross and I’m tired of having to bathe her to clean her up because she stinks. I’m afraid of her getting poop on our carpet or furniture. For dry food, she’s eating 4Health All Life stages food and that’s ok. For wet food, I’ve tried Friskies, Pro Plan, American Journey, 4Health chicken dinner shreds, Fancy Feast, Solid Gold, Sheba, and Nutro that I can recall right now. All of these with the same bad effect. She is perfectly healthy otherwise.

I know dry food is not ideal and will probably increase her shedding which I want to avoid since I did develop mild kitty allergies. But, does anyone feed just dry food and have a healthy cat?

What wet foods have worked for your sensitive tummy kitties? I can’t spend a fortune either as we are on a tight budget with a dog on a Prescription Diet already.

 

[verna davies]

I am in the same boat as you, my cat is having the same problem and will only eat wet food with gravy. My vet recommended Dechra allergy maintenance. It is a pate but when it arrives I am going to add a little water to it to see if it works. I live in the UK so dont know where else it is available.

 

[duckpond]

i have a little white female that will only eat dry. I feed Dr. Elseys dry, chicken. Seems to work well for everyone's tummy. It is expensive, but its high protein low carb, so they don't eat so much, it last quite well. I get mine from Chewy, i highly recommend this food. If you only feed dry be sure to put out fresh water daily, nice big wide bowl of cold, filtered water. A cat fountain is also good to get them to drink.

The other dry i recommend, and you can get it at most local pet stores, or tractor supply is the taste of the wild prey formula. they have a beef, or a Turkey, and it is very limited ingredient, good for those sensitive tummies.


I do try to feed wet to my girl, my other 3 love wet. I have one that has a bit of a sensitive tummy. I make sure to stay away from Carrageenan, food with many peas, and potatoes as those seem to cause issues for him.
you may want to try some of the Tiki after dark shredded chicken wet food, or the Tiki puka puka luau chicken. these two do not contain gums of any type, my cat really likes them and has no tummy issues at all.

 

[xenathecrazy]

Petco here sells Tiki cat so I’ll check those out.

 

[duckpond]

Petco here sells Tiki cat so I’ll check those out.

yes, we dont have one close by, so i order online. But my cat is a big fan of the tiki after dark, and the plain chicken and the chicken with egg. They seem to work quite well for his stomach issues.

 

[duckpond]

Petco here sells Tiki cat so I’ll check those out.

post us a photo or two of her when you get time. she looks like a lovely cat!

 

[lisahe]

I do try to feed wet to my girl, my other 3 love wet. I have one that has a bit of a sensitive tummy. I make sure to stay away from Carrageenan, food with many peas, and potatoes as those seem to cause issues for him.
you may want to try some of the Tiki after dark shredded chicken wet food, or the Tiki puka puka luau chicken. these two do not contain gums of any type, my cat really likes them and has no tummy issues at all.

This advice is a great start! Cats with sensitive stomachs need the simplest possible recipes, foods with high protein and low carbs. That means it's best to avoid wheat gluten, corn, potatoes, peas, tapioca, and anything else carby. Lots of chunk-style foods have carby stuff to hold re-formed slices or chunks together. Some cats have difficulty with gums and/or carrageenan, as duckpond mentioned.

If your existing dry food is working for the cat, I'd suggest first taking out the offending canned foods and then adding in, very slowly, a wet food with a very simple recipe, like Tiki. Sometimes cats' stomachs don't do well with quick changes so it's also important to figure out if that's the issue or some ingredient(s). It can take time to figure this out but it's worth it!

We've gone through this with our cats, too, and what's worked is a diet of largely commercial raw food, some homecooked food, and some canned food.

Good luck!

 

[yeva2292]

I have a one yr old kitty that seems to have a sensitive stomach. My biggest issue has been finding a wet food that she will actually eat and then not get diarrhea. Some brands of dry food will cause loose stools too but wet food is my biggest issue. She is very picky and stopped eating pate style so we have done chunks or shreds with gravy and she’ll eat them the best but they don’t come out well. She’ll get loose stools and then since she’s a medium haired kitty, we get either dingleberries or a dirty butt with soft remains on her rear. She does get a sanitary trim too. Needless to say it’s gross and I’m tired of having to bathe her to clean her up because she stinks. I’m afraid of her getting poop on our carpet or furniture. For dry food, she’s eating 4Health All Life stages food and that’s ok. For wet food, I’ve tried Friskies, Pro Plan, American Journey, 4Health chicken dinner shreds, Fancy Feast, Solid Gold, Sheba, and Nutro that I can recall right now. All of these with the same bad effect. She is perfectly healthy otherwise.

I know dry food is not ideal and will probably increase her shedding which I want to avoid since I did develop mild kitty allergies. But, does anyone feed just dry food and have a healthy cat?

What wet foods have worked for your sensitive tummy kitties? I can’t spend a fortune either as we are on a tight budget with a dog on a Prescription Diet already.

Wow... your description of your cat's issues sound almost like mine. We have the same issues with wet food, including the refusal to eat pates (dry's worst - Smokey can't eat dry without diarrhea). I've tried almost everything with her and the two foods that didn't cause any issues for her were Max Cat -Turkey and Chicken Liver Chunks and Wellness Signature Select - Shredded White Meat Chicken with Chicken Liver.

 

[xenathecrazy]

post us a photo or two of her when you get time. she looks like a lovely cat!

I just updated my avatar pic with a recent photo.

 

[duckpond]

I just updated my avatar pic with a recent photo.

She is such a beautiful fluffy girl!

 

[xenathecrazy]

I picked up some Tiki Cat chicken with egg shreds, Tiki Chicken Mousse packet, Wellness shredded chicken and chicken liver, Nature’s Instinct chicken pate (never tried it, maybe she’ll like it), and Whole Earth Farms shredded chicken. Here’s hoping she not only likes the taste but that her tummy agrees with it too.

They didn’t have the Puka Puka Luau as a single can in stock.

 

[xenathecrazy]

She does well with her dry which is 4Health All Life Stages formula so I’m thinking of seeing if I can mix the wet and canned a little to help transition.

 

[duckpond]

She does well with her dry which is 4Health All Life Stages formula so I’m thinking of seeing if I can mix the wet and canned a little to help transition.

I sometimes use a topper on the wet, like freeze dried chicken bits, and im guessing you could crunch up some dry food and use the same way. Just remember, dry food once it gets wet will grow bacteria, fast. With the tiki cat i open a can and what my tiki cat dosen't finish he comes back over the next hour or two and eats it all. It seems to stay well. If you mix dry food with it you should from what i understand throw it away in 30 min or so. Good luck. I have found with our petco if they have a case of the tiki but no individual cans they will break one down, so i can get just a few cans. I normally buy mine by the case, but i did do this when i first started. Good luck, let us know how she likes it

Oh, and i found with the whole earth, its more bits than shreds. my cats wont eat it straight out of the can, but if i mash it up with a fork, just a bit, so its a finer chunk they will. I have to do this with Merrick back country as well, then they love the rabbit

 

[xenathecrazy]

Bits more than shreds is ok because she prefers that even more or minced. I don't keep her food down for more than 30 minutes to an hour if it's wet food.

I just tried the Tiki chicken with egg and that was a no go even though she was hungry. She just sniffed, licked the broth, left the meat, pawed at it as to bury it and walked away and started meowing at me. lol She usually won't eat something if she doesn't go for it right away but I'll try again tomorrow.

 

[duckpond]

Bits more than shreds is ok because she prefers that even more or minced. I don't keep her food down for more than 30 minutes to an hour if it's wet food.

I just tried the Tiki chicken with egg and that was a no go even though she was hungry. She just sniffed, licked the broth, left the meat, pawed at it as to bury it and walked away and started meowing at me. lol She usually won't eat something if she doesn't go for it right away but I'll try again tomorrow.

cats that is normally a good staple at my house. you never know with cats. the tiki i will leave down a few hours, it seems to keep well, maybe she will later? the best ones for us that are bits is the american journey minced flavors from chewy, and the nulo minced flavors. Good luck. Mine are being fussy this week too.

 

[xenathecrazy]

Ugh!!! I did keep it down for her and hunger got the best of her. The little bit of the chicken with egg she did eat already came out the wrong way! This is so frustrating! American Journey gave her soft poop but she loved eating it. I'm afraid of trying the Tiki Mousse now.

 

[duckpond]

Ugh!!! I did keep it down for her and hunger got the best of her. The little bit of the chicken with egg she did eat already came out the wrong way! This is so frustrating! American Journey gave her soft poop but she loved eating it. I'm afraid of trying the Tiki Mousse now.

i understand, it can be very frustrating. for you, and her im sure. You said she is eating dry, and does not have a problem with it? I like to feed wet food to cats, i think its good for them. But if she can eat dry without issue i might just feed her dry for a few months. Give her system time to reset. Then try introducing a bit of wet?

 

[xenathecrazy]

i understand, it can be very frustrating. for you, and her im sure. You said she is eating dry, and does not have a problem with it? I like to feed wet food to cats, i think its good for them. But if she can eat dry without issue i might just feed her dry for a few months. Give her system time to reset. Then try introducing a bit of wet?

I may just do that. It can't be comfortable for her tummy when this happens. My dog is on a Prescription diet for exactly that reason. Her body needs to relax and reset because she was reacting to everything she ate. She is doing better but I'm now dealing with kitty. The things we deal with for these creatures. LOL

 

[duckpond]

One more thing i thought of. Tiki is about the most simple complete food i know of, no gums and such which can bother a lot of cats. However there are a few brands of supplemental wet foods, that have no added vitamins or anything. you might could try one and see how that works. Feed the majority of her food as the dry, but give her a little of the supplemental wet food? it may be something in the wet that bothers her.

my cats like the Almo nature supplemental food, they have shredded chicken and several different fish flavors. the only place i find them is chewy, its a European brand that has not caught on in the US much yet. their supplemental foods cannot be fed as the majority of the diet, but as a supplement to a complete dry food its good.
Almo Nature / Wet Food / Food / Cat - Free shipping at Chewy.com



another one that a lot of people use is aplaws, my guys are not fond of applaws, but it is easier to find, i think petco and maybe pet smart carry some of it?

Applaws Additive Free Canned Cat Food