Sudden Diet Change in Kitten, Gas and Diarrhea Symptoms

[academic12]

I recently adopted a 12 week old kitten; there was a miscommunication on the food I was supposed to feed her between Acana and Origin, both all life stages. The original paperwork said Origin, not Acana, so that's the food I had prepared for her. There are no pet stores around me that carry either of those brands, so I had to order well in advance and get it shipped in. I gave her Origin, all life stages. Evidently, she was on Acana and now she has started having bad gas and loose stools that are very messy (that's the only problem since she arrived). She's been on Origin for ten days because that's how long it takes to get Acana to get here. Acana should arrive by 8pm tomorrow. She drinks like a champion; she gets a little bit of wet food, the same she has had since she was weaned. She still has a voracious appetite. Her coat is bright and shiny, not dull.

She is a very happy and playful kitten that is very lovable; no lethargy is present nor does she present any other symptoms of being ill. She was dewormed and health tested. She had her annual wellness exam. I believe the diarrhea to be the result of the sudden switch of diet. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any advice on how to handle the diarrhea once the dietary change has occurred. I can't go back and fix it; the damage has already been done. 

I've ordered both Acana and Origin now. Acana should be arriving tomorrow. Do I put her back on her old food even though she's been on this new food a week? Or do we ride through these unpleasant symptoms and continue with Origin? Should I transition her gradually back to the old food?

What can I expect from her during this time? Continued diarrhea?

Also, she seems to hate cleaning herself. She is only twelve weeks and she grooms her legs, but she won't groom her butt or nether regions. I clean her with hypoallergenic and nonalcoholic pet wipes after each litter box occasion. Right now, she has diarrhea, so I hope that her grooming will improve once we solve this problem. Any advice on how to get her to clean her paws and tail though?

Please help and advise. I feel I've made a horrid mistake and am not sure how to remedy it.

Thank you,

A Very Concerned Academic

 

[paiger8]

I would put her on all wet right now until her stool firms up. Cats have less of an issue with wet food, you can even add in some other flavors/brands. You can then slowly introduce the dry food back, just a TINY bit at a time. Figure out which one you like better (ingredients) and feed that. But slooooowly add it. Just a few kibbles as treats at first and slowly add more and more over a few weeks. Right now, switching back to Acana would just cause more diarrhea problems since her system is already switching over to Orijen. I'd cut the dry completely till her stool is better, then pick one and feed it. 

I don't have any experience with Acana, but there are some recent threads on Orijen that you may want to check out. They changed their formula to include more fish and moved facilities from Canada to the US. 

 

[academic12]

Thanks. I was reading up on that! I'll definitely do that in the interim, especially since I'm not sure how long it will take her system to fully switch over from Acana to Orijen.