Tiki Cat Mousses

[Scaredpersianowner]

Hello!

First and foremost, I’d like to thank everyone in this group. I have 3 cats and you are all so incredibly helpful here when I need advice

I have a Persian who absolutely refuses to eat wet food, which resulted in an awful lot of constipation. Vet put her on lactulose which wasn’t really helping that much, but luckily we found a Tiki Cat wet food topper that she enjoys and she has been eating that (1 pack a day) for a couple of weeks and it has helped the constipation tremendously.

I would like to get her off lactulose eventually and either switch to Miralax or not have her take anything for constipation, depending how she does. I am almost positive the reason for the constipation is the lack of wet food. I am looking into transitioning her to the Tiki Cat Mousse. She is EXTREMELY picky and so far has only taken the Tiki Cat Tuna Topper, but that is oily and I want her to eat actual wet food.

I am looking at the Tuna and Mackerel Tiki Cat Mousse and wondering if anyone here knows if the ingredients look ok? I am asking because she gets urinary kibble as she has had crystals before, but she will absolutely not eat any UR wet food. Tiki Cat is the only brand we’ve found that she enjoys. I am attaching a couple of images of the wet food I’m hoping to get her on.

Thank you so much for any advice!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi! I think the Tiki Cat Mousse is not bad, but you might want to try some of the non-fish ones just so she eats less fish. Some seem to think eating a lot of fish products can contribute to crystal formation - I personally don't have an opinion one way or the other about that.

Another food to consider might be Sheba, Iams, and/or Nutro pates. All of them are just a bit 'firmer', but they are softer than a lot of other pates, so adding some water might make the texture closer to the Tiki Cat Mousse. These particular ones I mention are single serving plastic tubs, so two of them would be about the equivalent of a Tiki mousse pouch.

I would continue to try different brands of pates, and maybe you will eventually hit on one or two she will like in addition to the Tiki Cat Mousse.

 

[lisahe]

I agree with FeebysOwner about feeding less fish. I also don't like the xanthan gum in the Tiki food. It causes problems for some cats.

Another option might be Nulo's chicken and duck mousse, which our cats both like. Like Tiki, it's not cheap... but the cats eat it all!

Nulo FreeStyle Silky Mousse For Cats | Chicken & Duck

Great nutrition has a new texture. The light, creamy, and smooth-as-silk texture of our mousse is irresistible and packed with real chicken and duck.

nulo.com

Constipation can be tricky but one that that generally seems to work for one of our cats is Vet's Best anti-hairball tablets. Hairball Relief Digestive Aid | Vet's Best
I say "generally" because she still occasionally has days when I can tell she's a bit constipated: she gets picky and a little cranky.

 

[Scaredpersianowner]

I agree with FeebysOwner about feeding less fish. I also don't like the xanthan gum in the Tiki food. It causes problems for some cats.

Another option might be Nulo's chicken and duck mousse, which our cats both like. Like Tiki, it's not cheap... but the cats eat it all!

http://[URL]https://nulo.com/for-cats/products/freestyle-cat-silky-mousse-chicken-duck-recipe

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Constipation can be tricky but one that that generally seems to work for one of our cats is Vet's Best anti-hairball tablets. Hairball Relief Digestive Aid | Vet's Best
I say "generally" because she still occasionally has days when I can tell she's a bit constipated: she gets picky and a little cranky.

FeebysOwner lisahe
Thank you so much for your reply! A bit of reasoning behind the fish choice:

She had an ultrasound due to the constipation. They found enlarged lymph nodes in her abdomen. Took this back to my vet at the time and they put her on Hydrolized Protein due to a possible chicken allergy. She is eating Royal Canin Hydrolized Protein + Urinary kibble.

It was supposed to help with constipation- it didn’t. I was sure it was the lack of wet food even tho vets keep telling me “it’s fine if she only eats kibble.” I have a new vet now and she said she’s not too worried about the enlarged lymph nodes, especially if she’s doing well. Vet also said she doesn’t suspect a food allergy so she is working with us to switch her to a non Hydrolized Protein kibble that may be easier on the tummy.

Anyway, she tends to stray away from chicken flavored things, but what I can do is try start her on Tiki Cat Fussy Wet Food which is duck and egg any opinions on that? Does nulo have xanthan gum? I don’t mind the cost, I will pay anything for my girl!

thank you both so much for your advice

 

[BellaBlue82]

I also have a picky eater, and we've tried a few different brands. I will say the princess likes Tiki Cat Velvet mousse the best. I try not to feed her fish based foods, only because she can get an upset tummy from things like tuna/mackerel, plus I worry about iodine content from the fish itself. However, she does love the salmon flavor - she does not react to it, nor does it have the risk of iodine. I have also tried Nulo, Whole Hearted, and Rawz.... Rawz was a second close one.
The other flavor I feed her is turkey. Her tum tum doesn't really like chicken either, but I think it's mostly because a lot of the chicken based foods have fish juice (my word choice lol) in them. Ironically turkey is just turkey and she gobbles it up (no pun intended!)
Good luck with your sweet kitty, I hope the mousse pouches work for her!

 

[FeebysOwner]

You will be hard pressed to find most any cat food without some 'gum' in it. And each and/or every one of the gums may or may not impact a cat - it all depends on the cat. I would not necessarily stray you away from xanthum gum specifically. The ones I tend to worry more about are those that contain multiple gums.

 

[Scaredpersianowner]

You will be hard pressed to find most any cat food without some 'gum' in it. And each and/or every one of the gums may or may not impact a cat - it all depends on the cat. I would not necessarily stray you away from xanthum gum specifically. The ones I tend to worry more about are those that contain multiple gums.

So I tried the nulo and Tiki Cat wet food (pate) in the pouches and she’s rejected every single one she is only eating the Tiki Cat meal topper tuna flavor. I am taking into consideration that tuna may cause crystals so I would like to give her something else, but it’s the only one she will eat. They have another one in a chicken flavor that I could try. Do you have any thoughts on the ingredients for this one? Thank you so much in advance.

 

[FeebysOwner]

It is fine to try, but it is also a topper, meaning that it is not nutritionally complete and cannot take the place of regular meals. Compare the ingredients and texture of the toppers against the Tiki and Nulo complete foods and see what the differences are. Maybe mix any of the toppers she will eat with some of the other 'complete' foods and see if she might be amenable to eating them then. You could start with more topper and less complete food and then gradually reduce the topper amount while increasing the complete food.

 

[daftcat75]

I'll play devil's advocate and say the xanthan gum in those smooth, mousse foods may be just what a chronically constipated cat needs to get things moving. I normally try to avoid this one because it has that effect on some cats (and people too): mousse in, mousse out. But since you're trying to get her off lactulose, it might be worth a try. From an ingredients point of view, xanthan gum and added oil aside, I think Tiki Cat recipes are better than most. I don't like when they add vegetable oil vs using an animal source like liver. But again, it probably doesn't apply here. I would say buy a few of those packs in different flavors and see what the boss thinks first.

When you find one or a few that she likes, watch the litterbox and see how adjusting dry to wet ratio affects stool quality.