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- Nov 15, 2014
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HI kitmom,
I posted on this thread back in January, and those three kitties did all adjust to a pretty good variety of foods, including Nature's Variety. I do rotate. However, I ended up back at this thread because we adopted my mom's cat about 2 months ago. He was on all dry food and had been for 7 years, to the point that all wet food left in his bowl next to the dry was considered by him to be non-food for weeks. I found the advice to slowly move the wet closer to the dry in the bowl, then roll some kibble in the gravy, then finally put kibble on more and more wet. Well, he started cleaning his bowl with Nutro minced chicken in there, and I have slowly reduced the amount of kibble until he is now eating pure wet food. Unfortunately, I too think he may be constipated. At my mom's, he drank a lot more water, and I figured that was from the fact that she keeps the house much hotter than here and also his all dry food diet. I was not that worried when he started drinking less with the wet food, and also, I am cleaning urine clumps out of his box regularly. I do have 3 other cats, and we have just been able to let him out in the house with them after that slow introduction. I cannot be 100% certain he is not using their litter boxes, but I have never seen it if he does (and have never seen mine use his either).
Anyway, since he loves the slices or minced or even Weruva or Soulistic with the gravy, I am going to try adding a bit of water and creating a bit more gravy to see if he poops more often and a bit more. I am also working to make sure I am feeding him enough in 24 hours. He needs to lose a pound, but honestly, with him having run of the house versus living in one room at my mom's, I think the activity increase may help him lose weight over time, even if he never eats fewer calories, especially if those calories are wet food that is grain free.
I do, however, hope the Nutro is not causing the issue--for one it is cheaper by the ounce and calorie than Weurva or Soulistic, and for another, and for another, I really like that he does have variety. One of the Soulistic ones has pumpkin soup (Autumn Bounty?) with chicken. I know people suggest pumpkin for diarrhea, but I thought I read somewhere that the fiber might help with constipation as well. I keep thinking that the dry cat food this cat was on was SD Indoor and contained cellulose, which I think helps with passing stool. I worry a bit about hair stopping him up as well, since I think cellulose is added to help there. Is that right? I have some Laxatone around here, but my cats do not need it, since they just don't have a hairball issue on this diet. I would think that if hair was the issue, he would be coughing up hair balls, which he is not.
I hope your cat's bowels get straightened out. A little over a year ago, one of my cats suffered for months with loose stools. It took a while and several trips to the vets before reading here made me question stress and maybe the quality of the Fancy Feast he was 100% eating. Both my kids had gone to college, and I was leaving the house more often to help some family at that time as well. Everyone leaving them alone more may have just been too much for that one cat, since he is definitely very affectionate. Hopefully, with a bit of studying and investigation, we can help our cats through this. I am going to try adding water to the wet food, just a spoonful for starters. I will try to remember to post if it is a success for our new addition to the family. I actually have sort of IBS with constipation, and one reason I suffer in that area is because my stress is usually largely do to being overloaded with work, and in that situation, I very often forget to stop and get water to drink (I remember the caffeine, which is usually keeping me awake during stressful times that are shorting my sleep). I know this cat is still adjusting, since he is on wet food and is now living in my house with 3 other cats--hugs firsts for him--so maybe stress is a factor as well, with no drinking from boredom, which he may have done when living in that one room at my mom's.
I do wonder if it is a moisture issue causing so many cats to suffer and that people on her are onto something by adding water to the cans. I mean, when they make canned water, they do probably cook out the juices (thinking there has to be steam when it cooks at least), but I was of the school of thought that canned food is actually mostly water, so adding water seemed unnecessary. Since this cat was a challenge to get to eat the wet foods he does eat, I hated to chance diluting the gravy and having him balk, but maybe if I just had a spoonful at first, he won't notice. (Famous last words, right? LOL!)
I posted on this thread back in January, and those three kitties did all adjust to a pretty good variety of foods, including Nature's Variety. I do rotate. However, I ended up back at this thread because we adopted my mom's cat about 2 months ago. He was on all dry food and had been for 7 years, to the point that all wet food left in his bowl next to the dry was considered by him to be non-food for weeks. I found the advice to slowly move the wet closer to the dry in the bowl, then roll some kibble in the gravy, then finally put kibble on more and more wet. Well, he started cleaning his bowl with Nutro minced chicken in there, and I have slowly reduced the amount of kibble until he is now eating pure wet food. Unfortunately, I too think he may be constipated. At my mom's, he drank a lot more water, and I figured that was from the fact that she keeps the house much hotter than here and also his all dry food diet. I was not that worried when he started drinking less with the wet food, and also, I am cleaning urine clumps out of his box regularly. I do have 3 other cats, and we have just been able to let him out in the house with them after that slow introduction. I cannot be 100% certain he is not using their litter boxes, but I have never seen it if he does (and have never seen mine use his either).
Anyway, since he loves the slices or minced or even Weruva or Soulistic with the gravy, I am going to try adding a bit of water and creating a bit more gravy to see if he poops more often and a bit more. I am also working to make sure I am feeding him enough in 24 hours. He needs to lose a pound, but honestly, with him having run of the house versus living in one room at my mom's, I think the activity increase may help him lose weight over time, even if he never eats fewer calories, especially if those calories are wet food that is grain free.
I do, however, hope the Nutro is not causing the issue--for one it is cheaper by the ounce and calorie than Weurva or Soulistic, and for another, and for another, I really like that he does have variety. One of the Soulistic ones has pumpkin soup (Autumn Bounty?) with chicken. I know people suggest pumpkin for diarrhea, but I thought I read somewhere that the fiber might help with constipation as well. I keep thinking that the dry cat food this cat was on was SD Indoor and contained cellulose, which I think helps with passing stool. I worry a bit about hair stopping him up as well, since I think cellulose is added to help there. Is that right? I have some Laxatone around here, but my cats do not need it, since they just don't have a hairball issue on this diet. I would think that if hair was the issue, he would be coughing up hair balls, which he is not.
I hope your cat's bowels get straightened out. A little over a year ago, one of my cats suffered for months with loose stools. It took a while and several trips to the vets before reading here made me question stress and maybe the quality of the Fancy Feast he was 100% eating. Both my kids had gone to college, and I was leaving the house more often to help some family at that time as well. Everyone leaving them alone more may have just been too much for that one cat, since he is definitely very affectionate. Hopefully, with a bit of studying and investigation, we can help our cats through this. I am going to try adding water to the wet food, just a spoonful for starters. I will try to remember to post if it is a success for our new addition to the family. I actually have sort of IBS with constipation, and one reason I suffer in that area is because my stress is usually largely do to being overloaded with work, and in that situation, I very often forget to stop and get water to drink (I remember the caffeine, which is usually keeping me awake during stressful times that are shorting my sleep). I know this cat is still adjusting, since he is on wet food and is now living in my house with 3 other cats--hugs firsts for him--so maybe stress is a factor as well, with no drinking from boredom, which he may have done when living in that one room at my mom's.
I do wonder if it is a moisture issue causing so many cats to suffer and that people on her are onto something by adding water to the cans. I mean, when they make canned water, they do probably cook out the juices (thinking there has to be steam when it cooks at least), but I was of the school of thought that canned food is actually mostly water, so adding water seemed unnecessary. Since this cat was a challenge to get to eat the wet foods he does eat, I hated to chance diluting the gravy and having him balk, but maybe if I just had a spoonful at first, he won't notice. (Famous last words, right? LOL!)
