Dr. Elsey's causing diarrhea, sewage smell?

Krienze

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First let me apologize for having two threads going - the two situations aren't related, so I didn't want to make things confusing my posting them together!

As some of you know, my cats are seriously food addicted. They want food ALL the time, but will waste wet food cans (I say waste because if I put it away and reheat later, they will not touch it.) when I put them down. They'll eat wet food in the morning but then get VERY demanding about wanting dry through out the day. Jasper, because of his UTI issues, has been a struggle for me. Plus I need a food that will help Sammy lose weight.

Ever since we started feeding them Dr. Elsey's dry, their poops have smelled AWFUL. I mean... like sewage. To the point where we should probably just invest in air freshener at this point. To make matters worse, Jasper and Charlie have been having AWFUL diarrhea constantly.


They eat weruva for wet food (the hydration ones, specifically. I stopped feeding them BFF, but sometimes give them the cats in the kitchen pouches.) and I thought they were doing well on it. Jasper with his UTI issues NEEDS wet food, so I can't just cut that out and feed him dry only (nor would I anyway x.x now that I fully understand that dry is bad, but I thought Dr. Elsey's would be fine.)

Should I stop feeding them Dr. Elsey's?

Is there a way to reinforce them eating on schedule?

Jasper will knock things off the counters when he wants to eat.
Charlie and Milo will start extreme rough housing, but that's managable.
Sammy will chew on plastic while making eye-contact with me so that I know I'm "starving" him.

Mia and Gracie are really the only ones content to wait for a feeding time, but when Jasper and Sammy want food, they get OBNOXIOUS and usually it gets so bad that my mom will cave and feed them just to get them to cut it out.
 
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Krienze

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Edit: Also considering switching to Instinct for wet/dry food - would giving them the same brand of wet and dry help maybe?
 

ladytimedramon

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One of my cats was having that "sewage smell". The vet put her on a limited ingredient diet. We tried rabbit first (used Instinct) but it wasn't helping. The smell was less but not gone. I switched her to duck (Koha shredded LID wet, Pure Vita dry). Within a month, no smell. I am having to switch dry though because the Pure Vita has salmon oil, and my other cat is having issues with that, so she's now on Fussie Cat Duck & Quail for dry and that seems to be fine. The only problem now is she's sick of the Koha (she likes variety) but there aren't any other LID duck that aren't pate. Pate is a 4 letter word to my girls.

Your cat may be having a sensitivity to something. When I adopted Fancy I was giving her a lot of chicken, turkey, and beef wet. Chicken seems to be a very common allergen, as are fish products. My other cat can't have any fish, even oils.
 

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We tried Dr. Elsey dry food…they had rancid, explosive diarrhea for weeks. It all cleared up when we went back to their former food (another grain free, Tiki Cat)
 

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First let me apologize for having two threads going - the two situations aren't related, so I didn't want to make things confusing my posting them together!

As some of you know, my cats are seriously food addicted. They want food ALL the time, but will waste wet food cans (I say waste because if I put it away and reheat later, they will not touch it.) when I put them down. They'll eat wet food in the morning but then get VERY demanding about wanting dry through out the day. Jasper, because of his UTI issues, has been a struggle for me. Plus I need a food that will help Sammy lose weight.

Ever since we started feeding them Dr. Elsey's dry, their poops have smelled AWFUL. I mean... like sewage. To the point where we should probably just invest in air freshener at this point. To make matters worse, Jasper and Charlie have been having AWFUL diarrhea constantly.


They eat weruva for wet food (the hydration ones, specifically. I stopped feeding them BFF, but sometimes give them the cats in the kitchen pouches.) and I thought they were doing well on it. Jasper with his UTI issues NEEDS wet food, so I can't just cut that out and feed him dry only (nor would I anyway x.x now that I fully understand that dry is bad, but I thought Dr. Elsey's would be fine.)

Should I stop feeding them Dr. Elsey's?

Is there a way to reinforce them eating on schedule?

Jasper will knock things off the counters when he wants to eat.
Charlie and Milo will start extreme rough housing, but that's managable.
Sammy will chew on plastic while making eye-contact with me so that I know I'm "starving" him.

Mia and Gracie are really the only ones content to wait for a feeding time, but when Jasper and Sammy want food, they get OBNOXIOUS and usually it gets so bad that my mom will cave and feed them just to get them to cut it out.
Sorry for laughing, I was imagining the scene in your kitchen … I can picture it. For the smell a lot of time is just flora you can try giving them probiotic. I like Saccharomyces Boulardii It’s for human consumption so l will take it to. Tor the cats I open one capsule and distribute it on 3 cats food once a week. Smelly poo or not this is beneficial all around. I’m so so sooo against feeding dry food to cats, at all. High quality dry is used sparingly as a treat only! Unless there is medical condition they get served breakfast which is removed an hour later, any leftovers were picked and put away. Next meal is leftover mixed with different flavor fresh can . And around and around we go. Cats are like children , sometimes they are hungry sometimes they are not, sometimes they like their food sometimes they don’t. If not hungry for breakfast will be for lunch……. And so on.if it’s up to them it would be fast food all day long. So, unlucky for them, mommy is home to make sure they eat their vegetables and fruit, lol.
 

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First let me apologize for having two threads going - the two situations aren't related, so I didn't want to make things confusing my posting them together!

As some of you know, my cats are seriously food addicted. They want food ALL the time, but will waste wet food cans (I say waste because if I put it away and reheat later, they will not touch it.) when I put them down. They'll eat wet food in the morning but then get VERY demanding about wanting dry through out the day. Jasper, because of his UTI issues, has been a struggle for me. Plus I need a food that will help Sammy lose weight.

Ever since we started feeding them Dr. Elsey's dry, their poops have smelled AWFUL. I mean... like sewage. To the point where we should probably just invest in air freshener at this point. To make matters worse, Jasper and Charlie have been having AWFUL diarrhea constantly.


They eat weruva for wet food (the hydration ones, specifically. I stopped feeding them BFF, but sometimes give them the cats in the kitchen pouches.) and I thought they were doing well on it. Jasper with his UTI issues NEEDS wet food, so I can't just cut that out and feed him dry only (nor would I anyway x.x now that I fully understand that dry is bad, but I thought Dr. Elsey's would be fine.)

Should I stop feeding them Dr. Elsey's?

Is there a way to reinforce them eating on schedule?

Jasper will knock things off the counters when he wants to eat.
Charlie and Milo will start extreme rough housing, but that's managable.
Sammy will chew on plastic while making eye-contact with me so that I know I'm "starving" him.

Mia and Gracie are really the only ones content to wait for a feeding time, but when Jasper and Sammy want food, they get OBNOXIOUS and usually it gets so bad that my mom will cave and feed them just to get them to cut it out.
Your cats sound like mine, at least like Merlin and Zena is getting food obsessed too but he is not obese. Merlin is on a diet and is driving me crazy 😳. He drives me crazy anyway. But they almost never refuse any food, never 😹

I would def stop that food- dr elseys, it gave them runs. Switch slowly to something else. Mine eat home cooked and fussy cat or weruva one flavor only due to runs and sensitivities, no grains. I am searching for a dry that will not give them runs.
 

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My cat was doing amazing on the Dr.Elsey chicken dry last year until suddenly 1 new batch he started having stool issues as well. I made several posts about it on here before and eventually just gave up and swapped to a rabbit LID food. It sucks because before the sudden issues, he ate it for months, had great energy and beautiful coat.

He's eating Instinct LID rabbit dry right now, he's an older cat who refuses wet food to the point of getting ill, so I have to stick with whatever dry options he will have no issues with. His poop also stinks on the rabbit LID but at least no more runny or soft stools.
 

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People have been mentioning here that the DE formula seems to have changed. The kibble looks different. That might be the reason why. I had to switch the girls to another dry food but not because of that. It was because I was running low and couldn't find any. I transitioned them from DE to Solid Gold Indigo Moon. They like it a lot. The pieces are small like the DE and the reviews on the SG said that it's good for picky eaters which my girls certainly are. It's also subscribe and save eligible which I like.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PAV2DQI/?tag=thecatsite
 
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Krienze

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Your cat may be having a sensitivity to something. When I adopted Fancy I was giving her a lot of chicken, turkey, and beef wet. Chicken seems to be a very common allergen, as are fish products. My other cat can't have any fish, even oils.
Yeah, Jasper has had two UTI's within the last year so we were advised to avoid fish anything, which makes finding variety in food soooo hard x.x and they're SO stupidly picky.

We tried Dr. Elsey dry food…they had rancid, explosive diarrhea for weeks. It all cleared up when we went back to their former food (another grain free, Tiki Cat)
Okay, so....Tiki dry is what I was using for them since they absolutely HATE the wet food, but the dry is low carb so I thought ok? that'd be good for sam, but he vomits it up REALLY fast. He doesn't seem to do that on Dr. Elsey's, but they all have been having the runs on it so now it's like, which evil do I pick x.x

Sorry for laughing, I was imagining the scene in your kitchen
Lmfao, you're fine. If it wasn't for them driving me absolutely crazy, I'd laugh too. I DO laugh sometimes lol

Your cats sound like mine, at least like Merlin and Zena is getting food obsessed too but he is not obese. Merlin is on a diet and is driving me crazy 😳. He drives me crazy anyway. But they almost never refuse any food, never 😹
Mine love food, but they want dry all the time. I've tried breaking them of it by ONLY feeding wet but they'll leave it to spoil and throw huge fits

My cat was doing amazing on the Dr.Elsey chicken dry last year until suddenly 1 new batch he started having stool issues as well. I made several posts about it on here before and eventually just gave up and swapped to a rabbit LID food. It sucks because before the sudden issues, he ate it for months, had great energy and beautiful coat.

He's eating Instinct LID rabbit dry right now, he's an older cat who refuses wet food to the point of getting ill, so I have to stick with whatever dry options he will have no issues with. His poop also stinks on the rabbit LID but at least no more runny or soft stools.
Like, I really really like DE. Their coats have been so shiny and healthy looking and Sammy rarely pukes up his food.
Instinct I hear is really good and I've been thinking of checking it out.
I would take the stinky poo, I'm fine with that, it's the runny and soft stools that I want gone because I'm sure it irritates their butts =( I've tried using some Vaseline to help with it feeling raw for them but would like a permanent fix yanno?


People have been mentioning here that the DE formula seems to have changed. The kibble looks different. That might be the reason why. I had to switch the girls to another dry food but not because of that. It was because I was running low and couldn't find any. I transitioned them from DE to Solid Gold Indigo Moon. They like it a lot. The pieces are small like the DE and the reviews on the SG said that it's good for picky eaters which my girls certainly are. It's also subscribe and save eligible which I like.
GAH. I always seem to find 'good' foods just as they change... same with Acana.

A friend of mine swears by Solid Gold, but the cats won't touch their wet food so I was afraid to try their dry food x.x
 

ladytimedramon

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Fancy's tummy really cleared up on the Koha duck wet and Fussie Cat duck and quail dry. Since she's not wanting to eat the Koha any more I'm trying Merrick Backcountry Duck wet and hoping that it doesn't upset her stomach. It has turkey in it, and salmon oil. So I'm watching the litter boxes like a hawk. Hopefully all of this was just a sensitivity to either chicken or some other ingredient in Fancy Feast. Which is a big enough pain because Fancy Feast is what Delilah will eat :frustrated:

Delilah is fish sensitive. It's hard to find stuff without but it can be found. Fancy is sensitive to most likely chicken, hopefully not turkey or salmon oil.

For those who haven't tried it, the Fussie Cat Turkey and chicken kibble doesn't have grains or fish oil, but it does have peas and chick peas. Plus their kibble comes in as small as a 2 pound bag to try.



INGREDIENTS

Chicken, Chicken Meal, Peas, Turkey Meal, Pea Flour, Chickpeas, Chicken Fat (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols And Citric Acid), Natural Flavors, Flaxseed, Dicalcium Phosphate, Alfalfa Meal, Fructooligosaccharide, Minerals (Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Cobalt Proteinate), Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Vitamins (Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Taurine, Blueberries, Cranberries, Lactic Acid, Dried Kelp, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Rosemary Extract.
 

ladytimedramon

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My cat was doing amazing on the Dr.Elsey chicken dry last year until suddenly 1 new batch he started having stool issues as well. I made several posts about it on here before and eventually just gave up and swapped to a rabbit LID food. It sucks because before the sudden issues, he ate it for months, had great energy and beautiful coat.

He's eating Instinct LID rabbit dry right now, he's an older cat who refuses wet food to the point of getting ill, so I have to stick with whatever dry options he will have no issues with. His poop also stinks on the rabbit LID but at least no more runny or soft stools.
Have you considered switching him to a duck dry? Once I switched Fancy to duck, the worst of the odor was gone. I used Pure Vita at first, but it has salmon oil and my other cat (who shares kibble) is sensitive to salmon oil. So now they're on Fussie Cat Duck and Quail with almost no problems.
 
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Krienze

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Have you considered switching him to a duck dry? Once I switched Fancy to duck, the worst of the odor was gone. I used Pure Vita at first, but it has salmon oil and my other cat (who shares kibble) is sensitive to salmon oil. So now they're on Fussie Cat Duck and Quail with almost no problems.
I believe the DE he's been eating is the Duck (alternating with the rabbit) since since I have been buying it those have been the only two available as the chicken was out of stock. They FINALLY got some in so I ordered two bags and I'm going to see how they do on those, because maybe the duck or rabbit is just to rich for him?
 

ladytimedramon

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I believe the DE he's been eating is the Duck (alternating with the rabbit) since since I have been buying it those have been the only two available as the chicken was out of stock. They FINALLY got some in so I ordered two bags and I'm going to see how they do on those, because maybe the duck or rabbit is just to rich for him?
Based on other comments, it might also be the brand going through changes.
 

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Fancy's tummy really cleared up on the Koha duck wet and Fussie Cat duck and quail dry. Since she's not wanting to eat the Koha any more I'm trying Merrick Backcountry Duck wet and hoping that it doesn't upset her stomach. It has turkey in it, and salmon oil. So I'm watching the litter boxes like a hawk. Hopefully all of this was just a sensitivity to either chicken or some other ingredient in Fancy Feast. Which is a big enough pain because Fancy Feast is what Delilah will eat :frustrated:

Delilah is fish sensitive. It's hard to find stuff without but it can be found. Fancy is sensitive to most likely chicken, hopefully not turkey or salmon oil.

For those who haven't tried it, the Fussie Cat Turkey and chicken kibble doesn't have grains or fish oil, but it does have peas and chick peas. Plus their kibble comes in as small as a 2 pound bag to try.



INGREDIENTS

Chicken, Chicken Meal, Peas, Turkey Meal, Pea Flour, Chickpeas, Chicken Fat (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols And Citric Acid), Natural Flavors, Flaxseed, Dicalcium Phosphate, Alfalfa Meal, Fructooligosaccharide, Minerals (Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Cobalt Proteinate), Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Vitamins (Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Taurine, Blueberries, Cranberries, Lactic Acid, Dried Kelp, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Rosemary Extract.
I would like to try this because my guys can eat fussie cat wet, but I am worried about the peas. Peas give me digestive issues and high bg, but of course that is me.
 

ladytimedramon

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I would like to try this because my guys can eat fussie cat wet, but I am worried about the peas. Peas give me digestive issues and high bg, but of course that is me.
It's nice that they have a 2 pound pack so it's not a huge investment if it doesn't work out.
 
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Krienze

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I know it's been a few months, but I wanted to update in case anyone peaked in looking for info on Dr. Elsey's.

The cats got sick on the chicken, too. Sammy threw it up, even hours after eating it. Was concerning to me, since usually when he pukes it's right away/because he eats too fast. Jasper and Gracie both had terrible runs and everyone else had awful gas. I decided to look for a new dry food and since I have two friends who swear by it, I tried Solid Gold.

The cats LOVE it, they don't snub their noses at it, and absolutely no more upset stomachs. Just healthy poops in the litter boxes.

They eat it at night and eat weruva mixed with fancy feast in the morning. Their coats look great, Jasper doesn't seem to be having issues with UTI's or anything so.... I think we found a win!
 

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I know it's been a few months, but I wanted to update in case anyone peaked in looking for info on Dr. Elsey's.

The cats got sick on the chicken, too. Sammy threw it up, even hours after eating it. Was concerning to me, since usually when he pukes it's right away/because he eats too fast. Jasper and Gracie both had terrible runs and everyone else had awful gas. I decided to look for a new dry food and since I have two friends who swear by it, I tried Solid Gold.

The cats LOVE it, they don't snub their noses at it, and absolutely no more upset stomachs. Just healthy poops in the litter boxes.

They eat it at night and eat weruva mixed with fancy feast in the morning. Their coats look great, Jasper doesn't seem to be having issues with UTI's or anything so.... I think we found a win!
That is great! We tried the fussie cat and then halo boned chicken grain free. But Zena and Merlin got worse runs even on halo. quinn would not eat the halo at first but then he started eating it and he did not get diarrhea from either. I am not sure about the vomiting- I don’t think that was related to the dry food.

maybe I should try the solid gold? Is it grain free?
 

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I stopped giving my cat Dr Elsey’s due to the crumbly texture of the most recent batches. Too much was going to waste because my cat couldn’t eat all the pieces. Weirdly, I felt like my cat was peeing less on this food, I don’t know if the extra protein was messing with her. Final straw was the response from the company about my questions about the crumbles…they really couldn’t care less. I still believe it a quality food in terms of ingredients. I switched my cat over to Tiki Cat Dry Chicken (she still eats mostly wet, this is just a bedtime treat). She loves it and it is fairly low carb!
 
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Krienze

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That is great! We tried the fussie cat and then halo boned chicken grain free. But Zena and Merlin got worse runs even on halo. quinn would not eat the halo at first but then he started eating it and he did not get diarrhea from either. I am not sure about the vomiting- I don’t think that was related to the dry food.

maybe I should try the solid gold? Is it grain free?
My cats absolutely refuse to eat Solid Gold wet food, but they LOVE the solid gold dry (sigh, go figure.) Solid Gold is grain free, yeah. I love it because there is a sensitive stomach one too that I get that I feed Jasper specifically! Loving it, honestly.

I stopped giving my cat Dr Elsey’s due to the crumbly texture of the most recent batches. Too much was going to waste because my cat couldn’t eat all the pieces. Weirdly, I felt like my cat was peeing less on this food, I don’t know if the extra protein was messing with her. Final straw was the response from the company about my questions about the crumbles…they really couldn’t care less. I still believe it a quality food in terms of ingredients. I switched my cat over to Tiki Cat Dry Chicken (she still eats mostly wet, this is just a bedtime treat). She loves it and it is fairly low carb!
Omg yes. That was another issue I had. Crumbs were going everywhere. I never had any urinary issues with it with Jasper (who is prone to UTI's) but the runny poop issue was way to big of an issue, so we tried solid gold out. I really like Tiki Cat, but the cats won't eat it either. The only tiki products they will eat is the lickable treats, the mousse and occasionally Charlie will devour some of the soft chew treats.
 
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