How To Put 2 Cats On The Same Diet?

hello, I'm new here so please bear with me and please don't get angry with my choices.

I currently have a 6 year old tabby who I am currently trying to switch to Orijen cat and kitten food which is free fed daily (she will be fully switched over within 4 days) She also gets 1/2 to a little over half a 3 oz can of Fancy Feast Classics wet food 2 times a day and 1/2 to 1 Primal freezer dried nugget once a day... she won't eat more then 1/2 to 1 Primal nugget at one feeding.

6am, 3-4pm, 8-9pm is my current feeding schedule. I tried to come up with a schedule that the time is evenly spaced out but since I work 7-3pm daily I can't give it at any other times.

I will be getting a 12 week old male flame point ragdoll kitten in 3 days. The breeder has him on TLC cat food mixed with Chicken soup for the soul Kitten and he gets one can of GO or Nutrients wet food a day. I plan on just feeding him Chicken soup for the soul Kitten with Facey Feast Classics wet and Primal nuggets (I read and was told that wet food is easy to switch around so I'm hoping he won't get sick if I give him Facey Feast Classics and Primal nuggets instead of GO and Nutrients wet food) and then after 2 weeks of him being here I'll start switching him over to Orijen cat and kitten. Does this sound okay? Should I slowly switch him over to the different wet food instead of just giving it to him and hoping for the best?

Once I have both cats on wet/ raw 3 times a day and Orijen cat and kitten free fed for 3 to 6 months (or when I see that the food is starting to run low) i would like to start doing on scheduled feeding (cancelling out the dry Orijen cat and kitten food entirely or just having it at night) and eventually maybe only feeding raw Primal frozen raw nuggets or Big Country Raw food with some wet canned food (if I run out and can't get to the store). Do this sound good? I would also like to get people's opinions on giving cats a Primal raw bone to chew on once a month to help with teeth cleaning and for the nutrition (I will be brushing their teeth once a week)

Thanks for the advice, tips and tricks ahead of time!

I would slowly switch the kitten to the new dry food, but the switch to wet should be able to be done more quickly. Just try it and see what happens. If he develops tummy issues, then you may need to slowly introduce the new wet food as well. Normally you don't, but there are always exceptions to the rule.

Your plan sounds okay to me . Congrats on your (almost) new kitty!

I went through this recently myself. I switched the wet food over the course of a week or so, and the dry food over maybe a month. I don't feed raw myself now, but from previous experience that can take a little longer that a switch between canned foods. Maybe do that over two or three weeks rather than one.

Congratulations on your new kitten

MOD NOTE: MERGED POSTS


I'm getting my kitten tomorrow and the breeder has him on 50% Chicken soup for the soul Kitten and 50% TLC cat food right now. She told me he is having soft but formed bowel movements. I only have the Chicken soup for the soul Kitten so he will be witches to a 100% chicken soup for the soul diet. I'm worried about the 50% to 100% switch.... do you think he will be okay? I don't want to make my kitten sick however I don't want to buy the other food since I don't want to keep him on that food in the long run and you can only purchase it online which takes 3-7 days to ship.

I already have a cat that's on Orijen cat and kitten... I was hoping to switch him to that food after 2 weeks of being here... would this still be okay?

He was vet checked 1 day ago and also neutered and given his last needle and all was well with him so I know the soft formed stools is just from the food change (she only seen the change in stool when she upped the food to 50%)

I called 2 different vets, both say to monitor him (poop and if he's acting odd) and one says to give him a probiotic and the other says the probiotic probably won't do anything. Is there anything you guys can think of that might help that wouldn't make it worse?

I'm a BIG worry wort so this is driving me nuts. I don't want to bring him home and have him get sick because of my stupidity of not wanting to buy $60 worth of food that I can't return without spending $24 in shipping to return it for a full refund (the shipping cost wouldn't be refunded so I would be losing money)

Hope to get answers soon!!

Ashley

You could ask the vets about adding a spoon of plain canned pumpkin to his food. You can also thin his food down with water and feed it in smaller amounts but more frequently.And congratulations on your new kitten - how exciting! Please give us updates and we love photos

As mentioned previously, the dry food should be transitioned slowly to prevent this very issue. How has the breeder been transitioning him? Did she start with 1/4 the new food and 3/4 old with no issue and did she keep him on that for at least a week? If he only showed signs of loose stools with the larger amount of chicken soup for the soul, then realistically, she should have backed down on the amount to maybe 3/8 to 5/8 and seen what happened.

Could you simply ask her for some of the TLC so you can complete the transition? Maybe you can buy it from her (enough to transition to the Chicken Soup before you then transition to the Orijen you discussed in your other thread)

So the breeder is feeding him 50%/50% dry foods and two other brands of (wet?) foods...so a combination of 4 different brands?

Your short term goal, as I understand it is to move him to Chicken Soup + Fancy Feast, and then transition from their to Orijen + raw, and then to raw only maybe?

That's enough changes to make someone's head spin (and their poop soft but formed ). I'd probably try to simplify your plan and get to the goal line a little sooner without so many transitions. I like Mrsgreenjeans idea of asking the breeder for some of the TLC to mix with the Chicken Soup you already have, but since you are transitioning anyway, use the 50%/50% TLC/CSoup as the "base" and start adding a bit the Orijen to the mix. You should be able to get the kitten to Orijen in a week or two, and just donate any Chicken Soup leftovers to a shelter.

Wet food transition shouldn't be much of an issue.

She wouldn't give me any TLC food. He is home now and I am concerned about how thin he is and about his poop..... he's 12 weeks and 5 days and only weighs 1lb 13oz!! He is litterly fur, skin, and bones. Since being home he has eaten (at least half a cup if not more) just Chicken soup for the soul (kitten) and has drank lots of water. He is also very active and vocal. I have yet to give him any wet food because he had one nervous runny poop on the drive home (the drive was 3 hours and 45 minutes)

Awww! He ought to be about 3 lbs unless he is a tiny breed. I think you said the breed on the other thread, but I'm too lazy to pop back over there.

I would just let him eat all he wants of whatever he wants right now. If he's got runny poop anyway, might as well fatten the boy up. That may not be the best "professional" advice, but I'd worry about him being underweight more than anything (including poop consistency). Maybe just all he wants of Chicken Soup for the weekend is better.

I know it's very sad! I'll Ben sleeping in his "safe room" one the floor with him to make sure he is okay. I have a feeling that either his mom didn't have a lot of milk and/or his siblings (3 are bigger then him and one female is smaller then him) were pushing him away from the food so that they could be the only ones to eat it... anyways I have bought free and clear seventh generation natural baby wipes to keep him clean and canned 100% pure pumpkin to give to him to help bulk his stool up. I just need to research or get someone here to tell me how much to give him! I don't feel like being him to the vet since he is just getting accustomed to his surroundings and he just was at the vets 2 days ago and was said to be perfectly healthy except for being on the smaller side. However in 2 weeks or 3 weeks time I would like to bring him there just to get a check up for his weight. Now if the loose stool (only had that one brown very stinking mashed potato looking poop) presist for longer then a week starting tonight I'll take him in but if they go back to being soft and formed I'll just continue with the pumpkin and giving him as much food as he wants.

When should I introduce him to the new hard food and give him some wet food? Both he has yet to try.

He's so tiny, I wouldn't give him more than 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin 2-3 times a day. Sounds like he just really needs to eat kitten food, and a lot of it. I keep leaning toward giving him whatever he wants.

He's been eating like a champ since being here so far. He just had another bowel movement and it was foul smelling (not as bad as his mashed potato poop) very soft and came out like a long think rope wrapping around in a circle. He is now eating again after have a 15 minute petting/ cuddle session.

A little improvement from the nervous runny poop on the ride home then. It'll take about a day for whatever he ate at the breeders to get out of his system. If his poops continue to be really smelly after a day or two, you might call the vet about a wormer or see if the vet has other ideas.

The smelliness is concerning. Does your vet recommend boiled chicken with white rice? That is what my vet has me do so that there guts have a chance to calm down. I boil it with a small amount of pink salt and at first mash in enough of the broth to make a slurry and then add mushy boiled white rice. As the stools solidify, you reduce the broth and the rice until you are feeding straight chicken. Only then do you begin slowly reintroducing the kitten food. She also has me offer Nutrical after the first day or so.
You could also ask your vet about probiotics - it sounds like his gut flora might be severely out of whack.

I can't reintroduced the kitten food slowly since I don't have any other food except for the chicken soup for the soul Kitten. He just went poop again, it is foul smelling and is a light brown mashed potatoes consistency. Will be calling the vet tomorrow to get their input again. His bum seems red too as if it's raw from the pooping

catsknowme said:

The smelliness is concerning. Does your vet recommend boiled chicken with white rice? That is what my vet has me do so that there guts have a chance to calm down. I boil it with a small amount of pink salt and at first mash in enough of the broth to make a slurry and then add mushy boiled white rice. As the stools solidify, you reduce the broth and the rice until you are feeding straight chicken. Only then do you begin slowly reintroducing the kitten food. She also has me offer Nutrical after the first day or so.
You could also ask your vet about probiotics - it sounds like his gut flora might be severely out of whack.

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The chicken/rice method is actually a good alternative way to transition to a new food, since you don't have the exact foods the breeder was feeding. Kind of like a "detox" following by a new start.

I'd skip the baby wipes, even if they are gentle and "natural". There are ingredients in them that could add to the red bum, plus he'll be licking back there (unlike a human baby ). Just a very soft cloth and plain body-temp water should be good. You can also just run a small stream of tepid water in the sink and rinse his back side, if he will allow that.

Hopefully the vet will find a fix today. Look forward to the update.

I've been using the baby wipes on his back... he has stuck on poop where he can't reach. I went to the vet this am to drop off his vet records and the vet gave me probiotics and deworming medication (he was dewarmed a week ago so he'll need it next week) they vet also said that I could just go ahead and transition him very slowly over 2 weeks to the Orijen cat and kitten. They said he should be getting soft food to mix the probiotic in.

So I tried Fancy Feast and he turned his nose to it. I gave him Primal nuggets and he went crazy! Wondering if I can free feed dry and give raw 3 times a day? If not will Primal alone work to help him gain weight? I don't mind spending the money to just give him raw if that will be best for him and make him gain weight!

Not even 2 hours after I posted last my kitten had the worse of all his poops and was crying a ton before and after! His poor bum is raw from the diarrhea and licking it! I automatically gave in and order the TLC cat food the breeder originally had him on without any problems. I feel awful for being the one to cause this diarrhea and pain just to save money. (The breeder told me to cancel my order of the TLC food since she was starting them on the chicken soup for the soul Kitten and thought it would work out fine but it didn't!!) I'm also going to keep him on the Primal nuggets 3 times a day if feeding raw while free feeding dry is okay or I'll get him on high quality canned food that is higher in calories to make him gain weight. Once he is 6 months or a year old depending on how his weight is I'll start the process of transitioning them to only canned then to raw and canned or only raw. So happy my other cat doesn't have an issue with switching foods.