Olive Needs A New Food

*kara*

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Hello :)

My first post so quick summary -

Olive is our 2.5yr old short haired spayed girl. - dilute torbi ❤

We adopted her from the SPCA at the end of May. Her original owners had surrendered her for financial reasons. She had 3 canines pulled (all fractured badly) and was spayed at the end of May - at least one litter from her. Probably more :/

She came to us being fed Science Diet adult (SPCA is sponsored by Hills). I switched her to Orijen Cat/Kitten. She happily ate it and gained weight well (she was fairly thin having just weaned kittens a few weeks before we got her). All was good for a few weeks and she started to have occasional loose poops. 12hr fast and it would be okay again. Poops were quite stinky/huge on Orijen. So after a few rounds of the same loose poops, I put her on Royal Canin Sensitive Digestion. Poops solidified right away but now she only goes every few days and it's smaller/firmer. Tried mixing in 25% Orijen and less than 24hrs later, stinky soft poops are back.

So... Now what? Help.
 
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*kara*

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Should add - she was dewormed by SPCA (3 doses). She is happy all the time.
 

Wile

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Hi Kara! My first thought is that you could be dealing with a food intolerance issue. Have you spoken with your vet yet about Olive?
 
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*kara*

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No, I haven't booked an appt for her yet. She has seen our vet once since we got her after we were concerned that she ate some of a Rainbow Loom bracelet - we were to watch and see along with Laxatone for a few days... She showed no signs of concern so all good there.

Hmmm, what would you suspect could be the intolerance offender?
 

LadyLondonderry

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Hello :)

My first post so quick summary -

Olive is our 2.5yr old short haired spayed girl. - dilute torbi ❤

We adopted her from the SPCA at the end of May. Her original owners had surrendered her for financial reasons. She had 3 canines pulled (all fractured badly) and was spayed at the end of May - at least one litter from her. Probably more :/

She came to us being fed Science Diet adult (SPCA is sponsored by Hills). I switched her to Orijen Cat/Kitten. She happily ate it and gained weight well (she was fairly thin having just weaned kittens a few weeks before we got her). All was good for a few weeks and she started to have occasional loose poops. 12hr fast and it would be okay again. Poops were quite stinky/huge on Orijen. So after a few rounds of the same loose poops, I put her on Royal Canin Sensitive Digestion. Poops solidified right away but now she only goes every few days and it's smaller/firmer. Tried mixing in 25% Orijen and less than 24hrs later, stinky soft poops are back.

So... Now what? Help.
Just to clarify, are all of these dry foods or canned?
 
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*kara*

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Just to clarify, are all of these dry foods or canned?

All dry - but I have given her a bit of Iams wet that I had left from her dental surgery to try to get more moisture into her since the RC dry seems to be making things too slow. It hasn't had any negative effect and she likes it.
 

Wile

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No, I haven't booked an appt for her yet. She has seen our vet once since we got her after we were concerned that she ate some of a Rainbow Loom bracelet - we were to watch and see along with Laxatone for a few days... She showed no signs of concern so all good there.

Hmmm, what would you suspect could be the intolerance offender?
It is impossible to know what the cause is since each of the brands you feed have a range of different product lines with lots of different protein sources. I suggest taking her and a fecal sample in to your vet so they can rule out other potential causes. If your vet does think that the diarrhea is due to a food intolerance they can give you guidance on how to conduct an elimination trial.
 
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*kara*

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Hi Kara! My first thought is that you could be dealing with a food intolerance issue. Have you spoken with your vet yet about Olive?
Have been thinking about this... Olive was through a full small bag of Orijen before any issues started - still think it could be an intolerance? The stinky big poops are concerning.

I will head to the pet store today and stock up on wet food. We are almost out of the Royal Canin so I can start mixing it with a new kibble as well. Was thinking Wellness Core indoor - but see that it has potatoes as a carb source. I'm sure I read that potato is one to avoid.
 

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Several of my guys like orijen dry food, no tummy issues, but they did gain too much weight with orijen. Orijen does have a lot of different proteins in their foods, so if she has a reaction to one of those it would be hard to tell which one it might be.

It is hard to find a dry that has simple ingredients, and low carb, and that the cats will eat. I ended up only feeding Dr. Elseys dry, the chicken, i like the ingredients, and all 4 of my guys like the food. Its expensive, but high calorie and low carb, so they dont eat as much. And i feed two wet meals per day, so the dry is only part of their daily food. Im not a fan of potato, im not a fan of many of the carb sources in cat foods, but it hard to avoid them.

Wet food can be easier to feed, and avoid some of the issues with dry, high carbs and constipation that bothers many cats on only dry food. So if she likes wet i would try to make that the majority of her foods, and supplement with dry if you want?

i use this chart a lot to check wet food

https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf
 
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*kara*

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Several of my guys like orijen dry food, no tummy issues, but they did gain too much weight with orijen. Orijen does have a lot of different proteins in their foods, so if she has a reaction to one of those it would be hard to tell which one it might be.

It is hard to find a dry that has simple ingredients, and low carb, and that the cats will eat. I ended up only feeding Dr. Elseys dry, the chicken, i like the ingredients, and all 4 of my guys like the food. Its expensive, but high calorie and low carb, so they dont eat as much. And i feed two wet meals per day, so the dry is only part of their daily food. Im not a fan of potato, im not a fan of many of the carb sources in cat foods, but it hard to avoid them.

Wet food can be easier to feed, and avoid some of the issues with dry, high carbs and constipation that bothers many cats on only dry food. So if she likes wet i would try to make that the majority of her foods, and supplement with dry if you want?

i use this chart a lot to check wet food

https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

Thank you! I have switched her to Royal Canin Sensitive Digestion dry and added breakfast and dinner of wet food. Tummy issues have resolved entirely. I am going to look for a better dry food though - the RC has a load of grains :/

Wet right now is Iams Portions which she seems to enjoy. I also have a bunch of BFF cans but she isn't a fan. Will check the link.
 

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Glad she is doing better! There are a lot of good reviews on royal canin sensitive digestion on chewy. I read a lot of their reviews :) I know my cats have always like Royal foods.

Honestly i dont worry much about grains. I dont really feel they are any worse, and may be better than some of the fruits, veggies, pototato, peas and such that are in many foods.

I like to feed two wet meals, i like for my cats to get the majority of their calories from the wet, and i keep away from any of the above mentioned ingredients as much as possible. Fancy feast, especially the classics are good to try. Merrick back country is one mine are enjoying right now, especially the rabbit, in the pouch and even the pate in the cans. If she like the iams then good for her. Royal also makes a wet sensitive digestion that she might like? Then supplement with the dry, one she likes and that is kind to her Tummy :)
 
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*kara*

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Glad she is doing better! There are a lot of good reviews on royal canin sensitive digestion on chewy. I read a lot of their reviews :) I know my cats have always like Royal foods.

Honestly i dont worry much about grains. I dont really feel they are any worse, and may be better than some of the fruits, veggies, pototato, peas and such that are in many foods.

I like to feed two wet meals, i like for my cats to get the majority of their calories from the wet, and i keep away from any of the above mentioned ingredients as much as possible. Fancy feast, especially the classics are good to try. Merrick back country is one mine are enjoying right now, especially the rabbit, in the pouch and even the pate in the cans. If she like the iams then good for her. Royal also makes a wet sensitive digestion that she might like? Then supplement with the dry, one she likes and that is kind to her Tummy :)

Thanks again :) grabbed a few Fancy Feast to try
Glad she is doing better! There are a lot of good reviews on royal canin sensitive digestion on chewy. I read a lot of their reviews :) I know my cats have always like Royal foods.

Honestly i dont worry much about grains. I dont really feel they are any worse, and may be better than some of the fruits, veggies, pototato, peas and such that are in many foods.

I like to feed two wet meals, i like for my cats to get the majority of their calories from the wet, and i keep away from any of the above mentioned ingredients as much as possible. Fancy feast, especially the classics are good to try. Merrick back country is one mine are enjoying right now, especially the rabbit, in the pouch and even the pate in the cans. If she like the iams then good for her. Royal also makes a wet sensitive digestion that she might like? Then supplement with the dry, one she likes and that is kind to her Tummy :)
Grabbed a few cans of Fancy Feast today but if she doesn't like them, will just stick with the Iams and RC kibble. Litter box issues are gone and she seems quite happy :)
 
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