After 8 Months Of Diarrhea, Home Made Raw !!!

[Mrcclms]

Hi guys

Just a little story about my Scottish long hair kitten (now cat) Adam

Got him at 3 months

He had terrible diarrhea since the get go

I tried 10 different brands and types of wet/dry food, no results

Tried the limited ingredients dry food by Nulo with turkey only and noticed a minor improvement

On top of these food sensitivities he must had some bacteria's and parasites (bad breath and blood in the stool)

We did a 5 days short round of metronidazole

Breath came back normal

Still diarrhea


Ok then, must be the food

Bought a raw frozen food for cats with a mix of turkey, chicken and white fish

I noticed a big improvement at first and then some diarrhea


Ok then, I said to myself that I'm going to cook myself so I can control the quality and quantity of the ingredients. I don't think that mixing poultry/meat with fish is a good idea.


SO, I bought turkey breasts, chicken livers and pumpkin. Cooked and blended. Added a bit of Vetoquinol for vitamins/nutrients.

Since then, 2 months ago, no diarrhea !!!



Before he was going to the litter 2-4 Times a day, always very soft stool with blood.

Now he goes 1 every 2-3 days and he makes 4-5 tiny hard balls.





Hope this helps other cause the struggle was overwhelming.




One thing I'd like to ask if there is somebody here expert about nutrition.....should I add some other healthy ingredient to his recipe ? My only concern is that my 3 ingredients recipe is too "poor" and maybe he is missing something !



Thanks

 

[verna davies]

I cant help with the additional ingredients as I don't feed raw but wanted to say Well Done, you won that battle.

 

[Talien]

I'm not an expert either, but I do know there are some supplement powders that have essentials like calcium, taurine, etc. that you can buy to add to homemade raw food. You could try asking about that in the raw food subforum and you'd get someone to be able to answer better.

 

[daftcat75]

The easiest would be EZ Complete. But they add digestive enzymes which may not be for every cat. Krista always looks like the enzymes are digesting her. This is why they offer samples.
Samples

This is easiest because all you have to do is add the powder to boneless meat. You can balance down to a single 1.5 oz portion.

If Adam doesn't like EZ Complete which does have an aroma and flavor of its own, there is Alnutrin. But you'll need to supplement the meat with fresh (or frozen) liver. Which I see you are already doing. You can order samples of Alnutrin too. I would get the Alnutrin with calcium since you're using meat only with no bone.
Know What You Feed Your Cat - Alnutrin Supplements - Free Samples

Better In The Raw is another one for boneless meat plus liver. Since you already include liver in your mix, your supplement powder options are more than if you were just making a muscle meat only mix.
Better in the Raw for Cats

 

[Azazel]

What is in the vitoquinol you are giving?

Yes, your food currently is very unbalanced in terms of its calcium-phosphorus ratio. You can add eggshell calcium to balance it, but you need to know the exact amount of meat you are using. You also need to add taurine. These 2 things are essential. Your cat will suffer malnutrition in the long run if you continue to just feed this food. You also need to be careful you aren’t adding too much liver as it can cause Vitamin A toxicity. And, you’re also cooking your food which is a whole other ball game because you’re cooking some of the nutrients.

Usually people who make their own food follow established recipes or do lots of research and calculations.

I think the easiest thing for you might be to just follow the recipe on feline-nutrition.org if you want to do raw. Or, just use a vitamin premix that is meant for homemade cat food.

 

[Mrcclms]

Thanks Azamel.

Here the vetoquinol nutrical label

 

[Azazel]

Yeah it’s going to take some calculations to work out what that supplement is doing for the diet. It’s not adding taurine though which is necessary and you also need an iodine source in the diet. If you’re really serious about making your own food I would suggest you go the raw route and use the feline-nutrition.org recipe. That way you know your cat is getting everything it needs and you’re using an established recipe.

Otherwise, you can get a supplement made specifically for cats like Alnutrin or Tcfeline and add it to cooked meat.

I don’t think long term feeding of what you’re doing now will be healthy for your cat.

 

[Mrcclms]

Ok, buying Alnutrin now



I wonder how cats are doing wild in the nature

 

[Azazel]

Great, you’ll probably want to get the one with a calcium supplement since you’re not feeding bone. Just follow the directions and you should be good.

Well, in the wild they eat a variety of things - different prey, insects. They get their taurine from raw animal meat and hearts. Some people feed their cats following this philosophy, but you need to be able to source different kinds of whole animals and to feed lots of variety. Mice and other rodents would be ideal.

Those of us who make our own raw mix usually feed the same couple of proteins and parts so we need to make sure it’s specially formulated with all the necessary nutrients. Just imagine if you only ate chicken and livers the rest of your life, you’d need some supplements with that or you’d die of malnutrition.

For example, the mix I make my cats has turkey thighs, livers, gizzards, hearts, egg yolk, added vitamin B, E, taurine, iodine, manganese, calcium (lots of people feed raw bones instead), etc.

 

[Mrcclms]

You are totally right

Bought Alnutrin with Calcium

What you think about Pumpkin ? He likes it and I know it adds some good fiber for a better stool

 

[lisahe]

You are totally right

Bought Alnutrin with Calcium

What you think about Pumpkin ? He likes it and I know it adds some good fiber for a better stool

Our cats love Alnutrin with calcium, also with chicken liver -- I hope your cat loves Alnutrin food, too!

 

[Azazel]

You are totally right

Bought Alnutrin with Calcium

What you think about Pumpkin ? He likes it and I know it adds some good fiber for a better stool

I sometimes add half a teaspoon of pumpkin to one of my cats’ meals when she gets loose stools or hairballs. It does help her and I know it helps other cats too. I think it’s fine to add a little bit of plain canned pumpkin once in a while but I wouldn’t do it on a regular basis, only when necessary. My vet also says that pumpkin is a prebiotic so it’s also good in that regard.

Cats really don’t need added fiber though. Their natural diets in the wild have very little fiber and carbs and their poops shouldn’t be bulky and smelly like the ones you get with kibble which is loaded with fiber and carbs. I only use the pumpkin to help settle a tummy, not as a regular additive.

 

[daftcat75]

You are totally right

Bought Alnutrin with Calcium

What you think about Pumpkin ? He likes it and I know it adds some good fiber for a better stool

Pumpkin is good. It’s about the only fruit (or vegetable) I would recommend for cats. If it works for him, keep feeding it.

 

[Mrcclms]

Perfect !

And Alnutrin shipped already, in 30min !

 

[Azazel]

Perfect !

And Alnutrin shipped already, in 30min !

Your kitty is lucky to have you!

 

[Mrcclms]

Yeah, he is my son and brother

 

[Azazel]

Ahhh, so cute!!

 

[darg]

You are totally right

Bought Alnutrin with Calcium

What you think about Pumpkin ? He likes it and I know it adds some good fiber for a better stool

I use the Alnutrin with egg shell calcium.
I make turkey thigh but use turkey liver (freeze dried) as the liver source. My cat doesn't tolerate chicken well and I can't find fresh turkey liver locally. I also add some pumpkin but I only use 2-3%.
Use the nutritional calculator on the Alnutrin website and just be accurate when weighing the meat and organs so that you add the proper amount of Alnutrin. Other than that, it's easy.

I still feed some high quality canned but he likes the home-made with Alnutrin and he's doing really well.

 

[MissClouseau]

You can also contact and hire a Board-Certified Veterinary Nutritionist. They get trained for years about nutrition after graduating from veterinary school. Vets are generally not a fan of homemade diets but when it comes up I saw them suggest a "board certified veterinary nutritionist."

Clinical Nutrition Service at Cummings Veterinary Medical Center at Tufts University

 

[Mrcclms]

Little update:

Unfortunately in the last week Adam is having some diarrhea again, after almost 2 months of healthy stool since starting the homemade raw diet (+ Alnutrin)


If thinking this:

- the turkey I buy for him at the supermarket doesn't always look great honestly, it's a small local supermarket and the quality in not that great. PLUS, it's PREVIOULSY FROZEN....then I cook it, re freeze it again (cause I cook big quantities) and then defrost it again to feed him. I think it's too many freezing and defrosting.

Plus, doing all this TAKES SO MUCH TIME !



If I had to pick one raw diet provider that is comprehensive in terms of nutrients, it helps with diarrhea (I think all raw with bones content helps with that) and is somehow CONVENIENT (not too expensive), what would that be ? First result on google is Darwin




Thanks !