Blue Buffalo and Diarrhea

[smilexcindy]

Hello I just adopted an 8 week kitten and she was eating blue buffalo at her original home and when I took her I immediately introduced canned food and continued with dry food. She's been having diarrhea for over 6 days and I don't want to take her to the vet just yet because she doesn't have any other symptoms. She is running around, perfectly happy, etc. 

Could it be because of blue buffalo? Should  I switch foods? Is there anything I could do without having to take her to the vet? Maybe put her on an all dry food diet would help?

Thank you!

 

[lisahe]

Since the kitten is so new to you and so small, I would highly recommend taking her to the vet since she's already had diarrhea for six days. That's a long time for a little cat, particularly given the risk of dehydration.

And yes, food can often cause digestive issues. I'm not a fan of Blue Buffalo (for one thing, a lot of their foods have potato, an ingredient that causes vomiting and gas in one of our cats) but again, given how small your kitten is, I think food changes are a good topic to discuss with a vet at this point. It's good to bring a new cat to a vet shortly after adopting anyway, even if the cat's had a checkup at a shelter before adoption!

 

[cocobutterfly]

I posted this in another thread to someone else commenting on Blue Buffalo:

 
Hi there,

I know I am late in the game to this discussion - having just found it today - but on the blue buffalo site, all their products seem to have either carrageenan or guar gum.

http://bluebuffalo.com/natural-cat-...healthy-gourmet-meaty-morsels-chicken-entree/

Yep, that's the least of their problems. I would NEVER trust Blue Buffalo or any other Purina company. If you don't know about the fiasco surrounding Purina (They're BB's parent company), please google it.
Here's an article to get you started:  https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit...-ingredients-class-action-lawsuit-settlement/  

 

 

[oreo88]

What is going on with purina?? The link says a lawsuit was filed by Purina against Blue Buffalo? It doesn't seem like they are BB's parent company.

 

[cocobutterfly]

 
What is going on with purina?? The link says a lawsuit was filed by Purina against Blue Buffalo? It doesn't seem like they are BB's parent company.

Purina is BB's parent company. That's why Purina tried to save face during the BB fraud case by turning around and slapping a lawsuit on BB claiming that BB operated independently and that Purina was duped also. The public is smart enough to know that when you're a parent company to another label, you do the proper due diligence to make sure they uphold your strict health standards. You don't wait until they defraud an entire pet community then shrug it off and say 'we didn't know anything about it either and had no part in it.' That's even worse because they're essentially stating that they didn't care enough to do thorough inspection and standardizing and was only interested in receiving the profits. I LOATHE Purina with a passion. 

Here's another article: http://poisonedpets.com/blue-buffalo-admits-to-bullshitting-consumers/

Also, have you not been watching the news? There's a massive recall and class action lawsuit once again against Purina for killing thousands of pets with toxic ingredient in their jerkey treat. Read here: 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...-sued-for-allegedly-toxic-chow-but-is-it.html

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/24/us/dog-food-lawsuit/

Please do not risk your beloved one's lives with Purina products. It's not worth it.

 

[molly92]

In addition to potential sensitivities to food ingredients, young kittens are very susceptible to parasites that cause diarrhea, and the diarrhea can be exacerbated by stress and/or carb-heavy foods. There immune systems aren't strong enough yet to fight common parasites like giardia and coccidia as well as older cats, hence the diarrhea. A vet visit is a good idea especially because the kitten is so young. Dehydration symptoms could set in very suddenly. Since the most common tests for these parasites are hit and miss, it would be good to go ahead and treat for the most likely suspect with whatever medication the vet recommends regardless of the results, just in case.

 

[suzannef]

There's a probiotic product call Fortiflora by Purina that has worked for me for kittens with diarrhea (which is common at that age). BUT getting her treated for any worms/parasites should definitely be a top priority. How long have you had her? Has she been to a vet for her first set of vaccines?

 

[smilexcindy]

She just got her first set of vaccines and de wormed I just got fortiflora and started putting chia gel in her food and it worked! she doesn't have diarrhea anymore (: