Canned food for sensitive stomach?

oneandahalfcats

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Thanks, Otto. I am new to the site. I checked out your other posts, and saw you like to use By Nature, so I've ordered 2 cases!  As long as there is no carrageenan, Tess digests most other canned food ok (except the batch from Friskies Plus, after she'd been eating it for months just fine), but I haven't found a healthy one she really likes. She is reluctantly eating Pure Vita now, but I'm having to mix it with high carb foods just to get her to eat it. Sheba Cuts look pretty good, and I got her to eat some in just one day, so I may try more of that. I'll need something she likes to mix in the new food. I'll keep reading to see if I can figure out how to get her to consider raw food.
Another good grain-free canned food that does not contain carageenan is GO brand by Petcurean. If your pet has a sensitivity to chicken, turkey or beef, there is a Duck variety called Sensitivity and Shine. Here is a link to the Duck product : http://www.petcurean.com/for-cats/go/sensitivity-and-shine-grain-free-duck-pate. This link will take you to the other varieties of GO in both canned and dry : http://www.petcurean.com/for-cats/go/

There is also Weruva which is a grain-free canned and does not contain carageenan : http://www.weruva.com/cat-cuisine-chicken-beef.php
 
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bschmaltzy

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Thanks, all!  At Petco, I bought a few cans of carrageenan free this and that, to fill in until my By Nature (yes, organics ;) gets here--found one of the Sheba Cuts, which she (milady's full name is Tessa Redberry) ate a bit of, but found a new to me one called Soulistic Good Karma Chicken dinner--which it turns out is a Petco exclusive Weruva product--Tessa really liked that, so I'm going back today to get more. It looks like a reasonable choice, very simple ingredients. High in moisture, too low in fat, but good to mix with something healthier to gradually get her to eat it, and to use for variety. 
 

dianamc

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Nature's Variety Instinct is a carrageenan free brand.  It is expensive and the ingredient list sounds kind of odd, but my cat likes it, especially the rabbit.  It's expensive, but if it works, you can get it online and cut the costs by buying the large cans of their dog food which is just the same.  Weruva is the only brand that my cat threw up.

Dandy didn't like the venison in NVI though, not that she's necessarily typical.  She detested the Venison & Green Pea Nature's Balance.   It's here for the pet food drive along with the Weruva. Dandy liked the Weruva, but it didn't seem to agree with her. Of course, the Fancy Feast Classics are carrageenan free and Dandy likes the Chicken Feast and Liver & Chicken.
 
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otto

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The dog food may appear the same but may not contain the same levels of certain critical ingredients, especially taurine, since dogs have different needs than cats. Contact the company before feeding a dog food that appears"just the same" as a cat food. To be safe I wouldn't ever feed a dog food to my cats, even though I know some companies do have what appear to be identical formulas for cats and dogs (including, as mentioned, Nature's Variety). But if you are going to do it, you need to find out if the nutrition, especially taurine, is adequate. Dogs don't require added taurine, because their bodies can manufacture it. Cats MUST have it coming from their food.
 
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dianamc

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The dog food may appear the same but may not contain the same levels of certain critical ingredients, especially taurine, since dogs have different needs than cats. Contact the company before feeding a dog food that appears"just the same" as a cat food. To be safe I wouldn't ever feed a dog food to my cats, even though I know some companies do have what appear to be identical formulas for cats and dogs (including, as mentioned, Nature's Variety). But if you are going to do it, you need to find out if the nutrition, especially taurine, is adequate. Dogs don't require added taurine, because their bodies can manufacture it. Cats MUST have it coming from their food.
This is good advice in general.  However NVI has stated that their dog and cat foods are the same formula (the canned ones anyway). If you compare the formulas, you will see that they are the same and there is the same amount of taurine in the dog food.  The advantage to buying the dog food is that they don't sell cat food in the large cans. It's easy to compare them on their web site.

I've never read of any other company that does this.  (There may be one but I never heard of it.)
 
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otto

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There are others. Merrick Before Grain comes to mind but I'm not sure. Another thing you want to check on if the cans are treated with BPA. Usually the larger cans ARE BPA lined, the only way to get cans that are BPA free are to buy the smaller (5.5 oz) cans.
 

betsygee

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Thanks, all!  At Petco, I bought a few cans of carrageenan free this and that, to fill in until my By Nature (yes, organics ;) gets here--found one of the Sheba Cuts, which she (milady's full name is Tessa Redberry) ate a bit of, but found a new to me one called Soulistic Good Karma Chicken dinner--which it turns out is a Petco exclusive Weruva product--Tessa really liked that, so I'm going back today to get more. It looks like a reasonable choice, very simple ingredients. High in moisture, too low in fat, but good to mix with something healthier to gradually get her to eat it, and to use for variety. 
I use the Soulistic, too.  I was trying to switch my cats from wet Friskies to a better quality food so I tried Wellness Core.  Ozzy threw up after every meal.  I tried the Soulistic and it was a hit.  They all three love it and nobody gets sick from it.  
 

bschmaltzy

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Sadly, when  I went back to get more Soulistic, they didn't have any more of the chicken and said they'd been out for months--apparently I had bought the last can. So I bought the last can of chicken and pumpkin, but Tessa threw up after I mixed a bit of that with her Pure Vita. The By Nature Organics Turkey came ( the chicken was out of stock at all at the websites I checked) and she is not resisting that quite as definitively. I am having to mix that with Fancy Feast. She has also had a new bout of diarrhea from something in one of the various concoctions of  Pure Vita with anything else tasty. I am also topping new foods with crumbled Natural Temptations treats (just 3 or 4). Now I'm wondering just what is causing the new problems. Not carrageenan! I do wish I could find one food she likes and stick with it.   She was doing perfectly well with the Friskies Plus Turkey and Giblets until we hit that one bad batch. Now I just don't trust Purina and don't even like using the Fancy Feast.  I do have to say that they said they'd refund the full cost of the two cases. She's such a good cat, only 2 years old,and not likely to eat anything she finds out and about--she is very suspicious of new foods. I hate to see her sick from foods I tempt her to eat! I did try the Nature's Variety Instinct, but she really, really didn't like it. I am trying so hard with carrageenan and taste and protein and fat content, I just haven't worried too much about BPA. I am sorry to say I fed my family a great deal of that over our lives, and we can't even get that eliminated from cans for human consumption.
 

ck75

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My 3 year old tabby frequently vomits after eating her canned food. Sometimes it will just be once, but often she will continue to vomit until her stomach has emptied. She only throws up after eating canned food, never after dry or any other time throughout the day. We've talked to the vet about it and he suggested switching food brands. They push Science Diet there, but I'm not impressed by the ingredient list. He also recommended a food specifically for sensitive stomach, but I've only been able to find dry food with that label, no canned.


Current food brand: Nutro Max Cat adult canned and indoor adult dry.

Current feeding routine: We have an automatic feeder for the dry food that disperses 1/4th cup three times daily (this is for two cats btw), then we also feed each cat 1/3rd of a 3 oz. can of wet food three times daily.


She does tend to eat very quickly, so we've always suspected that to be part of the problem. When we put out the canned food, we mix in a small handful of the dry food from their bowl to try and force her to slow down, but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. Our other kitty almost never vomits.


We've been putting up with it for as long as we've had her, but it's getting intolerable and we're ready to switch food brands -- would love any recommendations!!
i ag
 

ck75

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i am sorry still trying to figure out how to reply. what i was going to ask was did you think about adding some kind of probiotic to her food? i have heard sometimes like people, cats dont have enough stomach bacteria for digestion.
 

bonepicker

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Has she been wormed? Does she go out? I would get her wormed. Buy some good quality grain free canned, remove dry for a while. Water down to mush wet food and spread all over a plate, not bowl so she takes longer to eat or feed tablespoon then wait 5 minutes and feed another tablespoon.
 

bschmaltzy

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It has been several months since my last post. Tessa Redberry is doing very well on By Nature Organics --she prefers Turkey and Turkey Liver or Chicken and Chicken Liver. She still prefers the carbs, and I have been tolerant, so I top it with 1/2 of a 3 oz. can of Nutro Natural Choice Sliced Turkey Entree--one of their only ones without carageenan. She will vomit within 5 minutes if she eats any carageenan. She rarely throws up now. If she does, either she is working on a hairball (it took months to get her to like brushing, because he skin was dry before I switched to all canned, but now we do it LOTS) or there has been too much distressing activity around. I think she has a bit of a nervous stomach. She is a calm cat and travels great, but we live quietly, and she seems to stress when strangers come to move things in and out, or we have a party, or grandchildren are everywhere. Over all, it's a wonderful change and I am not messing with it. Thank you all for your support!
 

otto

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I have bad news bschmaltzy bschmaltzy By Nature Organics has been discontinued. It is devastating news to me, because after years of trial it was the only canned food Mazy cat can keep down. I don't know what I am going to do now. I have about 9 months of food left for her.
 

bonepicker

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Schmaltzy nutro natural has several without carageenan. Also it is best to rotate foods on a daily basis in case of recalls, discontinuance, or recipe changes, it also prevents boredom.
 

otto

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Yes, ideally it is best to rotate brands and proteins, if one can find enough acceptable brands to chose from. Some cats, sadly, have had their digestions so destroyed that it isn't possible. Mazy cat eats the By Nature Organics and Rad Cat raw. Through many years of trial, this is what her diet has come down to. Without the By Nature Organic, I don't know what I am going to do for her canned meals.

I've never stopped searching for commercial canned foods she can eat, and haven't yet found anything else.
 

bschmaltzy

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Oh, no! I just ordered 3 cases from somewhere. I knew not everywhere had it. I'll have to stock up as best I can. Let me know what works for you! Have you called their customer service? Tessa won't go in the same room with raw food. Literally.
 

lvmygrdn

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Bonepicker, have you tried By Nature for your kitties? I don't believe I have tried it. 30% off is good.
 

bonepicker

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Bonepicker, have you tried By Nature for your kitties? I don't believe I have tried it. 30% off is good.
I have not IVMY it is not sold at Petsmart, Petco, or pet supply plus. I have to try a can of something first, my girl is so picky. If a couple of cans are thumbs up I buy a case. I just started giving them the Purebite treats and they love the chicken.
 
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