Diarrhea With Wet Food

Noirele

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I am well aware that wet food is WAY better for a cat, and that there is no relation at all between water content in food and watery stool.
Still, Merlin has runny stools or full diarrhea every time we try to add canned food.
To solve his diarrhea problem (which started 7 months ago), we did two months of anallergenic (kibbles only) diet, and it worked like a charm. Then, following the advice of our vet gastroenterologist, we slowly introduced another kibble (monoproteic, a new protein), and it was fine.
When we try VERY SLOWLY to add canned food (same protein, and at first same brand), runny stools start, and then we usually have to re-introduce anallergenic food to solve the problem.
It's been three times. We also tried to change brand, same protein, to try. Same result.
The correlation is too strong to be a coincidence.
I don't know what to do. Today, same story: he ate maybe 1/5 of a small can of lamb wet food 4 days ago, and it's watery diarrhea.
 

FeebysOwner

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See if you can try some other dry foods that come closer to the contents of canned food just to see if that has an impact. Also, add water to his current kibble (for the extra moisture) and see if that does/does not have a diarrhea effect. If he can tolerate some decent dry foods with added water, you might just let the canned food go - at least for a while.
 

white shadow

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Is the fat content identical between "lamb wet" and "lamb dry" ?
.
 

zed xyzed

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I would try something like Rawz Rabbit. It is easy to digest , it is a novel protein and has no known allergens. It has made such a difference to Midi that I buy it by the case and always make sure i have one in reserve
 

Count

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My vet recommends me not to give wet food at all and switch to not grain free kibble for diarrhea. Since this doesn't sound logical at first, I asked why. Apparently it is because of the low fiber content in wet food and premium kibble. Cats normally don't need too much fiber but apparently some cats need more than others. I didn't listen to her advice and I'm still feeding wet food and premium kibble but I tried a supplement called Gimcat gastrointestinal paste and it significantly reduced the frequency of diarrhea.

There are some fiber supplements on the market you could try, or just some pumpkin, or (this worked for me) Gimcat gastrointestinal paste.
 
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Noirele

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Hi!
Can you try something like fancy feast pate?
I think it's not availaible here, at least I've never seen it :(

Also, add water to his current kibble (for the extra moisture) and see if that does/does not have a diarrhea effect. If he can tolerate some decent dry foods with added water, you might just let the canned food go - at least for a while.
I used to add water to kibbles during the anallergenic trial. He kinda liked it, and no diarrhea at all (maybe the stool were a bit more moist, but still good)

.
Is the fat content identical between "lamb wet" and "lamb dry" ?
.
The wet one has a lot less fat, judging from a quick look at the label...do you think it could be the problem? I tried different kinds
 
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Noirele

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Have you tried wet food that is not lamb. What wet food are you feeding.
Before the trial he was eating granata pet chicken (bad reaction), then salmon monoproteic 100% (terrible reaction, salmon seems really like the worst choice for him, and he loves it). I can try something else, but I also have to change the kibbles, I think.

I would try something like Rawz Rabbit. It is easy to digest , it is a novel protein and has no known allergens. It has made such a difference to Midi that I buy it by the case and always make sure i have one in reserve
I don't think I can find it here in Italy. Maybe I could order online? I am not sure, sadly. Rabbit sounds good.

My vet recommends me not to give wet food at all and switch to not grain free kibble for diarrhea. Since this doesn't sound logical at first, I asked why. Apparently it is because of the low fiber content in wet food and premium kibble. Cats normally don't need too much fiber but apparently some cats need more than others. I didn't listen to her advice and I'm still feeding wet food and premium kibble but I tried a supplement called Gimcat gastrointestinal paste and it significantly reduced the frequency of diarrhea.

There are some fiber supplements on the market you could try, or just some pumpkin, or (this worked for me) Gimcat gastrointestinal paste.
We used lots and lots of fiber supplements before the diet, and nothing worked.
Maybe we could try again. Pumpkin could do the trick, but it's not easy to find here, except during fall.
The fiber content sounds like a valid reason, tbh....
Can you try a chicken or turkey based pate style? Perhaps lamb is to rich for his system?
Chicken is a no-no for him.
Basically, we had to introduce a new protein after the diet.
We already tried: chicken (bad), salmon (terrible), beef (no bad reaction, but it was an old protein, so the vet told us to try something else), boar (terrible).
But I believe it's a matter of "inflammation". When he eats something that is bad for him, he gets diarrhea with anything, unless we "reset" him with anallergenic diet.
I know it sounds weird, but works everytime
 
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Noirele

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Maybe a different source of beef, if possible?
I can try that. But the fact is: if the problem is the protein (lamb), why does he only has runny stools with the canned version?
When he used to eat salmon, and he had food allergy for sure, he got diarrhea even with kibbles. The protein itself was the culprit.
We tried an hypoallergenic canned food (pork, I forgot in the posts before) and the feces got better, but never normal. With hypoallergenic pork kibbles, they got perfect.
It's not the protein, it's the moisture in food
 

FeebysOwner

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It's not the protein, it's the moisture in food
But, not when you put water in the dry, right? I think you said you had the same brand/meat in both dry and canned, correct? Compare ingredients and see what comes out differently - then, do the same with other same brand/meat in other canned/dry you've used.

Just curious if there is something that is in one of either the canned or the dry that is the difference??
 

white shadow

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I had asked you earlier about the fat content - thanks for replying. From your answer, fat would not be a factor. (a sudden increase in dietary fat often results in soft stool; that prompted my question)

Could you post the ingredient list for both the dry and the wet pork?

I'm wondering now whether/not fiber may be a factor........
.
 

cuppa

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It could be a reaction to an ingredient that's in the wet but not the kibble. Maybe it's one of the gums?
 

neko2019

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Hi, I found your thread while searching for a similar issue with my kitten. Have you found a solution to the diarrhea with wet food? I tried giving wet food to my kitten three times already, and each time he ends up with soft stool/diarrhea after a few days. He is fine after going back to dry food...
 
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Noirele

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Hi, I found your thread while searching for a similar issue with my kitten. Have you found a solution to the diarrhea with wet food? I tried giving wet food to my kitten three times already, and each time he ends up with soft stool/diarrhea after a few days. He is fine after going back to dry food...
Hi!
No, he is still eating only good quality kibbles. Merlin is now almost 2 year old,but nothing changed. He gets terrible diarrhea after a couple of days!
 
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