Hello all,
I'm in desperate need of advice/recommendations for my 9 year old female, Stella. Having spent a month trying to research this on my own, I pray someone can help with our situation.
Background: I have one female cat, Stella, who I adopted from a rescue five years ago. She's stricly indoor cat who had been overweight when I adopted her. Stella was on a diet of only dry food at the rescue and I wanted to give her wet food, but she got pronounced diarrhea from any brand I purchased and no matter how small an amount I mixed into the dry over 2 week periods. As such, I put her on Blue Buffalo Indoor Weight Control Chicken dry food (she's not an active cat, especially in warm weather and that kept her at a good weight) which she had eaten until 9/7/17. She always drinks water. No issues with lack of fluids and vet said no kidney issues.
Issue(s): Stella began incessant scratching/licking around May and seemed to be losing weight a bit at a time over the last several months. By early September, her weight loss seemed very pronounced and she developed bald patch on her stomach and raw ears from scratching. I took her to the vet on 9/7/17 and a battery of tests were given (blood, urine, hyperthyroid, parasite, etc.). The vet claimed Stella's weight of 9.25lbs was "perfect" (but no answer WHY she suddenly started losing weight) and prescribed gel medication for her ears. Vet also said she likely had food allergy which *may* have caused her to lose weight. Stella has only ever been free fed on Chicken dry food so I researched and found that I should switch to a novel protein. Both the vet and I believe she has developed an allergy to poultry.
I switched Stella from BB dry (thought it was good brand until I read through all these forums!) to Canidae Limited Ingredient Diet Trout dry formula for 7 days. No problems. Slowly, slowly tried to mix in 1/2 of 3oz can of wet Canidae Limited Ingredient Duck Pate twice a day the following week. After initial 8 days, Stella developed horrible diarrhea and wouldn't eat for 12 hours because of bowel upset which also causes her to vomit clear after struggling in the litter box. Called the vet and she said to continue feeding her the same amount/food because her body just needed time to adjust, but to add a bit of rice to the mix and pumpkin puree. Almost two full days later and no bowel movements at all. Called vet and she said Stella likely was constipated from rice. Told me to give her 1/4 tsp Miralax twice a day. I thought it was a lot for a small cat so I only gave her 1/8 tsp ONCE. That was horrific! Stella then had nonstop diarrhea! I figured out on my own that since she'd had no food in her system when I added the rice/pumpkin, she wasn't constipated. The food hadn't had time to get to her bowels and the poor cat never needed the Miralax.
When she was hungry again, I stopped free-feeding Canidae dry altogether and fed her mixed dry/wet portions three times per day: 1/3 of a 3oz can of wet Canidae LID Duck Pate plus 1 tsp. Soulistic Pureed Pumpkin (but no rice) with dry mix to try to ease/firm up her bowels. Everything was fine for two days, and then horrible diarrhea once again.
After another bout of only drinking water/not being hungry for 12 hours, I resorted to feeding Stella 1 TBSP Canidae LID Duck wet with 2 TBSP Canidae Dry every four to five hours. I also gave her 1 TSP Soulistic Pumpkin 3x per day. I hoped that very, very small portions would help her digest the food better. It didn't work at all. Again, horrible diarrhea. Despite drinking water, the diarrhea and intestinal upset is making her scratch/lick her stomach and ears even more and it looks like she's a bit thinner now.
I currently have her on only Canidae LID Duck dry food. Her bowel movements are normal once again, but I know that it's not helping her skin allergies because her coat is drier and she's scratching. I know the wet food is best for her because she stopped scratching/licking as much and she loved the texture itself. I am at my wit's end, researching nonstop and cannot find a solution on my own. While going back on dry food only made her stools go back to normal, it is not helping her skin issue and I'm pretty certain it won't help her gain weight. She also misses the wet food and won't eat as much dry as she did before. Could it be that because she drinks water AND there is so much water in canned food, that is causing her loose stools?? Over the years, I tried to give her 1/2 can Blue Buffalo wet as a treat only once per week and she always had intestinal upset. She doesn't vomit the wet food. She can hold it down without issue. The problem is when it gets to her bowels. Perhaps there is TOO much moisture in her diet with the canned because she drinks water on her own daily.
It literally is one extreme or the other: dry food only = skin problems/weight loss; wet in any quantity = diarrhea and weight loss/dehydration. I feel like I can't figure out a solution, but I cannot lose my baby! She's only 9 and very healthy apart from the food allergy, but her health is detriorating from the dry food and I don't know what to do. This is my first post and I apologize for the length, but I wanted to give as much info as possible. Thank you all so much in advance for any advice/suggestions.
I'm in desperate need of advice/recommendations for my 9 year old female, Stella. Having spent a month trying to research this on my own, I pray someone can help with our situation.
Background: I have one female cat, Stella, who I adopted from a rescue five years ago. She's stricly indoor cat who had been overweight when I adopted her. Stella was on a diet of only dry food at the rescue and I wanted to give her wet food, but she got pronounced diarrhea from any brand I purchased and no matter how small an amount I mixed into the dry over 2 week periods. As such, I put her on Blue Buffalo Indoor Weight Control Chicken dry food (she's not an active cat, especially in warm weather and that kept her at a good weight) which she had eaten until 9/7/17. She always drinks water. No issues with lack of fluids and vet said no kidney issues.
Issue(s): Stella began incessant scratching/licking around May and seemed to be losing weight a bit at a time over the last several months. By early September, her weight loss seemed very pronounced and she developed bald patch on her stomach and raw ears from scratching. I took her to the vet on 9/7/17 and a battery of tests were given (blood, urine, hyperthyroid, parasite, etc.). The vet claimed Stella's weight of 9.25lbs was "perfect" (but no answer WHY she suddenly started losing weight) and prescribed gel medication for her ears. Vet also said she likely had food allergy which *may* have caused her to lose weight. Stella has only ever been free fed on Chicken dry food so I researched and found that I should switch to a novel protein. Both the vet and I believe she has developed an allergy to poultry.
I switched Stella from BB dry (thought it was good brand until I read through all these forums!) to Canidae Limited Ingredient Diet Trout dry formula for 7 days. No problems. Slowly, slowly tried to mix in 1/2 of 3oz can of wet Canidae Limited Ingredient Duck Pate twice a day the following week. After initial 8 days, Stella developed horrible diarrhea and wouldn't eat for 12 hours because of bowel upset which also causes her to vomit clear after struggling in the litter box. Called the vet and she said to continue feeding her the same amount/food because her body just needed time to adjust, but to add a bit of rice to the mix and pumpkin puree. Almost two full days later and no bowel movements at all. Called vet and she said Stella likely was constipated from rice. Told me to give her 1/4 tsp Miralax twice a day. I thought it was a lot for a small cat so I only gave her 1/8 tsp ONCE. That was horrific! Stella then had nonstop diarrhea! I figured out on my own that since she'd had no food in her system when I added the rice/pumpkin, she wasn't constipated. The food hadn't had time to get to her bowels and the poor cat never needed the Miralax.
When she was hungry again, I stopped free-feeding Canidae dry altogether and fed her mixed dry/wet portions three times per day: 1/3 of a 3oz can of wet Canidae LID Duck Pate plus 1 tsp. Soulistic Pureed Pumpkin (but no rice) with dry mix to try to ease/firm up her bowels. Everything was fine for two days, and then horrible diarrhea once again.
After another bout of only drinking water/not being hungry for 12 hours, I resorted to feeding Stella 1 TBSP Canidae LID Duck wet with 2 TBSP Canidae Dry every four to five hours. I also gave her 1 TSP Soulistic Pumpkin 3x per day. I hoped that very, very small portions would help her digest the food better. It didn't work at all. Again, horrible diarrhea. Despite drinking water, the diarrhea and intestinal upset is making her scratch/lick her stomach and ears even more and it looks like she's a bit thinner now.
I currently have her on only Canidae LID Duck dry food. Her bowel movements are normal once again, but I know that it's not helping her skin allergies because her coat is drier and she's scratching. I know the wet food is best for her because she stopped scratching/licking as much and she loved the texture itself. I am at my wit's end, researching nonstop and cannot find a solution on my own. While going back on dry food only made her stools go back to normal, it is not helping her skin issue and I'm pretty certain it won't help her gain weight. She also misses the wet food and won't eat as much dry as she did before. Could it be that because she drinks water AND there is so much water in canned food, that is causing her loose stools?? Over the years, I tried to give her 1/2 can Blue Buffalo wet as a treat only once per week and she always had intestinal upset. She doesn't vomit the wet food. She can hold it down without issue. The problem is when it gets to her bowels. Perhaps there is TOO much moisture in her diet with the canned because she drinks water on her own daily.
It literally is one extreme or the other: dry food only = skin problems/weight loss; wet in any quantity = diarrhea and weight loss/dehydration. I feel like I can't figure out a solution, but I cannot lose my baby! She's only 9 and very healthy apart from the food allergy, but her health is detriorating from the dry food and I don't know what to do. This is my first post and I apologize for the length, but I wanted to give as much info as possible. Thank you all so much in advance for any advice/suggestions.
