How long to expect stomach upset after food transition?

[sweetleo]

Hello all, I adopted Leo 3 months ago, and he’s a little over 6 months old today. We have him on 2 cans of wet food (Purina pro plan whitefish and tuna kitten) a day along with kibble (Purina healthy kitten chicken) to snack on in between meals. He’s been doing alright on these and gaining weight, but his poops have always been a little softer/smellier than I think they should be so I’m really interested in finding another food for him. Recently I tried very slowly transitioning his wet food to Whole hearted grain free tuna wet food for kittens. I did a small spoonful of the new food mixed with his old food for his dinner for about 4-5 days. I ended up having to give up because his poops became so runny and it just didn’t seem like he was getting used to it. After a day or two of stopping the new food his poops firmed back up. I guess I’m just wondering how long should I stick things out for the next time I try to transition him to a new food? Should I even expect him to have diahhrea if we are doing a very slow transition to a new food? Also, if anyone has any reccomendations for any wet foods that are good for sensitive stomachs please let me know

 

[maggie101]

White fish and tuna should be avoided. It can be toxic and a high allergin. Also can be very addicting. Slowly start giving him another protein mixing a little bit day by day like chicken,duck,or beef.
My cats eat a different protein every day. It will take your kitten longer to transition being on the same food for so long

 

[maggie101]

That just made me realize why my cat has been going diarrhea ever since I slowly got her off the prescription food. She was on it for 2 months+

 

[sweetleo]

White fish and tuna should be avoided. It can be toxic and a high allergin. Also can be very addicting. Slowly start giving him another protein mixing a little bit day by day like chicken,duck,or beef.
My cats eat a different protein every day. It will take your kitten longer to transition being on the same food for so long

Alrighty, I will steer clear of tuna. Maybe he has had a slight allergy to that all along. I don’t mind how long the transition takes, I just really want to avoid diarrhea if I can.

 

[Antonio65]

White fish and tuna should be avoided. It can be toxic and a high allergin. Also can be very addicting. Slowly start giving him another protein mixing a little bit day by day like chicken,duck,or beef.
My cats eat a different protein every day. It will take your kitten longer to transition being on the same food for so long

Actually, when my cat Giada was having some poop issues, a nutritionist vet adviced me to transition to a home cooked diet, and her advice was to cook white fish only, so I started buying frozen hake fillets that I would boil for my cat.
She ate this food for nearly three months, her poop got better after a few days and this was so promising that I kept going for three months.
Then I thought to try a canned white fish and found a premium high quality monoproteic food which my cat loved and she's still eating it.
I feed her (and the other cat) a different protein every week. Well, actually we have four proteins, so each one is fed one week each month.

 

[CatSR]

While giving White fish only there are two thoughts. 1. It is generally unhealthy according to multiple remembered sources to feed only seafood.
2. In addition to the protein the cat needs the elements that bring balance to the diet.

It is also researchable for yourself to discover probiotics that can help with digestion and general wellness and fiber that can help with stools. It becomes a balancing act to find what is right. On the heels of healthy poops but a bad diet I went to the best diet and constipation and now a good diet and loose and smelly. He has health concerns so his improvements are a trade-off for now. Good luck.

 

[daftcat75]

A few things here caught my eye.

1. I often say let the poops be your guide with new foods. Slightly softer is to be expected with new foods. But you know when a food is just no good. Those liquid poops rarely firm up with repeated feedings. It could take up to a week to transition a cat to a new food. But it should only take a runny poop or two to decide when to cut your losses and try another food instead.

2. It's not always the protein to blame. There could be a gum (or grain or starch or veggie...) that's not agreeing with her. Xanthan gum makes smooth foods smooth and is often in puree treats or mousse-like foods. Xanthan gum can also make poops smooth. With Krista, it was mousse in, mousse out. Green lipped mussels (or any glucosamine-chondroitin supplement) also shot right through her. You could try a different protein from the same line of food to see if it's the protein. But I would simply skip that brand and try another.

3. Fish is highly addictive to the point that some cats won't eat any other flavors. It's also not an ideal protein for cats. I recommend reserving fish for disguising medicine or getting a sick cat to eat again. Exceptional times require exceptional measures. But you lose that "nuclear option" if you are feeding fish on the regular.

4. I would look for some simple recipes in chicken, turkey, duck, and maybe beef. Some cats like red meat and some don't. It's good to expand their diet while they are still young and more willing to try new foods. Having different recipes from different brands in rotation makes it harder to figure out poop issues. But it also dilutes concerns you might have about any one food. I would introduce them one at a time. I would also make them "guest star" meals to start. That is, if you are feeding two (or more) meals a day, only transition one of them to begin with. This lessens the impact the new food is going to have. But it also makes it easier to stop the transition if it's not working out.

5. I've heard that kittens just have smelly poops until their little digestive tracts and their microbiomes become more mature. It's been two whole cat lifetimes since I've had kittens though. So I couldn't tell you when this phase ends.

6. I like Proviable as a probiotic. It's a vet-recommended brand that seems to do a good job. You will probably have to buy it through your vet. But it's reasonably priced compared to other probiotics.

 

[vince]

Daft's comment No. 5 is oh so true. They'll sometimes be flatulent and there's nothing worse than kitten farts when they've just changed food! It keeps up for some time, maybe until 6 months or so before their gut flora are strong enough to deal with major diet changes.

Even a little bit of yogurt once in a while helps as a probiotic.

 

[sweetleo]

Thank you all for your replies I wanted to reply with an update just in case anyone finds themselves with a similar issue. After making this post I tried introducing Leo to a little bit of chicken-based wet food (wellness core shredded) with even worse luck. That got me wondering about a chicken allergy, since I’ve also seen him get sick from chicken treats. So I stopped with the new chicken wet food, let Leo’s poops go back to normal, and then tried Instinct’s rabbit pate. So far no stomach upsets or even anything close. I’m not entirely positive it’s a chicken allergy since his kibble has never had an effect on him, but it’s enough proof for me to want to stick to other wet food proteins (I picked up some beef, rabbit, lamb, duck) for a while.