I Need Food Recs For My Kitten With Loose Stools.

[myrnafaye]

Yuki has loose stools and has been treated with both proviable and metronitazole. Stools are still loose. The vet thinks that possibly he needs a diet with some grains. I am at a loss; what is a high quality kitten food that has grains in it? She says that vets have never been in favor of grain free diets, but to me there is good and not so good grain; like brown rice may be good but not corn... Please, recommendations?

 

[stephanietx]

My Tumbles cannot be on an all grain-free diet. We have him on Rx Royal Canin Gastrointestinal HE (dry) and sometimes also give him Science Diet i/d. This is mixed with the grain free food we feed everyone else. Over the years, we have found a ratio that works so he's not getting a lot of grains, but enough to keep his stools firm. Recently, he had a prednisolone shot, and that sent him into diarrhea. We took him off of all food except his Rx foods for 2 weeks, after trying Proviable (which he gets daily anyway) and s. boullardi. We did a 4-day course of Metro and the rx food and that worked to give us perfect poops. We are now into week 1 of reintroducing his regular grain-free food, but it still getting mainly rx food. I hope that makes sense.

 

[myrnafaye]

It does, STephanie, but Yuki is a kitten so there are fewer options, I feel, in high quality food - with or without grain, and I have always primarily fed my cats canned. I am not opposed to them having some dry on the side but I am still in a quandry. ...did you feed your kitten ID? that seems to be the default diet that vets go to for digestive issues.It is my understanding that both the formulas you mentioned are for cats and not kittens... sigh.

 

[Tobermory]

If your vet thinks he needs some grains (odd as that seems to me), you might look at NutriSource Chicken, Turkey, Lamb & Fish Kitten Formula and Chicken Soup For The Soul Kitten Wet Food. The first has brown rice flour and the other has brown rice and both have it farther down the ingredient list. No gums or carrageenan.

Here’s more info about each:
NutriSource Chicken, Turkey, Lamb & Fish Kitten Formula Cat Food Review
Chicken Soup For The Soul Kitten Wet Food Cat Food Review

You could also look for a wet food that’s for all life stages.

There appears to be evidence that s. boulardii helps with diarrhea or soft stools. I’ve used the Nexabiotic s. boulardii with some success.

 

[myrnafaye]

I will definitely look into the foods you recommended. I have Nexabiotic and resumed using it yesterday. Chicken Soup for the Soul has Xanathan gum...and Nutrisouce is no available on Amazon. Nor is it on Chewy. Ill look further.

 

[Richard2121]

I will preface my comment by saying I respect vets a lot for what they do. However they seem to be lacking in the nutrition and food recommendation department. I cannot imagine how grains would improve a cats diarrhea but maybe I am wrong. What typically works for me is a probiotic. Something tasteless that you can mix into their food is best! I actually really like Dr. Mercola's or TummyWorks although Mercola's has a much higher live bacteria count in it. Which is what you want. It is not always an instant fix, but if you give it a week or two, you should see improvement of some kind unless it is something infectious causing the loose stool.

 

[Richard2121]

I will preface my comment by saying I respect vets a lot for what they do. However they seem to be lacking in the nutrition and food recommendation department. I cannot imagine how grains would improve a cats diarrhea but maybe I am wrong. What typically works for me is a probiotic. Something tasteless that you can mix into their food is best! I actually really like Dr. Mercola's or TummyWorks although Mercola's has a much higher live bacteria count in it. Which is what you want. It is not always an instant fix, but if you give it a week or two, you should see improvement of some kind unless it is something infectious causing the loose stool.

Maybe the grain-free foods you have been feeding have something in them as a "filler" to replace the grain and that is what has upset Yuki's stomach? That is the only thing I could think of. Some grain-free foods are better than others.

 

[myrnafaye]

Thanks, Richard. I have given Yuki Nexabiotic. He was on the Proviable that the vet rx'd, the paste and the capsules. Did not help. I understand Nexabiotic is more potent, and my other cat gets it. The grain free food he has been getting is Wellness Core.

 

[Tobermory]

I agree with Richard2121 . Let me clarify that I wasn’t recommending those foods, only suggesting that they appeared to fit your criteria! I apologize that I totally missed the gums in the Chicken Soup. I wouldn’t have included it if I’d read more carefully.

Before I began raw feeding (with both my traditional and non-traditional vets’ approval), I was feeding Rawz canned: very high quality, high protein, low carbs, no gums (really) or carrageenan.

 

[myrnafaye]

Hi, Tobermorey. I looked at Rawz on line here. It is pretty comparable to Nature's Variety. Rawz is not easily accessible from the looks of it.