Hey everyone! *WARNING* Detailed discussion of poop below!
The title basically explains it all, but here is some background if needed: My cat is 14 yrs old and was diagnosed with IBD when she was about 11, so we've been dealing with it for a long time now. I've found certain ingredients to avoid in food but have yet to find a food that gives her consistently good poops (she typically has semi-formed/pudding-like poop most of the time; not liquid diarrhea, but not fully solid poop either). We've tried everything you can think of & I've found the 'best' foods for her to get her poop firmed up, but the issue is that she really doesn't like the taste that much. I know that she is hungry because she'll follow me around meowing for food and she'll come running when she thinks she's going to get treats, but she only eats about 1/2 of the can of her food before she refuses to touch it again. She is a fairly thin cat so I do get concerned about getting her to put on weight.
I've been frustrated with her refusal to eat the 'good' food, so I picked up some cans of a different food that I know she really likes. It doesn't contain the ingredients that upset her stomach the most & is still a high-quality, sensitive-tummy approved food, but it definitely doesn't firm up her poops like the other food (not liquid diarrhea, but more consistent pudding poops and less firm poops. I've been told that it may be impossible to get her poops fully firmed due to side effects from her meds). So what is better? Should I feed her the food that she doesn't like as much & just try to supplement the missing calories with treats/dry food? Or should I feed her the high-quality food that she loves, even if it makes her poops a bit worse?
The title basically explains it all, but here is some background if needed: My cat is 14 yrs old and was diagnosed with IBD when she was about 11, so we've been dealing with it for a long time now. I've found certain ingredients to avoid in food but have yet to find a food that gives her consistently good poops (she typically has semi-formed/pudding-like poop most of the time; not liquid diarrhea, but not fully solid poop either). We've tried everything you can think of & I've found the 'best' foods for her to get her poop firmed up, but the issue is that she really doesn't like the taste that much. I know that she is hungry because she'll follow me around meowing for food and she'll come running when she thinks she's going to get treats, but she only eats about 1/2 of the can of her food before she refuses to touch it again. She is a fairly thin cat so I do get concerned about getting her to put on weight.
I've been frustrated with her refusal to eat the 'good' food, so I picked up some cans of a different food that I know she really likes. It doesn't contain the ingredients that upset her stomach the most & is still a high-quality, sensitive-tummy approved food, but it definitely doesn't firm up her poops like the other food (not liquid diarrhea, but more consistent pudding poops and less firm poops. I've been told that it may be impossible to get her poops fully firmed due to side effects from her meds). So what is better? Should I feed her the food that she doesn't like as much & just try to supplement the missing calories with treats/dry food? Or should I feed her the high-quality food that she loves, even if it makes her poops a bit worse?
). I never fed either of those to my raw eaters, and know they are pretty hard to source, but for cats who have specific issues, that may be what is called for. Depending on where you are, obscure meats may be more readily available.
