Need Food Help

[carlieebug]

so me and my vet have discovered that my cat does indeed either have IBD or a food allergy. I was only giving him a dry food (Purina One Indoor Turkey) but I decided to add some wet food (Pure Balance) but it gave him really bad diarrhea. So I stopped the wet food 100% yesterday and his poops are pretty solid.
So I know an all dry diet is horrible and I want to add wet food for the moisture but I cannot have him have diarrhea like that again. It was as bad as it’s ever been.
He also needs to gain some weight since he’s lost about 0.5lbs
I’m in treatment for an illness of my own so my funds are limited so I cannot buy expensive food. So please be kind and any advice helps me.

 

[LTS3]

You'll want to feed a novel protein LID type food. Maybe something like rabbit or duck.

Single Novel Protein Grain Free Wet (not Raw) Food? Help!
Your favorite brands of "novel protein" canned cat food

BLUE Basics® Limited Ingredient Cat Food | Blue Buffalo
Limited Ingredient Diet - Grain Free Cat | Merrick Pet Care
Cat Food - Limited Ingredient Diet - Kohapet
Limited Ingredients | Natural Balance Pet Foods
Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet | Instinct Pet Food

IBD cats often have diarrhea. It resolves with medicine and diet so don't give up hope on getting canned food into the diet. A bland-ish diet with few fillers seem to help many IBD cats. Probiotics can be helpful, too.

Ask the vet to check B12 levels. IBD cats often have low levels of B12 which results in weight loss because the body can't properly process food.

 

[carlieebug]

You'll want to feed a novel protein LID type food. Maybe something like rabbit or duck.

Single Novel Protein Grain Free Wet (not Raw) Food? Help!
Your favorite brands of "novel protein" canned cat food

BLUE Basics® Limited Ingredient Cat Food | Blue Buffalo
Limited Ingredient Diet - Grain Free Cat | Merrick Pet Care
Cat Food - Limited Ingredient Diet - Kohapet
Limited Ingredients | Natural Balance Pet Foods
Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet | Instinct Pet Food

IBD cats often have diarrhea. It resolves with medicine and diet so don't give up hope on getting canned food into the diet. A bland-ish diet with few fillers seem to help many IBD cats. Probiotics can be helpful, too.

Ask the vet to check B12 levels. IBD cats often have low levels of B12 which results in weight loss because the body can't properly process food.

I will ask about B12 levels.
I think I will go expensive on the dry by getting Dr. Elsey’s dry since it is really good on ingredients and it’s spoken highly on here. And then maybe a limited ingredient wet food?

 

[basschick]

anytime you change food, even going from dry to dry, you risk the cat having diarrhea. several different vets have told us not to change foods for HK - who has IBS - so we stay within the same brand and line.

do you leave food out for your cat all the time?

btw, good idea about the B12, LTS3. our vet didn't bother to check till HK had problems due to lack of B12; now we give him an injection every 4 to 5 days, and it helped.

 

[carlieebug]

anytime you change food, even going from dry to dry, you risk the cat having diarrhea. several different vets have told us not to change foods for HK - who has IBS - so we stay within the same brand and line.

do you leave food out for your cat all the time?

I am gradually changing him just in case it’s a food allergy and not IBS. Not 100% change.
And yes I do with the dry

 

[LTS3]

Chicken is a common culprit of food sensitivities and causes flare ups in some IBD cats . Dr. Elsey has a salmon dry food but feeding a primarily fish based diet isn't good. There are LID dry foods you can try.

 

[carlieebug]

Chicken is a common culprit of food sensitivities and causes flare ups in some IBD cats . Dr. Elsey has a salmon dry food but feeding a primarily fish based diet isn't good. There are LID dry foods you can try.

Any recommendations on the protein

 

[LTS3]

Novel ones. The most common ones you can usually easily find are duck, rabbit, turkey, and venison.

 

[daftcat75]

Novel proteins only have to be novel to your cat, not all cats. I say this because a lot of people go out and buy lamb and venison and other meats a cat doesn't eat in nature and wonder why their cat doesn't like them. Not all cats like red meat. Fortunately, for many cats with chicken sensitivities, turkey and duck are novel enough. However you have to read the ingredients because a lot of turkey and duck recipes include chicken. That is, if he has a chicken allergy/sensitivity. Rabbit is a kitty favorite though harder to find a good clean recipe. Unfortunately, pet food manufacturers don't make it easy to figure out what proteins he might be sensitive to. The diarrhea could very well have been a thickener or gum and nothing to do with the protein. Xanthum gum will do that to my Krista. Doesn't matter if it's one of her safe proteins. If the food has xanthum gum, it's going to soup her poops. You may very well have to try a few expensive cans like Rawz or Pure Vita just to eliminate nonsense ingredients. Once you have determined safe proteins, you can look for more affordable brands. While you're doing this, I also recommend researching raw or homemade cooked. You don't have to jump in with both feet in one night. But a lot of sensitive cats find relief from these diets especially because, with homemade, you can control all the ingredients that go into it. It makes figuring out sensitivities and avoiding nonsense or triggering ingrediens that much easier.

 

[carlieebug]

Novel proteins only have to be novel to your cat, not all cats. I say this because a lot of people go out and buy lamb and venison and other meats a cat doesn't eat in nature and wonder why their cat doesn't like them. Not all cats like red meat. Fortunately, for many cats with chicken sensitivities, turkey and duck are novel enough. However you have to read the ingredients because a lot of turkey and duck recipes include chicken. That is, if he has a chicken allergy/sensitivity. Rabbit is a kitty favorite though harder to find a good clean recipe. Unfortunately, pet food manufacturers don't make it easy to figure out what proteins he might be sensitive to. The diarrhea could very well have been a thickener or gum and nothing to do with the protein. Xanthum gum will do that to my Krista. Doesn't matter if it's one of her safe proteins. If the food has xanthum gum, it's going to soup her poops. You may very well have to try a few expensive cans like Rawz or Pure Vita just to eliminate nonsense ingredients. Once you have determined safe proteins, you can look for more affordable brands. While you're doing this, I also recommend researching raw or homemade cooked. You don't have to jump in with both feet in one night. But a lot of sensitive cats find relief from these diets especially because, with homemade, you can control all the ingredients that go into it. It makes figuring out sensitivities and avoiding nonsense or triggering ingrediens that much easier.

His favorite is turkey. He’s mostly always had it. So I really hope he isn’t allergic to that. I thought about getting a limited ingredient turkey dry food and see how he does but it’s so hard to choose what is best and my funds are limited and changing foods every so often just to test it, it’s so very stressful. I feel like I’m going to have a panic attack just thinking about it.

 

[daftcat75]

His favorite is turkey. He’s mostly always had it. So I really hope he isn’t allergic to that. I thought about getting a limited ingredient turkey dry food and see how he does but it’s so hard to choose what is best and my funds are limited and changing foods every so often just to test it, it’s so very stressful. I feel like I’m going to have a panic attack just thinking about it.

Due to the way IBD works, it is the protein he's mostly always had that he is most likely sensitive to now. Dry food is also going to be problematic. And "Limited Ingredient Diet" foods rarely are limited ingredients. Find a single protein food with little or no fruit or vegetable matter despite whether the label says LID or not. Fancy Feast Classic pates are actually more species appropriate than most supposed high end foods out there.

 

[carlieebug]

Due to the way IBD works, it is the protein he's mostly always had that he is most likely sensitive to now. Dry food is also going to be problematic. And "Limited Ingredient Diet" foods rarely are limited ingredients. Find a single protein food with little or no fruit or vegetable matter despite whether the label says LID or not. Fancy Feast Classic pates are actually more species appropriate than most supposed high end foods out there.

I just worry that I’m going to choose the wrong thing and make everything worse. It is so overwhelming. Wet food (pure balance) made his diarrhea way worse so now I’m scared of it

 

[daftcat75]

I just worry that I’m going to choose the wrong thing and make everything worse. It is so overwhelming. Wet food (pure balance) made his diarrhea way worse so now I’m scared of it

It could be the carageenan. It could be the turkey. It is unfortunately a difficult process to figure out. This is why single protein foods are easier. If you suspect turkey, you can switch to chicken or salmon. But if your choices are chicken and turkey or chicken and salmon, if he reacts to both, does he have a chicken sensitivity or is it another common ingredient like the carageenan?

Anyway, you only tried one food of thousands to choose from, and any new food is going to require a slow introduction. I'd start with a tablespoon of any new food you want to try. Wet food and dry food are also very different for digestion. I wouldn't offer the wet with the dry. The dry will make the wet less digestible. Pick one meal to experiment (not all of them.) Give it a poop to decide if you're going to offer it again. Then increase the portion by another tablespoon. Repeat until he's up to a full portion. Softer, but still formed stools are okay for a few days to see if they firm up as he gets used to the new food. It's the poop soup you want to avoid. In my experience, poop soup does not firm up with repeated feedings.

 

[carlieebug]

It could be the carageenan. It could be the turkey. It is unfortunately a difficult process to figure out. This is why single protein foods are easier. If you suspect turkey, you can switch to chicken or salmon. But if your choices are chicken and turkey or chicken and salmon, if he reacts to both, does he have a chicken sensitivity or is it another common ingredient like the carageenan?

Anyway, you only tried one food of thousands to choose from, and any new food is going to require a slow introduction. I'd start with a tablespoon of any new food you want to try. Wet food and dry food are also very different for digestion. I wouldn't offer the wet with the dry. The dry will make the wet less digestible. Pick one meal to experiment (not all of them.) Give it a poop to decide if you're going to offer it again. Then increase the portion by another tablespoon. Repeat until he's up to a full portion. Softer, but still formed stools are okay for a few days to see if they firm up as he gets used to the new food. It's the poop soup you want to avoid. In my experience, poop soup does not firm up with repeated feedings.

I will do more research on foods today. Thank you.