New cat food/GI issues... reverting after a good few weeks

[5DH]

We adopted a kitten at 5 months, he's almost 1 year now. He had some "dirty bum" issues nearly the entire time we've had him, where he had very soft stools - not diarrheic as they are almost always formed, just extremely soft. The problem is that there would almost always be some liquid fecal residue on his anus that would then transfer to whatever surface he sat on next, and over time would just build up and be a pretty nasty crust.

After a negative fecal exam the vet began focusing on diet. We've tried Purina One Indoor, Purina One Sensitive Skin & Stomach, Hill's GI Biome prescription food, Purina Pro Sensitive Turkey & Oatmeal, and we're now on Purina Pro Sensitive Lamb & Rice.

I would say the most improvement happened after switching to Lamb and Rice, where have gone probably 3 weeks of maybe 85-90% improvement. However, I've recently noticed some regression. First, he throws up partially digested food every 10 days or so. He hadn't thrown up any of the non-Purina Pro formulas. Second, in the last couple of days, I noticed his stools are getting softer/smellier and when I woke up today, saw the dreaded brown spot on his favorite place to sleep, which means he's bad enough to being back to transferring poop again. I had thought we might be out of the woods!

A few thoughts going through my head:

1. I still don't know what's actually wrong with him, whether it's a food intolerance or something more serious like IBS or IBD, or maybe just general anxiety as he's a pretty skittish cat and we had just left town for 4 days. After doing better on the Lamb & Rice for weeks, why would his system suddenly regress?
2. He's been on the Lamb & Rice for a month now. How long before I should switch his food again?
3. And what should I switch it to? This was the last one on my list. I have one vet suggesting a hydrolyzed protein diet could be the next step, but I haven't been thrilled with that vet and obviously it's a very expensive step. Another vet suggested this Rx Clay supplement. Has anyone here had luck with some foods?

 

[fionasmom]

I do have the Rx Clay supplement at my house. It was not a great success, if by chance you have not seen it....and if we are talking about the same product. It is a very fine powder, almost like the stuff that you mix with water and make a facial mask out of.

If you suspect IBD, this is a very informative site.
IBDKitties – Helping Save Lives…One Paw at a Time

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. If your 4-day absence was recent, you might want to give it more time before another food switch just to see if your being gone has had some bearing on him and his digestive tract.

Throwing up every 10 days or so seems odd that the food itself would be the sole culprit. Is it a particular time of day that he typically throws up? If it seems to be in the morning, perhaps those times he has just gone a bit too long without food and had stomach acid build up. Is there any amount of hair in the vomit? Could be the accumulation of some hair in his stomach - the timeline would seem to fit that scenario better. Are there any other possible patterns you could investigate to see if something is triggering anxiety or stress? Schedule changes in your home/etc. - that sort of thing.

I realize you said he wasn't throwing up on any of the non-Purina foods. So, the next step might be to compare all the ingredients in the Purina foods to the Hill's GI Biome food. And then search the internet for foods with lamb and do another comparison between what you find, and the foods mentioned above. It could help you to identify some more food options if things don't settle down for him.

I am sure it is not entirely impossible, but he seems pretty young to have developed IBD - so it would seem this could be IBS, IMO. While IBS can be brought about with dietary intolerances, it can also sometimes be caused through stress/anxiety.

Lastly, I don't know if the fecal exam involved a PCR test, which looks for not only parasites but bacteria/viruses that standard fecal testing does not include. If not, it might be worth having one done to see if there is an underlying bacterial/viral issue.

 

[stephanietx]

Have you tried any probiotics or supplements to help his gut? We give our kitty saccharomyces boullardi to help with poop problems.

 

[maggie101]

What stopped my cat from throwing up is a different protein every day and canned with pieces of meat. Usually farmina quail or duck. Also probiotics like fortiflora

 

[5DH]

Have you tried any probiotics or supplements to help his gut? We give our kitty saccharomyces boullardi to help with poop problems.

Any specific brand? I have heard some are better than others in terms of what cats will tolerate.

 

[fionasmom]

A number of members have used Jarrow brand.

 

[Holistic Cat Mama]

We adopted a kitten at 5 months, he's almost 1 year now. He had some "dirty bum" issues nearly the entire time we've had him, where he had very soft stools - not diarrheic as they are almost always formed, just extremely soft. The problem is that there would almost always be some liquid fecal residue on his anus that would then transfer to whatever surface he sat on next, and over time would just build up and be a pretty nasty crust.

After a negative fecal exam the vet began focusing on diet. We've tried Purina One Indoor, Purina One Sensitive Skin & Stomach, Hill's GI Biome prescription food, Purina Pro Sensitive Turkey & Oatmeal, and we're now on Purina Pro Sensitive Lamb & Rice.

I would say the most improvement happened after switching to Lamb and Rice, where have gone probably 3 weeks of maybe 85-90% improvement. However, I've recently noticed some regression. First, he throws up partially digested food every 10 days or so. He hadn't thrown up any of the non-Purina Pro formulas. Second, in the last couple of days, I noticed his stools are getting softer/smellier and when I woke up today, saw the dreaded brown spot on his favorite place to sleep, which means he's bad enough to being back to transferring poop again. I had thought we might be out of the woods!

A few thoughts going through my head:

1. I still don't know what's actually wrong with him, whether it's a food intolerance or something more serious like IBS or IBD, or maybe just general anxiety as he's a pretty skittish cat and we had just left town for 4 days. After doing better on the Lamb & Rice for weeks, why would his system suddenly regress?
2. He's been on the Lamb & Rice for a month now. How long before I should switch his food again?
3. And what should I switch it to? This was the last one on my list. I have one vet suggesting a hydrolyzed protein diet could be the next step, but I haven't been thrilled with that vet and obviously it's a very expensive step. Another vet suggested this Rx Clay supplement. Has anyone here had luck with some foods?

No cat should EVER be fed dry kibble! I have personal experiences with this and studied new scientific studies. So why do Veterinarians prescribe or recommend it? You will never find a Holistic Veterinarian who went on to college after their peers graduated recommend these foods. Standard veterinarians have very little courses on feline nutrition or whether certain ingredients cause harm or possibly cause harm. What little courses they do have are sponsored by and taught by Purina, Royal Canin and Hills. Obviously the information will be biased and those foods are promoted. Veterinarians make $ from selling those "prescription" diets as well. Try a high quality wet food with no meat by products or carrageenan. Even better RAW Goats Milk. If it's pasteurized it will make cats gassy. Raw Goats Milk has every vitamin and mineral needed plus has probiotics and prebiotics which aids in digestion and will cure constipation and diarrhea! Also a raw diet would be of great benefit! You can try Darwin's Raw Pet Food. You can get 10 lbs for only $14.99 just to try them out. That's alot of food for one cat! My 11 yr old cat Luna was diagnosed with cancer of the GI in December and these raw foods have helped her tremendously! She no longer is vomiting or having poopy issues! Please read catinfo.org which was written by a renowned Holistic Veterinarian. There is a plethora of great information there that will blow your mind!