New Kittens, New Diets, Transitions, Diarrhoea

[Bookworm Cat Mum]

About a three weeks ago, my partner and I adopted two kittens--a four month old and a ten month old. They were on Royal Canin, but because we read that a grain free diet was best for them, we tried making a slow transition from Canin to Earthborn Primitive, with the intention of transitioning them to wetfood once that had been done. The ten month old started getting the runs, but friends told us that was to be expected, and he just needed time to adjust. After about a week of this, there was a small trace of blood in his litter and we took them to the vet. The vet recommended giving them a break, and feeding them plain chicken breast for four days. After that, she said, we could try reintroducing them to Earthborn.

They've been fantastic on the chicken breast. Immediate improvement. So after four days, as recommended, I've started slowly reintroducing the Earthborn. Now that we've hit the 29 gram mark for each, they both had diarrhoea and I am desperately worried for both of them, the boy especially. They are both still eating and playing, but the boy is noticeably quieter than usual.

What can I do? What have I done wrong? Have I been trying to transition them too fast despite my efforts? Is it possible my kittens are sensitive to one or two of the ingredients in the Earthborn food? How do I resolve this for them without making an immediate change that would put more stress on their systems?

These are our first cats and we would like to hear from more experienced cat owners in this site.

 

[Kieka]

Since they did well on the chicken only diet my guess would be it is something specific to the Earthborn food. I pulled up Royal Canin and compared that with the Earthborn and the main difference was turkey in the ingredients (obviously others but I was checking the top ingredients only). It could also be that it is too much fat for their systems to handle; which can happen with some of the grain free foods when they are trying to increase protein and use animal fats to do so. The other guess would be too much of an increase in protein too quickly but if they were fine on the chicken then that might not be it.

I'd try a grain free without turkey with under 15% fat and see how they do with that. If you goal is ultimately just wet you could also just going to wet now; especially if they like the chicken it may be an easy switch. Or you could try one of the commercial freeze dried or dehydrated raw foods. Those are kinda the best of both worlds because you can rehydrate them for the moisture benefit and they usually have the minimal amount of ingredients so you can better control what your cats are eating. The cost is higher for those though.

 

[Bookworm Cat Mum]

Thank you so much for the advice! We've just gotten in some plain chicken wet food for them so we will see how they go on that. I would also like to start them on home cooked meals, once their tummies are sorted

 

[Kieka]

Let me know how it goes. If that doesn't work we can brainstorm some more ideas.

If you haven't already we would love to get to know you. New Cats on the Block is a page for introductions. Welcome to TCS

 

[Bookworm Cat Mum]

Let me know how it goes. If that doesn't work we can brainstorm some more ideas.

If you haven't already we would love to get to know you. New Cats on the Block is a page for introductions. Welcome to TCS

So we've gone with Chicken and Pumpkin with Cats in the Kitchen and while they love it, they are still, unfortunately, having the runs. X___X Our vet says that that's to be expected, and to give them up to a week to get used to the food (they started eating it on Saturday). She's also proscribed some probiotics, to help them with the transition. So crossing fingers, they will be ok in a week's time!

 

[ScarlettGatsby]

The probiotics are a great idea, I hope they feel better soon.
Is it the Funk in the Trunk one you're feeding them? I tried to get my cat to eat that flavor and she wouldn't eat it lol. Fussy kitty.
If it is that flavor make sure you're feeding them enough cause it's pretty low calorie, I think the 6 oz can is only 95 calories. It is a great food though and I wish my cat would eat it!

 

[Bookworm Cat Mum]

The probiotics are a great idea, I hope they feel better soon.
Is it the Funk in the Trunk one you're feeding them? I tried to get my cat to eat that flavor and she wouldn't eat it lol. Fussy kitty.
If it is that flavor make sure you're feeding them enough cause it's pretty low calorie, I think the 6 oz can is only 95 calories. It is a great food though and I wish my cat would eat it!

It is indeed Funk In The Trunk. I'm sorry to hear your little one is so fussy! What does she like?

And oh man, thank you for letting me know re: the low calorie count. We've been giving them their Royal Canin, meals to help supplement that, and to help with the transition so they are, hopefully, getting the calories they need.

 

[Bookworm Cat Mum]

More diaorhea, vomit, which we haven't had before. I'm a little bit at my wits' end

 

[catpack]

Most of the cats I've tried on Weruva didn't do well on it. (Had loose stool or diarrhea after being fed it for a bit.). Also, the Funk in the Trunk contains fish, so that may be leading to their issues as well.

How are they on the Royal Canin food when just fed this? Do symptoms clear up?

What other brands of food do you have available to you?

Also, you are not doing anything wrong. Some cats have more sensitive stomachs than others, but I do wonder with these two, since they are not littermates, if they have a GI parasite or something causing the symptoms.

Has your vet done a fecal test? I would specifically look for Coccidia and Giardia, along with more common parasites (roundworms, hookworms, etc...)

 

[Bookworm Cat Mum]

Most of the cats I've tried on Weruva didn't do well on it. (Had loose stool or diarrhea after being fed it for a bit.). Also, the Funk in the Trunk contains fish, so that may be leading to their issues as well.

How are they on the Royal Canin food when just fed this? Do symptoms clear up?

What other brands of food do you have available to you?

Also, you are not doing anything wrong. Some cats have more sensitive stomachs than others, but I do wonder with these two, since they are not littermates, if they have a GI parasite or something causing the symptoms.

Has your vet done a fecal test? I would specifically look for Coccidia and Giardia, along with more common parasites (roundworms, hookworms, etc...)

Thank you so much.

Admittedly, they haven't purely been on the Royal Canin since they've been with us. We tried making the slow transition to earthborn since they came home. They did not have these issues when, on the vet's advice, we fed them chicken breast for several days. But we will try that to rule out food sensitivity and/ or parasites. [and bring the possibility of a test with her--thank you for suggesting it!] They were dewormed before they came to us and they've had treatments since.

We have access to a lot of the main brands: whiskers, fancy feast, applaws, etc. We do have access to foods like Taste of the Wild, Meals for Meows, etc. It would have been our preference to feed them on a grain free food, kibble and canned. But if that ends up not working for them, we will stick with Royal Canin.

 

[Kieka]

Natures Variety Instinct has a nice limited ingredient line with both wet and dry that might work. Only Natural Pet also has a house brand with dry and shredded wet that are both fairly decent in terms of protein, fat and less fillers (you can get it at PetSmart if those are nearby).

I order all my pet food online because I can usually find coupons and get a few dollars off plus free shipping.

 

[Bookworm Cat Mum]

One week and a course of probiotics later, and the kids are alright. *Falls over* thank you everyone for being so kind and patient with a new cat parent scared out of her wits!

 

[Sarthur2]

Always nice to hear a happy ending!

 

[Kieka]

I am so excited to hear that they are doing good.