New To Raw Feeding, And Have A Poo Question

[Ohlookshiny]

I converted my newly adopted 6 month old kittens over to raw feeding. It has been about 3 weeks and we started with Rad Cat until we could make our own. They have been on homemade for about a week we used the recipe from Recipe: Feline Nutrition's Easy Raw Cat Food - Feline Nutrition Foundation. The past two day one cat has had a problem with clearing all of his bowel movement. And had dragged his butt to clear. Today the other kitten started the same issue. Did we do something wrong? They have no other issues, they run, play, jump, sleep and pee like normal. Do they need to go to the vet? or is it the switch from Rad Cat to homemade?

 

[mservant]

Changing diet for cats can be fraught with setbacks and triggering soft or loose poo which can cause irritation is just one. There is also the chance that what is happening is not related to the change in diet and the behaviour is down to some other issue. For that reason I think it is always best to have a vet take a look at your cats to make sure nothing is missed.

That said, I don't know exactly how you have approached this diet change and have a couple of links here that you might find useful.

Raw feeding and parasites-questions
Feeding Raw To Cats - Safety Concerns

 

[Azazel]

It could be that you put too much bone in the food (rad cat doesn’t have any bone) or it could be the diet change. Or, it could be unrelated. I would disagree with the links the above poster provided that it is a parasite or infection.

I would move them back to rad cat and see if they go back to normal. If not, then maybe a vet visit.

 

[lisahe]

My first question would also be about bone: constipation isn't that unusual among raw-fed cats. And of course they don't poop much to begin with and what does come out is often pretty small and dry. Our two, who eat roughly 60% raw, 20% homemade cooked, 20% canned, occasionally have dingleberries. I don't worry about it because when I've seen them in the box, they clearly haven't been constipated.

I might try a version of what A Azazel suggested by bringing some Rad Cat back into their diet. One other thing: Rad Cat has a fair bit of water so if the homemade isn't as wet, you might want to try adding more water.

Good luck!

 

[Ohlookshiny]

Thanks to all who replied. I know it wasn't parasites. They had been checked recently. Right afterward we switched back to Rad Cat and issue cleared up. Could be the diet change or they could have been in a hurry to play or get out of the litter box (fear of other kitty bothering them.) We now separate them after feeding time and give them poo box access. Lisahe your lynx point looks like one of my boys. The other is all black. Again much appreciated advice.

 

[lisahe]

Thanks to all who replied. I know it wasn't parasites. They had been checked recently. Right afterward we switched back to Rad Cat and issue cleared up. Could be the diet change or they could have been in a hurry to play or get out of the litter box (fear of other kitty bothering them.) We now separate them after feeding time and give them poo box access. Lisahe your lynx point looks like one of my boys. The other is all black. Again much appreciated advice.

Well, the plot (and maybe the poop!) thickens if one of your cats is a lynx mix: our vet warned us early on that Siamese mixes tend to have digestive issues. (Both ours have minor problems... plus Ireland, the lynx, is a nervous cat. These two are rescues and her sister, Edwina, still has some food anxiety even after more than four years.) Anyway, separating your two cats for meals is good and, yes, if you can keep them from playing right before and right after meals, that's a huge plus, too. (We find that's a big contributor to postprandial regurgitation.) You're already feeding high protein and low carbs, so that's good.

Feeding lots of different kinds of foods works well for our cats (they get bored with their food pretty easily) so maybe it would be helpful to feed partly Rad Cat and partly homemade if it turns out that just homemade causes constiptation. We feed a small Rad Cat snack every afternoon but most of their other raw food (all commercial) is freeze-dried, which they love. If I remember correctly, all the freeze-dried has some bone in it and almost all the rest of their food doesn't. Given their litter box results, I wouldn't want to increase their bone intake at all.

Do let us know what happens! And again, good luck.

P.S. I'd love to see a photo of your cats if you have one your can post!

 

[Sallysoo]

Yes, some kitties may need slow food transistion for change of diet.
My kitty when he was a kitten, any change of food including treats will cause him to have instant diarrhoea. No other medical reason, vet said he has very sensitive digestion system. Vet asked me to give him Hills ID for his lifetime. He was good with the prescription diet for a couple of months. Long story short, after my research on kitty nutrition, I transistor him to canned and then to 100% homemade raw! Took about a couple of months for the very slow transistion. It is worth all the patience. Now he is 1.5 years, stronger digestive system and good Main diet, he can take a variety of treats, no issue.