Newbie with food and poop question

[marieba]

Sasha (choc. pt. Siamese) will be 16 weeks tomorrow. I free feed Royal Canin Babycat because that is what she was getting at the breeder. She has fresh water available that she drinks quite a bit of, I change it frequently during the day (she tends to get food in it)

After her first week home, she had kind of loose stools, not diarrhea, but definitely not the same as her first week home. She had Hills scrip wet food for 2 days (i/d I think?) and was back to normal. I switched back to the RC Babycat. ( I will be changing to RC Kitten as she finishes up the current bag of Babycat)

Now 3 weeks later, she is pooping the same amount, but her poops are like rabbit pellets, lots of small "pebbles", and we've found a few outside of her litterbox (not sure if she "went" outside, or they were stuck and fell off) I've caught her scooting a few times on the rug. She's been wormed.

So is she constipated? She doesn't complain or anything while using the litterbox and she is a *very* vocal cat otherwise. I would think if it hurt, she would let me know?

Do I need to give her some wet food? And I keep hearing how Siamese have delicate digestive systems, so I am a bit nervous to be trying random things. I've done searches here and I can't keep all the brands straight, and where to purchase.

I've read the raw info and don't think I could do that, I get grossed out enough handling raw chicken breast to cook for supper. Bones and organs would send me over the edge.

So

I'm in MA and the closest stores are Petco, Target, KMart and supermarkets (Stop and Shop, Hannaford,) . Further away, but still close are PetSmart, Walmart, supermarkets (Shaw's, Whole Paycheck, Market Basket)

Thanks for any advice re: brands and ratio of dry to wet!

marieba
first time nervous furparent.

 

[mrblanche]

Cat poop is fairly normal if it breaks up into smaller "pellets," as long as they aren't too small. But SOME wet food is best; there are experts here who can explain it much better than I can.

 

[snake_lady]

Wet food is a good idea in most cats due to kitties don't usually drink enough water, and wet food helps with that. Which may help with the pebbles.

 

[GoldyCat]

If you're changing food, don't wait until you run out to make the switch. You need to do a gradual change. Start with 3/4 old food:1/4 new food for a couple of days, then 1/2:1/2 another couple of days, 1/4:3/4, etc. until you get to 100% new food.

That said, she'll follow her own schedule. When I got my first kitten I mixed a little of th new food in with what she'd been getting. She very carefully went through and picked out all the new food and left the old stuff sitting in the bowl. So much for a gradual change.

 

[laureen227]

i agree - wet food will probably help soften her stools. does she drink much? i've found that a fountain encourages drinking. i have 3 - 2 petmate freshflows [1 small, 1 large] & a drinkwell. i find the drinkwell easier to refill, clean, etc. i tried the CatIt, but i didn't like it - it's currently in my garage!