Pate style canned food causes stool issues?

[neko2019]

I'm not sure if this topic falls under Cat Health or Cat Nutrition, but since the issue is related to Neko's stool, so I'm posting it here...

So the problem is that I have noticed everytime I give my 8 months old Neko pate style canned food, his stool always become somewhat abnormal. It's either more moist/soft than normal, or has a tiny bit of blood on the stool. He is perfectly fine with Tikicat After Dark (shredded chicken with liver, hearts etc), but I would love to get him to rotate with another more accessible brand and/or texture just in case I can't get my hand on Tikicat.

I have tried two brands of pate canned food so far - Ziwi Peak Chicken and Rawz Chicken. Both of them have very simple ingredients, and made of single protein that I know he is not allergic to. And he only gets about 40g of it a day (half of a small can). So I can't seem to comprehend what's the issue with pates? Could it because they are tenser, so it's harder to digest??

 

[lisahe]

I think my best suggestion would be to keep feeding Tiki Cat to Neko while searching out other foods that are as similar as possible, introducing them very slowly. Chewy.com, for example, sells Miko foods that are shredded and very similar to Tiki. Weruva has some shredded foods that are somewhat similar but contain ingredients that might be problematic for some cats: gums and potato starch. (Our cats, for example, can handle gums just fine but one definitely has problems with potato.)

My guess on the Ziwi food is that the chickpeas might be a problem. Or even the mussels, which seem to make our potato-averse cat barf. I'm not sure about Rawz since those ingredients are particularly simple. We've only had one incident with Rawz, the duck, so it's hard to say what the problem was there! Sometimes it's just scarf-and-barf, from eating too fast.

FWIW, our list of "don't feed" ingredients includes: potato, grains, agar-agar, mussels, carrageenan, all peas and other legumes, and any other vegetables that could be considered even slightly carby. I also try to keep tapioca to a minimum. Our cats definitely have sensitive guts so I go for "better safe than sorry"!

 

[neko2019]

I think my best suggestion would be to keep feeding Tiki Cat to Neko while searching out other foods that are as similar as possible, introducing them very slowly. Chewy.com, for example, sells Miko foods that are shredded and very similar to Tiki. Weruva has some shredded foods that are somewhat similar but contain ingredients that might be problematic for some cats: gums and potato starch. (Our cats, for example, can handle gums just fine but one definitely has problems with potato.)

My guess on the Ziwi food is that the chickpeas might be a problem. Or even the mussels, which seem to make our potato-averse cat barf. I'm not sure about Rawz since those ingredients are particularly simple. We've only had one incident with Rawz, the duck, so it's hard to say what the problem was there! Sometimes it's just scarf-and-barf, from eating too fast.

FWIW, our list of "don't feed" ingredients includes: potato, grains, agar-agar, mussels, carrageenan, all peas and other legumes, and any other vegetables that could be considered even slightly carby. I also try to keep tapioca to a minimum. Our cats definitely have sensitive guts so I go for "better safe than sorry"!

Thank you for the detailed reply! It definitely takes him much longer to eat shredded meat vs pate. He finishes the pate food within 2 minutes of me putting it down, whereas it can take him 8-10 minutes to finish the shredded food. I didn't think mussels could be a problem as well. Sigh I guess I will just have to keep trying until I find something else that works for him!

 

[Azazel]

You may need to transition much slower. Just give a spoonful for the first couple of days, or even half a spoon to see how he reacts. Some cats need a slow transition time.

Both Ziwipeak and Rawz have a fiber source that might be too much for some cats. The Ziwipeak has peas and Rawz has fenugreek seeds. A different brand you might try that is similar to Ziwipeak but without the peas is Feline Natural. I find that my cats do well on this one.

 

[lisahe]

It definitely takes him much longer to eat shredded meat vs pate. He finishes the pate food within 2 minutes of me putting it down, whereas it can take him 8-10 minutes to finish the shredded food.

This might be the answer to your question... Edwina, our scarf-and-barf cat, has to be fed small amounts and I try to spread her food out rather than heaping it. That helps to keep her eating slowly.

I don't think mussels are a common problem but when I started tracking Edwina's barfing and food consumption, I realized that the mussels seemed to be a common element. As soon as I eliminated all the foods with mussels, the barfing stopped. (And it's already been five weeks or more so I think I can declare success, considering that she'd been vomiting at least once or twice a week!)

 

[neko2019]

You may need to transition much slower. Just give a spoonful for the first couple of days, or even half a spoon to see how he reacts. Some cats need a slow transition time.

Both Ziwipeak and Rawz have a fiber source that might be too much for some cats. The Ziwipeak has peas and Rawz has fenugreek seeds. A different brand you might try that is similar to Ziwipeak but without the peas is Feline Natural. I find that my cats do well on this one.

Thank you! I have heard good things about Feline Natural, I will give it a try.

 

[neko2019]

This might be the answer to your question... Edwina, our scarf-and-barf cat, has to be fed small amounts and I try to spread her food out rather than heaping it. That helps to keep her eating slowly.

I don't think mussels are a common problem but when I started tracking Edwina's barfing and food consumption, I realized that the mussels seemed to be a common element. As soon as I eliminated all the foods with mussels, the barfing stopped. (And it's already been five weeks or more so I think I can declare success, considering that she'd been vomiting at least once or twice a week!)

I already do spread the food across the plate, and he just licks it up from left to right within a couple minutes lol. It seems like he doesn't chew on it at all. I'm so jealous of other cat parents who can give all sorts of wet food to their cat! I love food shopping!

 

[lisahe]

I already do spread the food across the plate, and he just licks it up from left to right within a couple minutes lol. It seems like he doesn't chew on it at all. I'm so jealous of other cat parents who can give all sorts of wet food to their cat! I love food shopping!

He probably doesn't chew on it at all!