Primal Freeze Dried And Soft Stools?

[Neo_23]

So I just gave my kitten some primal freeze dried for the first time yesterday morning. This was also his first time eating raw food. I only gave him half of a nugget and I hydrated it in water. He ate it up very fast and seemed to really enjoy it. But, now fast forward about 20 hours later he has large and very soft/mushy stools.

Is this normal and to be expected when transitioning, or should I stop giving him this food?

A bit of background - a lot of foods give my kitten soft stools, and he struggled with a bacterial infection a month ago that the vet thinks had to do with his tummy not being able to digest food. Right now he's on all wet and the only canned food he's eating is Rawz cause it's the only one that gives him healthy stools.

Sigh... I was really hoping the Primal would sit well with him. I wonder if he simply cannot digest the fruits/veggies in it.

 

[Neo_23]

Just talked to someone at the raw pet food store I bought the primal from and she thinks it’s because he’s eating a mix of raw and wet. She suggested I transition him completely to raw but I wasn’t planning on doing that. I just wanted to add in a couple raw nuggets a day. Do you guys think she’s right or should it be fine to just do the 2 nuggets and mainly wet food diet?

 

[Ashley&Cats]

I currently and also feeding Primal Frozen raw and fancy Feast classic canned and I don't have the soft runny stools from my kitten or 6 year old cat but I do have very stinky poops. I wouldn't think it's the Primal and wet food combo if he has been on the wet food for a long time without any issues but it could be that he's sensitive to food change. Try feeding it mixed with the wet food in a small amount then work your way up to one full nugget then you can start having nuggets only at certain times and wet at certain times or a mix of both all the time.

 

[Ashley&Cats]

I feed mostly Primal and some wet since Raw is better for cats the wet food... if you calculate the cost Primal is cheaper then a lot of wet food except for when wet food like fancy Feast is on sale for .50 cense a 3.3 oz can

 

[Neo_23]

Thanks A Ashley&Cats
I reduced the amount of freeze dried I gave him this morning to a quarter of a nugget. I'm hoping it will help if I go more slowly. Everything I read says that it's normal for cats to have soft stools while transitioning to new foods so I'm hoping things will balance out for him as he gets used to it.

I just don't want him to have another bacterial infection
The hard part is that we really don't know what caused the infection the first time around, the vet could only guess that it had something to do with his diet because the bacteria was in his gut. But really it could have been anything, and he was on dry food at the time as well.

Oh and he is on probiotics and enzymes right now too.

 

[Neo_23]

Okay so... even the quarter of the nugget is giving him soft stools. It's a bit better than yesterday, but he has one piece of formed poop (which I'm guessing is from his canned food) and then a blob of soft poop.

I would really appreciate some advice... do I carry on with Primal and push through or stop and try a different freeze dry brand once his stools are back to normal?

 

[Neo_23]

I know no one is responding but I thought I would ask this question here anyway instead of starting a new thread. It’s been 2 days now that I’ve stopped feeding the primal and my kitten is now having 2 poops a day- one solid and one very soft. Why would he have such a strong reaction to such a small amount of the freeze dried? I’m curious if it could be an allergy. He has no other symptoms, except I did kind of notice him scratching himself a bit more than usual, but that has subsided today.

 

[Yanaka]

Well for one thing, I'd say to give it time. Try not to change things around too much, because just like us, stool does not necessarily immediately reflect changes. He could still have that much diarrhea from the earlier portions. Did you check Primal's website? They have tips for transitioning, and that might help you even if you don't want to transition completely. That's also a lot of water to process, and I'm wondering if that might be the issue.

 

[Neo_23]

Well for one thing, I'd say to give it time. Try not to change things around too much, because just like us, stool does not necessarily immediately reflect changes. He could still have that much diarrhea from the earlier portions. Did you check Primal's website? They have tips for transitioning, and that might help you even if you don't want to transition completely. That's also a lot of water to process, and I'm wondering if that might be the issue.

Thanks for your response. I did end up emailing Primal and they weren’t very helpful. They just referred me to their website which says that cats might have soft stools when transitioning. I already knew this, but since my kitten had soft stools for 4 days still even after I stopped feeding it, I decided not to go back to it. I have been feeding Northwest Naturals instead and my kitten is doing really well on it. I like the ingredients better too.

 

[Yanaka]

Thanks for your response. I did end up emailing Primal and they weren’t very helpful. They just referred me to their website which says that cats might have soft stools when transitioning. I already knew this, but since my kitten had soft stools for 4 days still even after I stopped feeding it, I decided not to go back to it. I have been feeding Northwest Naturals instead and my kitten is doing really well on it. I like the ingredients better too.

Interesting that he's doing better with another brand. I'm looking into them as well, but I find them awfully expensive, no? Maybe I'm crunching the numbers wrong, but those packs add up... I have two 3/4-mo kitties who need the boost.

 

[Neo_23]

Interesting that he's doing better with another brand. I'm looking into them as well, but I find them awfully expensive, no? Maybe I'm crunching the numbers wrong, but those packs add up... I have two 3/4-mo kitties who need the boost.

Yes it can definitely be very pricy. Northwest Naturals is the most affordable brand I have found, so I am glad my kitty likes it.

I have a young kitten too (6 months) who eats a lot. I’m only giving him one freeze dried meal a day and I give him wet food for the rest of the day. This makes it a bit more affordable for me.

 

[Yanaka]

Yeah, good solution. Once they're adults, they need less calories. But for now it's pricey... I see Ziwipeaks is cheaper

 

[Neo_23]

Yeah, good solution. Once they're adults, they need less calories. But for now it's pricey... I see Ziwipeaks is cheaper

I give ziwipeak as a treat. It’s air dried so it’s my understanding that it’s not as “raw” as freeze dried products.

 

[Yanaka]

I didn’t remember this topic! I hope my cat does well on this food... I’ll let you know if you wish!

 

[Neo_23]

Yeah let me know how it goes. I hope your kitties don’t have the same reaction mine did.

 

[Ashley&Cats]

So this is very late reply but I am just receiving the email that you replied back to my response. Hopefully all is well. Benjamin is now 9 months old and when I first started him on Primal it was because he was having diarrhea. I stopped his other food cold turkey to get him straight onto Primal. Within 2 days he had formed poop. I would still with primal and go with the frozen version! I will never give up my primal nuggets now. Both cats love primal and I love the raw factor and the convenience of the portioned 1 oz nuggets! They only like the pork and duck now so I give them high quality canned food as well to give them More protein verity. (Canned food I use right now is hounds and gatos, weruva cats in the kitcheN, RAWZ, and Canada fresh)

 

[Ashley&Cats]

Just to let you know since cost/ affordability came up earlier in your post. I am currently spending $200-$250 a month on cat food and cat litter ($8 for cat litter). However my kitten is 12lbs at 9 months old and is suppose to be close to 20lbs fully grown... he eats 4-10nuggets a day depending on if he is having a lazy day (4) or if he is taking a growth spurt (8-10) average day he eats 5-6 unless I give him more canned. Right now I’m trying to cut costs by exploring the different canned foods (listed in last post)

The money that I spend is solely due to me having a large cat breed for a kitten (ragdoll) if I had a regular domestic breed kitten I think i would be spending $150 max.

 

[Yanaka]

Just to let you know since cost/ affordability came up earlier in your post. I am currently spending $200-$250 a month on cat food and cat litter ($8 for cat litter). However my kitten is 12lbs at 9 months old and is suppose to be close to 20lbs fully grown... he eats 4-10nuggets a day depending on if he is having a lazy day (4) or if he is taking a growth spurt (8-10) average day he eats 5-6 unless I give him more canned. Right now I’m trying to cut costs by exploring the different canned foods (listed in last post)

The money that I spend is solely due to me having a large cat breed for a kitten (ragdoll) if I had a regular domestic breed kitten I think i would be spending $150 max.

Right now personally I'm spending around $200 a month. And my cats aren't as heavy as yours... I feed almost just Rawz and hell, that's all the extra money I make after bills, books for school, and transportation (and a little bit of fun). Ha! Well this is off topic, but I don't know how come mine are eating that much and they're smaller.

 

[Ashley&Cats]

More active maybe... idk but if they are kittens that could be it too. My adult cats only eats 2-4 a day with canned. Benji is eating the most but now he is starting to get more ragdoll like and sleeping or wanting to be held constantly (I sometimes have to hold him in order for him to stop crying. Last time he went through this crying fit I was cooking supper so I was holding my 12lb kitten in one arm and cooking with my other hand. Sometimes I wish there was a baby sling for cats!)

 

[Yanaka]

More active maybe... idk but if they are kittens that could be it too. My adult cats only eats 2-4 a day with canned. Benji is eating the most but now he is starting to get more ragdoll like and sleeping or wanting to be held constantly (I sometimes have to hold him in order for him to stop crying. Last time he went through this crying fit I was cooking supper so I was holding my 12lb kitten in one arm and cooking with my other hand. Sometimes I wish there was a baby sling for cats!)

Haha I'm sure some people have figured out a way to hold their cat like that!
Listen, my male cat might not be a Ragdoll and he probably doesn't cry as much as yours do, but he meows almost every night now although we're in the same room, and all he wants is to be held. It's awesome, I love him so much. He's sturdy, maybe he'll run in competition with you guys' cats for a little while before genetics take over again!