questions about Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein food

myrnafaye

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Messages
923
Purraise
164
Hi all. I have been feeding my two cats Dr. Elsey's clean protein food (the chicken and turkey formulas, canned; and the chicken dry, mixing a little dry in with the canned). After a lot of research, I felt that as far as commercially prepared food, Dr. Elseys was the highest quality. Last weekend, both cats wound up in my local emergency clinic; one cat, 11, had been not eating well or drinking much for several days; and the other one spit up clear, blood tinged liquid. Mittens, the 11 year old, had tossed several HUGE hairballs; they were gigantic, so for her, I thought it might have been that her belly was irritated. But, now I am wondering. The common denominator is the food. Any thought? any others here feed or have fed Dr. Elsey's?
 

lisahe

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Messages
6,150
Purraise
4,968
Location
Maine
I'm sorry to hear about your cats' ER visits.

I've never fed Dr. Elsey's food but I've avoided the canned food because it contains agar-agar. Our cats seem to be sensitive to agar-agar: I was feeding them a couple foods with it (Whole Earth Farms and Bravo) and both of them vomited. I keep a cat incident log so it was pretty easy to link the agar-agar to the vomiting. And the fact that both cats vomited: one will vomit from lots of things (accumulated fur, eating too fast, etc.) but the other hardly ever does.

I hope you're able to figure out what went wrong. And that your cats are doing better!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

myrnafaye

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Messages
923
Purraise
164
I'm sorry to hear about your cats' ER visits.

I've never fed Dr. Elsey's food but I've avoided the canned food because it contains agar-agar. Our cats seem to be sensitive to agar-agar: I was feeding them a couple foods with it (Whole Earth Farms and Bravo) and both of them vomited. I keep a cat incident log so it was pretty easy to link the agar-agar to the vomiting. And the fact that both cats vomited: one will vomit from lots of things (accumulated fur, eating too fast, etc.) but the other hardly ever does.

I hope you're able to figure out what went wrong. And that your cats are doing better!
That is very interesting about the agar agar. It is used a lot as a "binder". I will have to look into that; I know to steer clear of carageenan, also common in cat food.
 

lisahe

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Messages
6,150
Purraise
4,968
Location
Maine
That is very interesting about the agar agar. It is used a lot as a "binder". I will have to look into that; I know to steer clear of carageenan, also common in cat food.
Exactly. I have always pretty much banned carrageenan but agar-agar is a little different so I figured I would give it a chance, particularly since the cats liked those foods. But it is now banned!
 

maggie101

3 cats
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Messages
7,883
Purraise
9,880
Location
Houston,TX
I have fed 2 of my cats dr elseys wet for years. I never feed dry.one of my cats throws up the food for who knows why. Could be many reasons. Agar agar is used a lot in canned cat food as a thickener. I have found my cats throw up hair balls more in the winter. I am no vet but I do not think they went to er because of the food especially since one wasn't eating. There is egg yolk powder to buy,brush your cat, probiotics for digestion. And the gooey stuff.
 
Last edited:

Kat0121

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Messages
15,036
Purraise
20,362
Location
Sunny Florida
I feed the chicken dry. The girls won't touch the DE wet food. They don't like it but they are very picky. They love the DE dry.

So far so good but they eat mostly wet food.
 

GretaHoney

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Sep 26, 2019
Messages
11
Purraise
24
About half of the diet of my two 5-6 month olds is Dr Elsey’s wet. Like you, after lots of research I felt that it was some of the highest quality commercial wet food for the price (just can’t afford to feed Tiki cat everyday). I feed the chicken and turkey varieties. They also get about a Tbs of Dr Elsey’s chicken dry food at night or as a treat most days. So far I have seen no negative reactions to these foods, but I have only been feeding it for the 3ish months I have had them.
 

fionasmom

Moderator
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
Jun 21, 2014
Messages
13,119
Purraise
17,351
Location
Los Angeles
I have nothing to prove here, but the most glaring example of a wet food that no one would touch, including outdoor wildlife, was Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein. It was almost like they all sensed the same thing....and maybe it was just an odor, not trying to say it was bad food.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

myrnafaye

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Messages
923
Purraise
164
That is very interesting. Goes to prove once again that no matter how much we might study or research no one really knows what the best food is for cats. for right now I'm switching them both over to hills ID.
 

Azazel

Time spent with cats is never wasted.
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 14, 2018
Messages
2,844
Purraise
3,465
That is very interesting. Goes to prove once again that no matter how much we might study or research no one really knows what the best food is for cats. for right now I'm switching them both over to hills ID.
I would argue that the problem isn’t that we don’t know what cats need. We know they are obligate carnivores. The problem is the lack of proper regulation and transparency in the pet feed industry. Who knows exactly where the ingredients in the food came from. For all we know it’s from diseased animals.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

myrnafaye

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Messages
923
Purraise
164
That is a truly terrible thought.
 

Azazel

Time spent with cats is never wasted.
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 14, 2018
Messages
2,844
Purraise
3,465
I do hope your kitties are okay.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13

myrnafaye

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Messages
923
Purraise
164
Yes they are, thank you.
 

Boris Diamond

Cat Valet
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2015
Messages
27,151
Purraise
15,944
I feel slight mistrust for all kitty food. I feed them many different flavors from 7 different brands, and I try new brands that look good. That way, if there is something bad in one brand, at least they won't get a steady diet of it. It helps that they are fussy eaters and I need to rotate food. :thumbsup:
 

mizzely

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Feb 17, 2017
Messages
1,132
Purraise
1,308
Location
Michigan
What works for one cat may be awful for another cat. Lydia will eat the canned Salmon but not the Turkey, even though she usually loves Turkey. However, she snubs a LOT of foods that are considered "the best". Rawz, ZiwiPeak, FussieCat, etc. She won't touch the dry even when mixed with other foods.

I'm thankful I've never had an issue though that you've described with any of the foods I've fed. How long have they been eating the Dr. Elsey's?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #16

myrnafaye

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Messages
923
Purraise
164
I feel slight mistrust for all kitty food. I feed them many different flavors from 7 different brands, and I try new brands that look good. That way, if there is something bad in one brand, at least they won't get a steady diet of it. It helps that they are fussy eaters and I need to rotate food. :thumbsup:
I understand your reasons for doing this and understand how you feel but often kitties' guts react badly to sudden changes in food. I have generally felt it is good to avoid too many changes.
 

crouton

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Oct 24, 2019
Messages
148
Purraise
101
I have three cats, one that is 16 months and 2 that are 8 months old. The 16 month old had been eating Dr. Elsey's dry chicken for a short period of time in the summer and then refused it so we switched her to Tiki Cat chicken and fish luau, and she did ok then started being picky about food. When we took in the 8 month old kittens they found the bag of Dr. Elseys and all three thought it was treats, so we started slowly transitioning them back to Dr. Elsey's and things got worse over time. It started causing terrible diarrhea, vomiting, and coughing in all three cats. We tried transitioning them off the Dr. Elsey's over time to TOTW rocky mountain thinking maybe an ingredient in the Dr. Elseys was too much or maybe it was too rich in protein or it was the flaxseed as they all had terrible gas.

Multiple vet visits later and many parasite and other tests, more than one vet has recommended we feed them a food with grains and better fiber which goes against everything I thought was right about cat food but the vets we saw (more than one) stated more and more problems with a high protein grain free diet causing constipation and diarrhea as well as gastro problems for many cats they are seeing. We slowly transitioned to a "big brand" crap food and now they all are having normal stools for the most part.


I will say when the older cat was eating Dr. Elseys with no problem it was a different bag, the second bag I bought caused problems so I tried a third bag before switching them and that too caused problems. I asked if they changed the recipe and they said no recipe changes from the company.

I'm at a loss right now what to feed them because I do not want to raise 3 cats on terrible cat food and I can not do a homemade or raw diet at this time so canned/dry is what we need. I'm thinking it's possibly flax or the inulin/fructo that was causing them problems. The tiki cat seemed ot not have enough fiber and the TOTW maybe same problem and higher fat.

The vets mentioned to us to look for a lower fat to protein ratio and decent fiber amount.
 

maggie101

3 cats
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Messages
7,883
Purraise
9,880
Location
Houston,TX
I have three cats, one that is 16 months and 2 that are 8 months old. The 16 month old had been eating Dr. Elsey's dry chicken for a short period of time in the summer and then refused it so we switched her to Tiki Cat chicken and fish luau, and she did ok then started being picky about food. When we took in the 8 month old kittens they found the bag of Dr. Elseys and all three thought it was treats, so we started slowly transitioning them back to Dr. Elsey's and things got worse over time. It started causing terrible diarrhea, vomiting, and coughing in all three cats. We tried transitioning them off the Dr. Elsey's over time to TOTW rocky mountain thinking maybe an ingredient in the Dr. Elseys was too much or maybe it was too rich in protein or it was the flaxseed as they all had terrible gas.

Multiple vet visits later and many parasite and other tests, more than one vet has recommended we feed them a food with grains and better fiber which goes against everything I thought was right about cat food but the vets we saw (more than one) stated more and more problems with a high protein grain free diet causing constipation and diarrhea as well as gastro problems for many cats they are seeing. We slowly transitioned to a "big brand" crap food and now they all are having normal stools for the most part.


I will say when the older cat was eating Dr. Elseys with no problem it was a different bag, the second bag I bought caused problems so I tried a third bag before switching them and that too caused problems. I asked if they changed the recipe and they said no recipe changes from the company.

I'm at a loss right now what to feed them because I do not want to raise 3 cats on terrible cat food and I can not do a homemade or raw diet at this time so canned/dry is what we need. I'm thinking it's possibly flax or the inulin/fructo that was causing them problems. The tiki cat seemed ot not have enough fiber and the TOTW maybe same problem and higher fat.

The vets mentioned to us to look for a lower fat to protein ratio and decent fiber amount.
I feed my cats food that is high fat low carb. If they need more protein mix in shredded chicken.. I have been giving Rawz canned Turkey for my cat with with a sensitive tummy. She has decided she likes it
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #19

myrnafaye

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Messages
923
Purraise
164
I have three cats, one that is 16 months and 2 that are 8 months old. The 16 month old had been eating Dr. Elsey's dry chicken for a short period of time in the summer and then refused it so we switched her to Tiki Cat chicken and fish luau, and she did ok then started being picky about food. When we took in the 8 month old kittens they found the bag of Dr. Elseys and all three thought it was treats, so we started slowly transitioning them back to Dr. Elsey's and things got worse over time. It started causing terrible diarrhea, vomiting, and coughing in all three cats. We tried transitioning them off the Dr. Elsey's over time to TOTW rocky mountain thinking maybe an ingredient in the Dr. Elseys was too much or maybe it was too rich in protein or it was the flaxseed as they all had terrible gas.

Multiple vet visits later and many parasite and other tests, more than one vet has recommended we feed them a food with grains and better fiber which goes against everything I thought was right about cat food but the vets we saw (more than one) stated more and more problems with a high protein grain free diet causing constipation and diarrhea as well as gastro problems for many cats they are seeing. We slowly transitioned to a "big brand" crap food and now they all are having normal stools for the most part.


I will say when the older cat was eating Dr. Elseys with no problem it was a different bag, the second bag I bought caused problems so I tried a third bag before switching them and that too caused problems. I asked if they changed the recipe and they said no recipe changes from the company.

I'm at a loss right now what to feed them because I do not want to raise 3 cats on terrible cat food and I can not do a homemade or raw diet at this time so canned/dry is what we need. I'm thinking it's possibly flax or the inulin/fructo that was causing them problems. The tiki cat seemed ot not have enough fiber and the TOTW maybe same problem and higher fat.

The vets mentioned to us to look for a lower fat to protein ratio and decent fiber amount.
Hi, Crouton: I know I cannot do inulin. I have a sensitive gut and that has caused me problems. Now, I am not a cat...but still. Which brand has the inulin? so here is my frustration: NO ONE seems to know with any certainty what cats need. I wont do a raw diet either for many reasons. Clearly, Dr. Elsey's is not right for my cats either. My vet believes cats need some grains, and that in the wild (even though our cats are not wild ...most of the time,,) they consume small rodents who consume grains. I have switched both my cats to Hills ID; both the canned and the dry. They like it a lot and both their poops are normal. In addition, I have not seen a hairball since I made the change. It is pricey; but so are trips to the vet. I had a cat with IBD - my beloved Obi - who also developed chronic pancreatitis - and I dont want to go through that again. Moreover, I sent an email to Dr. Elsey's and never got a response. That kind of frosts me.
 

mizzely

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Feb 17, 2017
Messages
1,132
Purraise
1,308
Location
Michigan
There is no one size fits all... If there was, we wouldn't need all the brands and varieties that we have. When Jasmine got sick, Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach and Friskies was all she could keep down. All we can do is learn, ask questions, and be willing to adapt to their individual needs.
 
Top