Royal Canin So Dry - Causing Stomach Problems?

[laverne1979]

We have our 3 kitties on the Royal Canin SO dry formula. The vet recommended this after one of the male cats had VERY bad crystals that required surgery. They have been on the food for about 2 1/2 years now. One of my cats (female) has started vomiting recently - severely. We took her to the vet after a few days of this and after a round of medicines (nausea, parasite, etc) that didn't work, 2 scans that showed something in the stomach, and blood tests showing elevated white blood count, the vet/we made the decision to do exploratory surgery. This has shown that the lymph nodes in her gut are swollen. The vet said it could be caused by infection but that it also could be an indication of gastrointestinal Lymphoma. The vet is giving her antibiotics and also a different kind of nausea med to see if this will help her eat, she is staying at the vet's office for monitoring for a few days. We are hoping against hope that it is just an infection but we are preparing for the other. I have read online (because everything is true on the internet, lol) that many people have had trouble with the Royal Canin food and it causing severe stomach issues with their cats. Has anyone else heard this? We just opened a new bag of food about 2 days or so before she started the vomiting, so almost 2 weeks ago, now. And, we woke up this morning to one of the other cats having vomited - and it looks the same as hers did. The vet says it isn't the food, but we aren't so sure. We think we need to switch them pronto. Do we need to switch to a different dry prescription food due to one of them having had crystals, or should we switch to wet? Or am I just overreacting? I'm very worried for our cats.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I am so sorry that you are going through this. Feeby has been on RC SO dry and wet, as well as Hill's C/D dry and wet, for years and years with no issues (knock on wood). It could be the specific bag of food being old or somehow contaminated - but I would think all 3 of your cats would be affected. Depending of what could be wrong with this bag of food, since all cats digestive systems are different they each could be impacted differently (or not at all) by it.

On the other hand, the second cat coming down with something similar to the first sounds like it could also be related to an infection that is transmittable. Does the vet yet know about the second cat? If not, I would be calling and telling them.

Exploratory surgery seems like it was a bit drastic. I sure hope your vet first performed a fecal PCR test - which looks for bacteria (as well as parasites) and would help to determine if there is some sort of infection, and possibly what type. The type of infection would narrow down the most effective antibiotics. You can ask the vet, and if it wasn't done, you can collect fecal samples right from the litterbox and take it to the vet for testing (just make sure they will accept it this way). You can securely bag the feces, and if need be, refrigerate it for up to 24 hours if you need time to be able to get to the vets. If there is bacteria found, I would think the vet would want to treat all three cats to be on the safe side.

Making a drastic food change right now might just confuse the issue. I would get the fecal PCR testing done first. Besides, any food change should be done slowly - adding a bit of the new with a lot of the old, then reducing the old and increasing the new over at least a couple of weeks to allow their systems to adjust to the new food. You could try some RC SO canned, or perhaps even look at Purina who also has urinary care foods in both dry and canned and they are not prescription (the Hill's C/D is). In the long haul, it wouldn't hurt to add some canned to their diet.

 

[She's a witch]

it's possible that this particular bag of food was off. I would stop feeding that bag and contact Royal Canin explaining the issue. I would also check the cats for possible bacteria they could get from this bag.

Personally I don't like Royal Canin company, as the ingredients they usually use seems more appropriate for hens than for cats, so I guess it's possible it can cause some issues in cats with more sensitive stomachs, as everything. But in your case it's actually worrying that cats without urinary issues were eating it, did your vet said it's ok? I always believed that prescription SO food can only be eaten by cats with the urinary problems. I don't know if that would cause stomach problems, though.

 

[laverne1979]

I am so sorry that you are going through this. Feeby has been on RC SO dry and wet, as well as Hill's C/D dry and wet, for years and years with no issues (knock on wood). It could be the specific bag of food being old or somehow contaminated - but I would think all 3 of your cats would be affected. Depending of what could be wrong with this bag of food, since all cats digestive systems are different they each could be impacted differently (or not at all) by it.

On the other hand, the second cat coming down with something similar to the first sounds like it could also be related to an infection that is transmittable. Does the vet yet know about the second cat? If not, I would be calling and telling them.

Exploratory surgery seems like it was a bit drastic. I sure hope your vet first performed a fecal PCR test - which looks for bacteria (as well as parasites) and would help to determine if there is some sort of infection, and possibly what type. The type of infection would narrow down the most effective antibiotics. You can ask the vet, and if it wasn't done, you can collect fecal samples right from the litterbox and take it to the vet for testing (just make sure they will accept it this way). You can securely bag the feces, and if need be, refrigerate it for up to 24 hours if you need time to be able to get to the vets. If there is bacteria found, I would think the vet would want to treat all three cats to be on the safe side.

Making a drastic food change right now might just confuse the issue. I would get the fecal PCR testing done first. Besides, any food change should be done slowly - adding a bit of the new with a lot of the old, then reducing the old and increasing the new over at least a couple of weeks to allow their systems to adjust to the new food. You could try some RC SO canned, or perhaps even look at Purina who also has urinary care foods in both dry and canned and they are not prescription (the Hill's C/D is). In the long haul, it wouldn't hurt to add some canned to their diet.

I guess I really shouldn't have called it exploratory surgery. The vet did several tests on her including a full lab workup. She had been vomiting for several days, had not had a bowel movement, it was to the point that she could not keep any food down whatsoever, and she had stopped eating and drinking. The vet did x-rays and could tell that there was something in her stomach obstructing her but could not tell what it was - accumulated hairball that could not be passed, foreign object, etc. When the surgery was performed, it ended up being her lymph nodes being enlarged that could be seen on the x-ray. So, not really exploratory, I apologize for using that term.

 

[laverne1979]

it's possible that this particular bag of food was off. I would stop feeding that bag and contact Royal Canin explaining the issue. I would also check the cats for possible bacteria they could get from this bag.

Personally I don't like Royal Canin company, as the ingredients they usually use seems more appropriate for hens than for cats, so I guess it's possible it can cause some issues in cats with more sensitive stomachs, as everything. But in your case it's actually worrying that cats without urinary issues were eating it, did your vet said it's ok? I always believed that prescription SO food can only be eaten by cats with the urinary problems. I don't know if that would cause stomach problems, though.

Yes, the vet said that it would be ok for all 3 to be on the same diet since we free feed the dry food.

 

[FeebysOwner]

When the surgery was performed, it ended up being her lymph nodes being enlarged that could be seen on the x-ray. So, not really exploratory, I apologize for using that term.

Well, that kind of is exploratory surgery. I don't suppose the vet took a lymph node out to have it tested for lymphoma? Even so, if the lymph node and/or something else was obstructing some of her stomach, what did the vet do to resolve that issue?

You said there were other tests performed, do you know if one of them was the fecal PCR?