Sensitive Stomach Grain Free Food (affordable?)

[AndieFlare]

Hi. My mom's friend has just adopted a female black domestic short hair cat from a rather... questionable shelter.

I wouldn't say they're questionable exactly. But the're guidelines for adopting animals are very strict. The vet that my mom's friend was recommended to actually was the same one that my family uses for our two dogs. Not that I have a problem with this. But the problem is -they suggested they give my less than 10-lb Chihuahua Valium and I really don't like this. I took some of my dog's Valium once and it made me feel really ill (Valium is safe for humans) it was calming, but I don't like how it made ME feel, so I hope to one day switch vets for my dog.

I informed my mom's friend (Dee) and she understands that maybe a more holistic vet would be a good choice. I don't know if she can afford to go raw, and I would really like her to ask a vet about that and I myself am not experienced on giving advice on raw-feeding.

But I can give her advice on grain-free formulas. My sister's a vet tech and she's in training - I feel like I have a bit more knowledge on animals when it comes to her, even though she's in school, because I've been browsing a bit longer then her... She just recently decided to become a vet, but if anything happens, I'm going to ask my sister, to help Dee find a suitable vet in her area (which is close to where I live, Port Saint Lucie)

Moving on, the shelter smelled really bad and Dee said that they gave her a bag or Royal Canine - and I know this is for sensitive stomachs but it's got a lot of grain and filler product, and Dee and I were talking and we don't know if Tova (her cat) was moved form home to home and just wasn't able to properly settle in to a household or not?

But Tova's happy now. The 'shelter' said that she'll (Tova) always have bad digestion but I don't think that's true. Also another thing that I don't like about the shelter is that they said that Grain-Free = high in calories as I inquired about a Grain Free Diet that i could feed to my overweight Chihuahua Bryan and they said he needs a weight-loss food and suggested a very low quality food. So I am going to look for a different vet for my dogs.

Dee just wants to get Tova's past paperwork that the shelter told her about, because Tova was allergic to her vaccinations. We are in Florida, and Dee lives in Port Saint Lucie, I live in Stuart, if anyone knows anyone in the area that could help (because there really isn't a lot of options for us that's affordable and 'good') please let us know.

Tova is declawed in the front but has claws in the back. Dee takes very good care of her, she's learning, and she actually rescued her from a very stressful situation. Please don't send any negativity. Thank you.

(By the way - Tova CAME DECLAWED. DEE DID NOT DECLAW HER. DEE WOULD NEVER DECLAW A CAT AS ITS VERY UNETHICAL AND IN-HUMANE.)

 

[BlueJay]

I'm happy to hear Tova has found a happy home! I've heard that the worst wet food is still better than the best dry food, so I would take a little comfort in that. Just because you don't feed a raw diet doesn't mean your cat won't be healthy. Remember, some cats are picky and they might not like just any wet food you decide is the best, either. I would recommend your friend choose several different kinds that are a good balance between affordable price (whatever that may be for them) and high quality, and then see which ones Tova enjoys. Hopefully she does well on them with the digestion issues, I don't have any advice for that aspect. Also, I like many things about my vet, but I don't take any advice from them regarding food, since they gave me a sheet saying as long as I gave the kitten kitten food it didn't matter if it was wet or dry...

 

[lisahe]

If Tova really does have stomach/digestive problems (and it's best at this point to assume that she does) it may take a bit of trial and error to find out what works for her stomach. I agree with BlueJay about wet food being the better choice and would agree with you, A AndieFlare , that the shelter is wrong about grain-free foods. Not only are wheat and corn common irritants for cats with stomach problems, meaning they're not a good idea for Tova to begin with, the shelter is at least partially wrong on calories, too: the trick is to find grain-free foods that are also low in carbs, meaning no potato, peas, or other vegetables that add carbs and, thus, empty calories. That's what we do for our cats: they have weird little digestive quirks so we feed them only wet foods so they get maximum protein and minimum carbs. Cats are carnivores so their digestive tracts are built to process meat, not vegetable matter that many manufacturers use as fillers and thickeners.

Since the shelter apparently didn't give any details about Tova's alleged digestive issues, I think BlueJay's thought of buying Tova some food and seeing what happens is the best approach. Dee should probably take the food transition slowly, though, since some cats with glitchy stomachs don't do well when their food is switched. If Tova does seem to have troubles, it might be worth keeping a food diary. No matter what, Dee will probably learn a lot about cat food ingredients! (I can't believe the weird facts I carry around in my memory!)

Some easy supermarket choices are Fancy Feast Classics (the pates, not any of the grilled, shreds, gravy lover, swanky sounding cuisine foods), Sheba pates (not the "cuts"), and often store brands. Friskies pates aren't bad, either, though they have rice, which raises the carbs a little; I don't feed them to our cats because of that and because they contain carrageenan, which appears to cause inflammation in the gut.

In any case, I hope everything goes well for Tova and Dee! Ask again when/if there are questions. Lots of us have gone through finding foods for cats with gacky stomachs so I'm sure you'll get lots of advice.

And I completely understand about the declawing -- good for Dee for taking in a previously declawed cats. They can be especially sensitive. I've had several previously declawed cats, one who was a city stray, the others were adopted from a local shelter. They were great cats!

 

[mizzely]

It kinda depends on what they mean by digestive issues. Is that throwing up or poop issues? Either way it may just be trial and error as stated.

If you want to start with a sensitive digestion formula, I know that there are a few options. For wet, Purina Pro Plan and Hills Science Diet both offer "cheaper" options.

Wet Sensitive Digestion Cat Wet Food - Free shipping | Chewy

For dry, my senior Kitty Jasmine did very well on Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach but it is not grain free. There are a lot of dry foods marketed as Sensitive Stomach but many do have grains or fillers Sensitive Digestion Cat Dry Food - Free shipping | Chewy

It kinda depends on your idea of affordable but limited ingredient foods are also worth a look.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Along with the great suggestions, these might help;

CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat

Pet Food Guide

 

[momof3b1g]

For what its worth. My cat has had vomiting issues for years and been on grain free food. He still has issues. Could it be worse if he wasnt. Maybe.

 

[AndieFlare]

For what its worth. My cat has had vomiting issues for years and been on grain free food. He still has issues. Could it be worse if he wasnt. Maybe.

Maybe you should switch him to a different food then...

 

[momof3b1g]

Maybe you should switch him to a different food then...

Because its probably not the food. He can keep it down for weeks then throw it up one day.

 

[AndieFlare]

It kinda depends on what they mean by digestive issues. Is that throwing up or poop issues? Either way it may just be trial and error as stated.

If you want to start with a sensitive digestion formula, I know that there are a few options. For wet, Purina Pro Plan and Hills Science Diet both offer "cheaper" options.

Wet Sensitive Digestion Cat Wet Food - Free shipping | Chewy

For dry, my senior Kitty Jasmine did very well on Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach but it is not grain free. There are a lot of dry foods marketed as Sensitive Stomach but many do have grains or fillers Sensitive Digestion Cat Dry Food - Free shipping | Chewy

It kinda depends on your idea of affordable but limited ingredient foods are also worth a look.

I don't support Chewy (Petsmart bought them, so yuck) and I don't support Purina AT ALL. So nope. I don't care if it's Grain Free. As long as Tova doesn't has allergies towards it, then fine.

I just gotta keep in mind some ingredients - like rice - corn - wheat etc. WILL cause digestion issues. I know this, I've done my research. I just came here for advice and people are sending me foods with fillers and -gasp- Science Diet?

Just because it says 'good for bad digestion' does not mean that it is. You have to read the ingredients people! If it has rice and vegetables, it will cause blockages! It will make your kitty vomit and poop more. I'm studying to become a Vet Tech and this irritates me very much. I don't blame you as an owner and I'm not calling you a bad person, really i'm not, but try to do your research.

I would never just tell my clients (I don't tell strangers) to buy food with fillers that aren't biologically appropriate. I'm going to ask my sister (who is a Vet Tech in training and has a JOB at a place in Orlando, did I mention her boss will just go out into the parking lot and treat animals in the middle of the night that no one else would? She's a badass. I like her.) If we can find any holistic vets in Dee's area - because Tova is allergic to her vaccines. I want something all-natural for her. Something holistic.

Anyway, I'm going to look at nearby Petcos for Dee, and see better options. I really like Meat to be the first ingredient, and there to be less meat fillers first. Dee said she's taking Tova to the vet after the holidays and I think around January 2nd? After the New Year. Tova is healthy and doesn't seem to be vomiting or anything, she's calm and isn't freaking out.

(PSA Petco is going all-natural by next year/2019! They're removing filler-non biologically appropriate ingredients from their shelves and adding more all natural brands. I think they might start carrying Orijien? IDK. But it all looks very promising. This goes for small animals like Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, Hamsters, Mice, etc. While Petsmart is like several million dollars in debt and on the decline and they bought Chewy dot com. They also are trying to push these Tiny Tails Hamster Cages which are NOT appropriate for hamsters at all.

Most Petsmart managers get angry at their employees when they don't try to sell the Tiny Tails cages, and dock their pay. But if the employee really just wants best for the animal, they try not to sell them. However, a woman named Munchies Place on YouTube

Munchie's Place

Talks about small animal welfare and she talks about how these cages and the service that Petsmart isn't giving isn't adequate. I know this is a cat forum, but i thought I'd go into why i don't support Petsmart or Chewy anymore. Also, Munchie Fosters/adopts out hamsters and cats! Look her up!)

Now all I gotta do is get to my therapist after the new year... Wish me luck.

 

[mizzely]

You can support and avoid who you like. The chewy links were only there because they give you an idea of what is available in those categories. You are fit to do with them what you like. As I said, "sensitive digestion" is a marketing term.


Purina and Science Diet aren't my first choices either, but your post didn't give any indication as to what affordable was. For some folks that is affordable, or it's what ACTUALLY works best for them.

My Jasmine just recently passed away. I WANTED to feed her the best, even tried raw. I charged hundreds of dollars onto credit cards because I DID do my research and DID want to feed her "THE BEST" - ZiwiPeak, Feline Naturals, Dr. Elsey's, etc but didn't actually have the money for it. When I saw she was miserable, I swallowed my pride and fed her what she would eat when she started turning into skin and bones from vomitting and Purina foods were the only thing that allowed her to eat and put weight back on and gave me extra time with her.

I KNOW I'm not a bad owner because I did what was best for my cat.

 

[Furballsmom]

Just out of curiousity, did you look at the cornucopia pet food guide that I posted above?

And about Petco, as I wrote to their corporate honchos realizing full well they aren't going to pay any attention; they don't have the consumer base to support eliminating brands such as Purina et al, and cats aren't dogs that seem to be more easily transitioned to different brands.

There are a lot of us with cats who WILL NOT eat anything else, no I don't have any brand loyalty, and yes, I've been trying/working for THREE years to shift my boy off of fancy feast, with only minimal success.

Petco is going down the same road as Sears.

Anyway, the pet food guide provides up to date information on fillers and additives.

 

[lisahe]

Because its probably not the food. He can keep it down for weeks then throw it up one day.

Part of what makes many stomach issues so complicated is that the symptoms don't show up consistently. We went through this with our previous cat: she might be fine for weeks, even months, but then vomit or have diarrhea. Although sometimes it's obvious that cats vomit from, say, digging in the Insinkerator or eating a plant or insect, I wish we'd been more attuned to Brooksie's patterns because maybe we would have figured out earlier that she had what was most likely IBD.

To make matters more complicated, many vets aren't very good at recognizing symptoms early, in fact in her case, they played them down. (And her first symptom was bloody stools!!! Yes, it's a relatively common problem but no, it's not normal. This was back before there was much information on the Internet about cat health and nutrition so, sadly, I didn't get the help online then that I could have gotten now.)

Your cat's case may be very different and you may have already identified a reason for the vomiting but (and I don't mean to be overly dramatic, this is just a statement of fact) I feel terrible that we weren't able to figure out what was wrong with Brooksie until it was too late.

 

[momof3b1g]

Part of what makes many stomach issues so complicated is that the symptoms don't show up consistently. We went through this with our previous cat: she might be fine for weeks, even months, but then vomit or have diarrhea. Although sometimes it's obvious that cats vomit from, say, digging in the Insinkerator or eating a plant or insect, I wish we'd been more attuned to Brooksie's patterns because maybe we would have figured out earlier that she had what was most likely IBD.

To make matters more complicated, many vets aren't very good at recognizing symptoms early, in fact in her case, they played them down. (And her first symptom was bloody stools!!! Yes, it's a relatively common problem but no, it's not normal. This was back before there was much information on the Internet about cat health and nutrition so, sadly, I didn't get the help online then that I could have gotten now.)

Your cat's case may be very different and you may have already identified a reason for the vomiting but (and I don't mean to be overly dramatic, this is just a statement of fact) I feel terrible that we weren't able to figure out what was wrong with Brooksie until it was too late.

So how did you know she had IBD?
The vet wanted to test expensive prescription food. But if they go months without throwing up. How do you know what the issue is?

 

[lisahe]

So how did you know she had IBD?
The vet wanted to test expensive prescription food. But if they go months without throwing up. How do you know what the issue is?

We didn't know for sure, which is why I wrote "most likely" but her symptoms were pretty typical: vomiting, diarrhea, bloody stool, itching/scratching, gunky ears, all of which got worse and worse over the years, then combined with weight loss. (There's a basic list of symptoms on this page.) By that point, she was old and frail and not a candidate for biopsy testing -- but the vet presumed her to have IBD because everything fit. And it did ease her symptoms to eliminate certain ingredients -- grains and fish -- from her diet in her last couple of months.

We learned a lot from her problems -- including that hairballs are not normal! -- which has been very helpful with the cats we have now. They have weird little digestive issues (one vomits if she eats potato, the other seems to get low-grade nausea sometimes) and feed them an all-wet diet that's very heavy on meat and very low on carbs. It really helps!

 

[EmersonandEvie]

We are having to seriously cut back on what we spend per month on cat food because I am going back to school. I have decided that my troop will get the Tractor Supply brand 4Health (grain free varieties), Abound (at Kroger), Crave (also at Kroger but cheaper on Chewy and Amazon), Fancy Feast classic pates, and Redbarn lamb. I'm sorry your friend's cat is having tummy issues!

4Health has a sensitive stomach formula. It isn't grain free, but the top five ingredients are animal-based protein and it is very affordable. According to cat food db, it has 12.5% carbs. It may be worth looking into for Tova! You can also navigate the page to find their grain-free line as well.

4health Special Care Sensitive Stomach Formula for Adult Cats, 5.5 oz. Can at Tractor Supply Co.

 

[artiemom]

BTW.. I love Chewy... Their Customer Service has not changed since being Bought by PetSmart....

 

[stephanietx]

I have a cat who cannot tolerate an all grain-free diet. This started when he was 8 mos old and he's now 8 years old. We have found that he MUST be on some kind of rx sensitive tummy food or else we deal with diarrhea. Lots of diarrhea. All my other kitties are on grain free diets and do well, but this little guy just can't tolerate it.