Switching my cat to a new dry food, how?

[corin]

Hi there, I have a question. My cat, Corin, is 11 years old, and she has a sensitive tummy (she's prone to diarrhea and/or vomiting with cat food changes)

(I have a theory.. it seems when I try to switch her to a healthier, richer dry food, she gets diarrhea, but if I switch her from one lower quality food to another she doesn't tend to get sick.)

About a year ago I was switching her from Iams to a different dry cat food that was grain free (I think it was wellness too, but it was not the yellow bag that I bought today, I think it was a purple or red bag) and I started mixing the foods, and she got bad diarrhea so I just stopped and kept her on the Iams, and then switched her to the actrium that she's on now.

Right now she eats this actrium dry cat food (from walmart) and I want to switch her to this dry wellness indoor cat formula. Since she has a sensitive stomach, I want to avoid giving her diarrhea when I switch her over. Should I slowly introduce the new food and mix it with her old food for awhile, or is it easier on her to just immediately switch it?

Thanks for your help!

 

[carolina]

Can you afford feeding her wet? Have you tried? Will she eat?
For a kitty that old, an all wet diet would be sooooo much healthier......
The key for a good switch is to transition very slowly..... With sensitive kitties, you should start with a few kibbles a day. A kitty of mine that was like that took several weeks to transition.
Start with just a little bit and add on very slowly. Watching how she does on the new amount before increasing the amount of the new food.

 

[corin]

Yes, I can afford wet. I also bought some wellness grain free wet, she's had that before and seems to be able to tolerate it, but she prefers dry food, and I really wanted to have her eat both wet and dry. She was on an all wet diet for a few months, and her breathe started getting REALLY bad and I was worried that her teeth/gum health was deteriorating. Should I have been worried about her oral health?

Ok, good to know, transfer really really slowly
 

 

[angels mommy]

Carolina is right. wet will be much healthier, if you can transition her to mostly wet.

As far as I know, what I have read & learned on this site, dry food does not help cats teeth the way it does dogs.

Cats don't chew it, they may bite it to break it up to swallow, but that's all.

I'm sure more members with more knowledge will be along soon to comment.

My cat has has a sensitive tummy before, & it was a wet food that although good, had way too much

fruits & veggies in it. So he had diarrhea for a solid month!! (Merck's Cowboy cookout).

 It's best to stick w/ one that is 95-96% protein, as the brands mentioned below.

FYI,  I used to feed my cat wet & dry, until I learned more on here.  I used to give him some canned

(by nature, Natural Balance, Before the Grain)  for breakfast & dinner,

(usually he would eat anywhere from a 1/4 can-1/2 can)     w/ some dry to nibble on during

the day, & if he wanted a little in the evening.

I now feed him raw Bravo patties. He LOVES it!!  No transition was necessary for the raw w/ him.

He eats about a 1/2 a Patti 2xs/day.  Now, he only gets a tbs or so of dry (Natures Variety Turkey)

to "snack" on, sometimes.

I hope you find what works for your kitty.

 

[rac44]

Could be your cat is sensative to some of the ingredients in the more premium brand foods. Remember most of those foods contain quite a few vegetables and things that normally cats do not eat. I would say that if your cat si eating fine with the so called lower brand foods stick with it but find a brand that has all the essential vitamins and minerals and a type of meat as the first ingredient. I've tried every premium food out there for my 3 year old and he will not have it he only like purina brand foods so now he eats purina one with fancy feast at night. Remember that if you feed a so called "lower brand" of food to feed in moderation if your cat is strictly indoors like mine. My belief is your cat reacting badly to some of the ingredients in the premium stuff.

Again..what cat in the wild eats vegetables?

 

[bluebo]

Carolina is right. wet will be much healthier, if you can transition her to mostly wet.
As far as I know, what I have read & learned on this site, dry food does not help cats teeth the way it does dogs.
Cats don't chew it, they may bite it to break it up to swallow, but that's all.

I'm sure more members with more knowledge will be along soon to comment.

My cat has has a sensitive tummy before, & it was a wet food that although good, had way too much
fruits & veggies in it. So he had diarrhea for a solid month!! (Merck's Cowboy cookout).
 It's best to stick w/ one that is 95-96% protein, as the brands mentioned below.

FYI,  I used to feed my cat wet & dry, until I learned more on here.  I used to give him some canned
(by nature, Natural Balance, Before the Grain)  for breakfast & dinner,
(usually he would eat anywhere from a 1/4 can-1/2 can)     w/ some dry to nibble on during
the day, & if he wanted a little in the evening.
I now feed him raw Bravo patties. He LOVES it!!  No transition was necessary for the raw w/ him.
He eats about a 1/2 a Patti 2xs/day.  Now, he only gets a tbs or so of dry (Natures Variety Turkey)
to "snack" on, sometimes.

I hope you find what works for your kitty.

Kibble doesn't help a dogs teeth either I use chicken quarters for my dogs teeth and the OP could use chicken necks/wings for his cats teeth! They work like a charm!

 

[angels mommy]

Kibble doesn't help a dogs teeth either

I use chicken quarters for my dogs teeth and the OP could use chicken necks/wings for his cats teeth! They work like a charm!

"Good to know."

 

[Willowy]

Again..what cat in the wild eats vegetables?

What cat in the wild eats chicken-flavored corn puffs?

Honestly, at that age, her kidneys are probably starting to go. All wet food would help keep them flushed out and may delay the onset of kidney failure. So switching to all wet food would be my recommendation. If not all wet food, 80% wet and 20% dry could be OK, too.

 

[-_aj_-]

Please keep to the topic! And NOT insulting to the other members offering advice

 

[rac44]

Will do.

Here's an example of a food that caught my attention by RED MOON. Not saying every cat will like it but if you are worried about corn and the overload of VEGETABLES this might be a good choice.

RED MOON

Ingredients:

Turkey, Turkey meal, Salmon Meal, Brown Rice, Turkey Liver, Chicken Fat (Naturally Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Antartica Krill Meal, Salmon Oil (Naturally Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Rice Bran, Dried Pumpkin, Sea Salt, Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (Source of Vitamin C), Beta-carotene, Niacin Supplement, Inosital, Thiamin Mononitrate, D-calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Selenium Methionine, Manganese Proteinate, Calcium Iodate.

Besides the pumpkin it's got the essential vitamins and minerals without worrying about your cat having an allergic reaction to some of the vegetable ingredients. I love the salmon oil as well. Pretty basic but pretty much healthy I think.

 

[Willowy]

Humans aren't obligate carnivores, so what we eat doesn't have any bearing on what cats should eat.

My point was that, with foods that have veggies and fruits in them, usually those ingredients are way down thee ingredient list, and are a very small percentage of the food. Whereas a food with corn (or any grain) as the first or second ingredient is probably half corn (or whatever grain). It seems silly to complain about a small amount of veggies in a meat-based food and not about the large percentage of grain in a grain-based food.

 

[rac44]

But why have that at all?

Even corn in moderation will not be horrible for a cat but if you feed that cat a corn based food morning, noon and night it can be. My cat does well with it as he only gets very limted dry in the morning and burns those extra calories off by late evening. Even though a food that contains 6, 7 or 8 vegetable ingredients is listed farther down the chain of ingredients eating that food every day for years will eventually have an impact. I'm just saying that if your cat shows no sign of an allergic reaction to corn why worry? On the other hand you are playing with fire when you offer some of these premium holistic foods as there are so many different vegetable ingredients that after 6 years of eating the food might possibly cause a health crisis.

So, I mentioned a dry kibble such as RED MOON which I think is pretty darn good considering it has VERY limited vegetable sources, vitamins, minerals and the no corn. Don't know about the taste as I have never let my cat try it but it's one of the few dry foods that should not have to worry about a bad reaction to an ingredient. Oh, and plus you can create your own food with this company depending on your cats activity level ect ect. Unique.

 

[ldg]

So, I mentioned a dry kibble such as RED MOON which I think is pretty darn good considering it has VERY limited vegetable sources, vitamins, minerals and the no corn.

Well, looking at this Red Moon food from a dry matter basis, it is

46% protein
15% fat
3% fiber
9% ash
26% carbohydrates

So from a species-appropriate perspective, the amount of carbohydrates is still quite high.

 

[minka]

Hi there, I have a question. My cat, Corin, is 11 years old, and she has a sensitive tummy (she's prone to diarrhea and/or vomiting with cat food changes)

(I have a theory.. it seems when I try to switch her to a healthier, richer dry food, she gets diarrhea, but if I switch her from one lower quality food to another she doesn't tend to get sick.)

About a year ago I was switching her from Iams to a different dry cat food that was grain free (I think it was wellness too, but it was not the yellow bag that I bought today, I think it was a purple or red bag) and I started mixing the foods, and she got bad diarrhea so I just stopped and kept her on the Iams, and then switched her to the actrium that she's on now.

Right now she eats this actrium dry cat food (from walmart) and I want to switch her to this dry wellness indoor cat formula. Since she has a sensitive stomach, I want to avoid giving her diarrhea when I switch her over. Should I slowly introduce the new food and mix it with her old food for awhile, or is it easier on her to just immediately switch it?

Thanks for your help!

Addressing your original post, with dry food it is common to see diarhea when transistioning from one food to another. As far as I know nobody really knows why, but switching from a grain filled to a grain free diet can also cause upset, but not because that cat "can't handle better foods."
If you can afford a canned food diet, or even better have the time for a raw diet, I strongly advise you to do so. The added moisture would be really good for her aging kidneys. *nod* Transistioning foods should always been done very slowly, to cause as little upset as possible.

For your second post, it does seem to be true that cats on wet food have stinkier breath, but that's not necessairly because of oral health decline. Like Angels Mommy said, dry food doesn't do anything for cats teeth; most cats are on an all dry diet and still thousands have to get teeth cleanings every year. The better thing to do would be to make sure she has toys and large treats/raw pieces of meat to chew on to clean her teeth. As well as getting her dental cleanings as needed.