Switching to wet. Advice on food and diarrhea?

[sierramist]

Hey everyone,

After the sudden loss of one of my cats recently (see my other thread), I think part of the way I’m coping is focusing on improving the lives of our other three babies as much as I can.

We consider ourselves great pet parents, but have kept putting off switching all of them from dry food to wet/combo because it can be an ordeal with different life stages and levels of finicky. But we’re trying it now!

Two cats are getting Instinct chicken, as we’ve had some success with that brand in the past and generally approve of the ingredients. However, my boy Captain vomited on a small sample of it, so to be cautious I’m trying Tiki Cat After Dark with him instead.

The plan was to start them on 1/3 of a can for at least 3-4 days, along with their kibble at a slightly reduced amount. Three meals a day: morning kibble, 1/3 can for lunch, dinner kibble. All are eating well, but cleaning their dish for the wet and not eating all the kibble.

We’re on day 4 of this plan and the one on Tiki Cat has been experiencing diarrhea. He’s not usually a completely firm pooper anyway (had a fecal before, vet found nothing), and I was hoping the food switch would actually improve things in that area.

Do you think we’re switching/adding too fast? I was considering backing off the amount of wet a little to see what happens. Otherwise he’s eating and drinking and acting normally. Would adding a probiotic at this stage help, and keep him on this same amount but for longer?

As far as potential reactions, both foods are mainly chicken, so we could also try a different protein to see what happens. Though I worry switching around wet foods may make matters worse?

I should probably also mention Captain takes phenobarbital daily for idiopathic seizures (with a small piece of deli ham or turkey - not ideal but it goes down easy).

Also, we are looking for other less expensive wet foods to supplement with, especially since Tiki is pricey. Any recommendations on that is appreciated! I know many of you feed Fancy Feast, but it’s been beaten into my head that it’s a low quality food, I’m not sure I can bring myself to do it, ha ha. Is there a good food somewhere between those price points, ideally grain-free with no weird supplements like carageenan?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. There is no need to rush a transition plan. So, maybe take each step of your transition a little longer than just 3-4 days - perhaps a couple of weeks, tbh. They've been on dry this long, what is a couple more months in the big scheme of things? Give the cats time to settle into each step of the changes, especially Captain. Did you try the Instinct more than once with Captain, just to see if it was a fluke with the vomiting?

First thing to do is to compare the ingredients in Instinct and Tiki Cat AD to see if there might be something specific in either food that Captain is sensitive to - relative to both the vomiting and the diarrhea. Dietary changes can cause diarrhea in some cats, and may likely dissipate as their body gets used to a new food. On this note alone, particularly Captain, changing out his food all the time during the transition, in the hopes of stopping the diarrhea, might not be the best idea. In the meantime, you could try some psyllium to see if that helps. Others try plain pumpkin. Did you ever treat his less than firm stool while he was eating solely dry food?

Fancy Feast may not be the greatest but it is as equally 'good' as Instinct, and actually contains a lot less unnecessary ingredients when compared to Instinct, especially the pates, IMO. So, overall, not a bad thing to try with your cats. But, again, before you add a whole lot more varying foods to their diet, it would be wise to let them get used to what they are currently eating. If there is any adaption time needed with going from dry to canned, then let that happen first before moving on to a whole other set of canned foods. Most of the time, changing from one food to another when a cat has been used to eating canned is a lot less impacting - that is, unless there are ingredients that a cat is sensitive to.

Here is a link to the cat food chart which lists all the ingredients in a whole host of canned foods, in case you haven't looked at it before now. It might help you decide other brands that you might like to try.
Check This Out.... Chart For Cat Food Ingredients | TheCatSite

I am sure others will come along soon and offer additional thoughts/ideas!

 

[Heart For Cats]

First of all, I am so happy your cats love two of the best cat foods! I wanted my cat to eat them for the same reason but she hated both.

Weruva only uses carraggeenan in fish recipes, but they make it in the Far East were fish is cheaper than chicken. I read this is because fish flavors need carraggeenan, but other flavors do not.

 

[nanniecat]

Hey everyone,

After the sudden loss of one of my cats recently (see my other thread), I think part of the way I’m coping is focusing on improving the lives of our other three babies as much as I can.

We consider ourselves great pet parents, but have kept putting off switching all of them from dry food to wet/combo because it can be an ordeal with different life stages and levels of finicky. But we’re trying it now!

Two cats are getting Instinct chicken, as we’ve had some success with that brand in the past and generally approve of the ingredients. However, my boy Captain vomited on a small sample of it, so to be cautious I’m trying Tiki Cat After Dark with him instead.

The plan was to start them on 1/3 of a can for at least 3-4 days, along with their kibble at a slightly reduced amount. Three meals a day: morning kibble, 1/3 can for lunch, dinner kibble. All are eating well, but cleaning their dish for the wet and not eating all the kibble.

We’re on day 4 of this plan and the one on Tiki Cat has been experiencing diarrhea. He’s not usually a completely firm pooper anyway (had a fecal before, vet found nothing), and I was hoping the food switch would actually improve things in that area.

Do you think we’re switching/adding too fast? I was considering backing off the amount of wet a little to see what happens. Otherwise he’s eating and drinking and acting normally. Would adding a probiotic at this stage help, and keep him on this same amount but for longer?

As far as potential reactions, both foods are mainly chicken, so we could also try a different protein to see what happens. Though I worry switching around wet foods may make matters worse?

I should probably also mention Captain takes phenobarbital daily for idiopathic seizures (with a small piece of deli ham or turkey - not ideal but it goes down easy).

Also, we are looking for other less expensive wet foods to supplement with, especially since Tiki is pricey. Any recommendations on that is appreciated! I know many of you feed Fancy Feast, but it’s been beaten into my head that it’s a low quality food, I’m not sure I can bring myself to do it, ha ha. Is there a good food somewhere between those price points, ideally grain-free with no weird supplements like carageenan?

is their a reason to switch? do u use a hi quality kibble? so sorry u lost a kitty. what happened? have u tried only novel proteins? no chicken,fish,tuna,turkey.beef, ham. my cat is on a hypoallergenic diet and eats rx kibble. once a day she get 1/3 can of purina pro cat duck entree for sensitive stomachs that i mix with her daily capsule of Visbiome(probiotic)(stops diarrhea). she was a royal canin kibble girl all her life. now she prefers the RC rx kibble. if a cat drinks water i dont c why u want to switch. to wet? is thir a different reason?

 

[sierramist]

Hi. There is no need to rush a transition plan. So, maybe take each step of your transition a little longer than just 3-4 days - perhaps a couple of weeks, tbh. They've been on dry this long, what is a couple more months in the big scheme of things? Give the cats time to settle into each step of the changes, especially Captain. Did you try the Instinct more than once with Captain, just to see if it was a fluke with the vomiting?

First thing to do is to compare the ingredients in Instinct and Tiki Cat AD to see if there might be something specific in either food that Captain is sensitive to - relative to both the vomiting and the diarrhea. Dietary changes can cause diarrhea in some cats, and may likely dissipate as their body gets used to a new food. On this note alone, particularly Captain, changing out his food all the time during the transition, in the hopes of stopping the diarrhea, might not be the best idea. In the meantime, you could try some psyllium to see if that helps. Others try plain pumpkin. Did you ever treat his less than firm stool while he was eating solely dry food?

Fancy Feast may not be the greatest but it is as equally 'good' as Instinct, and actually contains a lot less unnecessary ingredients when compared to Instinct, especially the pates, IMO. So, overall, not a bad thing to try with your cats. But, again, before you add a whole lot more varying foods to their diet, it would be wise to let them get used to what they are currently eating. If there is any adaption time needed with going from dry to canned, then let that happen first before moving on to a whole other set of canned foods. Most of the time, changing from one food to another when a cat has been used to eating canned is a lot less impacting - that is, unless there are ingredients that a cat is sensitive to.

Here is a link to the cat food chart which lists all the ingredients in a whole host of canned foods, in case you haven't looked at it before now. It might help you decide other brands that you might like to try.
Check This Out.... Chart For Cat Food Ingredients | TheCatSite

I am sure others will come along soon and offer additional thoughts/ideas!

Thanks for the advice! Since last week we backed off the amount of wet and changed Captain's over to the Instinct as well, to see how he'd do. So far, so good! No vomiting, and the diarrhea stopped. We're going to go a little slower on the transition, then maybe try some other wet foods once they're all settled into a routine with more wet than dry. The good news is they're all still excited about the food!

 

[Krienze]

I'm in a similar boat. I've been trying various wet foods for the past year or so trying to find one that all of my cats will eat.

I liked Instinct, but I wasn't sure if it was good for my one cat who was having UTI issues so to be safe we decided to just stick with Tiki for their wet food. The problem here is that the cats don't seem to like the Tiki as much, so I've been trying various flavors to see what sticks.

So far what they ALL seem to absolutely love is the Tiki After Dark Pate. I'm gonna just get that from now on, because it's the one wet food I never have to put away, they gobble it all up.

 

[nanniecat]

I'm in a similar boat. I've been trying various wet foods for the past year or so trying to find one that all of my cats will eat.

I liked Instinct, but I wasn't sure if it was good for my one cat who was having UTI issues so to be safe we decided to just stick with Tiki for their wet food. The problem here is that the cats don't seem to like the Tiki as much, so I've been trying various flavors to see what sticks.

So far what they ALL seem to absolutely love is the Tiki After Dark Pate. I'm gonna just get that from now on, because it's the one wet food I never have to put away, they gobble it all up.

isnt their a specific cat food for kitties with uti? maybe talk to the vet who diagnosed the uti?

 

[susanm9006]

Most wet Foods do seem to have chicken in them. One additional food that you might want to look at is Nutro. It comes in a split pack so it’s great for cats that only eat a small amount at once. It’s a bit cheaper than Tiki Cat and has around 11.5 grams of protein which is pretty good in comparison to most.

 

[Heart For Cats]

I'm in a similar boat. I've been trying various wet foods for the past year or so trying to find one that all of my cats will eat.

I liked Instinct, but I wasn't sure if it was good for my one cat who was having UTI issues so to be safe we decided to just stick with Tiki for their wet food. The problem here is that the cats don't seem to like the Tiki as much, so I've been trying various flavors to see what sticks.

So far what they ALL seem to absolutely love is the Tiki After Dark Pate. I'm gonna just get that from now on, because it's the one wet food I never have to put away, they gobble it all up.

Tiki After Dark pate is inexplicably not sold at Petsmart, even though they do carry the flaked version. That made me mad because I am within walking distance of a Petsmart. Based on the ingredient list that is the first thing I would buy for my cat if it did not require driving to Petco for one 3-ounce can, which is one of my taste test rules.

Nature's Variety Instinct Original Chicken was a loser here. I was very disappointed my cat did not like it because of the ingredients.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Tiki After Dark pate is inexplicably not sold at Petsmart, even though they do carry the flaked version.

I guess your particular PetSmart is within a different franchise than the ones near me who carry quite a number of the Tiki Cat After Dark canned foods - up to and including the newer pates! They only recently started to carry them, so maybe there is hope for your local PetSmart to follow suit! You might call the manager and ask if there is any chance of them offering this line in the near future.

 

[Heart For Cats]

Isn't there a specific cat food for kitties with UIT? Maybe talk to the vet who diagnosed the UTI?

That is a myth. Regular cat food with a high percentage of water (>75%) and the right balance of nutrients to break up crystals works.

UTI is short for urinary tract infection, so I do not understand how a dietary change would be more effective than antibiotics. Someone help me with this.

 

[Heart For Cats]

I guess your particular PetSmart is within a different franchise than the ones near me who carry quite a number of the Tiki Cat After Dark canned foods - up to and including the newer pates! They only recently started to carry them, so maybe there is hope for your local PetSmart to follow suit! You might call the manager and ask if there is any chance of them offering this line in the near future.

I don't know what you mean by different franchise. The problem is a lack of shelf space. It used to be a CVS.branch.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I don't know what you mean by different franchise. The problem is a lack of shelf space. It used to be a CVS.branch.

Simply put - PetSmart, as is the case for many, many companies, franchise their stores - meaning that the parent company sells the right to operate given stores to a buyer who then chooses how to stock and operate their specifically 'owned' stores. If the store told you that they don't have the shelf space for Tiki Cat After Dark pates, then at this point they are apparently finding no profitable reason to replace another product with those pates.

 

[Heart For Cats]

Simply put - PetSmart, as is the case for many, many companies, franchise their stores - meaning that the parent company sells the right to operate given stores to a buyer who then chooses how to stock and operate their specifically 'owned' stores. If the store told you that they don't have the shelf space for Tiki Cat After Dark pates, then at this point they are apparently finding no profitable reason to replace another product with those pates.

Nobody told me that. I just know bigger Petsmart branches have a lot more products. For example, the store near me has no space for cat trees Scratchers and litterboxes are on the same shelf. Obviously I know all the big Petsmart branches sell lots of different towers or kitty condos. To have enough floor and shelf space, they would not be able to have a grooming salon an adoptable cats.

 

[lisahe]

First of all, I am so happy your cats love two of the best cat foods! I wanted my cat to eat them for the same reason but she hated both.

Weruva only uses carraggeenan in fish recipes, but they make it in the Far East were fish is cheaper than chicken. I read this is because fish flavors need carraggeenan, but other flavors do not.

Weruva took the carrageenan out of their foods in 2018. You can read about it here.

 

[Heart For Cats]

Weruva took the carrageenan out of their foods in 2018. You can read about it here.

Awesome! Now if only they would also take out the gum that begins with X . . .

 

[Krienze]

isnt their a specific cat food for kitties with uti? maybe talk to the vet who diagnosed the uti?

There is! They now eat the dry food for it (right now we can't afford the wet food uti food, so they get tiki + hills)

I've heard good things about Weruva!

 

[nanniecat]

There is! They now eat the dry food for it (right now we can't afford the wet food uti food, so they get tiki + hills)

I've heard good things about Weruva!

is the vet ok with mixing the 2? i would ck. to be sure

 

[nanniecat]

That is a myth. Regular cat food with a high percentage of water (>75%) and the right balance of nutrients to break up crystals works.

UTI is short for urinary tract infection, so I do not understand how a dietary change would be more effective than antibiotics. Someone help me with this.

my friend had a cat with uti. the vet put the cat on the specific dietary food, had iv treatment no antibiotics and cat got well. thats how i found out abt it. maybe it depends on how bad it is? vet science has come a long way

 

[FeebysOwner]

my friend had a cat with uti. the vet put the cat on the specific dietary food, had iv treatment no antibiotics and cat got well. thats how i found out abt it. maybe it depends on how bad it is? vet science has come a long way

I would be willing to bet this 'iv treatment' contained antibiotics, assuming the cat even really had an actual UTI, aka infection. No food is going to eradicate an actual infection. A lot of people mistake bladder crystals to mean a UTI - it does not. And, there are certain foods that will help to dissolve crystals, so that might be what your friend's cat actually had.