The make up of gravy in pouches

[catguy1993]

Hi,

My vet wants to put my cat on a food which is only available in dry form. The problem is that my cat really enjoys her wet food. My question is this - is the make up of the gravy in pouches the same as the make up of the pieces of food? My idea is to squeeze just the gravy from a pouch and mix it with the dry food.

For eg, if I took a pouch of food x, and my cat cannot digest food x - would it still negatively affect her if she only consumed the gravy from it?

This might seem like a strange/stupid question but I am relatively new to cats. I'm looking to start her on the new(dry only) diet next week and I'm dreading it.

Any advice appreciated

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. The gravy is going to contain a degree of the entire contents of the wet food. What is the purpose to changing your cat to dry food? That might help in getting members to come up with some solutions for you.

 

[catguy1993]

thanks for the response. The vet wants her to move to Royal Canin hypoallergenic dry food, and there doesn't seem to be a good brand of wet hypoallergenic food available. My cat has an underlying diagnosis of pancreatitis/triaditis. We've tried many different diets over the last few years with varying degrees of success.

If necessary I can move her to the dry food only as she is inclined to drink plenty of water. But she much prefers wet food.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Thanks for the additional information. Some other members may have some alternative food ideas for you, but in the meantime, you can add water to the dry food and let it soak so that she is getting the extra moisture as well as making it more like the consistency of wet food.

Maybe take a look at these options to compare to the RC while you wait to hear from other members? There are some wet foods listed.
The 7 Best Hypoallergenic Cat Foods of 2022 (thesprucepets.com)
The 25 Best Hypoallergenic Cat Foods - Cat Life Daily
12 Best Hypoallergenic Cat Foods of 2022 | Rated and Reviewed (welovecatsandkittens.com)

 

[lisahe]

What are the pouch foods that you're feeding? Most have thickeners and stabilizers in the "gravy" -- tapioca and various gums are common ingredients -- and the thickeners can be carby, caloric, or even irritating to a cat's digestive system. Personally, I'd stay away from them anyway if your cat can't digest the food to begin with.

 

[daftcat75]

Are you in the US? Can you get Rawz wet food? That’s going to be head and shoulders above any “hypoallergenic” dry food. I have a hard time believing such a thing exists and was prescribed to a cat with triaditis/pancreatitis. Dry food is high in carbs and carbs are what cats don’t digest very well. Sadly, carbs cause the microbiome imbalances and protein gets the blame. That’s just how the immune system works. It doesn’t attack carbs or fat. And to answer your original question, taking the gravy from the pouch and pouring on the dry food is defeating the purpose of the food trial. It’s not a diet change if she’s still eating her old food.

Back to Rawz, it’s single protein and has no carby nonsense like just about every dry food out there (“hypoallergenic” or not.) Stick to their pates. The shredded foods have carby nonsense. I recommend buying a can each of rabbit, duck, and turkey (avoiding chicken and fish) and see what your cat likes. Incredible Pets sells by the can so you don’t have to go all in on a case.
Search: 51 results found for "Rawz"

They also sell a brand called Mouser. You may want to add the rabbit, duck, and turkey flavors of those to your cart as well. That’s another brand with clean recipes (no unnecessary carb nonsense) and almost single protein. Each flavor contains mouse plus another protein. But it’s very unlikely that your cat would be reactive to mouse protein.

 

[daftcat75]

Something I have found hugely helpful with my IBD kitty is gut microbiome testing and FMT pills from AnimalBiome. The testing will give you a detailed look at where her gut is at right now. They can also make diet change suggestions (usually just little changes can make a big difference like adding fiber.). The real magic is the Gut Restore Supplement. This will help bring her gut microbiome back into balance. And with it, her symptoms should improve: better stools, less vomiting, better appetite.

But here’s the catch. You cannot open the pills into her food or a treat. She has to take them whole or they are worthless. If you cannot pill her daily or in my Betty’s case, she takes her own pills coated in a highly appealing food she only gets for taking pills. (Hills A/D, which is probably forbidden under your treatment plan because it contains chicken ingredients.) It also took us awhile for her to learn to not lick the food off the capsules and leave the capsules behind. We had many lick and flicks before she finally got it down. Also, she probably bit into one too many of those poop pills (the FMT pills contain poop samples from carefully screened donor cats) and learned to scoop and swallow instead. Now she’s a pro at taking pills and I’ll be sad and screwed if we ever have to cross A/D off her list.

The Pet Microbiome – AnimalBiome

 

[Alldara]

catguy1993 Another consideration would be to soak this dry food until it bloats up and see if she likes it like that.

If you have some time to list some diets you've tried, we might have some luck making some recommendations.

However, if it's at the point where you are doing the food where the protein is so broken down that the cat's body doesnt recognize it as particularly anything, that would be why there may not be a matching wet food in your area.

Usually a cat is on that a few months and then you can try other novel proteins to see if it flares.