What To Feed My Cat With Multiple Intolerances

[Kale]

My cat, Toph, is 7 months old. After getting her in March I quickly discovered she can't handle chicken, beef, or turkey. I haven't tried fish yet because a friend said it was bad to feed a lot of fish (is that true?). I've never fed her food with corn, grains, or dyes so I don't know how her tummy does with those.

I can't find some dry food she can eat. I would also welcome suggestions for wet food. I'm currently giving her Redbarn's lamb wet food but I want some other flavors of food as well, if possible, that I could rotate.

The absolute most I can pay for dry food is $20 per 4 lbs and I'd really rather pay more like $11-$12. The most I can pay for wet is $1.40 per 5.5 oz can. I can't do homecooked meals for her, I know myself and I just won't keep up with it.

Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated! This is my first cat and I admittedly feel a bit out of my depth. My vet agrees that it's just intolerance and nothing serious but I'm still at a loss and I'm driving myself mad looking up various foods.

 

[lokhismom]

How about rabbit? My Lokhi loves Natures Variety minced rabbit (contains rabbit and pork) Nature's Variety Pride by Instinct Grain-Free Minced Ritzy's Rabbit Recipe Wet Canned Cat Food
Same thing Instinct by Nature's Variety Grain-Free Minced Recipe with Real Rabbit Wet Cat Food Cups, 3.5-oz, case of 12

NV also has a pate rabbit which only contains rabbit, pork Instinct by Nature's Variety Original Grain-Free Real Rabbit Recipe Natural Wet Canned Cat Food

 

[lokhismom]

Merrick has a limited ingredient duck pate I feed occasionally Merrick Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Duck Pate Recipe Canned Cat Food, 5-oz, case of 24

Natures Variety duck Instinct by Nature's Variety Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Duck Recipe Natural Wet Canned Cat Food

I've feed all of these to my 2 with success. I hope they work for you. Good luck!

 

[Furballsmom]

Regarding fish, of of the issues is that ocean fish can have a build up of mercury from the pollution in the oceans, but that is another questionable ingredient that I think can be handled (if that's the right way to put it) by utilizing a rotational menu of foods.
I'm not a vet but in my opinion, limit it but don't avoid it completely.

Tiki Cat Born Carnivore is a kibble to consider, it is free of white potatoes, corn, wheat or rice and a good low-carbohydrate choice.

Merrick Backcountry pouches have a venison variety - my Big Guy actually like this one

 

[Furballsmom]

I thought I'd grab some articles for you, they're short and have a lot of good info.

Also, whatever food you go with, if you check that it's All Life Stages you'll be fine feeding it to a 7 month old. Hopefully you find something, or several somethings so that she eats a lot - that's vitally important for a kitten.

Can I Feed My Cat A Fish-based Or Fish-flavored Diet?
Top 5 Brands Of Wet Cat Food Our Members Love The Most
18 Awesome Cat Feeding Tips By Thecatsite Staff Members
How Long Can You Safely Keep Cat Food Out For?
How To Choose The Best Dry Cat Food?
Food And Water Dishes - A Product Guide

 

[Azazel]

How do you know your cat is intolerant to all of those proteins?

 

[Kale]

Thank you so much for all the suggestions! I will definitely try some and read those articles.

I know she is intolerant because she had diarrhea from day one. Took her to the vet and they tested for worms and did bloodwork but everything came back normal so the vet suggested I stop feeding chicken. The vet thought she must be intolerant to something in her food and since I was already doing grain and corn free she thought it was probably the chicken. I did and within two days her diarrhea vanished (which the vet said if this happened she was intolerant). Tried slowly adding in turkey same result. Tried beef same result. Tried slowly adding back a little chicken thinking maybe she was upset by being in a new place but she got diarrhea right away.

 

[jinxybean]

Kale, dietary change can also cause diarrhea.

I've been in your shoes with my cat Jinxy Bean. No diagnosed disease like IBD, or parasites, or anxiety disorders, or...and so on. But she's reacting with diarrhea to about every food. I've had this with my cat for years. Non-stop diarrhea no matter what I fed her, and I tried many different medications, anti-anxiety meds, raw diets and diets with exotic meats. You name it, I did it. Even my vet was out of answers and suggested we keep her on steroids permanently to keep her comfortable. But I persevered and decoded her problem! So let me give you an avenue to try because these work for Jinxy. Maybe it will help you, maybe it won't. But it's worth a try and involves no drugs.

My two recommendations: Digestive enzymes and probiotics. Digestive enzymes break down the proteins and fats in your cat's food and makes digestion a lot easier, and it lessens food intolerances. One small tub will last you at least 4 months.

NaturVet Digestive Enzymes Plus Probiotic Dog & Cat Powder Supplement

Also add in probiotics. The digestive enzymes contain some probiotics but it's only single strain. Multi strain probiotics are great for diarrhea and balancing out the gut. My favorite brand (and also will last at least 4 months):

VetriScience Vetri-Mega Probiotic Digestive Health Dog & Cat Capsules, 120 count

How well do those work? With both of the above, she's doing perfect tootsie roll poops on Royal Canin Extreme Hairball kibble with a little bit of Persian kibble mixed in. You know, the stuff with corn, chicken, wheat gluten, the fact that it's dry kibble and not wet, contains animal by-products. She was also doing perfect poops on Instinct Ultimate Protein Cat Food but occasionally had bad diarrhea flare-ups, which led me to the final piece of her puzzle. Instinct was very low fiber, and she went from perfect to bad poo when she struggled with hair balls.

So enzyme, probiotics, and hairball maintenance. Jinxy needs regular brushing and the occasional Laxatone treatment because accumulated cat hair in the lower GI also gives her diarrhea. If I see her poo becoming a little soft, I give her Laxatone for a day or two, double up on her brushing, and she firms right back up. That's also why she's on the hairball dry kibble, because it helps to push out fur in the intestines. Now, no more flare-ups.

hth!

 

[lisahe]

What kind of food are you feeding, Kale ? Sometimes it's not a specific meat that causes the problem. Various additives and fillers in foods -- like potato, peas, carrageenan, etc. -- can cause digestive upsets, too. It's often easier to sort out exactly what ingredients cause problems by feeding wet foods since wet foods generally have fewer ingredients than dry foods. Our cats have touchy stomachs, too, so we feed them only wet foods with no grains, carby vegetables, or (other than occasional exceptions) carrageenan. High protein and low carbs seem to limit problems. Digestive problems like these can take a fair bit of time and patience to figure out but sometimes food diaries can be helpful. So can dumb luck, which is how I realized Edwina shoudn't eat potato!

jinxybean is right that dietary changes can cause problems as well: some cats just don't do well when their food is switched. Others can eat different foods all the time without issues.

Good luck and welcome to the Cat Site!

 

[Kale]

I'm currently feeding her 4health's duck & lentils and Redbarn's lamb pate. Before all of this I was feeding American Journey's chicken dry food and their poultry wet food. I also tried giving her 4health's turkey and chicken. I recently tried Redbarn's beef stew.

How do you know the difference between intolerant and she just needs to get used to it? Like how long do you let it go?
Admittedly my vet freaked me out. She was super worried because when I adopted Toph from animal control she was a bit underweight and with the diarrhea she wasn't putting much weight on for a bit so she told me if there was any diarrhea while trying to add in foods that I should stop the new food right away. Her weight is normal now but I'm terrified if I wait to see if she improves on a food that she'll lose weight

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - I think you'll know right away if a food has something she's intolerant to, depending on her other behaviors and how bad the diarrhea is. You've already laid some good ground work for knowing what's not working.

Do you have a bathroom or baby scale? If you start tracking her weight you'll have a better idea of what's happening with her.
Plain pumpkin can also help with tummy issues.

 

[lisahe]

Thank you for adding information on the cat foods. The ingredient lists are very helpful. I'll start with the dry food. It's great that this one starts with actual duck meat but then there are lots of legumes (bolded) in the ingredients -- I'd be extremely wary of those. Think of what happens to some humans when they eat a lot of lentils and chickpeas (!)... cats' bodies, unfortunately, are less built for vegetables.

Duck, Duck Meal, Lentils, Chickpeas, Peas, Chicken Fat (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols), Natural Flavor, Flaxseed, Salmon Oil (Source of DHA), Sodium Bisulfate, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Taurine, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Bifidobacterium Animalis Fermentation Product, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Source of Vitamin B1), Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source of Vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid

The Red Barn sounds really good except for the peas, which are so far down on the ingredient list that there just can't be much.

Lamb, Lamb Broth, Lamb Liver, Natural Flavors, Agar-Agar, Parsley, Choline Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Peas, Salmon Oil, Tricalcium Phosphate, Taurine, Blueberries, Cranberries, Alfalfa Meal, Salt, Dried Green Lipped Mussel (Source of Lysine), Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Magnesium Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D2 Supplement, Folic Acid.

As for your question on what's what, sensitivity or a food changing issue... I'd focus more now on the key to changing foods being to do it very slowly. Personally (and I admit I'm big on wet food over dry food -- that's what cut back on our cats' vomiting), I'd cut back the dry food, to nothing (but maybe not suddenly), and feed only the Red Barn. The big reason is that the ingredients in that food are much better -- there hardly any legumes at all! And if things calm down (here, I'm not sure exactly how long to wait... a few days? Maybe others have better experience with that than I...) then very slowly introduce something with a very simple recipe that's mostly meat with no vegetables/legumes.

Another option would be to go back to whatever combination of foods you were feeding before the problem started. It sounds like there was never such a combination, though, which is why I suggest that option second.

If you want other suggestions of very low-carb foods, just ask! Foods like Fancy Feast Classics or Sheba pates (not the foods in gravy) are an easy start if you're looking for something easy to find. Tractor Supply also has a new line of canned foods, Kitchen Selects, I think. Our cats didn't like them, but the recipes are very decent, very similar to Fancy Feast Classics, and the price is excellent.

Good luck!

 

[Kale]

lisahe I guess I should have been clearer lol. She's not on any dry food atm. The duck and lentils is their wet food. She's doing well on this and the lamb. She doesn't have any tummy problems right this minute. I would kind of like for her to have a dry food option that is high protein but I haven't found one that she can eat so I kinda gave up on dry food. I'm happy with the food she has right now but wanted to give her a bit of variety, thus the asking for suggestions

Furballsmom Thank you. I do have a scale and weigh her every other week to make sure she's not losing weight. She's been steadily gaining weight for the past month and a half

Thank you everyone for the suggestions! I have some new things to try!

 

[lisahe]

Ah, got it, Kale! I thought she was still on the dry food. I'd just keep her on what she's on, then, and start by adding only recipes that are similar... and add them very slowly. And yes, dry food is difficult because it's high in carbs. That's one of the big reasons we don't feed it, plus cats just need the water from the wet food.

Fingers crossed that she keeps gaining weight!

So, to sum up, you're basically looking for food options without chicken, beef, or turkey, right? (And don't worry: it's always difficult to be absolutely clear in a context like this!)

 

[mysterylover]

Kale, dietary change can also cause diarrhea.

I've been in your shoes with my cat Jinxy Bean. No diagnosed disease like IBD, or parasites, or anxiety disorders, or...and so on. But she's reacting with diarrhea to about every food. I've had this with my cat for years. Non-stop diarrhea no matter what I fed her, and I tried many different medications, anti-anxiety meds, raw diets and diets with exotic meats. You name it, I did it. Even my vet was out of answers and suggested we keep her on steroids permanently to keep her comfortable. But I persevered and decoded her problem! So let me give you an avenue to try because these work for Jinxy. Maybe it will help you, maybe it won't. But it's worth a try and involves no drugs.

My two recommendations: Digestive enzymes and probiotics. Digestive enzymes break down the proteins and fats in your cat's food and makes digestion a lot easier, and it lessens food intolerances. One small tub will last you at least 4 months.

NaturVet Digestive Enzymes Plus Probiotic Dog & Cat Powder Supplement

Also add in probiotics. The digestive enzymes contain some probiotics but it's only single strain. Multi strain probiotics are great for diarrhea and balancing out the gut. My favorite brand (and also will last at least 4 months):

VetriScience Vetri-Mega Probiotic Digestive Health Dog & Cat Capsules, 120 count

How well do those work? With both of the above, she's doing perfect tootsie roll poops on Royal Canin Extreme Hairball kibble with a little bit of Persian kibble mixed in. You know, the stuff with corn, chicken, wheat gluten, the fact that it's dry kibble and not wet, contains animal by-products. She was also doing perfect poops on Instinct Ultimate Protein Cat Food but occasionally had bad diarrhea flare-ups, which led me to the final piece of her puzzle. Instinct was very low fiber, and she went from perfect to bad poo when she struggled with hair balls.

So enzyme, probiotics, and hairball maintenance. Jinxy needs regular brushing and the occasional Laxatone treatment because accumulated cat hair in the lower GI also gives her diarrhea. If I see her poo becoming a little soft, I give her Laxatone for a day or two, double up on her brushing, and she firms right back up. That's also why she's on the hairball dry kibble, because it helps to push out fur in the intestines. Now, no more flare-ups.

hth!

I read this post, and I found it very interesting. I have two of four cats who had a bout of diarrhea 5 or so months ago, likely from household stress (had a family member move in with his dog a year ago). Usually, they transition back to their old food after eating boiled chicken and baby food for a several days to a week, but this time, they could not handle any of the previous foods. One had a formula change, which I thought might have triggered the bout. I ended up finding a really simple food that worked, but now, every other food I try causes one or both to have diarrhea (other two cats have tolerated some trials but I gave up because I was blaming the foods and hated the idea of having 4 cats on different foods. Of course, the food they are doing well on is really expensive, so I have been really trying to persevere with finding at least a couple of other foods. Funny that you mentioned probiotics. I have both Fortiflora and Proviable here and wondered if trying a pinch of one of the other a day or two before a food trial and adding a big more during the trial would glean more success with that trial in regard to the diarrhea that usually causes me to stop feeding whatever new food I trying. I know Fortiflora is considered to be not a great probiotic, but there are at least proven studies of it working to help stop diarrhea during food transitions. I will indeed look into the brands of probiotics and enzymes you mention here. So glad I read this!