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Change in Diet making IBS Worse?

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Freya Goddess of- Sweetness and- Love     Purred: Fri Jan 6, '12 10:20pm PST  Hello there and cheers! Ever since my foster mommy took me off the streets, my humans have been trying to find me the right food for my tummy. I used to be an indoor/outdoor cat, but my forever mommy has me indoors 24/7 now. I gotta be honest, I had to lose a little weight. I used to walk around to the neighbors houses and mooch for everything I could get, but those days are behind me. To help me lose weight, my mommy thought I should have high protein food and since my foster said I was allergic to grains, I should be fed a grain-free diet. I switched over from Indigo Moon to Wysong Epigen over the course of a couple of weeks, but my oh my does my poo ever stink! I generally don't get the pooties unless I get into something I shouldn't, but I'm still kind of round in the stomach area so its hard for me to clean my dainties so mommy does this for me almost every day. I don't like have a messy bum, but I like the weight I'm gradually losing on my new diet. I also LOVE the taste of Epigen. Do you think I should wait it out on Epigen and see if things get better with time (so I can clean my dainties, and have less odor) or should I go back to reduced portions of food with gentle grains (like rice and barley)? Thanks a lot! Mommy would love your advice on what to do next! my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become friends [notify]

Shadow Education is the- Key     Purred: Fri Jan 6, '12 11:36pm PST  Well feeding a higher protein diet is good, but dry kibble once you convert it to a dry matter basis, it is not really high protein. So feeding a grain free wet would be a lot better. I see the Epigen is "Starch Free". I did not look at the ingredients, but it does not really matter to much. A cat will not really loose weight on dry food. Is there any way you could feed a grain free wet? If you havent checked out catinfo.org yet there is some great info there about feline nutrition. If your cat is overweight there is a formula, you can read all about it at catinfo.org also check out Alex's site ibdkitties.net for lots of great info on this. Im sure Alex will give you some help too. Edited by author Fri Jan 6, '12 11:39pm PST my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Shade My name is not- Kittyfloss!     Purred: Sat Jan 7, '12 6:36am PST  Hi Freya, pardon me for saying that you are very pretty! Which Epigen formula are you feeding? These are the ingredients for the regular chicken formula: Ingredients: Organic Chicken, Chicken Meal, Chicken Giblets, Vegetable Protein (consisting of one or more of the following: Potato Protein, Rice Protein, Corn Protein, Wheat Protein), Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols as a source of Vitamin E), Eggs, Yogurt, Flax Seed, Apple, Beet Pulp, Plums, Inulin, Dried Wheat Grass Powder, Dried Barley Grass Powder, Krill Oil, Dried Kelp, Taurine, Oregano Extract, Sage Extract, Rosemary Extract, Direct-Fed Microorganisms (Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus lactis), Ascorbic Acid, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Manganese Proteinate, Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Proteinate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Acetate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement. You will notice that while it is technically grain free, it does contain one or more of the following: Potato Protein, Rice Protein, Corn Protein, Wheat Protein. Wheat protein = wheat gluten which is very much an allergen and digestive system trouble maker. It is possible that this ingredient is bothering her. These plant proteins are put into the food to up their protein content, but they are incomplete proteins for obligate carnivores, which is what cats are. They require the amino acid profile found only in protein from meat. If you can, I think that you should switch her to grain free canned food as Shadow already suggested. The good canned foods do not add corn or wheat protein to them to up their protein content. I second checking out catinfo.org and ibdkitties.net for a list of good canned foods. Purrs, and best wishes for your new girl! Shade my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Brownie I'm the Alpha- cat!     Purred: Sat Jan 7, '12 9:27am PST  I would say get something like Eagle Pack Holistic Solutions. You can sprinkle it over the food the help it tummy problems. Have you tried Nature's Variety food? The Instinct rabbit one is wildly popular. If you join the NV email list, they will be emailing coupons for their products next week. My cats like the NV Instinct duck & turkey kibble. Here is my soap box. Indigo Moon is good for kitties with IBS. But the amount of phosphorus in Indigo Moon is unbelievably high. Too high of phosphorus is not good for the kidneys. You can find a list of better food at http://www.ibdkitties.net/ my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Alex (sweet- angel girl) Angel on a- mission!     Purred: Sat Jan 7, '12 9:32am PST  oh my, those ingredients are HORRIBLE!!!!! corn protein, wheat protein, barley grass, on and on and on! You need to get off that food sweetheart. That's nasty! This food is not doing you any favors at all. I'd switch to Nature's Variety, Evo, Merrick, any one of those. But that food is most likely the culprit. As Shadow and Shade said you can look at my website I have a ton of information on inflammatory bowel disease (it's actually IBD unless your vet has stated that it's just IBS which is less of a problem. They're two different things so not sure which one you have). I'll be happy to help you along with the others here with anything. Between all of us we can usually come up with some good suggestions. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Freya Goddess of- Sweetness and- Love     Purred: Sat Jan 7, '12 5:00pm PST  Wow, thanks so much for your great comments! I really appreciate it since I'm just a new girl around here! I AM losing weight on the dry kibbles, and I drink lots of water throughout the day. I think a lot of my problem that led to my being over weight was just because people up and down the block would leave things out for me to eat that were irresistible! I think I'll try some grain free wet food. Mommy wants best for me, and I can't wait to stop having dirty dainties and smelly poos. The smells were definitely nicer when I was on Indigo, but since mommy is going to the store tomorrow, I will inform her to pick up some nice wet food for me. I think maybe we'll start with Merrick, since mommy's heard some good things about it from her human family. But could it be that I am not really allergic to grains after all and maybe my foster mistook my indiscriminate overeating of whatever the neighbors put out (and indigestion) for a grain allergy? If that were the case, it would sure make this food thing much easier to figure out! Oh, by the way, I take a prebiotic once a day as directed by my vet. Thanks a lot!!! I'm going to try out your suggestions and let you know how it goes! my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become friends [notify]

Freya Goddess of- Sweetness and- Love     Purred: Sat Jan 7, '12 5:04pm PST  Shade, Thank you for your kind compliment! I haven't felt quite the same since I got a lion cut. That sure does a number on a girl's self esteem! I was hoping for just a sanitary shave, but my fosters must have misunderstood me Edited by author Sat Jan 7, '12 5:04pm PST my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become friends [notify]

Freya Goddess of- Sweetness and- Love     Purred: Sat Jan 7, '12 5:18pm PST  Alex, Thank you for your advice! I don't think I'll even be finishing what's left in the bag, to be honest. Mommy's going to the shops tomorrow to find me a better food. What I think I'd REALLY like to try is a frozen raw diet. Have you ever had experience with that? I hear Nature's Variety makes a good raw diet. my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become friends [notify]

Tigger Knead softly &- carry a big purr     Purred: Sat Jan 7, '12 6:33pm PST  Head over to the raw topic - lots of good info & help there. I just got a free sample of the NV raw chunks, so we will see. One of mine is having tummy issues too. MIne get mostly wet, but I lurk around the raw forum to learn stuff. Wish you the best pretty girl! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Shade My name is not- Kittyfloss!     Purred: Sat Jan 7, '12 7:12pm PST  Hi again! Actually I feed mostly raw to the boys; come on over and read through the raw forum. There are several good frozen raw diets,, including the already mentioned NV Instinct medallions and Stella & Chewy's. There is also Primal, but I've never seen it around here. Good websites to read are catinfo.org, catnutrition.org, and rawfedcats.org. There's another too, but I'm not on my regular computer, so I'll have to check. Purrs, Shade my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

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