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Best sensitive stomach canned wet- non grain food?

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Member Since 03/21/2012     Purred: Wed Jan 23, '13 8:41pm PST  Hi guys I have been looking for some information for awhile now , and not finding it in my searches. I can find info on dry .. but never the canned wet - so I thought i'd try reaching out to you I have two maine coon kittens who have been dealing with diarrhea for most of their young life. 4 months about so far? One is 9 months , the other is 6 months old. It was happening all of the time in the beginning - so we have tried many things with food. We thought it was related to their iams dry food - so we did the research and found that the grain based dry was pretty terrible on their tummies - and so we went with wellness core instead based on recommendations from many forums for the kitties. They love it , no doubt about that. But what they really love is wet. They beg for it ... But every time we gave them their canned purina / fancy feast or whatever can we found for them - they would get diarrhea. So on our own after some research - we switched to Wellness Canned Cuts Minced Chicken Dinner. That has been their main food for 2 months now. They adore it - follow us around asking for it XD One can every other day - split between the both of them. But they still get diarrhea on and off - every couple of weeks. We tried an experiment last week and gave them the wet every day instead of just every other day - and found their diahreeah both increased... and is now steady as it was with the purina. The vet did a deworm , samples of their stool came back with nothing - and said our next step is a senstive stomach formula. Purina Pro however is what he wants us to use - which isn't grain free. Can you help me find a good reliable grain free sensitive stomach formula? Or would - continuing to feed wellness canned and just mixing in pumpkin be enough to firm them up again? (I've been researching that too) I'm really wanting the help and willing to listen to many options please We would like to solve this ourselves and not have to try his grain purina pro ~ Also wanted to add - they are on fortiflora already - they love it on their dry once a day. Up to date on all of their shots , and live a really pretty active and fun life. They don't seem sick other than just the diarrhea ~ One more thing - the dry is free grazing - but it really seems more of a feeding since they really eat when the fortiflora is sprinkled. The wet as i said is once every other day between the two of them split a 3oz can. ~ And I can't forget that I also did test for specific allergies. We found out that one would have really terrible runny poo after duck or any kind of seafood. Accidently bought wellness with fish ... that was scary XD So it is chicken for my babies from now on *nods* Edited by author Wed Jan 23, '13 8:55pm PST my posts [notify]

Beep Butt-kicker of- all other cats     Purred: Thu Jan 24, '13 12:57am PST  I don't have an answer for you, I wish I did, I have a co-worker who is in the same position as you with her new kitten, who is about 4 months old. They've also done every test, tried different foods, dry, wet, nothing seems to help. I suggested probiotics, not sure if she has done that and if it helps. She is feeding Science Diet for now since it seems to be the only thing that stops it. They must put something equivilant to immodium ad for humans in that stuff, but she feels awful feeding it to her kitten. I'm thinking a food allergy too. If I hear anything from her I'll check back and let you know, but hopefully someone else can give you some help. Good luck, I know how stressful this can be. Edited by moderator Thu Jan 24, '13 1:27am PST my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends Edited by forums moderator

Ben I fetch,- therefore I am. moderator     Purred: Thu Jan 24, '13 1:24am PST  As far as grain-free, single protein source foods, you could try Natural Balance LID or Merrick Before Grain (they come in both canned and dry). Keep in mind that any abrupt changes in diet can cause diarrhea, so you always want to switch them gradually. As far as adding pumpkin for fiber, it does work but not all cats like the taste. We've found that adding a tiny sprinkle of psyllium husk powder to wet food can work to firm up the stools without changing the flavor. (By tiny, I mean we'd get the .52g capsules, break them open and use about 1/4-1/5 of the contents per meal, so less than .15g per meal, plus we'd add about a tablespoon extra water to the food.) Of course, it's best to check with your vet before trying anything like that. Good luck! Hope your kitties feel better soon. Keep us posted. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends

Alex (sweet- angel girl) Angel on a- mission!     Purred: Thu Jan 24, '13 5:19pm PST  Have you considered doing raw for them since they are kittens and would most likely go nuts for it? Raw would take care of that diarrhea once and for all. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Aura I'm a delicate- flower!     Purred: Thu Jan 24, '13 9:49pm PST  I agree, you either need to go 100% grain free canned or go raw. After they are diarrhea free on raw for a few weeks or months, then you can start giving them some grain free canned. Their systems will probably have healed enough to handle it. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Merlin - An Angel- Forever *Poof*     Purred: Sat Jan 26, '13 5:36am PST  Here's a chart that lists whether a canned food has any potentially allergenic ingredients: Cat Food chart It's not up to date but lists many brands my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Laila Queen Bee     Purred: Sat Jan 26, '13 6:39am PST  You may want to talk to your vet about treatment for IBS. Sometimes, for whatever reason, kittens can get really inflamed bowls and need, at least for a little while, treatment to help get everything back to balance. I've got two 11 month old kittens who have been having issues with diarrhea for several months. We've switched them to Hills Z/D, and they're on a 2 week course of metrinidozole (an antibiotic that also has some anti-inflammatory properties) as well as Pro-Pectalin which also helps firm up stools. Pumpkin is great, if they eat it. Also, greek yogurt helps with the good bacteria balance too. The plan for my kiddos is to keep them on this course of action until they have a month of solid bowel movements then gradually back them off to their old food (Blue Sensitive Stomach). my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Cookie Can we play??     Purred: Sun Jan 27, '13 1:56pm PST  Now that the cats are eating pate style wet food, I can start to look for more grain free wet foods which I know are better. I started to use Alex's mummy's website for IBDkitties. Lots of great wet food listed for kitties with bowel troubles. We have picked up a ton of foods yesterday to try from Alex's list. Since our girls like fish only, I'm going to struggle to get them to try some of the new unique proteins. This week we tried the Precise flake pork. It has shaped pieces. I got out the stick blender and pureed it. Brownie loved it the first day. If I get it again, I'll get the 3 oz size. (At Pet Supplies Plus it was 1.38 for the 3 oz or 1.40 on sale for the 5.5 oz can.) Maybe I'll give another flavor out next weekend. Brownie loved the quail and liked the pheasant ones we tried earlier this month. The BG quail is a must try one and it was on Alex's list too. Oops! I forgot to add one thing. If you are tired of adding pumpkin to their foods then all you need to do a little sprinkle. Get Eagle Pack Holistic Select Holistic Solution and sprinkle it over their food. http://www.holisticselect.com/cat-digestive-aid-holistic-so lution Edited by author Sun Jan 27, '13 2:06pm PST my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]