AboutKC Expertise I can answer questions related to feline and canine diet including questions regarding ingredients, by-products, nutrients, raw diets, brand named products, etc. I can also answer questions related to pet health, behavior, grooming, and general animal management.
***Before asking a question, please read my past answers as they will more than likely answer your question:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Cat-Food-3490/indexExp_83830.htm
*****I'm happy to announce a new forum*****
http://petfoods.freeforums.org
Experience I have done research on the relationship between feline diet and feline diabetes due to my personal experience in dealing with one of my own cats. I am a pet lover and always have numerous cats and dogs. I believe in feeding a high quality and by-product free diet. Diet alone cured my diabetic cat as well as either cured or significantly helped many others.
Education/Credentials Bachelor's Degree in Biological Sciences and years of
experience working as a Veterinary Technician
Question QUESTION: Hi. First of all, thank you so much for your website. I have learned more about feline nutrition in the last couple of days than I have known my whole life.
I have a wonderful three-year old Ragdoll named Sinatra. Sinatra has been with our family since he was four months old. To some degree he has always had problems with vomiting and loose bowels, oftentimes diarrhea. I didn't know it at the time, but the breeder raised all of her kittens on Wal Mart's brand Special Kitty. We quickly switched him to Science Diet, which we know now was not much of an improvement, if at all.
Last year we adopted our second Ragdoll. The breeder fed a blend of Purina ProPlan and Royal Canin to the kittens and a blend of Purina ProPlan and Nutro to the adults. At that time we switched Sinatra from Science Diet to Purina and Nutro products. His vomiting quickly subsided, but stool problems continued.
During Sinatra's most recent bouts with stool problems, the vet said we would have to try and isolate the potential problem. She asked me to stop feeding him canned food, thinking that his diet might be too rich. I did that for 10 days. He was growing agitated with me to say the least. At that time I researched "canned cat food for sensitive stomachs." That's when I found you and your recommendations for foods.
I purchased Wellness canned food and dry food this past Sunday. Sinatra absolutely loves both of them. He has had two 3 oz. cans of the salmon variety with no bowel problems. I was thrilled to say the least. Tonight I fed him about a 1/4 of a 3 oz. can of chicken and he immediately went to the litterbox and had a rather soft stool.
I know that I shouldn't be alarmed because, first of all, it wasn't a runny stool and definitely not diarrhea. It was just a soft stool and he required a slight clean up.
Now . . . my real question. I know that you advocate a canned food diet vs. a dry food diet. It just seems that whenever Sinatra eats canned food as his main source of nutrition he gets an upset stomach. Please share with me your thoughts. And I should tell you that these problems are periodic in nature. I never know what brings them on and once he is having a problem they generally subside in a few days, as long as a week in the more severe cases.
Thanks so much. I look forward to your response.
Cindy Thomas
All of this food is non-holistic and contains so many fillers, as I have discovered reading your website. Sad thing is once Sinatra was brought home we inquired as to
ANSWER: Hi Cindy,
I'm very happy that you ran across my site on AllExperts!It's wonderful to run across a cat owner who has already read up on diet and who is already trying a premium food. As you've read in my AllExperts profile and seen from my past answers, I've definitely seen the difference that diet can make in cats with all types of problems.
It's definitely not uncommon for cats to have sensitive stomachs, yet often times owners go unaware of how critical diet can be in maintaining proper health. The Wellness is definitely a good choice, as is trying different flavors to see which your cats prefer. First off though, I want to be sure that you are only feeding twice per day...never leaving food out for him to graze on all day. Two feedings a day is perfect for cats and will definitely decrease gastrointestinal problems. Secondly, cats with super sensitive stomachs, and also those with severe skin allergies, tend to do the best on a rabbit based food. The protein in rabbit meat is somewhat different from the protein structure in other meats...it tends to be more easily digested and easier on the digestive tract...it also decreases skin and allergic symptoms that can be caused by some other meats and food ingredients. With that said, if you don't see a significant difference on the Wellness, check out the Nature's Variety canned and raw in the rabbit formula.
Regarding dry...dry kibble is the most highly processed of any pet food. The ingredients, even the highest in quality, lose a lot of their nutritional value during the cooking process. Even the best of foods tend to have a higher quality canned food than dry. I say this because when comparing ingredients on foods the canned forumulas are always going to be less processed and have fewer ingredients, as nothing is needed as a filler, to help it hold structure, etc. Also, for a carniore...little to no processing is the best for them. They have a very short digestive tract which is perfectly designed to process a bulk of food at once and rather quickly. They have the perfect system for processing raw foods...including bones, muscle, a variety of tissues, etc. It takes them longer to digest dry kibble, thus slowing what in them should be a relatively fast process. A lot of people notice cats and dogs having problems with gas, constipation, etc. This is largely due to a diet that consists of mainly dry...in particular those dry foods that contain grain. Grain takes a long time to digest and is very hard and unnatural for their digestive systems. Therefore, the premium dry foods that are grain-free are truly much better. However, dry foods were created for ease of feeding...it's more convenient and easier for people...not necessarily the best for the animals. So...in a nutshell, that is why I prefer canned and raw to a diet of solely dry. I think there is nothing wrong with feeding a combination, as I do with all my animals. However, I think that when feeding solely dry, it is harder on their digestive tract and does in fact add more calories to the diet merely from the ingredients that it contains to be a dry kibble. Just compare any bag of Wellness dry to the canned...you'll see where the additional calories come from and what is added to constitute the bulk of it, etc.
Please keep in mind that although that is my general stand point on foods...all cats are different. I have personally seen cats with sensitive stomachs who always had loose stools on dry, even the Wellness and Nature's Variety, among other top brands. In those cats, the problem was eliminated by feeding only canned and raw, and only twice per day. In some cats I've seen only the rabbit-based foods working. In others, people have had success feeding a combination of canned and dry. If you'd prefer to try the dry...I'd totally see how he does on it. If the problem doesn't clear up, just switch back.
Also, once you find a food, and a particular flavor that seems to work perfectly...be sure to stick to it. He may be somewhat intolerant to the chicken to where he's fine on the other varieties. Don't offer treats or anything that even might cause a problem...as he definitely seems to have a super sensitive stomach. Even after changing foods it can initially take up to two weeks to see a significant, and constant, improvement.
In addition, have you ruled out intestinal parasites, including protozoan parasites (giardia and coccidia)? If so, then if even after trying new foods the problem continues, talk to your vet about doing a course of antibiotics just to rule out a possible recurrent bacterial infection. If you do treat him for any of the above, it can take up to a month before his digestive system will return to normal and the symptoms to completely clear up. You do see a lot of bouts of diarrhea and upset stomach if there is an underlying bacterial infection going on...which can persist for years...just something to keep in mind.
I hope that I've been able to answer your questions. If you have further questions please reply and I'll do my best to get back to you quickly.
Best of luck with Sinatra!
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: As a follow-up to my recent reply, I visited Nature's Variety website and read about the frozen rabbit food. I didn't know if you were aware of the following or not.
"Nature’s Variety would like to make you aware of a recent change in the Rabbit Formula Raw Frozen Diet for dogs and cats. Because we are no longer able to source a sufficient supply of rabbit organs for this raw diet, we researched viable alternatives and have chosen to now use natural pork fat, liver, and heart in place of rabbit liver, lung, and heart. Like all of our Raw Frozen Diets, the new Rabbit Formula is still 95% meat, raw ground bone, and organs. (To read the new ingredient panel, visit the Rabbit Formula Raw Frozen Diet product page.)
We chose pork as a new source of organ ingredients because pork is hypo-allergenic and highly palatable. Also, of all animal-based protein, pork protein is the most digestible and has the most favorable amino acid profile. Our pork ingredients are 100% natural, free of antibiotics and growth hormones, and sourced from USDA inspected facilities."
Please let me know if you feel that the recent changes to the raw rabbit formula would be an adequate diet change for Sinatra or one that should be avoided.
As always, thank you.
Answer Many many thanks for posting the information about the Nature's Variety Rabbit-based canned food. I was unaware of these changes. However, I am delighted to see that they are implementing the use of pork in their foods. It is indeed an excellent meat source for cats and very rare to find a cat food that contains any amount of pork what-so-ever. I will definitely be purchasing it.
