# Kitten diarrhea after new Wellness food



## liz_abby (Mar 23, 2010)

Hi everyone!

I have a 7 month old kitten that I've had for about 4 and a half months. The first 4 months I had her she was on Hills p/d canned and dry food (not the best food, I know now, but it was recommended by my vet at the time). After doing some research, I decided I wanted to change her over to a better food, so I eventually decided on Wellness. About a week and a half ago, I switched her canned food over to Wellness chicken, and about 4 days ago, I started switching her (slowly) over to the Wellness kitten dry food.

However, ever since I started changing the wet food over, she has had very watery poop/diarrhea. At first I thought that was just because she had to get used to the new food (she has had a sensitive stomach in the past), but it has been going on for nearly a week and a half and I am starting to get worried - it doesn't seem to be clearing up at all. I haven't taken her in to the vet yet because she seems perfectly healthy otherwise - she has just as much energy as before (or more!) and she is still eating and drinking totally normally.

My question to you is, (1) what do you think could be causing it? and (2) what should I do now? If it's an allergy to something in the food, switching foods should clear it up. However, if she just has to get used to the food, I don't want to switch it on her again! 

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!


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## kwarendorf (Oct 12, 2009)

*Re: Kitten diarrhea*

Hi, I couldn't find p/d listed on the Hills website. Lots of other */d's but no p/d. Was she on a precription diet for a reason? Do you know what the main protein in p/d is? I ask because chronic runs can be caused by a protein allergy, among other things. My Franklin had allergy problems which resulted in chronically soft stool. I would try a novel protein food like venison or duck. He is doing really well on Natural Balance Duck and Green Pea and Natural Balance Venison and Green Pea cans. They are both 100% grain free to boot!


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## liz_abby (Mar 23, 2010)

The Hills p/d is their kitten and recovering cat formula. The top 5 ingredients are: Water, Pork Liver, Pork By-Products, Egg Product, Chicken (on the website here: http://www.hillspet.com/hillspet/produc ... 4441763381). Chicken was on there, but it was pretty low on the list, so maybe switching to a different protein source would help if it's an allergy. I know Wellness has multiple kinds of canned food, or I might try Natural Balance as well. I have learned that grain-free is definitely the way to go though!

Thank you!


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## edkate (Dec 4, 2003)

why dont you switch your kitten to wet food only?
there is a lot of info on this topic, you can do a search.

Wellness is a good food to feed.


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## liz_abby (Mar 23, 2010)

I would love to switch her to a mainly wet-food diet - I've heard (and read in the forums) about how it's much better for cats. Right now her diet is about half wet and half dry. Unfortunately, it seems to be the Wellness wet food right now that's causing the problem! I'm going to try her on another type of protein because that is what I have in the house (right now I have Wellness Salmon and Trout). If that doesn't help, I plan to try a totally new protein source like the Natural Balance venison like kwarendorf suggested - it looks like they have some great foods for cats with allergies or food sensitivities! No worries, I'm not planning on switching her to only dry food anytime soon - I'll keep pushing through to try and find her a wet food that sits better in her stomach.

How long does everyone think I should give her a new food before I decide it isn't working? I don't want to introduce too many new foods too soon because I don't want to upset her poor digestive system even more! But I also want this cleared up as fast as possible so she doesn't get dehydrated or anything.

Also, how long should I take to switch the wet food over? When I first moved her from the Hills p/d to the Wellness I only took a few days, but I feel like I should have given longer (just to avoid upsetting her tummy even more!)

Thanks!


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## edkate (Dec 4, 2003)

re Wellness wet food - if it contains any fish in it in addition to, let's say, chicken, my youngest one has upset stomack and the runs.
I dont buy anything with fish in Wellness.

as for your other questions: 
i have bought different cans of wet food and brought it home; then i had a chart done that consisted of "Name of cat" (since i have 2), brand of food, flavour and notes (if they liked, didnt like, upset stomack, didnt touch at all) - it worked wonders for me :mrgreen: 
I only gave them a can of each flavour - you will see if she likes it - she will gulp it down :wink:


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

She's currently eating Wellness chicken wet food and kitten dry...correct? The wet food is the adult chicken right, not the kitten food (which is chicken based)? If it's the canned kitten food, I would say get off that, I know of many cats who have had diarrhea issues with it, mine included.

If it's the adult chicken, then I'd say it's more related to the food change. You've switched both foods in the course of a week and a half. That's probably a bit much for her digestive system. I would not give her the salmon and trout as fish is more likely to cause diarrhea than chicken. I also would not switch to a limited ingredient diet at this point, there's nothing to suggest that this is an allergy and she doesn't need another switch. You want to reserve limited ingredient and novel proteins for a time when they may be necessary. Cats can develop allergies over time to any protein, so using a lot of the novel foods in their regular diet may leave you with nothing to go to if allergies become an issue. 

I would recommend adding some probiotics (refrigerated type) and digestive enzymes to the wet food. And maybe a little canned pumpkin, Benefiber or slippery elm to add some fiber and bulk up her stools. I'd give it a week and if that doesn't work, then suggest looking at alternative foods. 

BTW, with high quality foods, I wouldn't worry about using kitten food especially at 7 months.


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## liz_abby (Mar 23, 2010)

doodlebug: That's right, right now she's on the Wellness adult chicken as her wet food. She's in the process of switching her dry food still - right now she's eating a mix of about half p/d and half Wellness kitten. I'm trying to take longer switching over the dry food, I just screwed up and miscalculated how much wet food of the p/d she had left, which meant it had to be a quick turnover! I was planning to switch her to the Wellness indoor formula when she turned 9 months, but I might just do it at the end of this bag.

Given what you have both experienced with the fish, I'll just keep her on the chicken dry formula for now, and try the probiotics and pumpkin. Where would I buy something like the refridgerated probiotics or digestive enzymes? And as for the pumpkin - how much should she be getting a day (6 lb kitten)? Sorry for all the questions, she's my first cat so I'm a newbie but I want to do it right!

Thanks for all the info!


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Any health food store would have refrigerated probiotics, I would get acidophilus. About 1/2 capsule. Enzymes in a independent pet food store. About 1/8 tsp.

Make sure it's plain pumpkin, no pie spices. About 1/2 tsp.


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## nxmom (Mar 4, 2010)

Wellness is a pretty rich food and a lot of cats/dogs have stomach problems handling it, although if you can get your cat to eat it without probs then thats great since its such a great food. I agree with the Probotics and Pumpkin, just don't depend on those because then you are only masking the problem. Diarrhea/Loose stool is to be expected with any new food and it can last for a few days but with any new food you should give it it's time to work in the digestive system. Hills Science diet also has a lot of grains, when switching don't do it slowly. When switching from Grain Inclusive food to GRAIN FREE food you fast your kitty for a full day & then start the grain free food. Meat and grains digest at different rates and it just makes it harder on our kitties/doggies.
I know being able to fast a kitty for a full 24hours is unlikely, but as long as you can during the day the better!
If watery diarrhea's are present consistently then it is time to switch foods. I would try the Probotics & pumpkin and then go from there to see where you are at. You can actually get probotics at the petstore that will be sufficient enough as well.

Good Luck!  I hope she can tolerate this food!


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

nxmom said:


> Hills Science diet also has a lot of grains, when switching don't do it slowly. When switching from Grain Inclusive food to GRAIN FREE food you fast your kitty for a full day & then start the grain free food.


Hmmm....where did you get that info, never heard that recommendation before. A cat isn't likely to trip over into hepadic lipidosis in 24 hours, but it's possible. I would think that a richer food on an empty stomach that isn't used to it would be enough to cause vomiting.


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