Help with kitty diet - health issues

[MissPurryJess]

I love this forum, and I browse and lurk frequently. I have a few questions about my kitties' diet in relation to health issues, and while I've found some amazing information on the boards, I was hoping the experts could help me with a specific situation.

I'll try to be as succinct as possible! I have 2 kitties, a boy and a girl, Fitzy and Daisy, they're littermates and about 6.5 years old (they're rescues). They each weigh about 9 lbs., so they're at a good weight and don't seem to overeat.

Until the grain recall, I was completely ignorant regarding what my babies needed. :sad: They had been on Science Diet Z/D Dry, and then we switched foods - we tried a few different types of foods (Innova Evo dry, Innova Evo wet, Wellness wet, Natural Balance wet), but finally settled on 1/6 of a can of Innova Evo 95% Duck (per each cat) twice a day with a pinch of psyllium mixed in and Now! Grain-Free Senior/Weight Management Formula dry whenever they want it (we leave a little bit in their bowls all day).

Here's the problem: Daisy Mae has hard stools, and Fitzy has a tendency to vomit. Fitzy used to have loose stools, but since he's been eating the Innova Evo 95% Duck, his stools have been well-formed. His issue is that he eats too much at once and then pukes it all up! We clean up piles of kibble vomit at least once a week - this week he's vomited 3 times (twice kibble, once bile). He also does this horrible hacking thing - the "I need to puke up a hairball but I'm not going to yet" kinda hacking. I freaked out and thought he may have lung cancer or something, but the vet said he was in great health and his lungs sounded good, and suggested giving him Laxatone (which he abhors and we have to put it in a syringe and force feed it to him), but I haven't seen a marked improvement yet. He hasn't hacked up any huge hairballs lately, but there has been some hair in his vomit. I'm so worried about him - I was hoping you guys would have insight on that. He's always had a sensitive tummy - he vomited a lot as a baby, so this isn't a new thing.

And then there's Daisy Mae - she has hard stools! Which is why we tried the Now! dry food - the nutritionist told us it was high in fiber and low in fat, and that it should help her. No dice. That's also why we give them psyllium powder - the vet thought it may help with her stools, but I don't really think that's working, either.

Otherwise my babies are in good health, their fur is nice and shiny and there's no dandruff or allergies or anything, just the vomiting and hard stools that I'm worried about. Please help me - I love my babies more than anything in the world and I want to make sure they're as healthy and happy as possible. Any insight or advice is greatly appreciated!

Whew, I'm verbose.

[14+kitties]

Have you tried eliminating the dry food out of their diet all together? Possibly adding a small amount of pumpkin or butternut squash or Slippery Elm to their diet? If you are worried about weight loss increase the wet food a little. Give it a few weeks and see if that helps. Also, a little yogurt on the side never hurts.

[MissPurryJess]

Originally Posted by 14+kitties

Have you tried eliminating the dry food out of their diet all together?

I haven't tried - we have a weird food dynamic with these guys. Fitzy will only eat little bites at a time, so after Daisy is done wolfing down her wet food, my husband and I have to police the area to make sure she doesn't devour all of Fitzy's food. If he eats more than 1/6 of a can at a time, he vomits. I'm worried he wouldn't be getting enough food without the supplemental dry kibble.

Possibly adding a small amount of pumpkin or butternut squash or Slippery Elm to their diet?

I've heard about the pumpkin thing - how does this help them? This will probably work with Daisy but I'm not sure about Fitzy - he's so picky. Is it an added source of fiber or something?

If you are worried about weight loss increase the wet food a little. Give it a few weeks and see if that helps. Also, a little yogurt on the side never hurts.

Daisy will eat yogurt, Fitzy will not (I've tried). I'm interested - how does this help them? We always have tons of plain low-fat organic Greek yogurt around, so this would be easy to incorporate into Daisy's meals.

[sugarcatmom]

Can you try leaving wet food down all the time instead of the dry? That way the novelty might wear off with Daisy so that she doesn't eat it all at once, and then Fitzy can snack on it when he wants. I would also eliminate the psyllium husk, which can actually make constipation worse for some cats, especially if you aren't adding extra water along with it.

As for the Now Senior kibble, there are better options. Even though it's grain-free, it's still high carb because of all the potato starch. If you absolutely have to feed dry, something like Wellness Core or Innova Evo would be better (except that you might have to measure the portions because they're pretty high in calories).

[14+kitties]

I am far from being the food guru here. I am sure SCM or growler or L4H will be along soon to answer your questions a little more fully. Let's see if I can help you out a little first.

Giving plain yogurt will help repopulate good bacteria in kitty's intestinal tract.
This site explains the benifits of pumpkin and squash for our pets.........

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1817/

[14+kitties]

Oooopps, sorry SCM!!

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by 14+kitties

Oooopps, sorry SCM!!

Nothing to apologize for!! The yogurt/squash advice is great.

[MissPurryJess]

Originally Posted by sugarcatmom

Can you try leaving wet food down all the time instead of the dry? That way the novelty might wear off with Daisy so that she doesn't eat it all at once, and then Fitzy can snack on it when he wants. I would also eliminate the psyllium husk, which can actually make constipation worse for some cats, especially if you aren't adding extra water along with it.

This may sound daft, but how do I leave wet food out? Do you mean leave larger portions in the morning and let them free feed? I'm worried about Daisy eating too much at once - if Fitzy doesn't get to it, she'll devour all of it. But I like the idea of them having access to it all day, I'm just not sure of the logistics.

I had no idea that psyllium husk could constipate kitties - no more psyllium in Daisy's food, that's for sure. I think it has helped Fitzy a bit because he used to have loose stools, but thank you for that tip because Daisy certainly doesn't need anything that will bind her up more.

As for the Now Senior kibble, there are better options. Even though it's grain-free, it's still high carb because of all the potato starch. If you absolutely have to feed dry, something like Wellness Core or Innova Evo would be better (except that you might have to measure the portions because they're pretty high in calories).

The nutritionist suggested it because she said it was high in fiber and chicken-free (Fitzy has a sensitivity to chicken), but I'm definitely open to a new dry food. If you have a grain-free/chicken-free dry food you'd recommend, that would be great. Do you think it's important for their dry food to have a lot of fiber?

Originally Posted by 14+kitties

I am far from being the food guru here. I am sure SCM or growler or L4H will be along soon to answer your questions a little more fully. Let's see if I can help you out a little first.

Giving plain yogurt will help repopulate good bacteria in kitty's intestinal tract.
This site explains the benifits of pumpkin and squash for our pets.........

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1817/

I really like the idea of adding pumpkin to their diets - do you think 1/4 tsp will be good to start? I know Daisy will eat it (she'll eat just about anything), and hopefully I can hide it in Fitzy's food.

You guys are awesome - I appreciate your help so much. Do you think the pumpkin will help with Fitzy's vomiting? I think removing the psyllium and adding pumpkin and some yogurt sound like a great first step for Daisy, I'm just curious if it will help with Fitzy's vomiting, too.

ETA: growler, just saw your post - Fitzy is a short hair. Do you have a certain brand you'd suggest for the salmon oil? I'm literally tossing the psyllium tomorrow when we break out the pureed pumpkin. Speaking of which, is canned pure pumpkin okay? I have quite a bit of it.

And because they appreciate your help, here they are, in all their glory - Daisy Mae is the tortie and Fitzy is all black:

[growler~GateKeeper]

Originally Posted by MissPurryJess

I really like the idea of adding pumpkin to their diets - do you think 1/4 tsp will be good to start? I know Daisy will eat it (she'll eat just about anything), and hopefully I can hide it in Fitzy's food.

ETA: growler, just saw your post - Fitzy is a short hair. Do you have a certain brand you'd suggest for the salmon oil? I'm literally tossing the psyllium tomorrow when we break out the pureed pumpkin. Speaking of which, is canned pure pumpkin okay? I have quite a bit of it.

And because they appreciate your help, here they are, in all their glory - Daisy Mae is the tortie and Fitzy is all black:

I'm using Grizzly Salmon Oil it is liquid so it must be refridgerated {the butternut squash (same principle as pumpkin) worked for a while for my cat but she has crf and the extreme water balance issues that come with that so the salmon oil has been far more effective in her situation} and sugarcatmom prefers to use salmon oil in capsules instead of a liquid - depends on what works for you. You might want to see how the pumpkin does for Daisy Mae and Fitzy first, before adding salmon oil, since you already have that on hand.

Pure canned pureed pumpkin is fine as long as it is not pie filling that has too much spices and such. 1/4 tsp twice a day is fine to start. The pumpkin works to rebalance the water level in the bowels so if there's too much or too little the natural fibre works it out/in.

Aww Daisy Mae is gorgeous , she looks a bit like my grrl and Fitzy handsome little guy

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by MissPurryJess

This may sound daft, but how do I leave wet food out? Do you mean leave larger portions in the morning and let them free feed?

That's what I do. I understand how this might be harder to do in a multi-cat household though. Right now I just have one kitty but when there were 2, I would put a whole 5.5 oz can down in the am and pm and somehow my cats ate what they needed. Maybe you could start with taking away the dry on weekends and feeding several small meals of canned whenever you're home.

Originally Posted by MissPurryJess

I'm worried about Daisy eating too much at once - if Fitzy doesn't get to it, she'll devour all of it.

Is there anywhere that you could leave food for Fitzy that Daisy doesn't go to? Maybe if you put out 2 dishes of food in different parts of the house, you'll find each cat develops a location preference. Or maybe not.

Originally Posted by MissPurryJess

The nutritionist suggested it because she said it was high in fiber and chicken-free (Fitzy has a sensitivity to chicken), but I'm definitely open to a new dry food. If you have a grain-free/chicken-free dry food you'd recommend, that would be great. Do you think it's important for their dry food to have a lot of fiber?

Cats don't typically have a high need for fiber. There are exceptions, but I think rather than going that route right off the bat, a better idea is to feed an appropriate diet of meat-based wet food. Constipation is more likely to be caused by dry-food-induced dehydration than from lack of fiber.

Regarding the probiotics, there are capsules you can buy from the health food store (refrigerator section) that can be used if you have a reluctant yogurt-consumer. If you get something high potency (10-12 billion organisms) you only need a pinch mixed in with wet food a couple times a day. Most cats aren't going to notice or mind the addition.

You're cats are adorable, by the way.

[MissPurryJess]

Originally Posted by 14+kitties

I am far from being the food guru here. I am sure SCM or growler or L4H will be along soon to answer your questions a little more fully. Let's see if I can help you out a little first.

Giving plain yogurt will help repopulate good bacteria in kitty's intestinal tract.
This site explains the benifits of pumpkin and squash for our pets.........

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1817/

OMG. I eat my words - Fitzy is devouring his food with the pumpkin! I put 1/4 tsp in each kitty's dish and they both loved it.

So do I give them 1/4 tsp each once a day or twice a day? And how much yogurt should I give Daisy?



ETA: Quick question - how do you keep the pumpkin fresh? I have a big can of it, so I put a little scoop in a tupperware container to use for this week, and then I used a cookie scoop to make little pumpkin puree balls to freeze - the idea being that I'll just defrost one little ball per week. How do you guys keep it fresh?

[growler~GateKeeper]

Originally Posted by MissPurryJess

ETA: Quick question - how do you keep the pumpkin fresh? I have a big can of it, so I put a little scoop in a tupperware container to use for this week, and then I used a cookie scoop to make little pumpkin puree balls to freeze - the idea being that I'll just defrost one little ball per week. How do you guys keep it fresh?

I used to scoop each serving in ice cube trays & freeze it, then dump them in a freezer bag that way you can just take out what you need per meal for each cat it only takes a tiny bit of extra water to thaw the frozen slice