Mature cat with GI issues...help

[crazydays]

Hi everyone!
My orange tabby cat is 14 years. About 2 years ago he had to go to the hospital because he was vomiting, stopped eating and lost a great deal of weight. He was a hospital admission and thank goodness sorted out on you guessed it Hills I/D soft and Mature cat food-kibble.
Tory is extremely picky yet he devours this food.

I have discovered that he loves Wellness 95% protein-salmon/turkey DOG food. Tried him on Wellness cat food and he was disgusted! I am only giving him one quarter of small can Hills/day. He eats lots of kibble. QUESTION-
do you think I could cut out canned Hills and give him small amount Wellness protein for dogs- probably 2 tablespoons/day??????

[sugarcatmom]

Did they ever figure out what might have caused the GI issues? My concern would be that it was a pancreatitis thing, in which case the lower fat content of I/D might be better than the Wellness. Not that I/D is a better food overall (has too much corn/rice/soy), but Wellness tends to be quite high in fat.

Other than that, the ingredients of the 95% meat formulas are very simple and even for dogs it's recommended for only intermittent or supplemental feeding. As long as the 2 tbsp/day doesn't exceed 20% of your cats diet, that part shouldn't be an issue. If you wanted to make it more complete, you could add Wysong's Call of the Wild supplement, but without knowing what the original digestive problem was, I'd be leery about feeding too much Wellness.

[crazydays]

Sugarcat Mom!!!

I really appreciate your help. We were never told anything about pancreatitis. The vet felt he needed a food change ( embarrassed to say-Fancy feast ) The Vet felt that he needed Senior food. We jumped at Hills because it was like magic- instantly better. I have come to know Hills is not a great manufacturer. The last thing we want to do is upset the apple cart.
Great info about the 95% protein food-Wellness!!

[sugarcatmom]

If you did want to try a different lower fat canned food with better ingredients than Hill's, the Innova Reduced Fat one is pretty good (37% calories from fat), as is Natural Balance Ultra Premium (46% fat, about the same as I/D), but obviously your picky eater has to like them for them to be any good.

[crazydays]

Morning Sugarcat Mom.
I will definitely try a can of each and see how it goes.
Thank you