Hi all!

My 2 year old boy has been dealing with chronic diarrhea on and off for about 4 months now. After trying different foods/proteins with little to no improvement, a stool sample finally showed a bacterial overgrowth. He had normal stools prior to this, and I was giving him a variety of protein sources (which I would like to resume doing, but not sure if it’s a great idea now that he has GI problems). After two rounds of antibiotics, he finally started having semi-solid stools about 2 months ago. He’s been on Blue Buffalo True Solutions Digestive Care dry food with the wet version every so often (going to start being daily now that I’m in a bit of a better place financially). I’ve also done a couple rounds of Forti Flora supplements with him and one round of Proviable, and now he has been getting the Adored Beast Gut Soothe for over a month now. Since his stools are still a bit soft, I am trying to figure out if there’s a different food that people would recommend, or any other advice is very appreciated!! TIA

I've been feeding the above product for about 3 years. Shreds always varied between about 1/2" and 1" long. The last batch I got (from Amazon) they are now tiny chunks, about 1/8" cubes, and a lot more gravy. My cat doesn't finish the bowl, I think the little chunks just stick to the bottom and she can't dislodge them.

Has anyone else noticed this recent change? Anyone else having similar feeding problems? If this is a new "design" from Friskies, I guess I'll have to start shopping for a different brand.

Thanks!

Not a recall but in that category. I wanted to make a post incase anyone else is having the same issue. I’ve used C/D hills wet/dry food since 2014. I had about 15 cans left for my cat this week but they all looked grayish, smelled off, and seemed dry. My cat would not eat it. I was refunded and placed a new order that arrived today but same story. I had to pick up some cans from my vet this week and all the cans were normal and smelled fresh - so I put in an order through my vet and hopefully the food is good.

Not sure if it’s Chewy or Hills but it’s frustrating because my cat needs this food and in an emergency it’s hard to get ahold of prescription wet food. Plus she’s a senior and I don’t want her to only be eating dry food 😿.

Am I the only one experiencing this?

I am looking for recommendations for dry cat food other then Iams. I currently feed my 5 cats Iams sensitive stomach and hairball. They are ages 3, 5, 7, 8 and 9. I have 3 females and 2 males. Two of them in the last week have thrown up their few shortly after eating it. Bowls and bin gets washed regularly. All up to date on shots. Indoor omly cats. Any ideas or suggestions to bring to the vet appointment that's coming up soon.

So, I’m having an issue figuring out how to feed one of my two cats. Here’s a breakdown of my cat situation:

Cat #1, Shadow (male): Has GI issues and is a scarf and barfer. He cannot be free fed, or he will overeat and puke. His current setup is a dry food auto feeder that dispenses tiny portions, rigged up to a puzzle feeder attachment. He also gets fed wet food 3x per day, manually. This works quite well. The other cat tends to leave this contraption alone.

Cat #2, Rune (female): Grazer, small appetite, will absolutely not eat more than 5-8g of dry food at once. Does not like wet food (believe me, I’ve tried).

Up until recently, Rune was using a SureFeed microchip feeder, but over time it stopped reading her chip. Thinking the chip had migrated, I took her to the vet to explore the possibility of getting a new chip implanted. The vet scanned her and said that the chip is reading fine, and is in the right spot near the shoulder blades. They blamed the feeder for being defective. I ended up giving the feeder to a friend, and it actually works perfectly for her kitten, so I’m not sure what’s going on.

I’ve tried a few other solutions:

Sure Pet Care Microchip pet door attached to a cat litter cabinet: I tried to train her to use this, and she hated it. It made a loud clicking sound when unlocking, which startled her. It also wouldn’t unlock until her shoulders were directly under the frame, which makes me wonder if it would even have worked if I didn’t have it held open with a string to acclimate her. Like, how could she open it by walking through if it won’t unlock until she’s 1/4 of the way through the doorway? This item got returned.

PawsPik microchip feeder: Wouldn’t read either of my cats’ chips. Also got returned.

Cheerble Match G1 Feeder: Uses AI facial recognition technology, no chips or collar tags needed. I’ve tried numerous times to program her face and it says it was successful, but the feeder won’t open for her. I’ve contacted support, but I’m pretty sure I am doing everything right and will end up needing to return this as well.

Things that will not work:

Any feeder that requires her to wear a collar. She hates, hates HATES collars and gets incredibly stressed trying to bite and rip them off.

Manual feedings: This is what I’m doing now, but I need to feed her 5-7 times per day to get her to finish 40g of dry food. Needless to say, this isn’t conducive to having a life.

So…I am leaning toward re-buying a SureFeed microchip feeder, and getting her a new chip despite the vet not thinking the chip is the problem. Unless anyone has another brilliant idea.

Does anyone know if there are certain types of mircrochips that work better with this feeder than others? Or, are there other brands of feeders I’m not aware of? Sure Pet Care blames my cat’s chip for the issue, my vet says it must be the device. I’m just desperate for a solution.

Hi everyone. My cat has been eating fancy feast gravy lovers chicken, turkey, and beef, flavors. I have been kind of freaked out because two of the flavors were in the article where they tested for lead and arsenic among other contaminants. I just want to feel like I’m feeding her a good quality food. I feel like everything I read or research is just conflicting information and I’m just so overwhelmed. I would love to hear your guys options and any guidance you might have. Thanks so much

Ive got two cats and have tried four different wet foods. The only one that actually got finished was fancy feast and only one of them liked it. For the other brands, they couldnt even eat a whole 3.0 ounce can between the two of them. Does anyone have other recommendations or should I just stick with fancy feast?

Fancy Feast

Tiki cat after dark

Birdie & Louie

Purina proplan wet

1 year old tabby absolutely hates pate and will never even get 1/4 of the way through a serving. He eats dry food but at 1/3 cup servings and typically only when we leave the house or are leaving him something to eat overnight (one of us is usually up late anyway so the dry food overnight isnt longer than 4-5 hours.)

I brought this Blue Buffalo Tasteful's Gravy because I also noticed the bugger wont drink the amount that I'd like. Besides that, I am able to slip some into his Sheba servings or into a Fancy Feast Broth appetizer, with mostly positive results.

The question is are these things okay for him to be eating? I exercise him 2-3 times a day on weekdays for an hour to an hour and some change. On weekends I leave the exercise to my partner since she's off and I work. I want to try canned Purina fancy feast, since he likes the broths and appetizers so much, but not sure if they are good for him.

Also, we started with Hills, but he seemingly despises it after a few weeks and wont go back. Im thinking of ordering him a fountain today, but I'd love to hear some opinions from veteran owners.

BTW: pic of him after demolishing one of the broths. He cleans that plate so we'll I wish he'd do it with other things :(

Is there an at home recipe I can make as an alternative to nutrical for an aging kitty who is struggling to keep on weight? (Yes, she is under the care of a vet who is monitoring and running tests)

I’m a little frustrated but also have been waiting for this day. I have a 14yo purebred Manx. I knew they have higher rates of KD, and he has a baby kidney that never developed, so he’s been living with 1 over-functioning kidney thus far. I took him in a year ago because he was starting to drink significantly more water. I was told it’s nothing and don’t worry about it. So this year we went in for vaccines and a checkup, and he’s lost some weight. He was overweight cause i was feeding too much wet food and leaving dry food out over winter. He they suggested adding on things to look for kidney disease which they’d “never done before”. That’s my frustration. I took him in concerned about kidney disease starting a year ago and they didn’t even look fully ?

He’s had digestive issues his whole life, specifically severe constipation and sensitive stomach aka vomiting. I’ve gone through every food brand, type, animal, just to try to find a way for him to actually poop. I noticed he did better on foods without a lot of corn, grains, vegetables, and plant proteins. I learned most cat foods only have animal products 1-3x in the top 8-10 ingredients. I ended up buying freeze dried and raw food, mostly stella & chewy (dinner morsels) and tiki cat for wet food with Acana and Orijen for dry food. I add water to his wet food bowl, and he has a fountain. I did look at doing raw from scratch, but I’m disabled and can’t handle that. My vet knows all this and has been supportive.

She offered for me to talk to a feline nutritionist or try Hill’s Rx food. I figured nutrition would be expensive, so looked up the food first. The Hill’s wet food doesn’t look bad, but I’m really nervous about the dry food. It’s full of a lot of things that are in foods he can’t poop on. Maybe it’s something else in the food? I’ve tried every regular corn, pea, rice, etc food at the store and on Chewy, and he literally cannot poop. I didn’t just start buying expensive freeze-dried and raw food for kicks, it was the only thing left. And it worked! It’s been the only way to get rid of the debilitating constipation and he’s never puked on it. The protein content is 35% vs 36% in what I’m feeding him, but it’s mostly plant based protein for Hill’s. I know Phosphorus is also important, and that is hard to find lower levels in dry food as most raw brands use whole animal. Not all tho. Avoiding pâté takes care of it in wet food. I feel like I have to choose between his being able to poop or living. I work 10-12hr shifts an hour away, so I can’t do wet only. he won’t eat it once it starts to crust over, and i don’t blame him.

What else should I be looking for? What else is special about this food?

When I called back to ask about talking to a Nutritionist, the nurse was extremely rude, and told me there’s no way to feed a cat raw and limit protein. She said they don’t have a pet nutritionist, and she doesn’t know where to find one. Go try in the city 4hrs away. Generally had an attitude of “feed the food or kill your cat”. So now I’m here. I feel like the more I try to learn, the less I want to feed him Hill’s. Is there another option? My bf offered to make food from scratch, if that’s what he needs, but idk. I’d still rather talk to someone who could help me understand why raw solved his severe constipation, when the opposite is supposed to be good for his kidneys. How is carb loading and plant proteins better for kidneys? It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Small photo collection of my cats with food! 🥣🐈🐈‍⬛

This may be very silly but, can someone help me figure out a feeding schedule for our auto feeders?

We have 2 auto feeders, and 3 cats. It spits out a little for one serving so I’m not sure how many servings I should have it spit out for 3 cats, or at what times. We also give them wet food 2x a day (Sheba perfect portions) in the morning and evening. 2 senior (14) cats and one adult (4)

Hello! My 3,5 yo boy cat was diagnosed today with crystals in his bladder. Nothing extreme, but the vet prescribed royal canin urinary, vitamins, painkillers, and told me to only feed this for life. I have two more cats, both female, 8yo and 2 yo. Since I have automatic feeders, can they all eat the same urinary food? If not, ofcourse I will put the feeders away and manually feed them three times a day, im just asking because some days i have to work long hours so the feeders are very convenient and my cats are never hungry and never miss a meal.

Besides that, id also appreciate any tips on how to help my boy get better. He had a full examination ultrasound and everything so we know for sure theres no blockage or anything extreme but he does have a few crystals.

I will also ask this same question to my vet tomorrow, i forgot to ask today and I need as many opinions as i can get.

Thank you!

I buy 800 g cans of high-quality wet food (they’re only about 15% more expensive than the 400 g cans). She loves it and devours the first 100 g as soon as I open the can.

I divide the rest into seven 100 g portions and freeze them for the following days. However, she doesn’t seem to enjoy the food as much after it’s been frozen, so I have to add some kibble as a topper. I reheat each portion in the microwave before serving it.

Would vacuum-sealing (in little bags) the portions immediately after opening the can help preserve the smell and keep the food more appealing? Has anyone tried this?

Thanks

I have one cat who is on Purina pro plan vet diet gastroenteric en, my vet told me that my other 2 could also eat this food so they have been for the past year but it’s getting rather expensive.

I’m looking for a budget dry food to switch the others to. Any thoughts on Purina one chicken & rice microbiome balance or just regular Iams orange bag?

I believe the en is causing on & off constipation/soft stool in one cat & causing slow motility/bulky stool in the other. Both cats had no poop issues before starting en & I would like just a regular adult maintenance formula to reset their guts

Hi! I have a large orange male cat (neutered) and we recently got the go ahead from our vet to switch from Hills Urinary prescription food to an over the counter urinary food. He’s only ever had one incident of a UTI. I’m wondering if anyone can recommend some over the counter urinary dry food and wet food as they get wet food at night and dry in the mornings! They also have feline herpes so anything immune boosting would also be great! (They are on lysine treats and monitored by our vet)

Thanks in advance!!

there’s a lot of AI in their video, but how true are their claims?
Is this company the best to buy the flakes off of and how accurate is it that this is providing moisture for cats?
Any and all advice welcome, thank you so much in advance for your time:’) <3

i bought this food last night. i just went to go feed my cats this food and the first half of the package smelled and looked fine. i went to go give my cat the second portion and it came out looking like this. i have a terrible sense of smell but the smell that this portion produced actually managed to make me run to the toilet and vomit. i have never smelled something that horrendous in my life and i can’t even get it out of the air in my apartment. i am so disgusted and can’t believe i almost fed my cats this garbage. it’s not expired until 2028 and the package wasn’t punctured anywhere

recently got some ziwi lamb cat food from amazon. is it supposed to smell this pungent, and have red residue all over the top. I put some back in thats why its so deformed, but it has this top layer of slimy stuff as well, as seen in the picture. and the pate is brown and red. sorry if this is a stupid question