Dry to wet cat food

[Sleepwalk]

I have recently adopted a cat from the humane society that was fed on dry cat food, and after reading up on it, decided it'd be healthier to switch at least to canned food. I tried introducing a small amount of wet food, mixing it in with the dry... he loved it, but it didn't like him so well. Despite the small amount, it didn't settle well.

Silas also only has three legs, and has trouble kicking in the litter box... so when I came home, I found quite a mess. He's been in perfect health other than that, though. His surgery is healing wonderfully, and he's passed his post-shelter vet checkup with flying colors, so it really must have been the food.

Since he is only three weeks out of surgery for his amputation, I'm hesitant to try again. The last thing he needs right now is the stress of changing his diet and having digestive trouble, on top of learning how to jump again. I'm going to wait a few weeks, but are there any particular brands of canned food that make the transition a bit easier? I'm just mixing in a spoonful, I really didn't expect it to have such an, ah... explosive reaction.

[nanook]

Congratulations on your new kitty! He looks very cute. Does he have a name?
I think it's wise to wait until he's better adjusted.
What are you feeding him now?
I'm guessing it was probably an ingredient in the wet food that didn't agree with him. What kind did you try?

[~Siameseifuplz~]

That happened when I gave Willie Fancy Feast, what brand did you try?

[edkate]

Wet food is the way to go!

I feed my little monsters Wellness wet food and an occasional can of Evo.
they seem to like it.

I had a problem "converting" my older cat from dry to wet. He just refused to it. I had to mix in wet food into dry so he could at least taste it. Little by little - it worked! So my kitties are on 99% wet food (another 1% is for dry food that we give them when we go to cottage)!

Good luck!

[Sleepwalk]

I actually am not sure which one I gave him... I used to take care of a little neighborhood stray in the winter, and my friends all gave me a bunch of wet cat food cans to give him, so I have an assorted variety. That cat never cared which one he had, but Silas must have a more sensitive tummy.

I'll wait until he's recuperated a bit more to try again.

[kush kitty]

Congratulations on your new kitty adoption! Silas is adorable <3

My two cats are on Evo no-grain and high in protein dry food. It alleviated a lot of their odors in the litter box. I do feed Evo by Innova or Innova Wet food for Mitzy and Mojo. I like to microwave the wet food for about 8 seconds, so the refrigerated canned food doesn't upset their stomach too much. Mojo tends to like his food a bit warmer than Mitzy does.

I had the same problems with both of my cats but when I talked to the vet, they told me it is important to be consistent with their diet. Switching between brands and diet can upset their sensitive stomachs. They need at least 3 days for the transitions to take place. I've tried switching their diet from regular dry food to strictly organic and even raw diets. Every time the cats undergo a diet change, they always needed about few days on the same food for adjustment. And don't worry the wet food can be upto 75-80% water based, which explains the messiness in the litterbox. For first few days, I like to mix the wet food and dry food to 1:1 ratio so the dry food can absorb some of the water.

My cats surely enjoy every bit of their wet food - I'm sure chewing on dry kibbles are as loud as mouthful of croutons for us! haha.



I hope this helped

[hoofmaiden]

Originally Posted by kush kitty

I had the same problems with both of my cats but when I talked to the vet, they told me it is important to be consistent with their diet. Switching between brands and diet can upset their sensitive stomachs.

Actually, untrue. Most cats handle it just fine and it's good for them to have more variety. I feed raw, and my cats get something totally different at every meal. When I fed canned, and when I fed kibble, I swapped around brands all the time w/ never a problem. Of COURSE the pet food companies (which provide most of the nutrititional training that vets received in vet school!) want you to believe that you don't DARE switch off their food. And if you buy that, you'll create a cat who can't be switched.

[kush kitty]

Aw I guess Mitzy just has a very sensitive stomach because ever since I got her from her adopted hospital, diet change has always been more sensitive for her. She won't be interested in many of the food - she would be thrown off and walk away from the raw food after smelling it. Many times she wouldn't touch her new food or treats that's not fish flavored and give her food to Mojo and go behind my back and steal DOG FOOD! I get so worried about her because I feel like she's been gaining a lot of weight sneaking into dog's room and stealing his food
But.. I guess it'll always be an on-going battle.. and I'll just have to try to switch her diet more often to train her sensitive stomach

[duplo]

actually it's very unhealthy to mix dry and wet food. the dry food needs much longer to be digested than the wet food and then is quite heavy on the stomach. maybe that's the reason for the unpleasant reaction.

[marie73]

Dry food forms bacteria quickly when mixed with something else. If your cat doesn't eat the mixture right away, you should probably toss out what they don't eat.