Cat Food for Sensitive Tummy

podperson

Hi all,
My cat has always been a bit of a fussy eater and tends to throw up on quite a regular basis - have had her to the vets a few times but they've advised nothing wrong with her, she just has a sensitive tummy. She will randomly decide that she no longer likes a certain brand or flavour of cat food that she was fine with the week before (I tend to keep her on dry food as she was worse with wet). At the moment she does seem to be worse then usual and am being greeted with lovely 'pressies' to clean up most days now.
Am just wondering if anyone else has similar issues and if you've found any particular brand that works well. I know they can have specialised kinds at the vets but they tend to be very expensive and much as I love her money is pretty tight at the moment

MacCavity

I sympathise, one of my cats has similar issues around food. I do have to change her food quite often, have you tried raw meat, especially liver and chicken wings? They're not expensive and my fussy eater gobbles those!

Royal Canin has dried food designed for sensitive stomach and fussy eaters but it is expensive. Zooplus has a current offer on Royal Canin and Orijen dried food, might be worth a look?

Another option maybe is try little food at a time but feed more often. This helps especially with the sick.

Fire_Fox

If your cat is vomiting daily she can get dehydrated very quickly, won't be getting all the nutrients required and her stomach acids (much stronger than ours) may damage her teeth or mouth. Therefore you really should take her back to the vets as she may have a bacterial infection or parasites or need allergy tests (sorry). Are you eligible to use the PDSA or do you have pet insurance? Is she up to date with veterinary-quality flea and worm treatments? How did the vets explain a sensitive tummy, allergy or intolerance or a physical anomaly? Does she have a problem at the other end - are her poops once a day or so, well formed, non smelly? When you switched from wet to dry (or vice versa) were you doing so gradually over a long period? Perhaps you could list all the wet and dry brands you have tried, which ones triggered vomiting and which protein or carbohydrate source they use? You may then see a pattern; unless you have some idea of the cause any change of food could cause even more problems.

KiKi

One of mine is the same. She stopped vomiting when I put her on Royal Canin sensitive - and also when I gave her access to some cat grass which she eats every morning!

She is VERY fussy, and I have to change her food daily - I switch between the RC sensitive, and another RC high protein one. That way I think she feels she's getting variety. Some weeks she throws up daily; others she never throws up at all!

Cats, eh?!
KiKi

podperson

Thanks for the replies.
Kiki - mine is exactly the same, will go for a few weeks being fine and then will suddenly start throwing up every day for no reason, no change of food or anything. Haven't heard of cat grass before so will have a look into that. She doesn't go out so perhaps that might help.
Fire fox - I have taken her to two different vets and they didn't give me any reasonable explanation. One said she might have allergies and to try changing her food, which I already had several times, and the other said she just had a sensitive tummy. I have moved since then so might try my new vet. Don't have pet insurance and unable to get any now as she's 11 so no one will touch her Will start looking at the ingredients in her foods more closely to see if there's a pattern - she has been on most kinds tbh. At the moment she seems to like Go-Cat, which is strange as normally she turns her nose up at the cheapy brands but will only eat the tuna or chicken ones. I suppose I did change her from wet to dry quite suddenly but she was basically just bringing up the wet food as soon as she ate it so was worried she wasn't getting anything from it.
MacCavity -she will have chicken and tuna if we have some in. I don't eat meat and OH doesn't tend to have a great deal so might have to start getting some in. Don't think have ever had liver in the house in my life but may have to sacrifice lol!
Two votes there for Royal Canin so might have to have a look at them.

KiKi

PP - I used to feed mine a food called 'Nutrience' because it has lots of grasses and herbs in which cats naturally eat outdoors. She was absolutely fine, then, but you can't buy it in the UK anymore.

If she doesn't have outdoors access then I would definitely recommend buying some cat grass - you can plant it in a pot and she can eat it, it helps their digestion and it's something they naturally eat, and want to eat because they know its good for them. Very cheap, too.

Mine is sick with anything rich, any red meat, any supermarket brand food - and other than that, whenever she seems to feel like it. She has absolutely nothing wrong with her stomach, she's just a sensitive little thing!

KiKi

patchwork_cat

Royal Canin sensible 33. Very good for cats with easily upset tummies.

KiKi

patchwork_cat wrote: »

Royal Canin sensible 33. Very good for cats with easily upset tummies.

That's the name!

Fire_Fox

podperson wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.
Fire fox - I have taken her to two different vets and they didn't give me any reasonable explanation. One said she might have allergies and to try changing her food, which I already had several times, and the other said she just had a sensitive tummy. I have moved since then so might try my new vet. Don't have pet insurance and unable to get any now as she's 11 so no one will touch her Will start looking at the ingredients in her foods more closely to see if there's a pattern - she has been on most kinds tbh. At the moment she seems to like Go-Cat, which is strange as normally she turns her nose up at the cheapy brands but will only eat the tuna or chicken ones. I suppose I did change her from wet to dry quite suddenly but she was basically just bringing up the wet food as soon as she ate it so was worried she wasn't getting anything from it.

Definitely see the vet as it might be furballs, worms, an allergy, parasites ... they should have run tests by now. I have read of so many cases where owners have been fobbed off with expensive prescription diets and the root cause not addressed. :mad: Is there a problem at the other end or just vomiting?

If you cannot suss out what the culprit is from reading the ingredients, you might try an elimination diet. This means choosing a food with very few ingredients - therefore wet not dry - cereal free, and with a novel protein such as emu or venison. If you suspect chicken you could try HiLife Essentials which is just chicken, minerals, tapioca nothing else. Go Cat is basically meat-flavoured corn flakes, it's sprayed with 'meat digest' to make it into kitty crack.

Please do not start making up your own meals unless you have researched thoroughly. Cats have far more specific nutritional requirements than dogs or humans - they need muscle meat, raw bone, saturated fat, offal especially raw heart. Tuna should not be given to cats except packed in water (never brine or oil) as a rare treat; it can cause painful deficiency conditions such as steatitis over the long term. Liver is too high in potentially toxic fat-soluble vitamins to be fed in any quantity. Chicken is deficient in fat (unless you give the skin), vitamins and minerals (unless you feed bone). This is a good article on feline nutrition, it's worth reading alongside the ingredients lists of any foods you consider. http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm

Good luck!

Fire_Fox

KiKi wrote: »

Mine is sick with anything rich, any red meat, any supermarket brand food - and other than that, whenever she seems to feel like it. She has absolutely nothing wrong with her stomach, she's just a sensitive little thing!

KiKi

What do you mean by rich? In human terms this usually refers to a high fat, high animal protein meal - cats are evolved to eat animal protein and saturated fat. What they are not evolved to eat is corn, wheat, rice, dried pellets, cooked meat from cows and pigs (too large to be prey! ). Sorry, don't mean to pick on you but we would not accept our children vomiting daily as being 'just sensitive', we would identify the root cause.

podperson

My old vet was pretty useless to be honest, I took her in a few times for various things and they would basically fob me off with 'oh, it's nothing to worry about' and then charge me for doing nothing. She only has tuna or chicken as a treat and usually alongside her normal food. Don't think I would have know-how at all to make my own food for her!
Think will have to bite the bullet and try her on one of the expensive specialist ones (does anyone know where the Royal Canin might be on offer, had a look on Zooplus and didn't seem to be any offer on) and if there's no difference then will take her back to the vets.