Food recommendations for cat with sensitive stomach?

Question
I have two wonderful cats, a one-year old DSH, and a 7-month old ragdoll
mix.

Prior to adopting Malee, the 7-month old, I was feeding my older cat Gypsy
(who was around 7/8 months old at the time) Wellness brand Kitten Health
dry food supplemented with Wellness grain-free canned. She did extremely
well on the Wellness brand, and the vet always said she was at the perfect
weight.
When I got Malee from the Humane Society, she seemed underweight (9
weeks old, and only 1.54 lbs!) but as she had only been at that specific
shelter for 36 hours, they had no information about her past health, or the
brand of food she had been on previously. Once I got her home, I started her
on Wellness. With her first bowel movement, I noticed her stool was
incredibly loose, almost completely liquid. I took her to vet and had her
checked-out and tested for worms. Even though her stool tested negative,
the vet dewormed her in response to the diarrhea just in case there was
something they couldn't see. I was sent home with the second dose of de-
wormer and instructions to monitor her stool for improvement. After a week,
there was no improvement, and she would have 4-5 bowel movements each
day of extremely runny diarrhea. Other than this however, there were no other
symptoms. She was gaining weight, eating and drinking normally, energetic,
playful, pink nose and ears, and her eyes were bright. I took her back to the
vet where she was prescribed fagyl/metronidazole, something else that I
can't recall the name of, and pro-pectalin paste all for her runny stool and
swollen tummy. I completed the treatment, and still no improvement.
At this point, I switched her to Purina Kitten Chow, because I was told that
most of the county animal control facilities feed this, so I figured that was
what she was most likely eating before I got her. I hoped that maybe she was
just allergic to Wellness, and that the switch would help. She was also de-
wormed again (fecal samples were still coming back negative though.) But
after all this, her bowel movements were just as runny and just as frequent.
Her appetite was crazy, and I think she was eating more than my other cat
did at her age, but the vets (I had seen two at this point, in attempt to get
everything straight) and I just chalked it up to the fact that she was expelling
so much waste. Both vets said that she was not overeating, and I made sure
that she was not just eating too fast.
She was given several tests that all came back negative, so my vet suggested
I try feeding her Hill's Prescription Diet i/d canned food for 3 days. This
worked like a charm, and within 24 hours, her bowel movements were finally
normal, and her swollen stomach was going down. At my vet's
recommendation, I kept her on the canned i/d for 5 days, and then slowly re-
introduced the Wellness. However, by the time she was fully transitioned to
Wellness, her diarrhea was back. It seems she just has a sensitive stomach.
Since then, I've been feeding her the Prescription Diet i/d dry and canned
food, and since it's proved impossible to feed both cats separately, (they free-
feed on the dry food, and are so bonded that Malee gets agitated if I try to
separate them for feeding the wet) I have been feeding Gypsy the i/d as well.
I've tried reintroducing (very slowly) the Wellness Kitten food as well as Nutro
Kitten on a few occasions, and every time the diarrhea has resumed.
Unfortunately, while on the i/d, Gypsy has been gaining weight, and her coat
is no longer as shiny as it previously was.

Now, here's my question...  Is there a better brand of cat food that won't
irritate Malee's stomach?

I'm very unhappy with the i/d because it has a high carb content, contains
corn gluten meal, and the first ingredient is chicken by-product. Also, the
cats are starting to look a little "plump." I'm very concerned with the
seemingly poor quality of Hill's Prescription Diet, but I can't stand to see
Malee having diarrhea and a bloated stomach.
I've noticed that the other varieties of Wellness dry food have different fiber
levels, and was wondering which (if any) of those might be tolerated by
Malee? And what about a quality wet food suited for her digestion problems?

Any ideas or suggestions about better foods for cats with sensitive stomachs?
Or do I just need to stick with the i/d?

Answer

NuVET Feline Formual - Hi Lindsey- I understand your concern about the Hill's brand and all the junk corn fillers.
How about you make your own food.  There is not much out there to buy.  Royal Canine has one for cats that is not much better than the Hill's brand!  Sorry.

Here are a few places to get recipes:

They can help you- Cook up your food 1 x per week and FREEZE -
It is easy to do and you KNOW what they are GETTING!!!!  Right.
No guessing.


A great book called "The Cat-Lovers' Cookbook" which contains all kinds of recipes for cats. It includes all sorts of recipes for cats and has different sections for dishes containing red meat, poultry, fish/seafood, eggs and cheese, meals containing grains, etc.
There's a section called "Kitty on the Run"--quick-cooking cat recipes.
Some recipes--created by various veterinarians--for "special-needs" cats are also included.

I've made several of the recipes for my kitties on special occasions, and they enjoyed them.
If you want to get a copy, write to Storey/Garden Way Publishing; Schoolhouse Road; RD 1 Box 105; Pownal, VT, USA 05261-99990



Dog and CAT food - HOME made.... Yahoo group: to join

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Make_it_Pet_Recipes/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=group...

Natural Diet group / Natural Pet care at Yahoo
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/naturalpetcare/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=group...







Also, check out NuVET Feline formual to add to your cooking-
After the cooking mix into each meal some NuVET ...
http://www.apluspetcare.com/untitled4.html