my kitten cannot eat cat food?

Question

i have a six month old cat who seems to get an upset stomach every time he eats cat food. Antibiotics and probiotic paste has made no difference and he does not get it when i take him off cat food. Any ideas on what he can have instead

For those of you who say my kitten should be on kitten food please read the question properly. It doesn't make any difference whether its kitten or cat food, he still gets a runny bum!!

Answer 1

Since you've given him antibiotics you've obviously had him to the vet. There are special dry cat foods for sensitive stomachs -- have you tried those? Sometimes it's the kind of food you give him. My cats can't eat canned food. The vet said it was too "rich" for them, so they're on dry food and happy. There are several books available that will give formulas for cat food you can make yourself out of natural ingredients. Consider "The New Natural Cat" by Anitra Frazier. You need to keep in mind the nutritional requirements for a healthy cat. However, sometimes if a cat has stomach problems, a temporary diet of boiled chicken and rice may be bland enough for the cat to get over the problem so he can eat more normally.

Answer 2

Depends on which cat food. Most cat foods don't have enough protein and fat for a growing kitten. So unless you're feeding a high quality "all life stages" food like Innova Evo or Petcurean Go! Natural then get a food specifically made for kittens. Whever you got this kitten should have told you what the kitten was eating. No matter what this food was this is what you should start off with. A cat get can digestive upset if you immediately switch it to a different food. Do so GRADUALLY.

Answer 3

I have had a similar situation. We have a cat who had a funny tum and the vet gave him antibiotics and the paste stuff like you have, as he thought he had an infection, and he recommended plain food like boiled chicken and steamed fish which is easy digestible for a few days, or alternatively hills chicken and rice (wet), which he was ok on. After a few days we then gave him back his dry food and he was ok again.
If you are going to feed him anything else than cat food long term you must get advice from a professional as cat food is developed to contain all the vitamins, taurine etc that they require and he must get these. What did your kitten eat before he had a runny tum? If you have just got him, you could find out from the owner what they were feeding him as sometimes something as simple as a change of brand can give them upset tum?

Answer 4

I have 3 cats 1 is a year old and will eat various tinned and ried cat food but nothing else. I also have 2 kittens only just 6 months old. The female will only eat dried cat food and a little bit of chicken (Tesco value chicken that they sell with the sliced meats etc) but I do have to break it into very small pieces the male one will eat anything and everything (suprise surprise!!!)

Hope this helps

Answer 5

Some cats have more sensitive systems and react more to the low-quality ingredients found in many brands of cat food. Their inability to deal with these ingredients shows itself in digestive upsets - diarrhea, loose stool or vomiting.

It's great that you're trying probiotics, but first you should find a better food.

I only recommend feeding canned food. Dry food is designed for humans and isn't really appropriate food for cats. And most of them contain those ingredients that upset sensitive systems. You'll have much better luck with canned food.

Canned food is typically 78% moisture. The added moisture aids in digestion and you could even help that along by adding a little more water and mixing it in. Not only that but the better brands are species appropriate and don't contain those allergen ingredients that upset the more sensitive systems.

Also, you can find many brands that use novel proteins. This simply means meats that cats wouldn't normally eat, such as venison. That can be quite helpful when you have cats with food allergies.

See the What to feed link for suggestions on better foods. I would recommend sticking with one or more of the grainless varieties listed, and you can switch him over now - you don't need to wait for him to reach 1 year.

Answer 6

Some of the top well known brans such as whiskers are far too rich for cats whatever their age. The best thing to feed a young cat on is either dried cat food lik biscuits ....there is a vet recommended one in the supermarkets but cannot remember the name.....and alternatively you could try him on weetabix with a little warmed milk for a few days to settle him. Scrambled eggs is another simple meal alot of cats like

Answer 7

There could be a number of things wrong, but it's almost certain your cat requires a special type of catfood, possibly one for a sensitive stomach, or possibly a lower allergen one. Antibiotics or probiotics can't help if the actual source of the problem (the catfood) is not removed.

See your vet, or a different one, to resolve this problem. Diarrhoea is often tricky and requires perserverance.

Chalice

Answer 8

Are you feeding canned? That's what should be fed. Maybe higher quality is needed like wellness or merrick
If you don't feed cat food, the only other thing is a raw food diet specially prepared http://www.catinfo.org/makingcatfood.htm
You cannot feed just plain human food all the time as it lacks special things that a cat needs.
http://www.catinfo.org/

Answer 9

It sounds as if your kitten has got a very sensitive tummy. This problem is rather more common in dogs than in cats but we do see it on occasion.

This "reaction" from your cat is likely to be directed against the ingredients of the "cat food" rather than being against any "cat food". Therefore I recommend to try and feed him a complete, well balanced "cat food" but to select it from a hypoallergenic range.

Why not ask your vet about it?

My personnal choice would be for Hill's ID or Hill's ZD.

Good luck

Answer 10

You can get special kitten food from the Vet, alternatively try him on Kitten dry food in a little warmed kitten milk, enough to make it a little mushy