I have 2 new Christmas kittens, they are 9 weeks old.
I have some experience with animals, I have 4 ferrets and I feed them quality foods after alot of label reading. I am hoping to avoid this again by asking people with experience. HERE!!
These kittens were eating Iams kitten so I just continued using it, I have been adding 1/2 3 oz can of Iams kitten canned to their morning meal from day 1 split between them which has been going fine. they love it.
I added a little purina one growth to their bowl the last couple of days which they gobbled up, and a little more over the last couple of days. now today they have loose stools. should I try something else?
I read the back of nutro max canned and it looks really good but the dry doesn't. any ideas as what to use and how to switch safely??? I have heard not so great things about Iams.
food problems
-
kate & kobi
- Posts: 270
- Joined: Fri Apr 25, 2003 2:50 pm
- Location: California
Re: food problems
Congratulations on your new kittens! IAMS kitten formula is actually a pretty good food; if they like it, I would stick with that. If you're going to switch, do it slowly, over the course of a week at least. Loose stools are pretty typical whenever you switch foods, especially if you switch too fast, but they will probably go away - if it doesn't get better in a few days, call or see your vet because they could develop other problems.
I feed my kitten Royal Canin kitten food, because she's really picky and wouldn't eat IAMS, but there are lots of other good foods out there.
I feed my kitten Royal Canin kitten food, because she's really picky and wouldn't eat IAMS, but there are lots of other good foods out there.
Re: food problems
Iams is a perfectly good diet for kittens and cats (why do you feel it's a bad food?)
The problem, other than direct switching of the diet, could actually be the canned you're feeding. Young kittens often cannot tolerate the oils in canned food and it will cause GI tract upset and diarrhea and soft stools. Ceasing the canned would probably solve the problem.
If they haven't been examined by your vet yet, now is the time to do so, so that your vet can determine their general health status, deworm them properly, and if he feels the stools are a concern, he would recommend testing for parasites/bacterial infections such as coccidia, giardia, etc that can be common amoung young kittens.
The problem, other than direct switching of the diet, could actually be the canned you're feeding. Young kittens often cannot tolerate the oils in canned food and it will cause GI tract upset and diarrhea and soft stools. Ceasing the canned would probably solve the problem.
If they haven't been examined by your vet yet, now is the time to do so, so that your vet can determine their general health status, deworm them properly, and if he feels the stools are a concern, he would recommend testing for parasites/bacterial infections such as coccidia, giardia, etc that can be common amoung young kittens.
..........Traci
-
ferretail
Re: food problems
Hi,
thanks. I wasn't sure if Iams was so bad or not, with everything in the news these days about what goes into pet food, I was just concerned about by products.
I stopped the purina one and the diarrhea stopped. They love the Iams canned. I just give them a tiny can and only 1/2 split between them at a time.
The Iams dry is a bit smelly. I wondered if their litter pan would smell a bit better if I switched??? it isn't that important to me.
thanks. I wasn't sure if Iams was so bad or not, with everything in the news these days about what goes into pet food, I was just concerned about by products.
I stopped the purina one and the diarrhea stopped. They love the Iams canned. I just give them a tiny can and only 1/2 split between them at a time.
The Iams dry is a bit smelly. I wondered if their litter pan would smell a bit better if I switched??? it isn't that important to me.