cat care (bowel-related)

[Andromeda]

Hello!

My big Maine Coon boy (about 2 years old around 16 lbs) had a urinary obstruction toward the end of last year. He was unblocked, and the vet told me to only feed him urinary formula food and no other food or treats perpetually. He's been eating dry food before that - canned food was not even food to him.

Now, he eats Purina One Urinary formula (dry) chicken and rice. It took about a month to convince him that canned cat food is something a cat should consider eating (this was five months ago). He now loves it -  Fancy Feast grain-free pate (chicken and poultry varieties). Initially, the combination of the dry food for breakfast and canned for dinner was perfect. After a few weeks, he started getting looser and looser stools to the point of using the litter box many times with diarrhea. So we went back to dry food only.

Here's the problem. Now he get loose stools after eating the canned food, even half of a single small 3 oz. can. Then, he takes about 2 weeks to get back to normal (mostly) with dry cat food only. After that, another week and he is constipated. I don't really know what to try, given the current situation with the virus, etc. I have at home the dry cat food, the canned Fancy Feast, and some canned Purina urinary wet food, which the cat previously ignored. I also have some cat probiotics I think. I have a can of pumpkin (pure pumpkin) also. He is currently constipated, but behaving normally - playing, coming for attention, good appetite, clear eyes, sleeping, not hiding, etc.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I will take him to the vet if necessary, but funds are rather tight at the moment and the vet is very expensive.

Thank you so much!

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

https://www.vetriscience.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=900755060

I supplement this in my cat's food.  It doesn't have the best reviews and they are right that they can get very hard if you don't seal the package well but nevertheless, it has still helped my cat. 

[Andromeda]

Thank you, Jean, I will try this!

I wonder if it helps with constipation/diarrhea or what the cause of that is.

[Jean in Newcastle]

3 minutes ago, RosemaryAndThyme said:

Thank you, Jean, I will try this!

I wonder if it helps with constipation/diarrhea or what the cause of that is.

For my cat dealing with the crystals is what helped the irritable bowel but I'm not a vet. . . https://www.thesprucepets.com/good-food-cat-with-struvite-crystals-3976993

[Andromeda]

5 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

For my cat dealing with the crystals is what helped the irritable bowel but I'm not a vet. . . https://www.thesprucepets.com/good-food-cat-with-struvite-crystals-3976993

I will look into this, thank you so much for responding!

[Laurie]

 My cat has inflammatory bowel disease and he gets a daily dose of prednisolone.   He's sensitive to some foods.  For instance, he can eat Merricks turkey or chicken canned food, but duck will give him diarrhea.  

Have you tried a non-poultry Fancy Feast, like beef,  to see if poultry bothers him?  Or maybe try giving him a little bit of plain cooked chicken the next time you're making it and see if he reacts to it when there are no other added ingredients.   It could be something like guar gum that gives him diarrhea...that can be problematic for some.   

Good luck!