? Diarrhea from new food

I've been using Young Again Zero Mature dry since Tuesday (mixed a little with his old food), which my kitty likes but it's giving him terrible diarrhea, especially throughout last night. I didn't give him his morning shot, plus I've taken up that food bowl and put down just his old dry for now. No wet food too till he's better. Any suggestions? I'd really like to have him on that YA food eventually (along with his usual FF Classics).

 

I would start with 90% old food and 10% Young Again and gradually increase the amount of Young Again.
Just not that some cats just have diarrhea with specific food no matter how slow the transition.

 

Should I give him his shot tonight, even if he's still not feeling better? If so, should it be less than the usual dosage? Didn't have a shot this morning.

 

Why are you adding the dry food back into his diet? It's important to keep in mind that feeding dry food reduces moisture intake for cats and may cause kidney and urinary tract issues. Also, some diabetic cats are very sensitive with the carbs in even the lower carb dry foods, and it can present problems with regulating or remission in those cats.

If it's a convenience factor issue, have you considered freezing canned food and leaving it out or putting it in an automatic feeder? We use two auto feeders (one for each cat), and they work great to feed the cats when we aren't home or sleeping. If it's a weight gain issue, there are several good canned foods that can be used to put weight back on underweight cats.

 

I've ALWAYS had dry out for him and finally found this Young Again brand that has close to zero carbs, hence the name Young Again Zero. It is made especially for diabetic cats. He also has Fancy Feast Classic canned food in his diet, so he's getting his moisture from that, along with plenty of fresh water. He's not underweight, just the opposite. I hate that it's given him runny diarrhea, so I will have to keep working with him. If that food is just not going to be good for him, I'll maybe consider all wet, since there's no other dry I would consider. Aren't those auto feeders on a timer? If so, how is it guaranteed the cat will eat when he's supposed to? Not sure how that works.

 

The Young Again is not actually zero carbs--it's zero digestible carbs, so they aren't counting carbs from sugar in their count. The actual carb count is around 5-6%. I believe they recently removed the "zero" from the food name because it was misleading. But it's not a low glycemic food--all dry foods must use some type of starch to bind the food together--which is why it can cause problems for carb sensitive diabetics like Bandit. Bandit can eat canned foods at 8-9% carbs with no effect on his BG, but if he has just a few pieces of a low carb dry food at 8% it will shoot his blood sugar levels up.

But ALL dry food is dehydrating for cats, even the lower carb ones. It's very important to consider this because dehydration can lead to urinary tract blockages, which is very painful for cats, and contributes to Chronic Kidney Disease, which is the leading cause of death in older cats.

Yup, the autofeeders are on timers. Bandit and Orpheus eat every 6 hours, at usually the same time every day. When they hear the feeders go off, they run and eat their meals. The meals are small enough that they both eat everything in one sitting. How often are you feeding the canned food per day (minus the dry)? Frequent, scheduled meals also helps reduce the impact of food on BG levels. I'd be happy to give you some pointers with the feeders!

If he's always free fed and prefers to have food left out for him, you can also just free feed the canned food. Just freeze portions and leave them out, and he'll eat them when they thaw, or add some water to the food to keep it from drying out if you want it out immediately. I have friends that do this, but I personally prefer scheduled feedings for my cat because they like the routine of scheduled meals and I can get them to eat whenever I need to (can be important with diabtics!) because of the controlled feedings.

 

The problem here is more complicated. I have 2 other (healthy) cats (ages 8-1/2 and 10-1/2, with Mr. Black 10-1/2), and all 3 have been used to free choice dry all their lives. When I heard about YA, I got excited because I'd still have the same routine with all of them, along with nourishing my diabetic cat the way he needs. As you know, it's difficult to change cats' habits they've had all their lives. None of them are as crazy about wet as they are dry. I don't know about the scheduled feedings with timers - sounds a bit difficult to get all 3 to come running at certain times when they are avid nappers during the day. I could possibly try what your friends do. I would have to re-train all 3 cats to like only wet, totally different for my picky eaters! Right now though, I have to get him better so the YA food is put away. Do you think I should give him his injection tonight since we missed this morning's?

 

In your case, it will probably work better to free feed the wet, if you can! My cats are both food crazy and will eat until they barf, which is another reason why we have to do scheduled feedings. If you have grazers, free feeding is probably best. There are low carb pates that come in bigger cans that might be easier to deal with feeding 3 cats ---Special Kitty (Walmart) and Grrreat Choice (Petsmart) are two that come to mind, or Wellness if you're looking for a premium food.

You may find that once the dry is removed, your picky eaters become a little less picky without the crunchies filling them up all the time. Here's some great tips that can help you transition: http://catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf. Of course, if a cat absolutely refuses to eat canned food after all efforts, it's better to feed the dry rather than starve them! But keep at it, some cats take a little more work than others to get them off the dry.

Removing the dry doesn't just help your diabetic, it's also healthier for your other cats! The urinary tract disease and kidney disease issues are problems that all cats have with dry foods, not just diabetics. Wait 'til you see what their coats start to look like once the dry is finally gone.

I'm not familiar with Prozinc (Bandit was on Lantus), so I hope someone else can give you dose advice! What was his BG level this morning, and now?