How to feed a Persian kitten with diarrhea who hates dry food?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If your kitty is getting diarrhea on multiple different types of canned food then I would avoid canned diets for now. Maybe when she is older you can try introducing them again. I don't think you have to offer both canned or dry food in the first year of a cats life. I recommend any food that allows for healthy weight gain, no vomiting and no diarrhea. I hope this helps!

You may want to try mixing a little bit of his old food in with the new food to gradually transition him to the new food. If he still doesn’t want to eat it you could ask your vet if there are any other foods to try for his condition.

She's adorable! I would be a little more concerned that she might have intestinal parasites or another disease causing her diarrhea. I would recommend seeing a veterinarian if you have not taken her in already. They can check a stool sample and she may be old enough for vaccines at this point. If there does not seem to be a medical issue you could try seeing how she does on just wet or just dry food - kittens sometimes do better on one vs. the other.

Hello, any new diet that will be offered should be transitioned gradually. Sudden diet changes may cause a decreased appetite, vomiting or diarrhea. So transition the diet slowly. Make sure that the new food is also for kittens as she needs the additional calories and protein for her growth. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Hi and thanks for your post! Royal Canin makes a very good food for Persians. A few good others are Purina Pro Plan Focus Healthy Metabolism, Wellness Healthy Indulgence Grain Free, and Iams Proactive Health. I hope this helps!

This last decade has brought an incredible amount of new products to the shelves and I know it must be daunting and very confusing to consumers. Unfortunately, most information about these foods comes from the pet store employee or an equally unqualified source on the internet. It's very wise of you to ask an expert. The truth about most of these foods is that their claims usually amount to nothing more than that of a fad diet (i.e. paleo or atkins) and are not supported by sufficient evidence (even though they will make it sound like it is). As scientifically trained practitioners, us vets prefer to offer evidenced based treatment and the same goes for feeding suggestions. Wet food will encourage water intake and may make the stools more soft, but does not cause diarrhea. Lightly cooked, grain-free, natural, etc. are really just marketing gimmicks meant to increase sales. They mean essentially nothing and normally do not have any good evidence to back their claims. The most important thing on that bag is a tiny bit of writing under the guaranteed analysis called the AAFCO statement. This statement tells you what actual research went into making the product. Below is a link to an article that will help explain this more and give some other info about feeding your cats: https://www.petcoach.co/article/what-to-look-for-when-choosing-your-pet-s-food/ High protein is nice and all of the foods with an AAFCO statement have the minimum necessary amount of protein (around 30%) in the diet. More importantly, they will have ensured the necessary amino acids are in the correct quantity. I know the answer may still be somewhat vague, but if you stick to the basic principles of choosing the right food, then you should be successful in feeding a good and nutritious food to your cats. Below is a link to another helpful resource with good information about pet foods. https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/ucm047113.htm I hope that helps and all is well for your cats.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If Kenzo is losing weight and having persistent diarrhea, I would recommend having a veterinarian examine him and test his stool for intestinal parasites. If he has parasites, he will need to receive the appropriate treatment to treat this. In the meantime, I would initiate a bland diet as outlined below. If the stool tests negative for parasites, then I would transition to a completely different kitten food altogether and see if this helps. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please remember to rate this answer as helpful or not. Thank you! GENERAL INFORMATION A bland diet is a diet that is soft and highly digestible. It is low in fiber, fat and protein and is high in carbohydrates. Bland diets are generally composed of a single carbohydrate source and a single lean protein source. The most common bland diet is boiled rice and boiled lean chicken breast, without skin and bones. Since bland diets are low in fiber, stool production slows and defecation is less frequent. Bland diets are fed to rest the gastric system and to help promote normal stool formation. Animals that are physically sick should not be fed bland diets as a method of treatment. PRIOR TO FEEDING A BLAND DIET Pets should be fasted for 12 to 24 hours. Young animals should not be fasted for more than 12 hours. Fasting will allow the intestinal system to relax and minimize acid secretions that may irritate and inflame the intestinal lining. During the fast small amounts of water or ice chips may be provided. Never fast a sick animal, it may cause disease progression and death. BASIC BOILED RICE AND CHICKEN BLAND DIET RECIPE CARBOHYDRATE SOURCE: Boiled white rice LEAN PROTEIN SOURCE: Chicken breast, no skin and bones BOILED RICE: 1 part white rice with 3 parts water boiled for 20 – 25 minutes or until the rice is easily crushed. BOILED CHICKEN: De-fat chicken breast and boil in water for 10 – 15 minutes or until the chicken meat is easily pulled apart and cooked all way through. MIXING INSTRUCTIONS: Finely chop the lean protein and mix 2 cups carbohydrate source and ½ cup lean protein source. STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: Bland diets can be premade and stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of 48 hours. The bland diet can be cooked in a batch and frozen in feeding sized portions to minimize preparation time. Thaw and warm the frozen diet prior to feeding. PERMITTED LEAN PROTEIN SUBSTITUTIONS Pork loin, egg whites, low fat cottage cheese. 7% low fat hamburger, plain low fat yogurt. PERMITTED CARBOHYDRATE SUBSTITUTIONS Boiled potatoes, boiled spaghetti, Minute rice. PERMITTED COMMERCIAL BLAND DIETS Science Prescription Diet I/D, Eukanuba Veterinary Diet Low Residue, Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Intestinal HE. FEEDING INSTRUCTIONS Estimate 25% of your animal’s diet and feed that amount of the bland diet every 6 – 8 hours. Smaller animals will require less and larger animals will require more adhering to the same carbohydrate to lean protein source ratio. The bland diet should be fed for 4 -5 days with no treats or other food sources until stools are firm. TRANSITION BACK TO A NORMAL DIET Never transition back to a regular diet rapidly. Transition back to the regular diet over a 1 week period. Start by adding 25% of the regular diet to 75% of the bland diet and feed that combination for 2 days. If stools continue to be firm then continue substituting the regular diet in 25% increments and feeding the combination in 2 day time intervals until the diet is 100% regular diet. Minimize treats for 1 week after moving the diet back to 100% regular diet.