Feeding only wet food?

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

My trials and tribulations with CJ's diarrhea continue. I have yet to find a food that works for him, so now I'm wondering.....he's allergic to brown rice. What is the difference between brown rice and brewers rice. I've only been able to find two (2) dry foods that do not contain any rice at all, and those two had signficant amounts of fish and/or soy which he can't have either, so they did me no good.

Since I can't find any dry food without rice, I got the brilliant idea to try wet food. Terry and I went to PetSmart today and found a ton of wet foods that do not contain anything CJ is allergic to, so I'm going to try feeding only those. Peanut has only had wet food as a treat her entire life, so what I'm going to try to do is give CJ enough wet food that he starts ignoring the dry food. That way Peanut can still pick at it, although I don't know how I'm going to be able to give him wet food without giving her some too - she is such a little piglet!

What I'm worried about is his teeth. If you all remember, when I first got him the vet made a comment about his gums begin infected and he'd have to have a tooth pulled. That evidently cleared up after having him eat dry food only because the vet hasn't mentioned it since. So how do I make sure his teeth stay healthy if I stop giving him hard food? Brushing his teeth is out of the question because he just won't tolerate being held for it, or for having his mouth pried open - pilling him is a nightmare, there's no way I'm going to try to brush his teeth, so what else can I do?

If the wet food doesn't clear up the diarrhea in a certain amount of time, I'll go back to giving him the dry food, but I want to try this. I've tried about everything else I can think of, might as well try this too.....

[catmandu]

My Vet recommends Wysong Canned.I dont have one Right here to look at as Catzilla has eaten it all.
I hope that you can find Dear CJ a food that he can rid himself of the runs!

[catnapper]

How about Feline Greenies? I just looked at the package and scanned the ingredients and didn't see rice listed. This way he can eat the wet food and have the greenies as a treat to help clean his teeth. And he will most certainly LOVE them.... even picky Allen loves them.

[lvpets2002]

:) My Splenda & Yardleigh have poo poo problems & the Vet started them on Science Diet Sensitive Stomach (dry food) & it has worked great.. Now they get some wet food & not much..

[jenluckenbach]

I also thought about the possibility of the Feline Greenies.

[auggie]

Here is just one of the many articles I’ve read that explains why wet food is actually better than dry food.
I’m feeding half and half right now but trying to slowly decrease the dry food.
I hope you get CJ’s diarrhea under control.

• Dental Disease: Long-standing claims that cats have less dental disease when they are fed dry food versus canned food are grossly overrated, inaccurate, and are not supported by recent studies. Many veterinarians are coming to the realization that this is a myth that needs to be dispelled. First, dry food is hard, but brittle, and merely shatters with little to no abrasive effect on the teeth. Second, a cat's jaws and teeth are designed for shearing and tearing meat, and cats that eat dry food grind it in a way that it ends up between their teeth. There it ferments into sugar and acid, thereby causing dental problems. Third, many cats swallow the majority of their dry food whole and thus receive minimal benefit from chewing motion. There are many factors that contribute to dental disease in the cat such as genetics, viruses, and diet. There remain many unanswered questions concerning the impact of diet on dental health, but feeding a high carbohydrate, species-inappropriate dry kibble diet is a negative factor, not a positive one.

http://cats.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=cats&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.catinfo.org%2Findex.htm

[krazyaboutkatz]

Since I want to be sure that my furkids get plenty of moisture and water in their diet, I've been feeding them a wet and dry food mixture and I've also recently started putting a little bit of dry food out for free feeding. I've noticed that Sky and Pearl seem to prefer dry food but will eat wet food if they have to so hopefully CJ will do the same. I sure hope that his will help his diarrhea problem. I also think that giving him feline greenies is a great idea. I think that they come in about 4 different flavors so hopefully there's one that's right for CJ. Mine love them. Good luck. :)

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, and Auggie, thanks so much for the link! I've only fed dry food since I first got Tubby years and years ago, so I'm totally unfamiliar with feeding wet food only. So far things are going relatively well.....but don't be surprised if the next time you see Peanut she's a littel porker. CJ is a fussy eater and what he doesn't finish, she's getting....along with the little bit I give to her to keep her quiet while he's eating. She's such a little piglet that both dishes are licked spotless when she's done. ;) CJ, however, appears to prefer Sheba over Max Cat, but the Sheba only disappeared completely when it was first opened. Once it was put in the refrigerator, he was much less interested in it. There's no way the two of them can finish off a complete container, so how do I make it so he eats it even after it's been open for awhile? I did put the dish in the microwave to warm it up since warming the food itself up doesn't work well - any other ideas?

Thanks again! Now we just have to wait and see if it's going to make a difference in his poop - keep your fingers crossed! :)

[jenluckenbach]

but the Sheba only disappeared completely when it was first opened. Once it was put in the refrigerator, he was much less interested in it. There's no way the two of them can finish off a complete container.......

The answer to this is SOOOOOOO obvious..............

Get a few more cats. :D :D :D :D

All kidding aside, I sure hope this helps the poop problem.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Never thought of that, Jen! I'll see if that works with Terry. ;)

[krazyaboutkatz]

I have the opposite problem with Storm. He'll only eat wet food that's been refrigerated. He doesn't like it when it's room temperature but the rest of mine prefer it that way. I have to make sure that I put another can in the fridge before it gets too low. The other furkids have learned to eat cold wet food.

I hope that all goes well and please continue to keep us updated. :)