Poop question

[averina3003]

Anyone have suggestions/advice for a Sphynx who all of a sudden has loose stool? My Kenzo has had loose stool for more than a week now, he eats raw since he was very little, he is now nearly 6 months old, the food has stayed the same all the time without changes - raw + some kibbles (not at the same time), for some reason he seems to be not that keen on raw food and asks for kibbles all the time, I do limit them of course as I feel that kibbles made his stool looser before, today I also tried to add pumpkin purée into his meal to see if the poop improves, but so far the same thing. I just don’t understand what happened as the food stayed the same. Should I cut kibbles completely or give kibbles only, I’m really lost atm. He is feeling well and acting completely normal!

 

[pussiette]

Sorry this is happening it’s been common to have this experience here too over the past 6 years. Keep a food diary. It’s a case of trial and error once you find something that works stick to it. It does take a long time to sort out and sometimes it can be up and down.

 

[Sheldon13]

What raw do you feed? I’m wondering if there has been a development of a food sensitivity.


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need

 

[Condo commando]

Please help us understand, is the raw food made at home? If so, one possibility is the recipe is not quite right. Cats can go on for a while before any signs of trouble appear. What is the exact recipe, including ingredients and amounts?

 

[averina3003]

Please help us understand, is the raw food made at home? If so, one possibility is the recipe is not quite right. Cats can go on for a while before any signs of trouble appear. What is the exact recipe, including ingredients and amounts?

I stick with the recipe from breeder, the problem started in the middle of the batch:
5kg
3.250 chicken meat
0.750 chicken hearts
0.500 soft bones (I do skip it, as the butcher can’t grind bones)
0.250 beef muscle
0.250 liver

 

[Bailey21]

You don't incorporate any bones what so ever in the raw? This is very important as it provides the calcium in the diet. If you're leaving out the bones you 100% need to be adding in a calcium supplement.

 

[averina3003]

I’m adding the supplement, please don’t worry about that!

You don't incorporate any bones what so ever in the raw? This is very important as it provides the calcium in the diet. If you're leaving out the bones you 100% need to be adding in a calcium supplement.

 

[Condo commando]

@averina3003

I typed my response and then by the time I posted I saw your update that you do in fact use a supplement for calcium. I was asking you before for the exact recipe so that we could figure out if there was either something missing or not in the right proportion. It's important so we aren't telling you something that you are already adding.


Here is what I posted before I saw the last post.

Am I understanding correctly that you are leaving out the bones and not adding anything for calcium? While I commend your dedication to raw food (I'm a raw feeder myself) feeding this recipe without the bones would be very bad. It would explain the soft poop, but that is only the beginning. Your cat needs calcium and if he doesn't get it from the diet, his body begins to utilize calcium from the his own bones. This leads to bone fractures and weakness, and eventually even death. So please, it's better if you stop this diet and buy some regular cat food for your kitten immediately. A good canned food will do nicely for him and it will give you time to think about what you want to do long term.

If you decide to come back to raw food, I would recommend purchasing a premix for making raw food. Here is a link to a list of all the premixes available for cat food....you'll need to find one that will ship to Europe.

Premixes for homemade food

Premixes for easy homemade food whether raw or cooked

www.rawfeedingforibdcats.org

When shopping for a supplement there are 2 things you want to be aware of:

1. Some supplements are made for recipes that includes bones, and some are for boneless recipes. If the supplement contains calcium, the ingredient list will include something like calcium carbonate, eggshells, or bone meal.
2. Some supplements are made for recipes that include liver, and some assume there is no liver. Liver is very high in vitamins A & D, so if you were to get a supplement meant for a diet without liver and then add liver to the food, you would have an excess of A & D vitamins which is toxic.
3. Most supplements don't contain omega 3's. This is not REQUIRED in cat food on this side of the pond, but it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. For what it's worth I use BayerDVM liquid omega 3.

So you see, you don't have to give up on raw food, but it would be best to just provide canned food for the time being until you can sort out how you can get the necessary ingredients, and then you can go back to making food at home. I hope this helps.

 

[averina3003]

@averina3003

I typed my response and then by the time I posted I saw your update that you do in fact use a supplement for calcium. I was asking you before for the exact recipe so that we could figure out if there was either something missing or not in the right proportion. It's important so we aren't telling you something that you are already adding.


Here is what I posted before I saw the last post.

Am I understanding correctly that you are leaving out the bones and not adding anything for calcium? While I commend your dedication to raw food (I'm a raw feeder myself) feeding this recipe without the bones would be very bad. It would explain the soft poop, but that is only the beginning. Your cat needs calcium and if he doesn't get it from the diet, his body begins to utilize calcium from the his own bones. This leads to bone fractures and weakness, and eventually even death. So please, it's better if you stop this diet and buy some regular cat food for your kitten immediately. A good canned food will do nicely for him and it will give you time to think about what you want to do long term.

If you decide to come back to raw food, I would recommend purchasing a premix for making raw food. Here is a link to a list of all the premixes available for cat food....you'll need to find one that will ship to Europe.

Premixes for homemade food

Premixes for easy homemade food whether raw or cooked

www.rawfeedingforibdcats.org

When shopping for a supplement there are 2 things you want to be aware of:

1. Some supplements are made for recipes that includes bones, and some are for boneless recipes. If the supplement contains calcium, the ingredient list will include something like calcium carbonate, eggshells, or bone meal.
2. Some supplements are made for recipes that include liver, and some assume there is no liver. Liver is very high in vitamins A & D, so if you were to get a supplement meant for a diet without liver and then add liver to the food, you would have an excess of A & D vitamins which is toxic.
3. Most supplements don't contain omega 3's. This is not REQUIRED in cat food on this side of the pond, but it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. For what it's worth I use BayerDVM liquid omega 3.

So you see, you don't have to give up on raw food, but it would be best to just provide canned food for the time being until you can sort out how you can get the necessary ingredients, and then you can go back to making food at home. I hope this helps.

Wow thanks so much for all this info and advice, just to mention I do add the calcium supplement, however I will make sure from now on that he gets calcium from real bones to get all the benefit from it!

 

[Condo commando]

Wow thanks so much for all this info and advice, just to mention I do add the calcium supplement, however I will make sure from now on that he gets calcium from real bones to get all the benefit from it!

You're welcome. Personally I grind bones for my cats so that is what I know, but it is not necessary. The important thing is that the food is supposed to have a calcium to phosphorus ratio of roughly 1.2 to 1.

Most likely, the poop issue is a food issue. I say this because you have a kitten and it's unusual for kittens to have developed diseases this early in life.

I still think using a supplement when you are making food is the best way to go. There are other vitamins and minerals that I'm used to seeing in recipes and I don't see them in your recipe. For example: vitamin B, vitamin E, iodine.

Regarding food sensitivities, it's recommended to feed one protein source at a time so that if there is a problem it pops out. So for example, you would feed just chicken for 2-3 months and see how that goes. Then try beef only for 2-3 months and see how that goes. Of course, it's important that your kitten be well at the start of the food trial which right now he's not.

You can read more about cat nutrition here.

Feline Nutrition - Nutrition | Hare Today

feline-nutrition.org

 

[Sheldon13]

I agree you need to find an all around supplement to add to the food. Not just for calcium but a lot of other micronutrients.


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need