Dobbysmommy
Lairian
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2020
- Messages
- 26
- Points
- 14
Thank you so much, that was very helpful. I was also thinking about that with the elimination of current food, and my vet had suggested I try a 3-4 day switch. I’m wondering if since I’ve already started the switch to the limited ingredient diet if I should give it a go and then possibly try the elimination diet if it fails. I really hope it doesn’t fail!There's a lot to unpack here but let me try.
While it's generally a good practice to mix in the new food so as to prevent a problem, if there's already a problem that you think is due to food then it's OK to stop that food. That is, if you think the food is the problem, it makes sense to stop that food.
Another thing to consider - an elimination diet prior to starting the limited ingredient. The idea of this is to let the body eliminate the old ingredients so you start the limited ingredient with a clean slate. If you google on elimination diet there is a lot of stuff written on it
Last thing I'll mention is sometimes the GI system is inflamed and anything you give would cause upset. In other words, it's not the food but the cat's system. If this is the case a bland diet is recommended to give the GI tract a chance to recover, and then you start the new food. I actually advocate for this because this way you know it's not the cat's system.
This is the order I follow:
1. Check for guardia and anything medical related
2. Give bland food (such as homemade chicken broth)
3. Start new food (if you suspect a food allergy or a food intolerance, then limited ingredient is good)
Hope this helps.