If your cat has seen better days while eating, you may have been looking for sensitive stomach cat food and found our blog. The best cat food for a sensitive stomach considers the cat’s stomach’s pH level plus other medical conditions that may contribute to the first place’s sensitivity.
A veterinarian should be able to prescribe cat food for sensitive stomachs after completing an x-ray and a biochemical panel on your cat. Don’t decide yet on the best cat food sensitive stomach vomiting without consulting with your vet first. Selecting cat food for sensitive stomach is critical for returning your pet feline to its best health.
What Food Is Good for Cats with Sensitive Stomachs?
Like humans, some cats are just sensitive to their meals or diet, and a sudden change in diet can cause diarrhea, too. If this is the case and your diet normally tolerates all kinds of food, there is no reason to worry.
Watch your cat if diarrhea or loose bowel movement persists for more than a handful of days. More than two days of diarrhea is alarming, and you must get your cat to your vet ASAP.
Some quick remedies that you can try are:
- You are adding white rice to your cat’s normal food. The white rice can help soothe the stomach and have a bit of dietary fiber to restore balance to your cat’s GI tract.
- Pumpkin treats for cats or regular canned pumpkin can also be fed to cats. You can also shop online for cat treats that are predominantly made of pumpkin. In addition to the fiber, pumpkin can also help soothe a bad stomach without sacrificing the cat’s nutrition.
- Bland foods are also best until your vet can see your cat. One example of a bland but balanced diet would be Hill’s Prescription Diet. You can also search for “digestive care” diets or meals for cats. These are generally well-adjusted cat foods that can help quell digestive unrest and restore balance to a bad stomach.
- Some specialized veterinary diets or prescription diets are loaded with probiotics and prebiotics. If you have a healthy cat at home that suddenly becomes picky with food, you may likely need to restore the natural flora in the cat’s GI tract. Veterinary cat food with probiotics and prebiotics can help restore intestinal flora. This can have the most positive effect on a cat’s appetite and motivation to eat properly again.
- Greek yogurt is a great stomach soother.
- If you suspect hairballs because your cat is a long-haired breed, we recommend trying hairball remedies that can help expel the hairballs with little difficulty.
What Food Is Best for A Cat with Diarrhea?
Feline diarrhea is almost identical to diarrhea that afflicts other mammals. Loose bowel movement can also occur for a variety of medical reasons. The specifics of diarrhea vary from cat to cat.
Other cats can recover from diarrhea spontaneously, but this is a big risk as your cat can have other underlying conditions that are causing the loose bowel movement in the first place.
Like blood in feces and blood in the urine, diarrhea on its own is not the disease but rather a specific sign that something may be wrong with the cat’s GI tract. The longer the bout of diarrhea, the higher the risk experienced by the feline.
Well-trained cats may have some accidents outside the litterbox, but for the most part, they will do number two inside the litterbox when you should be wary of frequent, additional accidents that occur in different parts of the house.
Cats are fastidious creatures, and they have little desire to soil their territory more than they need to. Cats also bury their poop (we all know this) as this reduces the smell and allows the poop to be subsumed quickly by the soil.
It may be tougher to spot diarrhea when your cat is not completely housebound and has access to your garden or yard. Cats can poop in the darkest and remotest corners of the property, and unless you are truly dedicated to finding the poop, the frequent pooping will go unnoticed.
But there are other ways to spot potential problems. If you have a long-haired breed, watch the posterior part of your pet.
Do you see staining from potentially liquid poop? If so, it’s time to watch your pet more closely. Liquid poop is not a good sign. Healthy cat poop is not mushy nor too hard; it just maintains its shape and consistency no matter what. Diarrheal poop will also smell more – a clear indication that something is up, and your cat’s body is struggling to expel toxins and other things from the body.
How Can I Help My Cat with A Sensitive Stomach?
You can help your cat suffering from a sensitive stomach by asking your vet for a special diet that will eliminate any potential inflammation or sensitivity. You must contact your vet ASAP to ensure that your cat is given the proper medical attention as other underlying issues may cause diarrhea in cats.
What Helps Soothe a Cat’s Stomach?
If you want to help your cat’s sensitive stomach, follow these reminders:
- Always track what your cat has been eating. Cats have wild scavenging tendencies, like dogs, and can eat things that can cause GI problems. Freely-fed cats and meal-fed cats would also have different meal patterns.
- If you are shifting to another brand of cat food or trying whole food that has been cooked at home, perform a gradual transition. A gradual transition will prevent your cat’s stomach from going into shock. Change the ratio of the meals in increments until you can shift completely to the new food.
- Table scraps and other human food are not good for cats. Please don’t give them leftovers, no matter what. Felines should be given cat food and cat-appropriate food items only.
Picture from Wutsje / Wikimedia Commons
