My big cat started getting sick at the end of a bag of cat food. I bought

[applegrove]

a new one and he was fine for a day then he started getting sick after eating again. The smaller cat wasn't getting sick at all so I kept some for her to eat while I bought the big cat some special cat food from the pet shop. That seemed to calm him down. Yesterday the smaller cat got sick on the older cat food. So I threw it all out. What is going on. Can cats become allergic to food after tolerating it well for a few years?

[MiddleFingerMom]

1. My cat seemed to have had problems towards the bottom of a bag...

.
.
.
...but I always attributed it to the food getting stale.
.
.
.
Used to feed her Iams dry. She loved it, but our local stores stopped
carrying the smaller bags (2 lbs as opposed to 4), so it would take
her quite a while to finish the larger ones.
.
.
.

[Maine-ah]

8. this is why we don't use their food.

http://www.iamscruelty.com/

someone here years ago posted a very graphic undercover video at Iams labs. Very disturbing.

[TorchTheWitch]

2. Yes, switch to another food

Both cats and dogs can become allergic to certain foods after eating them for years just like with people. I didn't have any food allergies until about my mid-twenties when a few different ones cropped up (and it always seems to be the foods you really like!).

It may be an allergy or it may be some kind of problem with the food. I used to feed my dog Iams chicken flavor kibble until suddenly he was having problems with diarrhea. Turned out they changed the formula and there was something about the change that disagreed with his system. I changed to Newman's Own which is organic and costs about the same and he hasn't had any problems since and he likes it better anyway.

Switch to another food. It may be an allergy, but if both cats are getting sick, it's probably a change in the formula of the food that disagrees with them or there is something wrong with it.

[applegrove]

3. Thanks. I'll feed this new stuff to both my cats..... it has vegetables in it which I think is a

little odd for cats but I guess they are the experts.

[TorchTheWitch]

4. if that doesn't clear up the problem call the vet

It sounds like it's a problem with the food though since both cats are suddenly having a problem. I don't know very much about what sort of things are good for cats to eat, only that their dietary needs are different than dogs and they tend to be more picky eaters (which is really a good thing since dogs will eat damn near anything whether it's actually food or not).

The two cats I grew up with as a kid wouldn't eat anything but Tender Vittles. They didn't care what flavor it was but it had to be Tender Vittles or they'd turn their noses up at it. One of the cats really liked cheese though... but only American cheese that came in the single slice wrappers. The other cat would eat the blue toilet paper... not the white or the pink or the yellow, just the blue. Unfortunately, the bathroom was blue so because of her we always had to have white toilet paper. To this day because of the toilet paper eating cat I really dislike any toilet paper that is anything but white.

[Danmel]

5. We had a cat that loved tender vittles

Smokey showed up on the roof of my parents house & we couldn't get him down. My father was in the hospital- he had just had triple bypass surgery) and it was July & hot! Finally after a bunch of neighbors tried to rescue the cat, we called the ASPCA , and they sent a young man named Sean who coaxed the kitty to him and he got him off the roof.
We kept him of course. He would perk up and jump when he hear me tear open a packet of tender vittles.

[xchrom]

6. i've been wanting to try chicken soup for the soul pet food.

http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/

it's supposed to be good stuff.

and i think you can order on line

http://www.petfooddirect.com/search/chicken-soup#utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Dog+and+Cat+Food+Brands_Chicken+Soup&utm_term=chicken+soup+for+the+soul+cat+food?gclid=CPbp_6qy0qQCFQlm7Aod8Ec4Jw

[NV Whino]

7. I feed my cats Chicken Soup brand

It's good stuff. No corn, no meat byproducts. Pet Food Express in my area carries it.

[GoCubsGo]

9. And, if you can't get that, Blue Buffalo puts out a very similar food

PetSmart carries it. It's called "Spa Select". My cats love it, even the "diet" version. Blue Buffalo also has a couple of other kibble varieties, including a grain-free formula. Their canned food is very good, as well. Unfortunately, their canned food doesn't agree with my older cat, but then he's also in late chronic renal failure. He gets tummy troubles, and I think the veggies in it upset his stomach. They didn't used to before he got sick. FWIW, those super-duper, over-priced "Wellness" and "Nature's Variety" brands makes him puke, too. The Spa Select comes in a variety of sizes, so you don't have to buy a huge bag if you only have one or two cats.

BTW, my older cat is 16, and has been eating Spa Select, for the most part, over the past several years. He was doing great on it, and would still be on it if his kidneys didn't start to go. The kidney disease is due to age, rather than his food.

I've wanted to try Chicken Soup, but the only shops around here that carry it are a saddlery and a feed shop. They only carry large quantities, and I only have two cats. Although I haven't tried it, Newman's Own has comparable ingredients to both Chicken Soup and Blue Buffalo. Many of the grocery stores are starting to carry it, but it's really pricey.

[applegrove]

11. I know some of it can get pricey. I spent $37 dollars a bag for some of the elite catfood. It wasn't

even a big bag of it.

[applegrove]

10. That is the stuff I ended up getting for my cat. It has vegetables in it. So far, so good. Neither

of my cats has gotten sick on it.

[dddem]

12. Are they males?

Unfortunately, I have stopped feeding my cats dry food because of UTI's. I noticed it in one of them; he was lethargic and not eating. It took a few days to figure out he wasn't using the litter box because they share. Now it's special diet wet food only.