Effective Solutions for Cat Diarrhea: Quick Tips!

Actually, this is a profoundly mistaken perspective, one that often originates from those who promote cat food products. They push the idea of "changing food is beneficial" to persuade you to adopt this viewpoint for the sake of selling more cat food.

Why does changing cat food lead to diarrhea?

When a cat digests protein, it relies on proteindegrading enzymes. However, many purebred cats do not produce enough of these enzymes to break down the protein they consume daily. For instance, if you feed your cat a 30% protein cat food totaling 150g per day, the cat would intake approximately 45g of protein. Ideally, it would also release 45g of proteindegrading enzymes, resulting in perfect stools.

But if the cat's body can only produce 20g of proteindegrading enzymes, the remaining 25g of protein cannot be digested or absorbed, leading to diarrhea. The cat needs a very gradual process to adapt to the release of 45g of enzymes. This is why it's necessary to slowly transition from old to new cat food, over a period of at least a week or even a month.

This internal enzyme breakdown process is invisible to us. What we might see is that the cat suddenly loves the new food, but it also has particularly soft stools or diarrhea.

Similarly, if your cat is accustomed to a diet high in protein and low in carbohydrates and suddenly switches to a lowprotein, highcarbohydrate cat food, it can also lead to digestive issues, possibly resulting in smelly, sticky stools around the cat's tail.

This is why I've always emphasized that cat food, especially imported brands, is not inherently good or bad; it's about whether your cat can adapt to it. Don't blindly chase highprotein, lowcarbohydrate diets. Many cats, such as Persian and British Shorthair breeds, are naturally allergic to large protein molecules and may suffer from diarrhea when consuming highprotein cat food.

When should you change your cat's food?

1. Age transition: From kitten to adult cat, and then from adult to senior cat. Kitten food, rich in small protein molecules, is ideal for growing kittens, but it can be too rich for adult cats, leading to a burden on their bodies. Senior cats gradually shift to lower protein diets.

2. Inability to adapt to a specific cat food: If your cat experiences diarrhea after treatment and then has the same issue when eating the same food again, it indicates that its digestive system cannot handle it. It's advisable to switch to a different food.

3. Health conditions such as kidney disease, urinary tract issues, diabetes, and chronic enteritis. In such cases, a prescription cat food should be used.

Never change your cat's food based on silly reasons like "the cat doesn't like it," "the cat eats very little," or "I think the cat should change its food." These reasons can lead to two outcomes: either the cat becomes picky and refuses to eat, or it develops gastrointestinal issues due to the frequent changes in food. If your cat is doing well on a particular diet or a mix of diets, with healthy stools, there is no need to keep experimenting with new foods. If you absolutely must introduce something new, do so gradually by adding a little at a time to the existing food, never all at once.