Farting cats! (and other issues)

Shadowfire

We have 4 cats. It's like a zoo, but with less "exotic" stuff and more shedding. We had been feeding our cats some half-decent grocery store cat foods (healthful life, Iams, etc), but we wanted to do right by our girls (and boy). We switched over to Chicken Soup brand after hearing recommendations from a lot of folks (including here on these forums), and we were careful. We transitioned them through a little over a week, slowly adding more of the new to the old, until they were on the new stuff entirely.

They've been eating Chicken Soup for four weeks. Since then, all four cats have started farting like crazy. These aren't just little farts... they stink. Several times a day, you can just smell the cats farting (they are very social cats, so they're always near us... figuring out the source is not hard).

A lot of folks have said that this cat food clears up such problems, but it has actually caused them for us. In addition, one of the cats (the youngest) has just started having diarrhea (this may be completely unrelated, but he's going to the vet tomorrow). Do we switch back to one of the old cat foods? Is there a better brand to try?

Edit: Forgot to mention somehow... the cats are also scratching a lot. Roscoe, the youngest, has been flicking his ears a lot more and scratching them. None of them have fleas, we have checked very closely. We looked in Roscoe's ears and while there's a bit of wax, there's nothing moving.

Chanus

I'm not sure if four weeks is (or is not) enough time for their digestive tracts to adjust to a new diet. Could be something you just have to wait out.

Aoi Tsuki

What're the ingredients? Itchy kitties sometimes = allergies.

DjCalvin

Go back to the old cat food, sounds like allergies to me.

Ive been on the receiving end when my cat decided to hop up on my chest when i was sleeping and just let er rip.. not cool... (funny as all hell though)

mts

could just not tolerate the new food. just because its supposedly high quality doesn't mean your guys will do alright on it. if they started geting itchy and gassy there is something they are allergic to. i would either go back to whtat works or switch to something else

MetroidZoid

Cats and their allergies vary just like people's do. So either switch to a different cat food with mostly differing ingredients, or go back to the first cat food.

My personal preference is Diamond Naturals cat food. Comes in Kitten 'brand' too. It's a nice balance between price and quality, and my cat hasn't had any farting issues (except for this time of year when he gets into the fermenting apples ... he is that stupid. Pick him up and *phhhht*)

Kistra

Sounds like allergies. What was the protein source in your old cat food?

Iams has a lot of sugar and fillers in it so I wouldn't go back to it, but you could look for a higher quality food with the same protein source as the old food and you will be much less likely to have problems.

onceling

I would just try a different food. I don't think the ear scratching is related. I would try Solid Gold next, I have a cat with issues on high protein and she's done well on Solid Gold, both dry and canned. Here are all the decent brands:

Ultra Premium (regular)
Solid Gold
Innova
California Natural
Nature's Variety Prairie
Natural Balance
Wellness
Evanger's (makes only wet) (NOT the vegetarian formula, duh.)
Tiki Cat (makes only wet)
Wysong (wet)

Ultra Premium (grain-free)
Innova EVO
Before Grain (B.G.), made by Merrick
Now! Grain Free
Wellness CORE
Nature's Variety Instinct
Taste of the Wild

Premium
Blue Buffalo
Merrick (wet)
Pet Promise (wet)
Newman's Own Organics
Felidae
Diamond Naturals (dry)

SkyCaptain

I feel sorry for any cats on a vegetarian diet because their vegan owner is a fucking moron.