Wow, it looks like you've done a lot of research. Question though: how is your cat doing on these foods? Does he still have the digestion issues with these?

It looks like you've identified some good foods nutritionally, I would probably tend to go with whatever ones your cat handles best in terms of the digestive issues, and likes in terms of taste/smell.

Comments:
* I've read some nutritionists say that they think that fowl is, in general, better than "hoofs and gills" for cats. In other words, feed mostly chicken, turkey, duck etc., and fish, beef etc to a lesser extent. Who knows, but I try to follow that myself.

* For that Halo food, it makes me a little suspicious that the 2nd and 3rd ingredient are non-meat proteins. It kind of reads like they purposely are including too little meat for the cat to get enough protein from, and then subsidizing that with egg and vegetable matter to boost the protein. I guess the alternative is to include low-quality meat in the form of "meat meals" so it's hard to say which is better.

* personally I would avoid that nature's valley salmon meal one. It's seems like trouble that they are including "meat meals" of every fish under the sun, lol. The more different proteins there are the more chance of troubles, plus the first ingredient being a "meal", well, I personally would avoid it. But if it happens to be the food that your kitty tolerates the best, then so be it.

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The little monsters 3

I think this is all sounds rather obsessive and chaotic.
A cat needs time to get used to a food, all this swapping about is madness.
Change food-> diarrhoea, loose stool. Change again ->diarrhoea, loose stool. Change again ->diarrhoea, loose stool. Change again...

Cats can be very fussy eaters, one day they love it, the next they hate it, it doesn't always mean that they have to have a complete change of food.
You are overthinking the whole issue, forget about flavours, many of the "flavours" are mostly for our benefit anyway and can be nothing to do with what is basically in the cat food. Relax. Choose a good food that the cat will eat and stick with it, forget about what YOU think is a good food, good foods are those that the cat will eat, those that the cat looks good on and those that do not cause any health issue.
Good foods are not necessarily those that the internet will tell us to feed. If your cat likes and thrives on the cheapest food on the market that is so much better than diarrhoea, anorexia and weight loss from so called "good" foods.

Many loose stools will solidify after a few weeks of changing foods, it is normal to have loose stool when the diet is changed, changing foods needs to be very, very gradual if looseness is to be completely avoided.
There are very few studies done to back up a lot of the claims surrounding so called "good" foods, so do not beat yourself up, about choosing the "best" for your cat, as we really do not know what is the best food long term for cats, much of it marketing hype.

As others have said chronic looseness is often a parasitic problem and although testing can be negative, it doesn't mean the cat doesn't have the infection, only that you haven't found it yet. Old infections can damage the gut too, so just because the parasites are dead doesn't always mean the cat is healed and cured. Colitis is inflammation of the colon and that can persist after the parasites are long gone.

I know you mentioned that your cat had Giardia in the past. Has the cat been re-tested negative since? Just a thought....it can be a real bugger to get rid of so I hear!

I would definitely run a panel to rule out any bacterial infections then perhaps try one food you know your cat loves andkeep them on that for a few weeks to see if the firm poops return.

Lisa
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I think we figured out what the issue is. Her stool has been very solid for the past few days. I've been reading about food allergies & intolerance & she doesn't have any of the symptoms. I noticed that dairy is listed as not being easily digestible by cats. My cat LOVES cheese. She goes crazy when she sees me with it & begs for it so I always gave her a little & I had been doing that for as long as I can remember. But I haven't fed her cheese in a few days. I think that must have been what was upsetting her tummy & causing the occasional loose stools. It makes sense, many cats can't digest dairy well. So, I think it was the cheese upsetting her tummy because she couldn't digest it properly, similar to if you or I ate something that upset our stomach, we wouldn't be allergic to it, but our bodies wouldn't tolerate it very well.

IMO its better to have proper testing done to have scientific proof there is no long-term damage causing bug present than to leave it upto guesswork about cheese or food flavors.

This must be taking a toll on you.. I know I lost sleep when my girl was sick.
I felt better when Cleo was tested and cleared to my (non-holistic) Vet's satisfaction and mine and that is when I went through the long process of prescription foods and identifying ingredients my girl cant tolerate.

You see we have walked the same path you and I... But I worry you havent got passed the detecting illness stage properly before looking into foods.

Good luck with this and I hope it all works out well for kitty.... and soon.

I agree with both Bengaldaddy and Fenstar. I did ask above about TF and then re-testing for Giardia and other bacteria but Miss Kitty's Mommy didn't respond.

Lets hope she soon finds out the problem and can treat it for the cat's sake

Lisa
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Food trials done properly should be done for 4-6 weeks. In that time there must be no other food given at all at any point, no treats nothing.

Only then at the end of the trial can you safely say a food does not suit.

So I have a cat that as a kitten came to me with salmonella, once the salmonella was cleared if was very hard and I'm talking a good six months to get a solid poop. Some would be ok, others not so.

Eventually after much deciding I put the cat in royal canin gastro intestinal biscuits ...shock horror I hear people say, but honestly I know how frustrating it is to try and try and get no results and at this point I would have tried anything if it meant helping my kitten out.

Well after two days I kid you not the poop was solid, after 3 months solidly on that food I started to introduce a better quality food ....animonda carny a German food high in meat. The introduction of any food needs to be done over a specific period of time for eg 25% of new food 75% of old for 2-3 days, 50% of each for another 2-3 days, 75% new 25% old for the final 2-3 days and then 100% new food there after.

I still give the biscuits but he can now stomach lots of different wet foods with no issues at all.