Also, I stopped mixing in the probiotic in with the wet food because I want to see how she does on Taste of the Wild without any supplements.

The vet recommended adding a fiber supplement- 1/4 teaspoon of regular, unflavored Metamucil twice a day, mixed in with food but as with the probiotic, I want to hold off on trying that to see how she does on TOTW.

I don't think she has a food allergy because she doesn't have skin problems. Maybe an intolerance. Maybe a sensitive tummy. I wish I could figure this out.

I suggest you ignore all of this vet's dietary advice until you are dealing with a healthy tum free of bugs.
He/she is going in depth about food when really they should be dealing with infection and treatment number 1.

Once you have a clear test only then can you start an informed and reliable search for a food she can tolerate.
Changing food is enough to set off the Bengal bellies.... making you think the new food is no good when really its fine - just introduced too quickly.

Switch to a food that settles her tummy down to give her a chance to firm up ... boiled chicken or fish or w/e works (think bland and simple).
WHEN you start seeing better poops (wont be perfect or consistent with a bug present- but can improve) maybe then introduce a TINY amount of new food, choose just ONE brand/flavor to begin with. see how you get on with the new food + the food that you 100% know she is tolerating. then gradually increase the new food offerings over weeks while monitoring poops.

Cleo has been on Felix (uk rubbish brand that is addictive*) then Bozita and now miamor
Junk food -> similar but better food -> similar but high meat content food.

I had to change my girl from the junk her breeder had her on and it took a couple of months of slowly increasing the mix of new/old food both times I changed to avoid setting Cleo's tummy off.

Some people say their Bengal eats anything and is always solid (Im jealous) but I would say most Bengals cant tolerate food changes or too many types of food offered without having some stomach problems such as gas and loose stools.

I cant suggest brands because I dont now the US options, but IMO you must deal with any bugs before you can make progress with finding her forever food.

*I dont know if felix is really addictive.. I just know that they add flavour enhancing and other junk that makes it yummy and cats can behave like they are addicted - starving themselves for the food they crave for eg.

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The little monsters 3

Unless the vet has done a full fecal PCR panel to look for all the possible parasites then he cannot rule them out. Sapping and changing foods before you have ruled out all parasites is just foolish and prolonging the misery of the cat. Chronic diarrhoea is miserable!

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Lollo

Loose is still not right though. The most common cause of soft poo in cats is parasite. If they have not been ruled out then changing foods is pretty pointless really. At least if you get negative results you know you can definitely rule them out. Without testing it's just guesswork.

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Lollo

The reason the vet thinks it's an issue of finding the right food is because her stool changes when we switch foods. Like I previously said, we did find a combination of dry & wet food that worked & the stool was solid when she was on those foods but then my cat started being really picky about the wet food.

She hasn't eaten since last night. She won't touch the dry food mixture of Blue & Taste of the Wild. Before today, she was gobbling it down. I want her to eat so I put out a bowl of just the Blue food but she won't touch that, either. I think she is annoyed I mixed her foods & is weary of the bowl of just Blue because I previously messed with her food. XD

You should get the results from the TF test next week. Once you can rule that out (and oyher possible bacterial causes such as Giardia, Coccidia etc) then you can look more closely to see if it is food related.

IMO, the "not firm" stools, gas and stinking poop all point to a high possibility of TF or Giardia (or both as they often go hand in hand).

Either way, once you have a diagnosis (TF/food related) you can then start to resolve the problem :)

Lisa
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The vet called with the results of the TF test- negative.

She suggested an allergy panel test. I mentioned that I don't think my cat has allergies because she doesn't have skin & itching problems & that I think she most likely has an intolerance & the vet said sometimes the allergy symptoms can be in the GI tract & that even though the anal glands keep filling up, scooting can also be because of itchiness.

The other option would be a prescription hydrolyzed protein diet, lasting about 6-8 weeks no treats. The no treats part would be an issue because I do extensive training with my cat... clicker training, agility training, car training (to get her comfortable being the car), etc. My cat LOVES to train, especially her agility, she goes crazy for it. I spend hours a day playing & training with her. The ONLY treats that movitiate her are freeze dried chicken (Pure Bites).

The vet mentioned that with a picky eater, I could try introducing new food even more gradually, like just adding in a few new kibbles rather than do a combination of 25% new food, 75% current food. She also mentioned that with a picky eater, sometimes you just have to leave the food out until the cat eventually eats it & a missed meal or two isn't a huge deal.

I have compared ingredient lists of foods that worked better than others & I can't figure out what she could have an intolerance to.

I told the vet I need to talk with my husband to decide how to proceed. He is in the military, currently deployed in Afghanistan so he is sleeping right now but I can email back & forth with him this evening.

Part of me is happy for you that the test is negative for TF but at least you could have treated and been on the road to a solution. It must feel like you are back to square one :(

Did you also have the panel test for bacterial issues (Giardia, Coccidia, Cryptosporidium etc)? If not, this would be worth checking out too. I know you said your vet had looked under the microscope but some have to be cultured for a few days in a lab so he wouldn't have seen these if it was one.

I do hope you get to the bottom of this soon.

Lisa
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Did you also have the panel test for bacterial issues (Giardia, Coccidia, Cryptosporidium etc)? If not, this would be worth checking out too. I know you said your vet had looked under the microscope but some have to be cultured for a few days in a lab so he wouldn't have seen these if it was one.

Oops - as I was editing my post to add the above, you replied!

Lisa
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