Question about wheat gluten in cat food

[gritsar]

Kitty has always eaten 9 lives. She was originally a barn kitty and cat food was only a small part of her diet, if you know what I mean.

So I bring KiKi home and give her the same food and it caused diarrhea. She also needs to put on some weight.
I switched them both to a feed that my former siamese ate. It's a kitten formula. My former siamese, Bekka, would only eat the kitten formula even as an adult.
Last night I compared the ingredients between this feed and Iams kitten food and the only differences were that this feed has 2% more protein and it has wheat gluten in it. This food is several dollars cheaper than Iams.
I've read several times not to feed wheat gluten, but I've never known why?
KiKi is loving this new food and the diarrhea is clearing up. Kitty is still not sure about it. She'd rather I fill her bowl with more 9 lives.
Why is the gluten bad?

 

[mamaKate]

I'm not sure about the gluten but stress or any abrupt change in diet often causes diarhea in cats. One of my twelve -year- olds gets it when he gets ear mites. He also has to stay on Science Diet for sensitive stomachs. The younger ones (9&10) eat Purina Cat Chow. I buy the big bag and baggie it up to keep it fresh.

 

[FrenchHen]

I don't know about gluten specifically, but I know that cats will get icky poo if their food is changed suddenly.

I have a cat with a corn allergy, so it's possible that kitty doesn't tolerate wheat.

 

[gritsar]

Yeah I was guessing her diarrhea might have been caused by the move to a new home, her spay surgery or the food.
I was wanting to give them a better food anyhow and the diarrhea does seem to be clearing up, so I guess I'll stick to this food.

 

[Livinzoo]

Aside from gluten being the ingredient that was contaminated and caused pet deaths prior to the recalls, Cats are strictly carnivores. Grains can cause allergies, weight gain, and medical problems.

I have a cat that licked his fur off when I fed a mid grade cat food (nutro natural choice). I switched to Innova (a higher grade food) and then he got crystals and got blocked. So I started researching cat food and settled on feeding raw. That was 6 years ago. Everyone loves their raw and I'm now trying to switch to whole prey as it will be easier on me and less supplements for them.

Raw isn't for everyone. There are some good quality foods with less grains and these are much better for your cat than the high amounts of grain in most cat food. They tend to run a lot more but since it is almost all digestible and absorbable you actually feed that cat a lot less and price wise it becomes similar.

Good luck in your decision.

 

[Imp]

As livinzoo said Gluten can cause allergies. It is a protein found in some grains. If you cat does well on the food it is not a problem. Good luck

Imp- Gluten is what makes bread-bread, not crumbs.

 

[gritsar]

Thanks y'all. As I've said in another thread, we are limited in our choices based on geography. It's just not practical to have to travel an hour to buy cat/dog food. With our crazy schedule we'd be sure to run out and be always switching foods as a result.
KiKi's diarrhea has cleared, so I'm gonna stick with this food I think.

 

[FrenchHen]

When Kitty #2 had urinary issues, the lady at our fancy pants hippie natural pet store recommended asking a butcher for leftover bits. It can be cheaper to feed kitty that way, if you can get a raw or partially raw diet much less expensively than the fancy "gourmet" cat foods.

I haven't done that yet, things leveled out without us needing to take that step.

I'm glad new kitty has settled down!

I hope you're loving the new baby.