Hi all! I haven't visited in a long time, have a crazy schedule. That said, what I'm about to share is from my own experience ONLY, I'm not a vet, tech, or nutritionist.
When we adopted our 2 cats, they were on Science Diet (aka: death) formula. 1 cat was constantly constipated, the other puked hair balls, they got Laxatone daily. Our vet, at the time, recommended SD Hair Ball formula, said the extra fiber would help. Yeah, it helped all right. I was now giving them Laxatone twice a day, with no success, and still cleaning up cat puke! I was ready to rip my hair out!
Then we adopted our first dog, she was on Pro Plan and developed such dry skin, she chewed herself raw. Well, like most people we weren't aware of the premium foods available. DH was at a local PetsMart reading dog food labels when a Nutro rep approached him, gave him some samples. We mixed the Nutro with the Pro Plan, & the smart alleck spit a mouthful of it onto the floor, picked out the Nutro & left the Pro Plan.
After 2 weeks we saw an improvement in the dog's skin & fur and decided to try the Nutro on the cats. We bought the indoor cat formula and they liked it. We saw improvement within 3 weeks, the constipation and hair ball problems went away, I was even able to stop using Laxatone. About 2 months later, my boy had a hair ball, so I gave him a bit of Laxatone & it helped. The other cat's constipation problems were gone. The only other times my boy would vomit a "hair ball" was when I fed canned food, and I thought that was odd.
The Nutro worked, BUT, we noticed our dog would smell rancid by the 4th week after her bath, and the cats had this "tar" coming from their eyes. I didn't like that, I thought that was probably due to some preservative and wanted a new food. In comes our rescue GSD, he had skin issues! First bout of allergies we got through OK with current vets advice & meds. Second bout resulted in a Staph infection! I thought he may have a food allergy; according to my vet , food is a secondary allergy - OK, whatever, but our dog needed help. I turned to the forum for help & got wonderful advice.
Nutro contains corn & corn gluten, and I suspected that may be the problem & needed to find a new kibble. We bought Innova, it was too rich, dogs got the runs, and yes, we did the transition. So we bought Canidae and they handled that transition just fine. Plus I started home cooking. At the same time, we tried to change the cats food. Many brands and formulas were attempted to no avail. Then a friend said "You know, it may not be a hair ball problem. Your cat may have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. You'll need to find a food that's high in fiber, that usually helps." This was the best thing I heard to date. I purchased an assortment of high fiber / senior / hairball brands, from Innova to Chicken Soup no corn formulas), and tried them all. Anything with less than 5% fiber, he'd puke; anything with more than 6% fiber (Nutro), he'd puke. I kept trying until I found one that worked.
FINALLY! Success! My boy stopped puking when fed Natural Balance Reduced Calories Formula (contains 5.5% fiber). Of course, the Nutro Indoor worked for the hair balls, but not the "tar" in the eyes. We had complete success with the Natural Balance: no more hair balls (maybe 1 every 3 months), no more constipation, and no more "tar" in the eyes. As for the canned food, he'd vomit due to the lack of fiber. So, I tried adding a bit of my Fiber Sure, soluble fiber powder, to his canned & when I found the right amount, it worked! I give him 1/8 teaspoon to the small can of natural balance.
As for the dogs, we rotate Innova, Canidae, California Naturals kibble with home cooked. No more allergies, no more skin issues, no more smelly dogs - no rancid smell on female & no strong wet dog smell on the GSD. I swear it's the corn, corn gluten that caused it. We have no problems with rice!
I hope our story helps you & your cat. He may have IBS & need a high(er) fiber formula. You'll just have to try a variety until you find one that works best for him. It'll take some time & patience, but it's worth it in the end. Good luck, and please update your results.