Inflammatory Bowel Disease - need new food suggestion

Discussion in 'Feline Health - (Welcome & Main Forum)' started by The_Dude, Dec 12, 2017.

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  1. The_Dude

    The_Dude New Member

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    Hi there -
    It's been quite a while since I have been on the forum. Dude was diagnosed as diabetic summer of 2016 (at 14 years old). We struggled to get his treatment figured our for a few months and bounced around lots of different insulin amounts. In the end we got to a remission state when he was completely transitioned to wet food (Fancy Feast Classic). His numbers were/are very consistent, so I don't test regularly anymore.

    He has always been a bit of a "pukey" cat, prone to hairballs and vomiting. Looking back now, I believe it got worse after switching food, at the time I thought it was because we took him off the hairball control dry food he was eating for most of his life. Last week however, he stopped eating completely and starting having very bad diarrhea both in the litter box and around the house. After a few days of not eating a single thing (I tempted him with everything under the sun) we force fed him a "Recuperation" liquid food we got from the vet. He continued to decline, and went to the vet for IV. He seems to have his appetite back now (it's been just shy of week since this started). X-rays taken show inflammed bowels, but no other obvious problems.

    In addition to all this, we adopted a kitten 2.5 months ago. Unfortunately the kitten had ringworm and now, after I thought I had it all cleared at our house, Dude has developed ringworm too. The vet examined him and I followed the same treatment the vet prescribed for the kitten (betadine and monistat). This treatment started a day or two before this horrible bowel problems. I stopped using the monistat as soon as he stopped eating, too many factors to rule out at once. I just started using the betadine again tonight though. I'm sure the new kitten has caused extra stress in his life, he isn't in love with this new fur baby, he does seem to be warming up to her though.

    Long story short. The vet thinks the Fancy Feast is causing the inflammatory bowel disease (or at least causing it to flare up) and wants us to change up his diet. I am worried it was a reaction to the Monistat, but the vet doesn't think that is it. I am not opposed to finding a higher quality wet food for Dude, but I was hoping someone had suggestions for sensitive stomachs or if anyone had had trouble with ringworm medication.

    My main reason for feeding FF was that it was all I could find in my small town (plus his numbers were awesome), but we just got a Tractor Supply, which gives up much more food options without having to order online. The vet has a few types of prescription Hills (glucose/weight management (m/d), digestive care (i/d), and another one he doesn't have in stock (z/d)) and Royal Canin "Selected Protein" he wants us to try. I don't see any of them on the chart - probably because they are prescription based. The vet would also like us to get Dude on a twice a day eating schedule, he is more like 3-4 times a day now, just small bits at a time.

    Thanks!!
     
    Last edited: Dec 12, 2017
    Reason for edit: I was hoping to find the food on the chart, but didn't
  2. Noah & me (GA)

    Noah & me (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Dec 3, 2016
    You've obviously done a lot of research already, could it be as simple as a bad batch or change in content of the Fancy Feast. I've been in a related business so I know they whack out a million cans of this flavor today, another million of another flavor tomorrow. Keep in touch, I want to know how this works out.
    Hey The Dude, kitty high five! We missed you. :)
     
  3. The_Dude

    The_Dude New Member

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    Jun 3, 2016
    Hmm, good idea, I hadn't thought about it being a bad batch. I had my mind made up that it was the ringworm medication so I was very surprised the vet suspected the food. The vet and I have disagreed about food in the past. He kept insisting the diabetic dry food was fine, but we couldn't get his numbers under control until I followed the advice on this board and switched to wet food only. At least he is only suggesting a new type of canned food and not going back to dry! I have a hard time giving him food that I have no idea what the numbers are though....
     
  4. Noah & me (GA)

    Noah & me (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Dec 3, 2016
    Well that was a Hail Mary pass from me. I used to be a food snob and Fancy Feast always looked like pig slop. It's what Noah eats now.
    Pet food standards in Canada are less than zero. I've seen what goes on at the moo-works, pretty sloppy work there boys!
     
  5. CassWTribby

    CassWTribby Member

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  6. CassWTribby

    CassWTribby Member

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    My reply was mixed in with your quote but you can see it if you scroll down.
     
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  7. The_Dude

    The_Dude New Member

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    Jun 3, 2016
    Very helpful. Thank you. I'm going to answer quickly because I have to go to bed, just to clarify a few things.

    He is eating now. The vet took away his food because he thought he was eating too much! He also had a solid bowel movement since he has been home. We syringe fed him this weekend, but he went in for IV etc Monday, came home Tuesday. he has been tested for pancreatitis in the past (this spring), but it was negative.

    I do home test his bgl, just not very often because he is no longer on insulin.

    The cats are both on Revolution, not specifically dewormed, I thought Revolution covered that? I should check.

    Thanks!
     
  8. CassWTribby

    CassWTribby Member

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    Feb 7, 2017
    Revolution can treat parasites but many parasites are resistant. If he's having solid poop them you are well on your way.
    You can give sub q fluids at home quite easily and it is way less expensive.
    Keep an eye on him and even journal what he eats and how he feels etc. Then if there is a trigger you will see it.
    Hopefully it was a reaction to food and he's on the way to feeling better.
    Good news!
     
    Critter Mom likes this.
  9. Callie & Patches

    Callie & Patches Well-Known Member

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    Jun 18, 2016
    I two cats that have digestive problems. My vet had me try giving food one brand/ flavor at time for several days at a time, Gizmo can eat anything that has no grains. Callie can eat only poultry. She seems to be able to eat any brand of poultry flavored cat food as long as it is low carb. Sincei came what thrs
     
  10. Djamila

    Djamila Well-Known Member

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    Aug 1, 2015
    My kitty also has IBD. Getting him on a probiotic made it a million times better. He has to get it every day, and it takes a few weeks to build up in their system to full effect so it's important to be consistent and stick with it, but it's lowered his flare ups from nearly constant to once every couple months. S. Boulardii is the best option for a probiotic. Slippery Elm Bark is helpful when he has a flare up as long as I catch it early. At this point I can usually tell by looking at him if he's starting to feel bad and get him started on it. If the flare gets bad, I give him metronidazole (prescription from the vet) and that takes care of it quickly.

    This link will help you figure out which slippery elm bark products are okay for cats: http://www.felinecrf.org/holistic_treatments.htm
    s. boulardii I believe Florastar or Renew Life are the preferred brands.

    I tried elimination diets/novel proteins for awhile, but he had flares no matter what he ate, so he's back on a mix of canned food and homemade raw food.

    As for your vet, I would say you should feel free to ignore his recommendations of the expensive prescription foods, and definitely ignore the twice/day feeding thing. My cat does much better with small meals/grazing rather than starving half the day and wolfing down a huge meal all at once. When the diarrhea is bad it is often recommended to fast them for a few hours, but I don't think that's necessary or even helpful in between flares, or when it's just mild.

    If you're interested in making food at home (avoid the guar gum and other IBD triggers and save some money), www.foodfurlife.com has an easy supplement powder that you just mix in with raw meat and you're done. It's pretty simple and avoids a lot of the worry about what is in the food and if it's an appropriate diet for diabetics and IBD.
     
  11. FurBabiesMama

    FurBabiesMama Well-Known Member

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    Jul 6, 2017
    Hi. These are in the food database. Hill's m/d has 13% carbs, i/d 23% carbs and z/d 35% carbs.. yikes! The Royal Canin Select Protein ones range from 15 to 24% carbs. These are always the foods the vets push. These are heavily marketed to vets and usually sold out of the vets' offices. (Catinfo,org has info about the so-called 'prescription' foods that you may want to read.)

    According to the AAHA diabetes management guidelines, it is ideal to feed them 4 times a day (using an auto feeder, if needed). Maybe you could share that with your vet.
     
  12. Tracey&Jones (GA)

    Tracey&Jones (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Dec 12, 2016
    As for food suggestions....I use Rawz canned for Jones. He has done very well IBD wise on that. Also the Tiki cat chicken mousse. The probiotics as mentioned before are also helpful.

    The one thing with Jones is that I found out he was allergic to tuna. Taking that out of his diet also helped.
     
  13. Noah & me (GA)

    Noah & me (GA) Well-Known Member

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  14. Noah & me (GA)

    Noah & me (GA) Well-Known Member

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    That didn't come out right. Are we having tech issues?
     
  15. The_Dude

    The_Dude New Member

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    Jun 3, 2016
    Thank you so much for finding the vet prescribed food in that database for me. I was looking at the PDF list and didn't see it, maybe I missed it. Those all sound way to high in carbs for Dude. I forgot to mention the vet gave us some probiotics, I need to start those ASAP. Dude doesn't care for the fish based foods, so he normally gets the other flavored FF classics. I am going shopping this afternoon (with the food database in hand) and see what I can find for him. I can't do home cooked right now as we are planning to be out of town for vacation soon. Maybe when we get back I can start on that. I want to make it as easy as possible on our pet sitter since she has to treat his ringworm as well....sigh.

    Thank you everyone for your input, it is so very helpful.
     
  16. The_Dude

    The_Dude New Member

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    Jun 3, 2016
    I emailed the vet my concern about the percent carbs in the food they gave me. She said the type of carbs is more important than the percentage and that if I don't use their food I will likely face continuing GI trouble. The Hills z/d is the one for sensitive stomachs, but it is 35% carbs! The vet and I have always disagreed about the food though, so I am not surprised by the response. I can get 4Health and Blue Wilderness in town (previously couldn't). The worst part is that we are leaving for vacation next week, so all of this diet change is going to happen with a pet sitter....
     
  17. Critter Mom

    Critter Mom Well-Known Member

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    Jun 16, 2014
    This. In spades!

    @The_Dude

    Tip: Record the food batch numbers and litter box activity, too.


    Mogs
    .
     
  18. Elizabeth and Bertie

    Elizabeth and Bertie Well-Known Member

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    Sep 6, 2010
    Hi Mogs! Nice to see you back here! :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
    .
     
  19. Diana&Tom

    Diana&Tom Well-Known Member

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    Yeeeeeaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!
     
  20. Critter Mom

    Critter Mom Well-Known Member

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  21. rawia

    rawia Member

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    Aug 24, 2017
    Will my cat used to vomit a hairball many times and it upset her stomach always, i am using a hairball remedy jell everyday and it works very well and relief her, she is not vomiting any more. For the food you can try to order Young Again zero dry food to be an addition to FF so you will not depend on FF alone.
     
  22. rawia

    rawia Member

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    Aug 24, 2017
  23. Noah & me (GA)

    Noah & me (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Dec 3, 2016
    Yah, I noticed you were here Mogs, just didn't know if you wanted the attention.
    So, big :) from the big yellow cat to @Critter Mom in the quietest most gracious way I know.
     
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