What to feed newly diagnosed cat with IBD?

hi all,
I don’t come here much after Frosty passed away, but i think I’ve posted this question before when we suspected one of my civvies (who will be 12 in November) had IBD. She ate dry food most of her life until we got Frosty, when we switched everyone to fancy feast. Shortly after Frosty passed away (about 1 year later), she started having episodes of vomiting up food. My vet suspected IBD and recommended an endoscopy & colonoscopy, but said to try switching her food first. I did research online and raw food seemed to be most recommended for IBD (vs. the prescription dry food) so we tried that, and also introduced a new protein (pork). For 4 months I fed her Primal freeze dried raw pork, and she did really well on it.

In August my husband and I went on vacation and left my cats with my parents because we were having construction in our house and we didn’t want the workers accidentally letting out the cats. Due to the stress of being in a new home we let my mom give them small amounts of dry food and Temptations as treats. Bella started having episodes of vomiting immediately and eventually it progressed to bloody diarrhea last week. She was going all over the house, on the rugs, couldn’t hold it, so I took her to Red Bank Vet (some of you in nj are familiar with it, they do SRT there for acromegaly). They took good care of her and ended up finally doing the endoscopy and colonoscopy. (Thank god I got pet insurance for all my pets after Frosty because this was a nice $5500 bill.) the vet called me today saying she’s got a pretty serious case of IBD in her stomach and small intestine (moderate) and her colon had all this inflammation ulceration and bacterial overgrowth. We are to continue the antibiotics for 2 weeks but she wants me to transition her to the the partially hydrolyzed protein dry food.

I have come to hate dry food due to all the points made about it here, but I’ve also learned over the last 2 years that canned cat food also kinda sucks. I don’t know if it’s a concidence or not but Bella got sick after she started being Fed fancy feast. But I don’t rly wanna go back to dry food either. Making our own raw food is not an option in my household bc we work ridiculous hours (50-80/week plus commute) and we’re about to have a baby. We have 4 pets in the house so there’s no way we can make that happen right now.

I honestly don’t know if primal freeze dried food is any better than dry however because I don’t even know it’s carb content. I have just assumed that it’s low carb high protein bc it’s raw and expensive and since we add water to make it soft so it’s gotta be better than dry... but who the heck knows. And I rly don’t know if I’m doing more harm than good feeding her raw food right now when her bowel is acutely inflamed and her colon is ulcerated bleeding and overgrowing bad bacteria.

Also, the vet said that if in a few weeks Bella isn’t better she might have to start her on steroids. Soooo... steroids, dry food, and an already overweight cat =... diabetes?! I don’t rly wanna go down this road again... because even if she does great on the partially hydrolyzed protein dry, I’d she becomes diabetic i have no idea what I’m going to feed her.

I know there’s a lot of owners here whose cats have IBD and diabetes, so I need some advice on what to do here. :-/

Thanks for reading! I know this was long.

-Ana

 

Tagging @Wendy&Neko for you. She has experience with single protein raw foods.

 

Hi Ana, sorry to hear about Bella’s IBD but happy to hear about the pending baby.

Some good info at http://www.rawfeedingforibdcats.org/ And https://www.ibdkitties.net/ Raw is not bad, and in fact can be good for IBD.

Probiotics and novel proteins can help. Doesn’t have to be raw food, there are canned novel protein products. Making your own raw is fairly easy with a premix. But you have to source the proteins,

Many IBD kitties go on budesonide instead of prednisolone. It is a steroid, but acts locally in the GI system. It did not impact Neko’s blood sugar. My overweight civvie Theo went on pred for his GI lymphoma. He was already eating raw. His BG went from 50’s to 80’s, still normal. Diabetes is not a given.

 

My diabetic and IBD girl has done great on a novel protein diet. She had issues with both chicken and beef fancy feast, and is now eating Natures Instinct rabbit canned food. It does also contain pork, but it seems like Bella was fine eating the freeze dried pork, so maybe worth trying? The rabbit limited ingredient is a little higher in carbs so I do not feed it, but it does not contain pork. Ziwipeak also has some novel protein canned foods as well, but I have not tried any yet. The protein is not hydrolyzed so these foods are not truly hypoallergenic or whatever the proper term is, but my kitty hasn’t had any issues so far

 

Chachi was diagnosed a few years ago with IBD and it was a work in progress to find the right food. I started offering a single protein diet until I found the proteins that increased vomiting and bowel issues and quickly ruled them out forever. No beef, pork is borderline, turkey is fine but he likes the chicken. He can have Salmon occasionally. He began eating Royal canin Hydrolyzed and Friskies canned foods as a treat only for a year or so but this past June he was diagnosed with Diabetes. He is Siamese and part Burmese so we figured he was predisposed to the Diabetes maybe. Anyway, he is now on FF classic chicken pate twice a day and cut the kibble down to 1/4 cup hydrolyzed protein for nibbling through out the day.. While changing his food to lower the carbs, I also found that the higher carb foods he had been eating may have been contributing to his IBD. So lowering the carbs was a win win for him.
He does take 2.5 mg prednisolone and 8 mg Cerenia every other day. It is the lowest we can go. He is also on 1 unit Lantus twice a day. He is doing well right now his BG is holding in normal range and he hasn't had any bowel or vomiting issues in quite a while now. He began drinking excessively and peeing excessively that lead to the testing for diabetes. He is around 9 years old we think and I do worry about his immune system with the IBD and Diabetes so I keep a close eye on the little fella. He was a rescue. His weight is maintaining at 12-13 lbs and still jumps and rolls ... I tested him daily at first but now I am only testing if I suspect problem. The testing really stresses him and me. haha When I get the basket out he runs and hides.

 

Our Simba has had IBD for about 3 years, was initially under the care of an Internal Medicine specialist, and received ultrasound at that time. He gave us samples of all the single-protein foods to try, and we selected rabbit, and later also duck. He expresses his IBD by vomiting, and his vomiting was reduced, but not eliminated on the prescription foods. But, he didn't like the prescription foods, and because I had read that raw is good for IBD kitties, I started feeding him Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried rabbit and duck, and also Vital Essence freeze-dried rabbit patties. He only eats these foods dry, and did pretty well on them. A couple months ago I happened upon an hair analysis test for sensitivities, and had it done for him. From the hair analysis, it turned out he was sensitive to duck and turkey, but not to chicken, as we had feared. Since then we have added more proteins, including the Stella and Chewy fish flavor, to his menu, without adverse consequences. He still vomits occasionally, as he is a regurgitator. The IM vet has moved on, and we currently don't have one nearby.

Simba was diagnosed with diabetes in August, and we are working to get his blood glucose down, hopefully to go into remission soon. Since the freeze-dried raw, which Stella & Chewy's is, is virtually carbohydrate free, we were surprised at his diagnosis, since he had zero symptoms. He is overweight, however, and we are trying to help him lose weight. For treats he gets Whole Life freeze-dried chicken, loves it. We found the hair analysis with a company called 5Strands, which I learned about from Modern Cat magazine, very helpful. The IM vets do not believe any of these tools to learn what they are sensitive to work, but I think it does, and have since obtained the hair analysis for a new rescue kitty we have had for 3 weeks that has been vomiting frequently and has very loose stools (no parasites). His sensitivities are to carbs found in gravy-type foods, and all dry foods, and some animal proteins. There is no dry food I can feed him other than Young Alive Zero, which he doesn't like. I really don't want to feed much dry food anyway. I am putting powdered pumpkin (Amazon) in his wet food and he is gradually improving. His main diet now is Fancy Feast Naturals with gravy, and Muse with gravy. He isn't keen on pate foods.

The Temptations treats your kitty is eating have a lot of carbs, which could be causing your kitty's current symptoms. I hope this helps.

Mariella & Simba

 

Young again 0 says it's good for IBD
Congrats on getting married and omg a BABY!! We will definitely need pics
And a wedding pic

 

Thanks, guys. I am so overwhelmed because there are so many brands out there of limited ingredient foods, that I don't really know where to start. I want like, a limited ingredient, 0 carb, cooked, novel protein with no additives. LOL! As if.... but anything less than that just doesn't seem to cut it.

My dog actually recently lost 3 lb (he was only 9 lb, now down to 6) and was vomiting blood last week too, and we just did an ultrasound for him which shows a thickened stomach. So now he is also gonna need an endoscopy to figure out what is going on. I am kind of nervous because he, Bella, and my new little guy Shinoda (only 1 year old) have all been on the raw Primal Free Dried diet, and 2 of them now have problems. my sister's cat also was on this diet and developed hepatic lipidosis! I am worried maybe this type of food isn't properly balanced or something... Or maybe it's just a coincidence, hard to say bc both of my pets who are sick are almost 10 and 12.... but my sister's cat is much younger, maybe 6? On top of the tolerance issues, with the baby and all of that, moving away from raw food would also make feeding time faster and less stressful for me. Just seems like there's so many reasons to switch.

Bella was in the hospital again yesterday due to vomiting non stop- really fun taking your cat to the vet at 3:30 in the morning while you're 8 months pregnant, then going to work. They started her on prednisolone, which I had a hunch she would just because her inflammation looked bad on endoscopy and she still wasn't herself and not eating well. Hopefully it's temporary. we are going for a recheck in 1 month. In the meantime, I gave in and got her the dry partially hydrolyzed food just because I need to feed her something different and it seemed like the easiest choice. She's not eating it that great to be honest, so I've had to mix some of her old raw food into it, which I am not thrilled about since she is on an immunosuppressant. I think maybe adding some canned food to the dry would help stimulate her appetite, and if she tolerates it maybe we can do away with the dry over time. I kind of am thinking of trying the Ziwipeak food as some of you suggested, since its venison which she has never had before, and the quality of the food isn't as bad as some others. But MAN it's expensive! I am worried about buying a whole case and then her not liking it, and it going to waste. I have so much freaking cat and dog food at home that we aren't using, because we keep buying it and then either deciding they should be on something else, or they don't like it. I even have some of Frosty's old Recovery cans. I really need to take a trip to the shelter and donate everything they're not eating.

I also need to figure out what canned food to feed my other 2 cats. One is still eating the freeze dried raw, and the other is on FF. Yeah... 4 different pets on 4 different foods. Ridiculous.... I don't want to give them what I will be giving Bella because of the price, but I also don't wanna give them fancy feast. (Both Bella and Frosty really didn't tolerate FF well and I know of have a bad taste in my mouth about that... no pun intended). I am thinking maybe Weruva or Tiki cat, but I don't know. It just seems like such a difficult decision and I want to get it right to hopefully prevent some GI issues in these cats down the road.'

Thanks again for your help. If there's any other canned cat food brands that are relatively high quality, limited ingredient or not, feel free to make suggestions. I hope I figure this out before my maternity leave LOL

 

Bella and Andy eat merrick limited ingredient canned food, salmon, tuna, duck
I'm so sorry ur going through all this
Sending healing prayers

 

Thanks! It’s kinda crazy that they don’t have hydrolyzed protein wet food. Why are cats with IBD destined to live off of dry food according to the vets?? The vet gave us some RC selected protein canned food to try today , but they’re all super high in carbs (15-24%) and protein content is only 30%. Disappointingly so, the ziwi food which costs $80 per case, is equally is low in protein at around 30%, and although they’re low carb, it’s like 60% fat. It’s so frustrating! Why can’t the make it 60% protein and 30% fat for that kind of price?! I feel like that much fat and carbs can be poorly tolerated, esp by an IBD cat. Looks like Merrik limited ingredient is also about 30% protein and 60% fat. The venison is 15% carbs according to dr Lisa’s chart. I honestly don’t know what’s better, and which is also more cost effective considering all choices are suboptimal.

 

Yes it gets very aggravating!! Best of luck with finding right food and omg a baby!! I bet ur so excited, my daughter is due dec 16

 

I’m due on dec 2nd!! Ahh