IBD and Diabetes

I'm writing again. What food do you guy use for a diabetic with IBD? How do I transition my 10 other cats to eat fast so I can remove excess food so my diabetic/IBD cat does not eat it. Background- older cat adopted 4.5 months, had to have a DepoMedron shot one month in for asthma, developed diabetes and appears to have IBD too. Got dehydrated, diarrhea, vomiting, now has been at vet for the past week trying to regulate him, BUT he's on Royall Canon Gastro high energy which is high carb- not good. Vet has him on 3.5 units twice a day.. I am really concerned 'cos my cat is in a highly regulated environment there but when he comes back home it won't be the same. Shots will be regulated but he'll be cage free with other kitties around. Big change in general. Won't this make all go off kilter?. (I refuse to cage him long term and it's a small house, I have no room I can keep him in long term. ) Suggestions? I am to the point where I cannot sleep at night worrying about the effect this will have on my house (cats and humans) and the expense. Will it be easier than it appears?

 

I too have many cats and it did take me awhile to find a routine that worked for me, but I did and you will too. Try not to stress too much (easier said) When Colin was diagnosed, gone were the easy days of Free fed kibble. I started by locking the others in my bedroom several times a day for their kibble fix, after offering them canned Friskies. I got a different bowl for Colin so I could tell his food, which was a better quality food,(no way I could afford to feed them all the more expensive stuff!) from theirs as I fed the wet to everyone in the kitchen. I just stood there among them to be sure everyone ate the appropriate food. Overtime they all learned their bowls and where and when the kibble would be fed. I also switched the others to a lower carb kibble in case Colin found any spilled pieces. I’m not sure what is a good low carb IBD appropriate food, but here is some good info on IBD
http://www.ibdkitties.net/ Again try not to stress, it may take some time, but you will figure out a routine that works for you. Keep asking questions here, and we’ll try to help any way we can.

 

Hi Jessie - - Sharon gave you really good advice on how to deal with the multiple cat issues
I have only one cat (with diabetes and IBD). Wet food: I avoid any food with carrageenan and as many of the gums as possible (this is addressed in the ibdkitties.net site). So most of those brands are more expensive. But it depends on what IDB symptoms your cat is having. Simple low carb food may be fine for him (fancy feast or any other pate- maybe Friskies). Murphy was a chronic vomiter with bouts of pancreatitis - daily cerenia has helped him more than anything. I would also look at the ibdkitties site for information on probiotics and digestive enzymes (the kind bought in pet stores - not pancreatic enzymes). for occasional kibble, I use Wysong's Epigen90 (which would be too expensive for a whole household of pets). The same for Dr Elsey's kibble or Young Again. Maybe others know of a lower carb affordable kibble for the other cats.

 

Thank you guys. Sharon- I can't tell you how much better I felt after reading your note yesterday morning. Carol- thank you as well. I have a lot of territorialism in my house although no physical barrier is stopping any cat from going anywhere, but I have a very protective tiny calico who chases half the cats back upstairs. Hence water, litter and food are on both floors. My IBD/diabetic is one of the few cats who roams all over. I only keep dry food on one of the counters downstairs and the tiny calico cat eats it. Upstairs I now put dry food out for only about half an hour at meal time 'cos 3 cats are used to it from their previous shelter life. Wet food stays out. Then I remove it. My diabetic usually eats downstairs so the dry food gest removed before he moves upstairs. I need to try to phase that dry food out upstairs too. Since I've cut down on leaving dry food out I have a lot more cat swarming morning and night. The IBS/diabetic cat is still at the vets (day 8). Before he went to the vets I was feeding him the Royal Canin Gastro and his stool got pretty good (but bad for diabetes) , but then he stopped eating it so I gave him Friskies and Fancy feast pates and he started diarrhea again, and vomiting, and then wouldn't eat at all, hence his vet stay to regulate him- digestively and insulin wise.

 

Hi Jessie the ibdkitties site gives tips on how to deal with diarrhea - pumpkin or S. boyardii. Cut out seafood. Sounds like the kitty may have had pancreatitis - I would ask the vet about cerenia

 

I’m glad youre feeling a bit better about things! I can take awhile to get a routine going, but you will. Did you get a chance to check out the IBD Kitties link I posted above? Lots of great info in there. I would start be eliminating the Friskies, it contains carageenan, and try just Fancy Feast for a few days. If that doesn’t do the trick, look for a novel protein food such as rabbit or lamb. @Carol & Murphy will be able to make some suggestions. You can also try adding pure pumpkin to his food. That and florastor (a probiotic) were the only things that got my cats diarrhea under control. Also others here have used Budesonide, a steroid that seems to help without impacting blood sugar. You can ask your vet about that.

 

Thanks. Pancreatitis- the vet said there is no definitive test for it but he came out neg on the closest test. He is on Cerenia. Pumpkin is a carbohydrate. I'd like to avoid it if possible. I was feeding him mainly chicken and turkey pates, not fish. when he wasn't eating the Royal Canin gastro, but it's good to know about the fish. I'll look into Floraster. I didn't know that about Friskies. I have a bunch of FF pates I bought just for this cat that I'll use. I asked my vet about Budesonide and she said no way. I will ask her to revisit it. Doing a quick online search all I see is do NOT use it if you have diabetes.

 

I agree with everything Sharon said. The ibdkitties site has a ton of information about this. Are you on facebook? ibdkitties has an active facebook site - you can get great advice from others who have cats with Venison is another novel protein you might try, but again, study the ibdkitties.net site for the best advice. Budesonide is usually used after other IBD treatments have been tried. I'd continue with daily cerenia - as I said, it has been a miracle for Murphy's vomiting.

 

I will read more on the IDB site later today. I'll check out the FB site. Thanks.