Hi all, I am hoping you guys may have a suggestion on food to feed Osha. She had a GI blood panel and ultrasound and has suspected IBD. She is currently on Levemir, blood pressure meds, probiotic and B-12. The vet wants to try a limited ingredient diet. Of course she wants me to use the prescription ones. Boy are those EXPENSIVE! And as we all know, prescription diets aren't always the best. I've looked on chewy and there are tons of limited ingredient diets. I just don't know where to start. The vet has suggested staying away from the typical proteins such as chicken, fish and duck (because she ate duck in the past). I'd also like to start her on S Boulardii. There seem to be a lot of brands for this as well. Is there one someone has used with success or can recommend a brand? Does anyone have some suggestions? Thanks! Amanda and Kitty Osha, The Empress
Gizmo is an IBD kitty. I've ordered my S. bollardii from ReNew. I found it on Amazon. I use the S. boulardii if he has a bout of diarrhea. (It works very well for humans, too!) On a day to day basis, I use one of their more general probiotics (e.g, ReNew Ultimate.) I use about 1/4 of a capsule. There are a couple of very good canned food companies that make limited ingredient, low carb foods. I've not used Hounds & Gatos but I just looked at their website for another member. I would take a look and double check that the ingredients are consistent with what the label says. For example, some companies may say a food is chicken but there's some fish in the ingredients. The other line that I do use is ZiwiPeak. Gizmo gets their venison and lamb flavors. Both of these companies do not add gums or carrageenan to their food both of which are suspected to contribute to IBD. I'd also be concerned that the prescription foods are not low carb. They rarely seem to be! Another option is a raw food diet. Most of Gizmo's food is raw. I buy ground lamb or pork at the supermarket and use a pre-mix (EZ Complete from FoodFurLife) to add all of the necessary supplements to make the food nutritionally complete. Even if you do not opt for a raw diet, Raw Feeding for IBD Cats is a very good website for information on supplements, how to deal with the less savory aspects of IBD (i.e., vomiting and diarrhea), etc. They also have a Facebook page for discussions.
Hi Amanda! Have you considered a raw diet for her. They really help IBD kitties a lot. Since I transitioned over to raw and homemade Bubba doesn’t have the GI issues he used to. I use the Florastor brand S . Boulardii. It’s a bit pricey but I have seen it on Amazon cheaper. I have only used it for diarrhea and once that was under control , I stopped.I don’t think that S.Boulardii is one you want to do long term. I believe a better choice for them to be on long term is Renew. I’m sure some other’s will weigh in. Hello to Sebastian!
Groups io has an IBD Group you might want to join even if you don’t want to post you can then read their material.
I have nothing to add to the discussion. Just wanted to wish you and Sebastien a fantastic wedding day.
Thanks Sienne. I will look for the s boulardii on amazon. I do give her the renew probiotic now, but I need something for when she has diarrhea. Thanks for the food suggestions. I looked on Chewy. Man, they are expensive! I tried raw awhile back. I was using the darwins raw. Osha did well for awhile and then started to vomit it all. I tried several other brands and she was having the same issue. Thanks for the recommendation on the website. I am a member of that group on FB. Thanks Bobbie! I've tried raw in the past and it was stressful. She did really well for a few months and then she was throwing it up almost immediately. Thanks! I've joined some groups. It's like learning diabetes the first time....there is SO much information. I appreciate everyone's advice. Thanks! We are super excited! We are getting married on Friday!!!
You might want to try an elimination diet just to rule out any allergies. https://medium.com/@kalcevka/how-to-do-a-food-allergy-elimination-diet-for-your-cat-589c6385145e
Thanks!! This is what I am trying to do with a limited ingredient diet with a protein she hasn't had before.
Making your own food would give you more control over which proteins you give. Since you mentioned Osha went off raw, I wonder if it was a particular protein you were giving that she eventually develop allergies from? Www.catinfo.org has a recipe that partially cooks the proteins so that could also be something you could try. Check out https://hare-today.com/ too. They have many novel protein options. Unfortunately I've never used this service as I’m from Canada but I would totally use it if we had it!
Hi Amanda, You've already had some great input from those that are dealing with IBD. I just saw this Just wanted to wish you both a fabulous day.
Thanks!!! None of this would have been possible if it weren't for our diabetic cats and the FDMB!! Such a strange place to meet my future husband, but I am super thankful!!!
I think there was a problem with Darwin's at one point. There may have been a recall. Stella & Chewy's has a freeze dried raw. I know the brands I recommended are pricey. It's partially why I feed primarily raw. With Darwin's, what protein were you using. Is it possible that it was the protein Osha was reacting to and not the raw food?
Wishing you and Sebastien a wonderful married life!!! I agree that the throwing up could have been an allergy. That is what happens if I give Bubba beef. Within 20 minutes it was up. Then when he developed a chicken allergy and pork, it showed up as diarrhea and itching lesion on his neck and face. Chicken is one of the biggest allergen culprits .
Awesome news on the wedding. I hope you have a fabulous day! My wedding anniversary is also that day. Throwing up may or may not be an allergy. The problem with “suspected IBD”, is that without proper diagnosis, it is also “possible small cell lymphoma”. SCL does not need a specific diet. An ultrasound is not enough for differential diagnosis. I could not get a diagnosis with Neko due to her heart and diagnosis meant anesthesia.
I fed her Darwins, chicken, turkey and lamb. When that started not to work, I tried rad cat, stella & chewys and primal raw. She was throwing up on all of them even when I introduced slowly. As soon as I went back to FF, that problem went away. That is cool we will share a wedding anniversary. I know the diagnosis isn't definitive. She isn't vomiting (only did that with the raw food), now the symptom was diarrhea. The ultrasound showed thickening of the lower intestine and they also did the GI bloodwork. I wasn't willing to go for the biopsy after to have a proper diagnosis. Her B-12 was low as well so we have started giving her that as well. So, we are just going on best guess for now and will go from there. Vet did mention if diet change doesn't help we could start treating as if it was SCL.
Depending where the bowel thickening is, diagnosis can be done with endoscopy. Less invasive procedure, somewhat cheaper. Paws crossed the novel protein diet works. If the vet ever starts talking steroids, budesonide is a better option for diabetics. It didn’t impact Neko’s BG. ECID of course.
Hi, I wanted to let you know that Koha makes some limited ingredient diets. The rabbit is very high in phosphorus though so it should only be rotated in vs used daily. I would stay away from Hound & Gatos. The company has been sold & I had a recent bad experience with them. I called the corporate office & left messages (strange message at the office) & then a woman called me from a cell phone & did not have the analysis that Koha & other companies are able to provide. What she did give me was very off from what Dr Piersons website had (hers showed very high fat content—double what the rep was giving me). I told her that but she insisted Dr Piersons was wrong. She said she could talk to their consulting vet for the more accurate data but then she never called me back. I did feed my boy the Rabbit & he became extremely ill!! Ugh! Based on how sick he was, there is no doubt that the fat was in fact closer to what Dr Pierson noted vs what the rep told me. I also spoke with a local holistic pet store owner & he has had similar experiences with H&G. Most of the distributors he deals with have dropped them. At the end of the day, if a company does not have reputable, reliable analysis, that is a problem & you run the risk of not knowing what you are feeding your cat. I second what is being said about making your own food. It is really the only way you know with 100% certainty the quality of the meat being used & the amounts of protein vs fat is in the food. I am moving in that direction but waiting to work with someone to determine which protein I will use. I obtained a ton of the Rx novel protein diets & my cat wouldn’t touch any of them. I think because there was pea protein in most of them & it didn’t smell good to him. I was told to really try to use them because many of the commercial diets that are supposed to be limited ingredient really are not. I’m not sure how true that is but that is what I was told. They said use the Rx just for a few weeks to figure out what worked & what did not & then they open it up to commercial diets. So, that is an option as well. Best of luck with finding the food that works. It is a challenge sometimes!
I totally agree about making your own. It was the only way I could control what was in the foods I was given Bubba. I don’t want peas in my limited ingredient food! Seriously! Cats don’t eat peas. And I didn’t want gums and Carrageenan in his foods which are bad for IBD & IBS kitties. Good luck in your quest. Contact the folks at Foodfurlife.com. They are awesome and so knowledgeable! And they get back to you within 24 hours. I just sent them a question a few days ago about raw venison and they provided me with advice and links to research. They are truly awesome, Laurie and Caroline.
I’d get an endoscopy if your vet feels the thickening is at a place to get a firm diagnosis. Tiffany was diagnosed that way. She did not have any masses but unfortunately did have intermediate cell lymphoma. Early diagnosis got diagnosed her treatment started quickly which gives the best chance for remission. Her ultrasound showed severe IBD or lymphoma. I hope you are dealing with IBD.
Congratulations to you and Sebastien - we will be thinking of you on Friday IBD has such a myriad of manifestations in different cats - trial and error to see what works in Osha I use NOW brand S boyardii - twice when I could not get Murphy's diarrhea controlled with anything else, AnimalBiome fecal pills did the trick.
