Update on test result. Questions about diet for IBD

Simon has an ultrasound yesterday and the vet is leaning towards a GI disease such as IBD being the cause of his weight loss. The CBC showed everything in the normal range. They also ran GI panel to check how well he is absorbing nutrients and will have the results later this week. Depending on the results, she may put Simon on an elimination diet.

Currently he eats Friskies pate flavors. If they change him to eating novel proteins, what brand foods have worked for your IBD cats? I am trying to find other options than just prescription foods. I am finding mixed information online so I would prefer getting advice from a group I trust.

 

Poor simon i hope you find a good fit for his food needs

 

The Koha brand has a few LID options - chicken and turkey are the lowest in carbs (see here: https://kohapet.com/products/rabbit-au-jus-cat-food), but rabbit might also be in the acceptable range (and definitely more novel than turkey)

 

Natures Variety Instinct has LID options (rabbit, venison, lamb).. If you spend t8me reading labels, you will find quite a few that don’t market as LID, but only have one protein in them, such as Rawz, Ziwipeak, Identity, Hound & Gatos, Lotus are a few I have fed. I have lucked out that my IBD girl can do turkey. Another option is raw food, or making your own with a premix, some of which can be done with cooked meat.

 

I second Ziwipeak, Rawz and Hounds and Gatos. I called Rawz and they were super nice and sent me samples. The pumpkin flavors did not agree with Minnie’s IBD and she did much better after I removed all beef from her diet. Not sure what state you’re on, but there’s a great raw brand here called Smallbatch. If Simon has IBD, he’ll also need b12 supplements. Either a shot or a daily pill

 

Not true. Some cats with IBD and small cell lymphoma have low B12, but not all. None of mine did. I would get him tested first instead of just giving him B12. There is some possibility that extra B12 helps cancer, so you want to avoid giving it unless you need to.

 

B12 is water soluble. How can it cause cancer?

 

I am still waiting on the results for the GI panel. That includes tests for B12, folate, and Pancreatic insufficiency.

 

The GI test results took a while for me to, sounds like they got sent to Texas A&M?

I belong to an SCL group (third cat with it ) and the recommendation there is to be careful with B12. There haven't been studies with cats, but there are studies on humans that suggest caution. It's possible the B12 does it's damage before being peed out. Here is one such article.
https://sciencenorway.no/cancer-nor...min-b12-can-increase-lung-cancer-risk/1461614

 

Update for Simon. The GI panel came back normal except for the TLI. The vet said that was elevated. So we are going to start him on a hydrolyzed protein diet for the next few weeks to see if that helps.

 

Paws crossed for the diet change working. I hope he likes it.

 

So do I. Otherwise the next treatment would be steroids. I would prefer to avoid putting him on them if possible.

 

Lisa --

One of my kitties has IBD. Gizmo has done well both on a raw diet (pork or lamb is what I could most easily access) plus EZ Complete for the supplements or ZiwiPeak venison or lamb and rabbit. One of the the reasons I like the ZiwiPeak is that there are no gums or carrageenan in the food. Those additives can cause GI problems.

Apparently, this is a difference across vet schools. My vet trained at Ohio State and they include calcitriol as a supplement for IBD cats. Gizmo has been on calcitriol since he's been diagnosed. He was diagnosed several years ago and his IBD has been very stable. He's also been on prednisolone since diagnosis although he's now on a very small dose only twice a week.

 

I am hoping after a few weeks on the hydrolyzed diet I can switch him over to a novel protein or raw food diet. I would be great if I can all of the cats on the same diet since it would reduce the chance of it flailing up again if he gets into their foods. If that happens I am leaning towards making my own raw food for the cats instead of buying it. The price of feeding 1 cat commercially made raw foods is high enough. Trying to feed 6 cats it would be outrageous. I have been looking at Dr Lisa's catinfo.org site and it has a lot of good info. Are there any other sites for making raw cat food that you can recommend?

It's pretty ironic that I rarely cook for myself but I am willing to make cat food for my cats. The things we are willing to do for our fur babies.

 

The Raw Feeding for IBD Cats website has good information. Their Facebook page is very and it's where questions are answered/asked.

 

Thanks

 

It's been a few months since your post; out of curiosity, how did the hydrolyzed food work out for you? My vet had me start transitioning my cat to hydrolyzed protein last week and I'm not sure if I'm going to stick with it or try transitioning to some novel protein LID options instead! The carb content of the only hydrolyzed options are NUTS and my cat's symptoms have been so much worse since starting the transition, he even started to pee outside of his litter box twice yesterday because he couldn't make it to his box in the other room in the 5 years since I adopted him, he's NEVER had an "accident" (except in his carrier on the way home from a glucose curve) so I know the new food isn't agreeing with him and I'm not sure it's worth it to make him suffer for another 4 weeks before his next curve!
Just wondering if you stuck with the food and had a similar experience that evened out after a couple of weeks, or if you ended up going a different route with food!

 

I started him on the Hills Z/D. He is mainly on the can but I also give him a little of the dry each day. He gained 1/2 pound by his first checkup.

But he is getting tired of eating the same thing every day. The vet gave me scripts for prescription novel protein foods but they are even more expensive. I am going to try making my own food using the information I found on the Facebook IBD site. Not ready to try raw food but will cook the meat and then add the supplements. I ordered the TCFeline premix and it will be here this week. I am planning to use the food I make to supplement his diet and if he continues to gain weight, may try to switch him completely over to homemade food.

 

Also Simon is not diabetic so for the short term I was not as concerned about the carbs but I did tell my vet that I didn't want him on the prescription food long term. She knows I have lots of experience with diabetic cats and agreed. Though she still pushes prescription food.

I have not told her about making my own food yet. As long as I see improvement in his health, I will continue doing it.

 

My singapura, Ana, has GI issues. She is currently doing the best she has since I got her on a mix of prescription diet dry and Tiki Cat mousse salmon flavour. Any time she has got into anything else, she has got sicker.