Best Cat Food for Potential IBD Cat

[jm83]

Hi All,

I've posted on here before about my cat, Ray, who's been having chronic vomiting problems and members were super helpful in recommending some different food brands. I'm just trying to find the right match for him.

I need to find a good wet, and dry, food without the following:

1. No Chicken
2. No Gum
3. No Carageenan
4. No Grain

I also need to find something he likes! I bought a bunch of novel protein pates from the various recommended brands, and he seems to hate them all (rabbit, duck, venison, lamb).

He wants his Fancy Feast, but I think it's making him sick

Help.

 

[Joey's mom]

Two yrs ago I decided to try a different brand of dry for the new adopted cats. Prior cats were fed Wellness, Merrick, Nulo. On Chewy's site I came across a brand I never heard of, it had brave reviews, excellent pure ingredients is offered grain free or low grain. I also contacted the company to speak to a specialist for recommendations. The brand is Farmina and it's sold in different variations. My cats are fed Wellness and Weruva wet and for dry I buy 3 different flavors of Farmina, 2 low grain and 1 grain free which I alternate. A friend, who's also a catsite member informed me her cat is constantly vomiting, her cat was eating Fancy Feast she tried different dry from pet stores. I suggested Farmina and her cat is no longer vomiting. Chewy sells the brand cheaper than Amazon. Wellness is an excellent food, very knowledgeable customer service staff that are willing to assist with food suggestions for various problems. I avoid rabbit, duck, venison with all my cats, I learned from other cat experts not most cats enjoy the new products hitting the shelves and when I did serve rabbit or duck prior cats did vomit. I didn't want to try those proteins on the new cats. One of the Farmina dry I buy is lamb in the low grain formula.

 

[stephanietx]

Raw is really good for IBD kitties.

 

[Joey's mom]

Wellness has raw in different flavors. Everything depends on a cat's likes and dislikes, we cat people know it takes quite a bit of money, time and patience until we find a food our cats will eat. Having shared my home with cats for at least 50 yrs I always tried premium brands. I am also a volunteer with cat rescue, feeding homeless and rescue cats, we serve Friskies, because it's important to make sure they eat and it seems every cat likes that brand, but it's a brand I do not approve of to serve to mine.

 

[jm83]

Raw is really good for IBD kitties.

Thank you! What are some good reputable raw brands to buy? I dont want to give him salmonella or anything.

 

[jm83]

Wellness has raw in different flavors. Everything depends on a cat's likes and dislikes, we cat people know it takes quite a bit of money, time and patience until we find a food our cats will eat. Having shared my home with cats for at least 50 yrs I always tried premium brands. I am also a volunteer with cat rescue, feeding homeless and rescue cats, we serve Friskies, because it's important to make sure they eat and it seems every cat likes that brand, but it's a brand I do not approve of to serve to mine.

Thank you so much for your help! I havent looked at Wellness raw yet, but I was just looking at the cans and packets and it seems most of those have the xanthan gum in them, which I was advised to stay away from. Same thing with Weruva, from what I can see. Do you know of any of the pates that dont have that in them?

I'll have to ask the pet store about Wellness raw!

He's been eating Friskies dry and Fancy Feast almost his whole life (up until he switched to prescription Hills z/d, but without any improvement). Sad they make it yummy but not healthy

 

[Joey's mom]

I am only familiar with Wellness that's the only one I tried in raw but if Merrick has raw, that's an excellent company, the food is made on their premises so quality control is outstanding. Also made my Merrick I think it's back country, I buy it in small cans and pouches. Sorry, I know the first word starts with "B" just can't think of the full name right now. My new cats talked it over and decided they no longer like pate, sure in the beginning they ate anything all up, whatever I buy now has to have gravy that's why food with gravy must come from a good company.

 

[Joey's mom]

Thank you so much for your help! I havent looked at Wellness raw yet, but I was just looking at the cans and packets and it seems most of those have the xanthan gum in them, which I was advised to stay away from. Same thing with Weruva, from what I can see. Do you know of any of the pates that dont have that in them?

I'll have to ask the pet store about Wellness raw!

He's been eating Friskies dry and Fancy Feast almost his whole life (up until he switched to prescription Hills z/d, but without any improvement). Sad they make it yummy but not healthy

Weruva is made in a human grade facility. I just looked at the ingredients on 3 cans of food, one is Wellness Gravies Tuna, Weruva chicken and beef in hydrating puree and American Journey and I don't see xanthan gum unless it's listed under different names, like guar gum? American Jouney is only sold by Chewy, I buy the wet not dry and my cats can't seem to get enough of it, It's good food. May I suggest you contact Wellness at Wellpet.com, through email, present your questions, concerns, you will be amazed of the wonderful timely response. I don't trust employees in a pet store I prefer to go directly to the source. Also, you don't have to buy any Wellness product but if you sign up with them, you will receive their newsletter outlining new products, about their products.

 

[LTS3]

Use this chart for canned food:

Check This Out.... Chart For Cat Food Ingredients

Over the past couple of weeks, @cheeser and I have been working on a cat food ingredient chart that anyone can use to find suitable foods a food sensitive cat can eat or if a particular ingredient is to be avoided for preference reasons, such as no gums. Cheeser already had a personal...

thecatsite.com

The blander the food is, the better for IBD and other sensitive tummy cats. Rawz is ideal and comes in both canned and dry but it's also a pricey brand and only available at independent pet stores and a few authorized online web sites. See Check This Out.... Chart For Cat Food Ingredients Amazon is NOT one of the authorized web sites despite all the Rawz products you can find there sold by third party sellers at marked up price.

Try these LID type foods that can be fed to IBD cats:

BLUE Basics® Limited Ingredient Cat Food | Blue Buffalo
Limited Ingredient Diet - Grain Free Cat | Merrick Pet Care

Limited Ingredient Diet Paté

Moisture-rich, minimal ingredient grain free cat and dog wet food that provides the best nutrition for your pet.

kohapet.com

Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet | Instinct Pet Food
Grain Free Wet Recipes - NutriSource Pet Foods (not exactly an LID food but some of the canned are novel protein)

I personally feed my IBD cat Nature's Variety Instinct frozen raw in rabbit. Other raw and home cooked diets can be fed. There's a forum here on TCS with more info on those diets.

Wellness has raw in different flavors.

Wellness does not have raw food. The only products are dry, canned, and treats. Feed Your Cat Well There is a dry food line called RawRev that contains freeze dried raw pieces.

 

[cataholic07]

Cats with IBD can not be fed dry food at all. They need easy to digest food and dry food is too carb heavy. There are some aafco approved raw like Instinct, Primal, Stella and chewys, and some others. Raw is great for cats with IBD (there is a fb group called raw feeding for ibd cats I would recommend that). Koha, Rawz, Hounds & Gatos, dr elseys are all great as well.

 

[Joey's mom]

Use this chart for canned food:

http://[URL]https://thecatsite.com/...-chart-for-cat-food-ingredients.394476/unread

[/URL]

The blander the food is, the better for IBD and other sensitive tummy cats. Rawz is ideal and comes in both canned and dry but it's also a pricey brand and only available at independent pet stores and a few authorized online web sites. See Check This Out.... Chart For Cat Food Ingredients Amazon is NOT one of the authorized web sites despite all the Rawz products you can find there sold by third party sellers at marked up price.

Try these LID type foods that can be fed to IBD cats:

BLUE Basics® Limited Ingredient Cat Food | Blue Buffalo
Limited Ingredient Diet - Grain Free Cat | Merrick Pet Care

http://[URL]https://kohapet.com/collections/limited-ingredient-diet-pate

[/URL]
Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet | Instinct Pet Food
Grain Free Wet Recipes - NutriSource Pet Foods (not exactly an LID food but some of the canned are novel protein)

I personally feed my IBD cat Nature's Variety Instinct frozen raw in rabbit. Other raw and home cooked diets can be fed. There's a forum here on TCS with more info on those diets.




Wellness does not have raw food. The only products are dry, canned, and treats. Feed Your Cat Well There is a dry food line called RawRev that contains freeze dried raw pieces.

My Joey had kidney disease and IBD, he was on medication for both conditions. Royal Canin S for the kidney problems can only be purchased from a vet unless with a script from the vet you can check prices elsewhere. the Royal Canin comes in varies varieties. Wellnes Raw Rev is what I gave him sometimes he liked it. With all his medical problems he never vomited. The most important matter was to get him to eat so I tried everything. He never liked Instinct wet because it was on the dry side but he did eat their pouches if it had gravy. Royal Canin was not a favorite of mine it's has several alphabet letters to distinguish btw the differences depending on the illness, I chose S because he preferred that one. He was also served human roast beef, turkey and I would cook chicken for him. food was never his thing he preferred sitting up high watching the world behind him or hanging around visitors. He never vomited but the medication for IBD helped with normal defecation. His daily medication consisted of an appetite stimulant, cerenia , sometimes B12. All meds except B12 which was given through the sub-q fluids lines I had compounded in marshmallow flavor because the pharmacist said that was the most asked flavor for from pet parents. Sometimes I had the Cerenia administered by injection. In the beginning he received the depo steroid rather than prednisone. I understand the danger with the depo and knew prednisone leaves the body while the depo stays but it helped him a lot. I think he only received 4 or 5 injections in a 2 yr period. He always used the litter box, he was 19, very strong, fought every doctor and vet. He never went into hiding, other than weight loss no one could tell this was a very sick cat. When his levels increased he was taken daily to the vet for treatment. He never showed signs of being in pain I would not have allowed that. His behavior was normal up till the end. The vet stressed the importance of him to eat and I must say I bought just about every food wet I saw at the pet store.

 

[waddle]

I have been researching this a lot lately as my IBD kitty recently lost a lot of weight. The only options I’ve found that don’t have ingredients generally considered to be bad, esp for IBD, are Koha, Dr. Elsey’s (though now I see it has agar agar which I know some avoid so I will have to look into this), some Stella and Chewy’s options, and other raw foods. I’m happy that so far both my kitties are liking the Northwest Naturals freeze dried raw. They like the Stella and Chewy‘s too but I am wary of feeding that after reading about the high bone content. Next time I go to the pet store I am going to pick up the Stella and Chewy’s frozen raw and see if they like that. I have samples of the Rawz canned food on the way. Until recently they had been eating nearly 100% Blue Buffalo limited ingredient turkey and potato. I am trying to minimize the kibble but I don’t want to eliminate it entirely because there are times I have to be gone for long periods of time and need to be able to leave it out for them.

A few years ago she was on the RC rabbit Rx kibble and wet food, and I tried the instinct as well (the reviews about smelly poo were very much correct), but the blue buffalo is much cheaper.

 

[Joey's mom]

I have been researching this a lot lately as my IBD kitty recently lost a lot of weight. The only options I’ve found that don’t have ingredients generally considered to be bad, esp for IBD, are Koha, Dr. Elsey’s (though now I see it has agar agar which I know some avoid so I will have to look into this), some Stella and Chewy’s options, and other raw foods. I’m happy that so far both my kitties are liking the Northwest Naturals freeze dried raw. They like the Stella and Chewy‘s too but I am wary of feeding that after reading about the high bone content. Next time I go to the pet store I am going to pick up the Stella and Chewy’s frozen raw and see if they like that. I have samples of the Rawz canned food on the way. Until recently they had been eating nearly 100% Blue Buffalo limited ingredient turkey and potato. I am trying to minimize the kibble but I don’t want to eliminate it entirely because there are times I have to be gone for long periods of time and need to be able to leave it out for them.

A few years ago she was on the RC rabbit Rx kibble and wet food, and I tried the instinct as well (the reviews about smelly poo were very much correct), but the blue buffalo is much cheaper.

Wish you luck, do hope you have success finding the right food and a food they will eat. Because your cat as IBD may I ask if he/she is on medication to help with elimination.

 

[stephanietx]

Visit the Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food forum for great help on feeding raw and switching to a raw diet.

 

[Joey's mom]

Visit the Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food forum for great help on feeding raw and switching to a raw diet.

Thank you, my cats are young right now they don't have any health issues, however, should something develop I will keep your suggestion in mind.

 

[waddle]

Yes she has been on prednisolone for years. Luckily not a lot of trouble with vomiting and diarrhea now.

 

[Joey's mom]

Yes she has been on prednisolone for years. Luckily not a lot of trouble with vomiting and diarrhea now.

That's good news, the thing about prednisone is once it's stopped it leaves the body which is good, not like more potent steroids that stay in the system. My joey initially had to be on a more powerful one but only 5 or 6 injections, maybe 7 w/o reviewing his records I don't recall but he was on other necessary meds. If it's possible, I'm still not familiar with how to maneuver the Catsite, if you can find my story "2 vets withheld info" you'll have a better understanding of what I lived through.

 

[jm83]

Two yrs ago I decided to try a different brand of dry for the new adopted cats. Prior cats were fed Wellness, Merrick, Nulo. On Chewy's site I came across a brand I never heard of, it had brave reviews, excellent pure ingredients is offered grain free or low grain. I also contacted the company to speak to a specialist for recommendations. The brand is Farmina and it's sold in different variations. My cats are fed Wellness and Weruva wet and for dry I buy 3 different flavors of Farmina, 2 low grain and 1 grain free which I alternate. A friend, who's also a catsite member informed me her cat is constantly vomiting, her cat was eating Fancy Feast she tried different dry from pet stores. I suggested Farmina and her cat is no longer vomiting. Chewy sells the brand cheaper than Amazon. Wellness is an excellent food, very knowledgeable customer service staff that are willing to assist with food suggestions for various problems. I avoid rabbit, duck, venison with all my cats, I learned from other cat experts not most cats enjoy the new products hitting the shelves and when I did serve rabbit or duck prior cats did vomit. I didn't want to try those proteins on the new cats. One of the Farmina dry I buy is lamb in the low grain formula.

So far he's snubbed Tiki, Koha, Weruva, Authority and Instinct products. Wellness seems to have a lot of chicken ingredients and someone said that he might be allergic. I'm trying Farmina dry and Nulo today! This is so hard. I want him to eat but I dont want to give him something that's hurting him.

 

[jm83]

Raw is really good for IBD kitties.

I get nervous with raw and recalls, but I'm buying some raw products today from Nulo. If you have any recommended raw brands, please let me know, thanks so much!

 

[jm83]

I am only familiar with Wellness that's the only one I tried in raw but if Merrick has raw, that's an excellent company, the food is made on their premises so quality control is outstanding. Also made my Merrick I think it's back country, I buy it in small cans and pouches. Sorry, I know the first word starts with "B" just can't think of the full name right now. My new cats talked it over and decided they no longer like pate, sure in the beginning they ate anything all up, whatever I buy now has to have gravy that's why food with gravy must come from a good company.

Thank you! I'll try Merrick too