Every single vet tells me a different thing about cat food.

[maggie101]

Unless you have a cat with ibd which she might. Clear throw up also and lethargic.

 

[lisahe]

Something to keep in mind is that your kitty may or may not have an allergy/sensitivity to proteins, he could also have a sensitivity to "filler" ingredients. This would be ingredients like carbs, fruits & vegetables, or gums and thickeners - basically anything that isn't a protein or vitamin & mineral.

I so agree with this! Our cats have had difficulty with potato, agar-agar, and green-lipped mussels. Agar-agar was the worst, making both cats barf. There are lots of other things I won't feed out of principle, with carrageenan and legumes at the top of the lift.

That said, our cat who has a tendency to barf may have difficulty with lamb, which is currently off the menu due to lots of barfing after a day that somehow ended up with a lot of lamb. Lamb is apparently one of the top problem-causing proteins for cats. And of course our cats love it! (The vet tech said her cats love the proteins that are worst for them so I guess that's a thing for cats.)

 

[Astragal14]

I do know that Royal Canin Gastrointestinal, Purina Pro Plan Gastrointestinal, N&D Chicken and pomegranate (with and without grains) all didn't agree with him. He's now eating Purina Pro Plan Hydrolized which also didn't agree with him, though it did improve symptoms since he no longer has flatulence, has less frequent bowel movements and his stool has regained shape. It's far from perfect though as the blood persists.

Has his stool been tested for any viruses/bacteria/parasites? Some diseases don't shed in every stool and it can take multiple stool samples before something is identified.

None of those symptoms were there when he arrived here...

Did he have no symptoms in location one (France?) and symptoms started after arrival in location two (Brazil? Or do I have them reversed?)? I wonder if travel and stress are as much of a culprit as food. How long has he had these symptoms?

 

[Astragal14]

There are lots of other things I won't feed out of principle, with carrageenan and legumes at the top of the lift.

Sometimes I feel like, between:

what my cats CAN'T eat
what they WON'T eat
and ingredients I DON'T give them

there isn't much left!!!

 

[lisahe]

Sometimes I feel like, between:

what my cats CAN'T eat
what they WON'T eat
and ingredients I DON'T give them

there isn't much left!!!

I know, that's how I feel, too!

 

[maggie101]

My vet doesn't want to give any medication before a biopsy because Topaz has feline coronavirus - I think steroids affect immunity? I can see how this is tricky, but they don't want to try anything before a biopsy, and we're confused (so is his other vet) because it's not really... acute? Obviously I want to explore options to make him feel better, but to put him through an endoscopy you'd think there would be some other indication that he's sick.

So I'll explore possibilities related to food and just try to educate myself on the topic. It's both scary and annoying, but I don't feel good about having relied on professionals so far. My dad keeps complaining that it hasn't helped at all, if anything we've made it worse... I'm inclined to agree, to some extent.

I just remembered your cat still has feline coronavirus? How did the vet find out? Curious since it's rare. How long will it last?

 

[gabicards]

I just remembered your cat still has feline coronavirus? How did the vet find out? Curious since it's rare. How long will it last?

As far as I know, it's very very common. My previous cat, Louie, had it too, and my friends' cats (the ones I've talked to about it) also have it. It's this virus. It doesn't go away, normally, it tends to stay dormant. In worst case scenarios, it mutates into the virus that causes FIP.

 

[gabicards]

Has his stool been tested for any viruses/bacteria/parasites? Some diseases don't shed in every stool and it can take multiple stool samples before something is identified.




Did he have no symptoms in location one (France?) and symptoms started after arrival in location two (Brazil? Or do I have them reversed?)? I wonder if travel and stress are as much of a culprit as food. How long has he had these symptoms?

His stool was tested twice. In the first test, we got just one stool sample, they found nothing. The 2nd one was a full PCR in which we collected stool samples for 3 days, and they only found FCoV. No parasites.

He hasn't been to France yet - I reside there, but I got him as I was coming to Brazil, and we've been here for 3 months. I'm inclined to believe he didn't have the symptoms in Poland, where he lived before, because it took him a few weeks to start having them after arriving here... I remember being very surprised that he had no gastrointestinal symptoms at all after the trip and moving to a different home.

His breeder had the entire litter tested for parasites, found nothing either. As far as poop goes, I haven't asked, mostly because I doubt she'd be able to give me very precise information since the litter stays together and she wouldn't know whose poop she's seeing. All I know is he wasn't a big fan of kibble when he arrived here, and she told me his diet consisted mostly of Royal Canin kitten, wet.

 

[gabicards]

By the way, I've been feeding my kitten mostly Royal Canin Kitten (wet, which was the bulk of his diet in the cattery) + some Pro Plan Hydrolized because he seemingly stays hungry even after 3 sachets of wet food, and I don't want to introduce novel protein until we're back in France (July 22).

I've been adding very little S. Boulardii to his food for exactly 1 week now, and the difference to his stool is mind blowing. I haven't seen blood since we started it, even though we're far from the dose that IBDKitties recommends, and his stool has shape (it's not too dry, either, but it comes out in 2 or 3 separate parts). It seems he's going longer without pooping, too - like 24-30 hours, and he doesn't strain.

Mind you, he did start drinking less water after we went back to giving him mostly wet food. He used to drink a lot when he was eating just kibble... but I suppose that's logical? Hopefully that's enough water intake for him, though. Not seeing him drink makes me a bit anxious.

Still waiting for the fecal transplant pills to arrive. I paid for UPS' fastest shipping option, but I'm worried brazilian customers will screw me over. Worst case scenario it will arrive here after I'm back in France, and I'll need to order it again. I'll be so mad! But I really want to try that on Topaz.