Food For Possible Ibs?

[NewKitty18]

I've posted a few times about the ongoing saga of our new cat that brought home coccidia and ended up infecting our resident cat. Both cats are now clear of coccidia and everything else (had a fecal PCR). The younger one, who originally had severe GI issues, is 100% fine. The older one, who was fine until we got the new one, still has some stomach issues.

She had a course of erythromycin, which definitely helped, but we're still dealing with some loose stool and really bad odor. The vet suspects that at this point she has some bowel inflammation from the coccidia and everything. We may try the ABs again or a steroid, but a big issue seems to be food. She used to get mostly Pro Plan dry food (Savor chicken and rice) with a bit of Friskies Turkey Dinner in Gravy every day, and did fine on that.

These days she can't tolerate the Friskies at all, but also needs a fair amount of wet food in her diet. She is also picky! So far it seems like chicken may be one of the foods that irritates her GI system, so we're avoiding that. Weruva Lamburger-ini worked best, but definitely wasn't perfect.

Any other suggestions for a wet food with no chicken that appeals to picky cats and is good for sensitive stomachs?

 

[rubysmama]

My Ruby has a sensitive digestive system, and though was never tested/diagnosed, the vet suspected IBS, and suggested a hypo-allergenic food to see if it helped. It did. Literally overnight her stools went from cow patties to tootsie rolls.

That was 5 years ago, and she's been primarily eating Royal Canin hypo-allergenic canned duck ever since. She does get some dry kibble a day as treats, but I have to check the ingredients, as Ruby also seems to have a sensitivity to chicken.

Did you vet by any chance suggest pro-biotics? They might help if the diarrhea depleted all the good bacteria.

One more thing... do the 2 cats get along ok? Stress can also cause digestive issues.

 

[NewKitty18]

For a while the younger cat was on Royal Canin high energy GI food, so we tried the older cat on that also and it went really poorly. She didn't eat nearly enough because she didn't like it, and it seemed to really upset her stomach. We haven't tried hypo-allergenic food, though. Maybe that would be a good next step.

She's been on probiotics for a while. I'm not sure if it helps or not.

The cats have a somewhat mixed relationship. They mostly ignore each other, do a bit of playing occasionally, and then sometimes the older cat growls and hisses at the younger one for no reason that we can identify. We just ordered a refill of Feliway. I hadn't considered the stress factor...

 

[rubysmama]

The hypo-allergenic could help. Or just any unique protein food, something she's never eaten before, so her system isn't used to. Maybe see what your vet suggests.

If it's stress-related, some members have found Feliway helpful. Others not so much.

Here's a couple TCS articles on stress with more info:
Is Your Cat Stressed Out?
Six Surefire Strategies To Reduce Stress In Cats

 

[LTS3]

Try novel protein limited ingredient-type foods:

Single Novel Protein Grain Free Wet (not Raw) Food? Help!
Your favorite brands of "novel protein" canned cat food

BLUE Basics® Limited Ingredient Cat Food | Blue Buffalo
Limited Ingredient Diet - Grain Free Cat | Merrick Pet Care
Cat Food - Limited Ingredient Diet - Kohapet
Limited Ingredients | Natural Balance Pet Foods
Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet | Instinct Pet Food

Rawz is also an option since it's pretty "bland" with no extra junk, er fillers: RAWZ | 100% Rendered Free Cat Food

Chicken-free food:

Chicken, Fish & Turkey Free, Non Pate Recommendations
Affordable Chicken Free Foods?
Searching For A Grain Free Wet Food, Without Chicken In It's Ingredient.
Chicken Free Cat Food?
Urgent Rec Request For Low-carb, Non-chicken, Non-fish Wet Food

More info on treating IBD:

IBDKitties – Helping Save Lives…One Paw at a Time
Feline IBD

 

[NewKitty18]

Thanks for all the ideas!

If a cat is sensitive to chicken how likely are they to be sensitive to duck or turkey?

 

[LTS3]

It varies. Some cats who can't eat chicken are ok with other poultry. Others can't have any poultry at all. You just have to try other poultry and see if the cat has a reaction or not.

 

[rubysmama]

If a cat is sensitive to chicken how likely are they to be sensitive to duck or turkey?

I "think" it's chicken that my Ruby is sensitive to, and she has had no problem with her hypo-allergenic canned duck cat food. Never tried turkey - either real or in cat food.

 

[NewKitty18]

Thanks! Maybe our next step will be a duck-based food, since it's hard to find foods that are totally poultry-free unless you turn to seafood, which I know is another common irritant.

I actually bought some commercial raw beef-based food yesterday (Smallbatch), since the ingredients list is very simple, but so far miss picky does not like it. Younger cat, of course, is all over it.

 

[rubysmama]

Good luck. Keep us updated on how things are going.

 

[daftcat75]

My Krista is sensitive to chicken and salmon. Fortunately, turkey and duck were novel enough for her. That's the thing with novel proteins. It only has to be novel to your cat and not all cats. This is good because most of the novel proteins are red meats and not all cats go for red meat. Krista sadly does not. I can source a number of red meats and game meats easily enough for raw. Turkey, duck, and rabbit are harder to source safely without a grinder. That will likely be her birthday present next month.

 

[LTS3]

Thanks! Maybe our next step will be a duck-based food, since it's hard to find foods that are totally poultry-free unless you turn to seafood, which I know is another common irritant.

Try single protein LID type foods. Try these duck varieties that have no fish:

Instinct® Limited Ingredient Diet Real Duck Recipe | Instinct Pet Food
Duck Pâté Wet Cat Food
L.I.D. Shredded Duck Entrée in Gravy
RAWZ | 96% DUCK & DUCK LIVER PÂTÉ

 

[NewKitty18]

Thanks again for all the help. We’re about halfway through the phase in period for the raw food, and while it does seem to be helping our older cat from a GI perspective, our younger cat has now had two days where she’s vomited her entire meals. Also, it might sound silly, but having to defrost the raw food and bring it up to a reasonable temperature is inconvenient (our mornings and evenings are super hectic).

So I’m not sure if we should keep trying the raw food at least for the IBS kitty, or if I should exchange the remainder for store credit and try one of the LID non-chicken foods listed here. Any advice?

 

[LTS3]

. Also, it might sound silly, but having to defrost the raw food and bring it up to a reasonable temperature is inconvenient (our mornings and evenings are super hectic).

Put a day or two worth of raw food in the fridge to thaw. It usually takes 12 hours for frozen raw to thaw but some brands may thaw a little quicker. You don't need to warm up the food before feeding. My cats eat cold raw with no issue at all.

 

[NewKitty18]

I think this brand needs more than 12 hours to get up to regular fridge temp. They’re used to eating wet food cold, but the new stuff has still been borderline frozen even after 12 hours.

 

[LTS3]

What brand of raw is it? I use NV and it's fairly smushable / eatable after 12 hours of thawing.

 

[NewKitty18]

Smallbatch. Not sure if it's broadly distributed since it's locally made.

 

[LTS3]

I've tried Smallbatch before. It takes about a day to fully thaw but my cats are ok with it still slightly frozen. As long as I smush up the nugget for them, they're able to eat.

 

[Mia6]

The Vincie girl had IBS for about a year. I tried everything till Blue Buffalo came out with a dry cat food for sensitive bellies. The IBS was gone in 3 weeks. It's expensive but was worth it. She'll be 19 in June.

 

[LTS3]

I don't think IBS can ever be "gone" or "cured", just well managed with diet and / or medicine. It can still flare up at any time, perhaps from stress or eating something that doesn't agree with the tummy. My two cents