Food Help - Possible Ibd

[fuschiafrog]

I posted a while ago about my kitty, Abby. She's been having loose stools, vomiting hairballs, and diarrhea for a few weeks. It would get better and worse.

The vet thought that her Primal freeze-dried venison might be giving her problems and we started looking for other food options. It seems like chicken doesn't agree with her. (We went through a period of food issues when we got Abby when she was about 6 months old.) We tried a variety of things, none of which she was all that thrilled about. She'd look at the food, try it sometimes and then refuse it. Or she'd eat all of it one time and then completely reject it at the next feeding. Sigh.

Anyway, the vet had given us a few cans of z/d to try. I had tried some of the stuff I thought was higher quality first but decided to break out the z/d. She LOVED it. Licked up every last bit of that rather strange food! She seemed to be on the mend and had a ton of energy the next day. She had it for breakfast the next day and ate all of it again. It was great. Then, throughout the day, she started using her litter box more and more and producing just liquid poop. In the evening, she passed gas near our entry map and pooped 3 little drops of liquid poop. And she seemed uncomfortable.

I took her to the 24-hour vet who didn't feel anything wrong and thought it was possibly IBD. This morning, she had diarrhea in about 5 spots around the house. I took her to her regular vet this morning and he felt something in her belly. X-rays didn't show any sort of obstruction so we're supposed to make an appointment with an internal med doc. The thought right now is perhaps irritable bowel. The vet gave her another course of metronidazole and a shot to help with the vomiting/nausea.

My problem is what to feed her???? She's hungry and wants to eat but doesn't like what I'm giving her. She wants her z/d. Given that the horrible diarrhea started after the z/d, I think that the z/d doesn't agree with her. Any ideas? Please?

 

[duckpond]

what else are you trying to feed her? I agree more vet visits are needed, but as you say, you need to feed her now as well. Can you run by the pet store and try some other foods? If she will not eat anything else i guess you need to give the z/d until you can find something else. Don't want her to go too long without eating.

Many cats will eat fancy feast, the classics, if nothing else, the beef does not have chicken i don't think. Mine will never turn down the Earthborn Monterrey medley, its fish, but no chicken. Merrick Backcountry, in the black pouches, also has a rabbit that my guys like, no chicken, they have a beef flavor as well.

Farmina has some dry foods with no chicken, just a bit of chicken fat.

Taste of the wild has a prey formula, Beef. Very limited ingredients, and my cats, and my moms cats really like it. I like how very limited the ingredients are. they have a Turkey formula as well.

Angus Beef Limited Ingredient Formula for Cats - Taste of the Wild Pet Food

 

[Mamanyt1953]

duckpond gave you some excellent advice. And I'm still thinking this could be food allergies rather than IBD. Let's hope so, at any rate! OK, what I'm going to add to the discussion is that you MUST READ LABELS CAREFULLY! A member here has a cat who canNOT tolerate chicken at all. She has found that MOST cat foods contain some chicken, even those that are labeled as other flavors. READ THOSE LABELS! And try to find something grain-free, as well. That can play havoc with sensitive tummy. The exception to this seems to be rice, which is often found in sensitive-tummy foods.

 

[duckpond]

I failed to include them but weruva has a few pouch foods that do not have poultry, my cats like all of these ziwi has several flavors with no poultry as well. with ziwi my cats will only eat the mackerel and lamb.

 

[Hugospal]

Wild Calling makes some creative alternate protein foods. They even have alligator, which I'm not sure is good for cats or not!

 

[fuschiafrog]

Well, the internal medicine vet office called today and said they could see her this morning. When they did an ultrasound they found enlarged lymph nodes. The blood work done yesterday came back with three different values that indicated a lot of inflammation. Her temp has been 103.7 yesterday and today. Adding all of that together with the vomiting and diarrhea, the internal med vet really thinks it’s FIP. And I really, really hope it isn’t.

They took a stool sample while she was sedated and said it had fresh blood on it. They’re sending the sample off to check for something.

She’s home with us now. Not super energetic but not just moping around either. She ate all of the Stella and chewy’s freeze dried rabbit I put out for her but she hadn’t eaten at all today. She wasn’t interested in the venison d/d I put out this morning and then she was on her way to the vet office at 9:40. I think she knew something was up bc she was a little skittish.

Poor kitty.

 

[lisahe]

I'd suggest finding some wet foods with the simplest recipes possible, avoiding ingredients like carrageenan and carby vegetables like potatoes and peas, as well as, of course, anything chicken-based.

Hugospal 's suggestion of Wild Calling is a good one. (Unfortunately, Wild Calling seems to be hit-or-miss, though, for lots of cats' palates.) Some other possibilities might be Rawz's beef. Or, if it's available where you life, maybe even something from Rad Cat since they have lamb, pork, beef, and venison. Rad Cat's recipes are very, very simple, which is a huge plus in a situation like this. Another thought if you don't think Primal was the problem: our cats love their pork, which doesn't have any carby vegetables.

Good luck, F fuschiafrog !

 

[Mamanyt1953]

the internal med vet really thinks it’s FIP. And I really, really hope it isn’t.

Well, SPIT! Keep trying foods that temp her and are easy on her tummy, and I shall light a candle for the both of you!

 

[missmimz]

enlarged lymph nodes can be from infection, IBD, and lymphoma, too, so why are they jumping to the conclusion it's FIP? Why didn't they biopsy the lymph nodes?

 

[fuschiafrog]

enlarged lymph nodes can be from infection, IBD, and lymphoma, too, so why are they jumping to the conclusion it's FIP? Why didn't they biopsy the lymph nodes?

I think they jumped to FIP b/c of the fever, globulin levels, and enlarged lymph nodes, but I'm not sure. They did a needle aspiration of the lymph nodes while she was still sedated. It'll take a while for those results to come back. They did say that it was possible, not definite, although they also said that even if the test comes back negative, she might still have it. It's like they don't want me to every get away from that diagnosis. In the meantime, though, I talked to her regular vet who prescribed some prednisolone and said that it wouldn't hurt. She's on one dose of Metronidazole and one dose of prednisolone each day.

My husband decided to try the Lotus Just Juicy Turkey that was the first food that she tolerated reasonably well when she was having similar GI issues a year ago. She has been eating the turkey well! I've been out of town, but it seems as if the litter box is looking better, too. I'm not sure if that's from the prednisolone or the combination of the metronidazole and the prednisolone or from the food, but I'll take what I can get! And Abby actually seems to have energy again! She attacked me when I was walking by her and was running around earlier this evening!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Goodness, yes, we'll take that! We take every bit of goodness that comes our way when our kitties are having health issues!