Food Intolerance... How Do I Know?

[trisha422]

My cat is diagnosed with IBD so her stool is constantly changing in textures despite me trying to aggressively control her symptoms.
Right now her stool is pudding and watery....

With that said, I started her transition to cooked food this evening (she can't tolerate raw). I gave her half a tablespoon of cooked lamb.
Since I can't judge her poop on whether she did well on it or not, what are other signs can i look for?

Will she most likely have diarrhea shortly after?
Cause it's been 6 hours since her meal and she hasn't had a bowel movement yet...good sign?

I suspect she has a chicken intolerance cause the very first food I gave her was nutro kitten chicken and she had explosive squirting diarrhea everywhere!
She had bloody liquid diarrhea with Primal turkey dehydrated nuggets.
Her stools became yucky and squirty with poached pork.

 

[jen]

From what I know, it would take a couple weeks on a consistant new diet to know how her insides would tolerate it and how her stool will be.

 

[mschauer]

What medications is she on?

Are you giving any probiotics? Current thought is that gut microbiome imbalance plays a role in ibd. My cat was diagnosed with ibd last year. It is controlled now. She is completely off meds but her vet recommends probiotics to help prevent recurrence.

 

[1 bruce 1]

My cat is diagnosed with IBD so her stool is constantly changing in textures despite me trying to aggressively control her symptoms.
Right now her stool is pudding and watery....

With that said, I started her transition to cooked food this evening (she can't tolerate raw). I gave her half a tablespoon of cooked lamb.
Since I can't judge her poop on whether she did well on it or not, what are other signs can i look for?

Will she most likely have diarrhea shortly after?
Cause it's been 6 hours since her meal and she hasn't had a bowel movement yet...good sign?

I suspect she has a chicken intolerance cause the very first food I gave her was nutro kitten chicken and she had explosive squirting diarrhea everywhere!
She had bloody liquid diarrhea with Primal turkey dehydrated nuggets.
Her stools became yucky and squirty with poached pork.

How did you cook the lamb and what cut did you use? Others have probably had different experiences but my experience is that the lamb I'm able to source is just too fatty for anyone experience digestive woes to tolerate well, but everyone is different and your kitty might do really good!
If you do a cooked diet with lamb, make sure you look into taurine supplementation, IIRC cooked meat contains less taurine and lamb isn't the greatest source of taurine on it's own.
I agree with the probiotic suggestion!
I think it can take up to 6-8 weeks on a new diet to see if they're tolerating it well (aside from a transitional "upset") or not. What makes this rough is they can't really have anything else; no treats, no other foods, etc. =(

 

[prairiepanda]

With very bad reactions like blood/mucus in stool and intense vomitting, you can tell within a couple days. If it is just diarrhea without any more serious symptoms, then you'll have to stick with the food for a few weeks to see if the diarrhea resolves or not. As others have suggested, probiotics can make the transition easier.

 

[trisha422]

What medications is she on?

Are you giving any probiotics? Current thought is that gut microbiome imbalance plays a role in ibd. My cat was diagnosed with ibd last year. It is controlled now. She is completely off meds but her vet recommends probiotics to help prevent recurrence.

Sorry about the late response. I'm not getting notifications when someone does.

She is currently on no meds. She's 10 months old and I am trying every alternative remedy before I go to extreme measures as steroids or long term antibiotics. If I go that route, I will want an internal medicine specialist to tell me I have no other choice.

I joined a very helpful group on Facebook called Feeding Raw for IBD Cats. They have a whole journal of information but nothing has worked for my little girl so far, including probitotics. I tried a tiny amount for 3 days and it gave her diarrhea.
It may be possible that she isn't responding well to commercial food because of the additives in there, so I will revisit probiotics and other supplements once I know for sure she can tolerate cooked meat with EZ complete.
Oh, she is also on animal biome pills aka poo pills. I praying those help restore gut biome.
What did you do for your IBD kitty?

 

[trisha422]

How did you cook the lamb and what cut did you use? Others have probably had different experiences but my experience is that the lamb I'm able to source is just too fatty for anyone experience digestive woes to tolerate well, but everyone is different and your kitty might do really good!
If you do a cooked diet with lamb, make sure you look into taurine supplementation, IIRC cooked meat contains less taurine and lamb isn't the greatest source of taurine on it's own.
I agree with the probiotic suggestion!
I think it can take up to 6-8 weeks on a new diet to see if they're tolerating it well (aside from a transitional "upset") or not. What makes this rough is they can't really have anything else; no treats, no other foods, etc. =(

It's lamb leg and I cooked it in the crock pot for 4 hours. It seemed like a very lean peice and I trimmed away the little fat that was on there. I left a tiny bit cause I wasn't sure if it was important for them to have some fat in the diet.
I know, I shouldn't have started with lamb but I didn't know any better 2 days ago. She seems to be doing ok so I suppose I'll stick with it. She also has rabbit meat in the freezer but I guess it's too late since I've already introduced lamb.
6-8 weeks???!! I really need to wait that long until I try another protien??!!

I have a sample of EZ complete but I have to try things with my baby one at a time cause she's so sensitive. I want to make sure she can tolerate the meat first and then add ez compleye to make sure she does well on that. She's still eating her can food as I try to transition to home cooked food.
But I can't imagine how I'm going to do that if I have to wait 6-8 weeks for the full transition.

 

[1 bruce 1]

It's lamb leg and I cooked it in the crock pot for 4 hours. It seemed like a very lean peice and I trimmed away the little fat that was on there. I left a tiny bit cause I wasn't sure if it was important for them to have some fat in the diet.
I know, I shouldn't have started with lamb but I didn't know any better 2 days ago. She seems to be doing ok so I suppose I'll stick with it. She also has rabbit meat in the freezer but I guess it's too late since I've already introduced lamb.
6-8 weeks???!! I really need to wait that long until I try another protien??!!

I have a sample of EZ complete but I have to try things with my baby one at a time cause she's so sensitive. I want to make sure she can tolerate the meat first and then add ez compleye to make sure she does well on that. She's still eating her can food as I try to transition to home cooked food.
But I can't imagine how I'm going to do that if I have to wait 6-8 weeks for the full transition.

You may not have to wait that long =) We opted to, because the pet we were dealing with had shown "toleration" of foods for 2 weeks or so, until all hell broke loose and the symptoms began. I don't know if what we saw was food allergy, food intolerance, the IBD flaring up randomly, or what, but we chose to be REALLY really cautious.

If she's doing OK, I say keep doing what you're doing! I get that trying new things one at a time from sensitivities, it can be frustrating =(

 

[mschauer]

How was the IBD diagnosis arrived at? Was an ultrasound done? If so, were the intestines thickened? Did your vet do a biopsy?

The maddening thing about IBD is that we really don't know that causes it. It is believed to be diet related and changing the diet can help but that doesn't definitively mean it is caused by diet. When I was researching how to help Zara I found so many different, sometimes contradictory, diet changes that people reported helped their cats that I became convinced that diet actually had little to do with it even after taking into account that different cats will be intolerant of different things. In most cases those people were using prescription drugs recommended by their vets in addition to the diet changes. I know there are convincing cases where a diet only change helped a cat where drugs did nothing but I also found plenty of cases where a diet change only did nothing.

What did you do for your IBD kitty?

Zara's case was actually fairly complicated. She developed complications that other IBD might not have. So detailing her full treatment probably wouldn't help you. But basically, I followed my vet's treatment plan which included steroids and antibiotics.

I joined a very helpful group on Facebook called Feeding Raw for IBD Cats. They have a whole journal of information but nothing has worked for my little girl so far, including probitotics. I tried a tiny amount for 3 days and it gave her diarrhea.

Probiotics can be tricky. They are products that contain a mixture of "good" bacteria strains that are meant to supplement or reseed existing bacteria normally found in the GI tract. Problem is, how to know if the product you use provides the bacteria your kitties gut needs?

I asked about what meds she is getting because if she was getting an antibiotic it would be easier for me to make a probiotic recommendation. My Zara actually never had loose stools or diarrhea with her IBD until I started her on antibiotics. Within about a week of starting the antibiotics she started having loose stools. This isn't unexpected with antibiotics since their function is to kill bacteria and they don't differentiate between good and bad bacteria and so using them will throw the gut microbiome out of whack. That is, they cause diarrhea.

Zara's loose stool was remedied quit easily and quickly by using a yeast (not bacteria) based probiotic. The benefit of a yeast based probiotic is that it can be given at the same time as the antibiotic. With a bacteria based probiotic you have to give it an hour or two before of after the antibiotic. If you give it at the same time as the antibiotic the bacteria strains in the probiotic will just immediately be decimated by the antibiotic.

But, you aren't giving her an antibiotic. You might still consider a yeast based antibiotic however. They work by acting as a food source for the existing gut bacteria to help them multiple rather than by trying to repopulate the gut with bacteria as the bacteria based probiotics do. With the yeast based probiotic, if there is any of the needed bacteria present they will multiple. But, of course, if there isn't any of the needed bacteria present I guess the yeast based probiotic won't help at all.

The yeast based probiotic I used was S.Boulardii (NOW brand). Most recommendations are to use small amounts at first and gradually increase. I didn't do that. I just started with 1/2 capsule twice a day mixed into her food. Within about 2 days I could see an improvement. Her stools were back to normal within a week I believe.

For what it is worth, I've read that actual food allergies are quite rare. Given the difficulty of doing a proper elimination diet to find an allergen I'd concentrate on other possibilities first.

Also, I had a 10 month old kitty that had chronic loose stools and she was fixed up by giving a combination prebiotic/probiotic/digestive enzyme product that unfortunately is no longer available.

Oh, she is also on animal biome pills aka poo pills. I praying those help restore gut biome.

I would be very interested in knowing if that helps!

 

[trisha422]

You may not have to wait that long =) We opted to, because the pet we were dealing with had shown "toleration" of foods for 2 weeks or so, until all hell broke loose and the symptoms began. I don't know if what we saw was food allergy, food intolerance, the IBD flaring up randomly, or what, but we chose to be REALLY really cautious.

If she's doing OK, I say keep doing what you're doing! I get that trying new things one at a time from sensitivities, it can be frustrating =(

yea, it's so tough with IBD cause I don't know if she's having a flare up or intolerance to new food/supplemets. Guess I have to go with my gut and do the best I can. Thanks for the advice!

 

[trisha422]

How was the IBD diagnosis arrived at? Was an ultrasound done? If so, were the intestines thickened? Did your vet do a biopsy?

The maddening thing about IBD is that we really don't know that causes it. It is believed to be diet related and changing the diet can help but that doesn't definitively mean it is caused by diet. When I was researching how to help Zara I found so many different, sometimes contradictory, diet changes that people reported helped their cats that I became convinced that diet actually had little to do with it even after taking into account that different cats will be intolerant of different things. In most cases those people were using prescription drugs recommended by their vets in addition to the diet changes. I know there are convincing cases where a diet only change helped a cat where drugs did nothing but I also found plenty of cases where a diet change only did nothing.


Zara's case was actually fairly complicated. She developed complications that other IBD might not have. So detailing her full treatment probably wouldn't help you. But basically, I followed my vet's treatment plan which included steroids and antibiotics.


Probiotics can be tricky. They are products that contain a mixture of "good" bacteria strains that are meant to supplement or reseed existing bacteria normally found in the GI tract. Problem is, how to know if the product you use provides the bacteria your kitties gut needs?

I asked about what meds she is getting because if she was getting an antibiotic it would be easier for me to make a probiotic recommendation. My Zara actually never had loose stools or diarrhea with her IBD until I started her on antibiotics. Within about a week of starting the antibiotics she started having loose stools. This isn't unexpected with antibiotics since their function is to kill bacteria and they don't differentiate between good and bad bacteria and so using them will throw the gut microbiome out of whack. That is, they cause diarrhea.

Zara's loose stool was remedied quit easily and quickly by using a yeast (not bacteria) based probiotic. The benefit of a yeast based probiotic is that it can be given at the same time as the antibiotic. With a bacteria based probiotic you have to give it an hour or two before of after the antibiotic. If you give it at the same time as the antibiotic the bacteria strains in the probiotic will just immediately be decimated by the antibiotic.

But, you aren't giving her an antibiotic. You might still consider a yeast based antibiotic however. They work by acting as a food source for the existing gut bacteria to help them multiple rather than by trying to repopulate the gut with bacteria as the bacteria based probiotics do. With the yeast based probiotic, if there is any of the needed bacteria present they will multiple. But, of course, if there isn't any of the needed bacteria present I guess the yeast based probiotic won't help at all.

The yeast based probiotic I used was S.Boulardii (NOW brand). Most recommendations are to use small amounts at first and gradually increase. I didn't do that. I just started with 1/2 capsule twice a day mixed into her food. Within about 2 days I could see an improvement. Her stools were back to normal within a week I believe.

For what it is worth, I've read that actual food allergies are quite rare. Given the difficulty of doing a proper elimination diet to find an allergen I'd concentrate on other possibilities first.

Also, I had a 10 month old kitty that had chronic loose stools and she was fixed up by giving a combination prebiotic/probiotic/digestive enzyme product that unfortunately is no longer available.


I would be very interested in knowing if that helps!

I can see you have a wealth of knowledge on IBD cats!
Yes, IBD is sooooo frustrating since its so mysterious.
She was never properly diagnosed via ultrasound or biopsy. Based on her history and symptoms, 2 different vets (conventional and holistic) agreed it's IBD. I didn't know better then, but now that I'm more educated on IBD I can see how important an ultrasound is.

Because I had tried every IBD protocol possible, including S. Boulardii/prebiotics, and she didn't respond well to anything, i'm wondering if she has something more or if there is another underlying issue.
It was advised to me to just give her a big dose of S. Boulardii upfront instead of starting little. I'll probably revisit that after her poo pills.

I'm also going to do a PCR test and schedule an ultrasound so I can have a more solid diagnosis.

She was on Tylosin antibiotics for 3 weeks and she had regular poos for the most part within that time! The last bit of stool was soft, but there was no blood or mucus. Her vet suggested I may want to keep doing tylosin long term, but being that she's so young I want to exhaust every other alternative option. I hear antibiotics can do permanent damage to the point where it doesn't work anymore.
But if antibiotics is giving temporary relief, could that signify something other than IBD? I was thinking SIBO, but her GI panel came out normal.

I have spent thousands on her care in the short 4 months since I adopted her. I'm in debt. But depending on the results of the PCR test and ultrasound I plan on making an appointment for her with an internal medicine vet.

I'll keep you updated about the poop pills. So far they're not working but I also haven't been able to examine my IBD girl's stool in the past couple of days. I have 2 other cats and I can't tell whose poop is whose. I have another cat that has a sensitive stomach and has soft stool sometimes.

 

[mschauer]

She was never properly diagnosed via ultrasound or biopsy. Based on her history and symptoms, 2 different vets (conventional and holistic) agreed it's IBD. I didn't know better then, but now that I'm more educated on IBD I can see how important an ultrasound is.

So, really your cat has diarrhea of unknown cause. If it were me I would certainly stop thinking IBD until there is direct evidence of it other than diarrhea. Lots of things cause diarrhea. Assuming it is IBD could just send you down all sorts of false paths looking for a solution. Like if it is IBD then there is GI inflammation to be dealt with and until it is dealt with I don't think you can expect the diarrhea to go away. Also, if there is inflammation there is the possibility of lymphoma. And only a biopsy can distinguish between IBD and lymphoma.

I was surprised that your cat is only 10 months old and yet was diagnosed with IBD. But then I can't give a reason why I was surprised except that it just seems to me to be far more common in older cats. But as far as I know it could be fairly common in young cats.

I think it isn't uncommon for vets to label diarrhea as IBD if they can't find a way to resolve it and the client can't or won't spring for the ultrasound and biopsy. It's really their best guess based on incomplete information.

Given all that, your cat's diarrhea sounds a lot more like my 10 month old that had diarrhea that I believe turned out to be a GI microbiome problem given it was resolved with a prebiotic/probiotic/digestive enzyme product.

I'm also going to do a PCR test and schedule an ultrasound so I can have a more solid diagnosis.

I think that sounds like a good plan.

Did you give the S.Boulardii by itself or with something else? You might consider trying it again but be sure not to give it with anything else, like a probiotic, and start with a smaller dose. If the problem is pathogenic bacteria and her beneficial bacteria is depleted, the S.Boulardii may help the benefical bacteria multiple and defeat the pathogenic bacteria.

She was on Tylosin antibiotics for 3 weeks and she had regular poos for the most part within that time! The last bit of stool was soft, but there was no blood or mucus.

If the Tylosin resolved her diahrrea, I would definitely consider giving it another try. Maybe it just needed to be given for longer
than 3 weeks to completely knock out the infection? Maybe use the S.Boulardii in conjunction with it. Even though I also suggested giving the S.Boulardii by itself. Sorry to keep harping on the S.Boulardii. I have seen good results with it in resolving diahrrea. I don't want to give the impression I think it is a magic bullet for curing all diarrhea though.

I'll keep you updated about the poop pills. So far they're not working but I also haven't been able to examine my IBD girl's stool in the past couple of days. I have 2 other cats and I can't tell whose poop is whose. I have another cat that has a sensitive stomach and has soft stool sometimes.

I have found it amazingly helpful, and more than a little entertaining, to use video cameras to spy on my kitties. I use them to monitor their litter boxes and their eating habits. There is a new video camera on the market that is quite cheap ($20) and yet very good. The video quality is what you would expect from a far more expensive camera. It's called a WyzCam. I highly recommend them.

Be sure to keep us updated. I know I'd really like to know what you find to resolve your kitties diarrhea. And I have no doubt you will resolve it!