GI problem - food

[tyleete]

I ramble, so had to rewrite this.
Long story short, I've a kitty I took in about 5-6yrs ago that has either IBS or IBD. He was on Hill's WD for a few years, but they've changed their formula and he after massive, quick weight loss I took him off it. Vet has tried a few other Rx foods, nothing's helping.
Tried the pumpkin- no. Tried luxolite clay- made him start throwing up daily (still hasn't stopped even though he was only on it briefly), cbd didn't help it. More he's on this Hill's Biome GI crap. The still feels unhealthy to me

Does anyone have any ideas on what to look for in finding a food? I've looked she 'limited' foods, but they seem to be anything but.
Thanks!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Is he eating dry or wet food? All I can tell you is that if he has IBD, he should be eating wet food only, and as close to wht nature intended (for a cat) as possible. To me, that means raw, but many people don't want to do that. Raw is about is limited ingredient as you can get though.

Is is on any medications, like low dose Pred? How about Vit B injections? Have you seen this website, all about IBD? Feline Nutrition – IBDKitties

If it's IBS, that's a whole other deal, mostly an unknown. You could still try the raw though, if you wanted, although not sure it would make any difference But since food DID make a difference a few years ago, maybe it would (or may it isn't IBS)

 

[tyleete]

I'll go check that site now, thanks! I've been trying to research foods, but not much in the way of help. I've got cats with diabetes and urinary problems that I was able to do research and get food that wasn't Rx. Just not so much help on this guy. I want to take him off his Rx food and soon though.
As for his food, he's always been on dry. This cat inhales his food and if I give him more than about 20-25 kibble pieces at once? He throws up. Every time. I have to feed him small amounts every 20minutes until it's done. Wet food is the same and would be even harder to feed like this.
I have 11 rescues and more than 1/2 are special needs cats. Which is why he gets dry.
Fun times!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Oh my! Well thank you for taking on all that . So even feeding him small meals doesn't stop the issue? I'm guessing he has diarrhea (that's why you tried the pumpkin and clay?), and if he eats too much or too fast then he vomits as well? Which makes the vomiting an issue you have under control?

So, I wonder if you could try freeze dried raw, It's still fairly limited ingredient (at least it doesn't have things cats can't digest easily), but you will see some things that look weird, things that would often be found in the stomachs of their prey, like small amounts of vegies and fruits. But they are still about 98% meat, organs, etc. You can feed them in dry form, or add some warm water to rehydrate them. Maybe start dry and slowly start rehydrating if he'll eat it that way. One of mine will only eat it dry, so he gets it mainly as treats, the other eats it rehydrated, so all his meals are raw.

 

[Astragal14]

I'll go check that site now, thanks! I've been trying to research foods, but not much in the way of help. I've got cats with diabetes and urinary problems that I was able to do research and get food that wasn't Rx. Just not so much help on this guy. I want to take him off his Rx food and soon though.
As for his food, he's always been on dry. This cat inhales his food and if I give him more than about 20-25 kibble pieces at once? He throws up. Every time. I have to feed him small amounts every 20minutes until it's done. Wet food is the same and would be even harder to feed like this.
I have 11 rescues and more than 1/2 are special needs cats. Which is why he gets dry.
Fun times!

Does he have other IBD symptoms, or is it only regurgitating food after eating to quickly? One of my cats has IBD and also meal time anxiety. We slowed down his eating by raising his food bowl. Luckily this was enough to keep him from regurgitating; another option is a slow feeder bowl or puzzle feeder. An easy way to make a homemade slow feeder is to put a golf ball or ping pong ball in the bowl or anything of similar size that they can't eat).

 

[mewlittle]

Have you tried a food dish that slows a cat down on eating?

Not sure if these brands will help but they helped my cats for various things
Nature's Variety both wet and dry (they do have raw I believe)
Solid gold Dry
Soulistic wet (Petco)
Wholehearted wet and dry (Petco)
Blue buffalo dry , I don't see why the wet won't be good
Triumph wet
Evengers wet
There was another one like soulistic but for the life of me I can't remember the name
Like the others said maybe try raw
Other brands I loved are no longer being made

I hope one of my food suggestions helped, best of luck

 

[artiemom]

oh sounds so familiar.. This year seems to be a really bad year for kittys and vomiting.. So many of our loves are having this issue.
My guy also... so bad.

He had an ultrasound, a full GI panel, an ultrasound, an Internal Medicine Vet visit.. All of them came out negative.. everything!!
Ever B-12 and Folate, which usually are low; goes along with an IBD diagnosis..

I was advised to at least double or triple the amount of laxatone I give him daily... and to get him used to brushing...

You may want to try laxatone. It helps in passing fur, through the GI system...

I am also feeding a limited ingredient novel protein Prescription food. You may want to try this.
A novel protein is one which your baby has never had: Venison, Rabbit, Kangaroo, etc... I use a prescription food... watch the ingredients...

My last guy was allergic to chicken. I think Geoffrey is, also....so watch for signs...

Or try for an Internal Vet consult, if one is available.. at least to ease your mind.

Good Luck... (((HUGS))))

 

[lisahe]

Oh my! Well thank you for taking on all that . So even feeding him small meals doesn't stop the issue? I'm guessing he has diarrhea (that's why you tried the pumpkin and clay?), and if he eats too much or too fast then he vomits as well? Which makes the vomiting an issue you have under control?

So, I wonder if you could try freeze dried raw, It's still fairly limited ingredient (at least it doesn't have things cats can't digest easily), but you will see some things that look weird, things that would often be found in the stomachs of their prey, like small amounts of vegies and fruits. But they are still about 98% meat, organs, etc. You can feed them in dry form, or add some warm water to rehydrate them. Maybe start dry and slowly start rehydrating if he'll eat it that way. One of mine will only eat it dry, so he gets it mainly as treats, the other eats it rehydrated, so all his meals are raw.

I so agree with mrsgreenjeens : I've also found that the best way to feed a barfing cat is to feed the simplest wet foods possible. One of our cats can't eat potatoes, agar-agar, or green-lipped mussels. She also has a tendency to eat too fast (or get excited before she eats) and then vomit. Small meals help a lot with that. Vomiting can be caused by a variety of different factors, sometimes more than one at a time!

My approach to the cats' diet after we adopted them was to first cut out all the grains (wheat, corn, rice, etc.) and most carby stuff (potato, peas, carrots, etc., though I do occasionally feed foods with small amounts of tapioca, which doesn't seem to cause problems), as well as carrageenan, which causes issues in some cats. Basically, most vegetable matter got cut; cats are built to eat meat protein, not pea or potato protein. But every cat is different. When both cats were barfing a year or so ago, I kept a food and symptom diary, which narrowed the problem down to agar-agar, which is used in a few canned foods. When one was still barfing, the diary showed that the mussels (an ingredient in a supplement we used to make cat food) were the issue. Proteins -- chicken and fish among them -- can also cause problems.

The simpler the foods you feed, the easier it will be to figure out what's causing the vomiting and eliminate it. This is why, like mrsgreenjeens, we also feed quite a bit of raw food. We also feed a lot of homemade food: the supplement ingredients are simple and I control what else I put in (egg yolk, pumpkin, and fish oil).

All that said, there's one dry food that out cats love that doesn't have any fillers: Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein chicken. (Here it is on Chewy.) It's very good food; we use it as a topper, treat, and small snack. Unfortunately it's pretty much unavailable right now and I wouldn't recommend other flavors since they (all of them, I think?) have chickpeas in them!

Good luck!

 

[tyleete]

Can't thank everyone enough for all the responses! As I said, I've a number of cats with medical conditions. After reading a lot about cats with urinary problems doing better on wet foods, I started transitioning most of mine to wet. I won't lie, I can't afford better than Friskies pate, but it seems to be making a difference.
The one I wrote this topic about is currently at half-half rate. I can't feed him more than 1/6 of a can at once, but shopping that he's currently at about 4oz Friskies and 1/3 of his dry. He's been on that for a week now, with only a single day of diarrhea! It's been great so far! Even my eldest who normally has poop that looks like it's been outside in the sun a few days, is having normal poop. Hershas gone from every day to every 2-3 days only pooping though. So have to keep track of that. But I think the wet foods seems to be helping.
Here's to hoping it keeps up.
I think he inhales his food because he used to live a though feral life and never got over not worrying about the food issue. I'm just forever stuck feeding him a lit through the day.

 

[Astragal14]

Can't thank everyone enough for all the responses! As I said, I've a number of cats with medical conditions. After reading a lot about cats with urinary problems doing better on wet foods, I started transitioning most of mine to wet. I won't lie, I can't afford better than Friskies pate, but it seems to be making a difference.
The one I wrote this topic about is currently at half-half rate. I can't feed him more than 1/6 of a can at once, but shopping that he's currently at about 4oz Friskies and 1/3 of his dry. He's been on that for a week now, with only a single day of diarrhea! It's been great so far! Even my eldest who normally has poop that looks like it's been outside in the sun a few days, is having normal poop. Hershas gone from every day to every 2-3 days only pooping though. So have to keep track of that. But I think the wet foods seems to be helping.
Here's to hoping it keeps up.
I think he inhales his food because he used to live a though feral life and never got over not worrying about the food issue. I'm just forever stuck feeding him a lit through the day.

You're doing an amazing job and your cats are very lucky to have you!! Costco and Sam's Club both sell Friskies. Costco allows non-members to buy many items from their website although I don't see Friskies on their website right now. You can also use a Costco gift card in store without a membership. I don't know what the rules are at Sam's Club. Pet Supplies Plus also has amazing sales and great email coupons. I often see 12 oz Friskies cans on sale for $1 each.