Hydrolyzed wet food for my IBD gal

[Catmom1234567890]

My vet prescribed Hills ID and said it’s hydrolyzed. I come to find out ID is not only ZD is hydrolyzed. I got a sample of ZD and she won’t go near it. It’s like hard jello.

Only other hydrolyzed wet food is Blue Buffalo HF but it’s salmon and she won’t eat it.

How important is hydrolyzed diet for IBD kitties? Alternatives? Also most hydrolyzed cat food contain some kind of gum and I thought gums and thickener are Allergic

 

[Kieka]

Hydrolyzed proteins have been processed to a point that the body doesn't recognize it as the protein and react. It can help in IBD if your cat is generally reactive or if you don't know what is triggering the reaction. Have you narrowed down what foods cause her issues?

 

[Catmom1234567890]

Hydrolyzed proteins have been processed to a point that the body doesn't recognize it as the protein and react. It can help in IBD if your cat is generally reactive or if you don't know what is triggering the reaction. Have you narrowed down what foods cause her issues?

My IBD gal doesn’t get diarrhea. Only outward symptom is Hairball obstruction so it’s hard to narrow down triggering food. That is why dr put her on hydrolyzed diet. My vet prescribed Hills ID. ID is not hydrolyzed and this vet doesn’t know it. So I have to let her know.

Only hydrolyzed food that comes in wet form are Hills Z/D and blue Buffalo HF. She won’t eat both.

How do I know which food is triggering IBD if she doesn’t get diarrhea like others

 

[Kieka]

What symptoms does she have for IBD?

My cat doesn't have IBD (at least that we are aware of) but he vomits when he eats chicken or shellfish. We just eliminated proteins and ingredients until we found what food reduced the symptoms.

 

[Catmom1234567890]

She doesn’t have physical symptoms. She has reduced gut motility which causes hair to accumulate in her belly. She had severe Hairball obstructions which required surgeries. So, we can’t figure out what she is allergic to since symptoms are internal

 

[LTS3]

I feed my IBD cat a commercial raw food. My vet is fine with it.

A novel protein canned food with few fillers can help if a raw or home cooked diet are not options. Rawz is one such brand. Minimally Processed Natural Cat Food Archives | RAWZ Chicken is often a cause for IBD flare ups and issues so avoid feeding that.

 

[Catmom1234567890]

I don’t think my vet knows what she is doing as she prescribed hills ID. That is not hydrolyzed. I’m looking into raw even though my vet opposes. I’m going to stay away from chicken but doesn’t EZ complete contain chicken liver?

 

[lisahe]

There's a drug that can help gut mobility; our vet mentioned it as a possibility for one of our cats who sometimes has vomiting issues. Since we haven't had to use it, all I know is that there is such a drug. Unfortunately, I don't know what it's called!

Egg yolk contains choline, which helps mobility. I put egg yolks in our cats' homemade food (which I make with Alnutrin; you can add any liver to it) and highly recommend this page from Food Fur Life, if you haven't already read it. Pumpkin puree may help as well. You could add those to any food; just don't add too much to start. (Just ask if you want to know how much we use.)

Our cat with occasional issues is like Kieka 's, she vomits. Then we eliminate ingredients until we figure out what's causing the problem. We're currently eliminating tapioca. It's the newest item on a list that already includes potato, agar-agar, and green-lipped mussels. As well as a slew of other things that are often in cat food but don't serve any positive nutritional purpose for cats: carrageenan, all grains, and all legumes. This has eliminated a lot of items from her diet, including food from EZ since the supplement contains mussels.

Good luck!

 

[Catmom1234567890]

She is on Cisapride for gut motility and egg yolk powder/egg yolk lethicin. She still has slow gut motility despite drugs and supplements. EZ Complete contain chicken liver so I'm staying away from it. I also have Alnutrin but I have to add liver to make it complete. It is hard to source fresh non chicken liver in my grocery store. I'm not so lucky as what is triggering IBD since all of the symptoms are internal like slow gut motility. I'm just eliminating chicken as I read chicken is the culprit.

My cat may not be allergic to chicken but since I can't determine what she is allergic to, I'll just get rid of most common culprit, hence chicken.

 

[LTS3]

There's a drug that can help gut mobility; our vet mentioned it as a possibility for one of our cats who sometimes has vomiting issues. Since we haven't had to use it, all I know is that there is such a drug. Unfortunately, I don't know what it's called!

Sucralfate

I also have Alnutrin but I have to add liver to make it complete. It is hard to source fresh non chicken liver in my grocery store.

Ethnic grocery stores typically have liver and other offal. Sometimes a butcher shop can special order things for you.

Hare-Today.com sells raw meats and organs for pet food use. Category | Hare Today

You can use freeze dried novel protein liver treats as well. You can ask over on the Raw forum for more info on how to calculate the amount of freeze dried liver to sub for the fresh liver called for in a recipe.

 

[LTS3]

C Catmom1234567890 here's info on how to use freeze dried raw instead of fresh liver in a raw recipe: Using Freeze Dried Liver in Place of Fresh

TCS had a server crash yesterday and lost many posts made after Thursday.

 

[lisahe]

C Catmom1234567890 here's info on how to use freeze dried raw instead of fresh liver in a raw recipe: Using Freeze Dried Liver in Place of Fresh

TCS had a server crash yesterday and lost many posts made after Thursday.

Yes about the crash... I'd posted that I use 5.8-6 grams of freeze-dried liver to one pound of meat. (That's the upper end of Alnutrin's recommendations... Their site and their packaging have different numbers. Our cats seem to like liver so I go for more.)

Unfortunately, I'd also said that the page you linked to no longer works. I'm almost certain that's where I got my information on how to do the conversion.

 

[Catmom1234567890]

Freeze Dried/Fresh Equivalents

I haven't used this calculator but hope this works

 

[cataholic07]

Did you do a surgical biopsy to confirm it's IBD? Prednisolone is what cats with IBD usually get. If your cat likes raw you can try some aafco balanced raw like Darwins, stella and chewys, primal

 

[Catmom1234567890]

Vet did a biopsy and when she had a surgery to remove hairballs. Yes confirmed diagnosis. My vet wants to try hydrolyzed until inflammation calms down. Then introduce novel protein. Like most vets, mine is also anti raw.

My kitty biopsy says she has moderate duodenum thickening and bacteria. So I doubt my vet will go for raw. I’m more inclined to try partial cooked.

She’s on budesonide, cisapride and Capilex and eats Hills ZD. Not crazy about ZD but I’m keeping it short term to calm things down

 

[Lazy Orange House Cat]

Have you checked out Purina? They make a veterinary line and may have a similar diet. Most cats will eat Purina, in my experience.

 

[LilacSerenity]

Vet did a biopsy and when she had a surgery to remove hairballs. Yes confirmed diagnosis. My vet wants to try hydrolyzed until inflammation calms down. Then introduce novel protein. Like most vets, mine is also anti raw.

My kitty biopsy says she has moderate duodenum thickening and bacteria. So I doubt my vet will go for raw. I’m more inclined to try partial cooked.

She’s on budesonide, cisapride and Capilex and eats Hills ZD. Not crazy about ZD but I’m keeping it short term to calm things down

I'm kind of late to this thread, how is your kitty doing now? Did you find food that works for her?

It sounds like your vet is ether very old-school or doesn't know what she's doing. I'd get a second opinion. Since your cat doesn't have usual physical IBD symptoms like chronic vomiting and diarrhea, it sounds like your only issue is hairball obstruction/slow gut motility. I would concentrate on resolving those. I believe that a good quality high protein diet is better than any prescription crap they force on you, especially since you don't really need a hydrolyzed one. Again, if your cat had a protein allergy/intolerance (and that's what the hydrolyzed food is really for), she'd most likely have chronic vomiting.

The results of your cat's biopsy were "moderate duodenum thickening and bacteria", according to your vet, correct? The duodenum's wall is significantly thicker than the rest of the small intestine. In an awake cat, the mean wall thickness is 2.4 mm, and in a sedated cat it's 2.71 mm. (Sonography of the normal feline gastrointestinal tract - PubMed.) If I were you, I would take the biopsy/surgery results, reports, images, whatever you have, and show it to another vet, or better yet, an internal specialist for a second opinion.

The duodenum is the first and shortest segment of the small intestine, it receives partially digested food from the stomach and plays a vital role in the chemical digestion of this food in preparation for absorption in the small intestine. So I would try digestive enzymes, OTC, not prescription though, as they tend to be very strong and are prescribed for cats with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. However, regular over-the-counter digestive enzymes might help with breaking down food (which essentially is what's done to make a hydrolyzed protein) and promoting motility. Look into it.

Also, you mentioned bacteria. I'm not exactly sure what that means, did your vet find bad bacteria overgrowth? If that was the case, did she prescribe an antibiotic? Or was it a lack of good bacteria? It's very vague. However, gut flora plays a major role in any GI conditions, whether it's IBD, gastroenteritis, pancreatitis, or even liver and kidney issues. And adding a good quality probiotic to your cat's diet is important. If you want to be sure, you can get a microbiome test (from fecal sample) to see which bacteria is lacking or overgrowing. But it's not really necessary, as a good multi-strain probiotic (with prebiotic) is always beneficial to support a healthy gut microbiome. Also, Saccharomyces Boulardii (or S. Boulardii) is a yeast type of probiotic that basically flushes out bad bacteria. It's generally used as an anti-diarrhea remedy, but is actually very helpful for cats with IBD as an anti-inflammatory as well. (The benefits of using S. Boulardii for cats)

As for your cat's hairball issue and gut motility, I was also going to suggest Cisapride and egg yolk, but you're already doing it. So maybe adjust the dosage of Cisapride, it actually proved to be very helpful for my cat's motility and constipation. You can also try Cat Lax gel, Vet's Best Hairball Relief digestive aid, or adding fiber (psyllium husk, not pumpkin) for hairballs and Slippery Elm powder for inflammation.

Anyway, based on your kitty's symptoms, it sounds like she'd benefit more from a novel protein diet, either gently cooked or high quality if commercial, with added probiotics and supplements mentioned above, than Hill's Z/D jello crap that's higher in carbs than protein. And, of course, it goes without saying - no dry food.

 

[daftcat75]

A couple of suggestions:

Rawz food in any of their single protein pates. No gums, fillers, or useless carbs. If you're looking at novel protein, this is the gold standard. Krista, my last cat who passed in 2020, would recommend the turkey and rabbit flavors. My current cat, Betty White, she will occasionally go for the rabbit. But her favorite, ironically, is Hills I/D. So much junk. But there's something there that she likes.

I like Incredible Pets because they often will sell by the can if you're not sure about a case:
Search: 55 results found for "rawz cat" - Incredible Pets

My second suggestion, since I cannot for the life of me get Betty off her I/D junk, is digestive enzymes. I also gave these to Krista and with her, it was hard to tell what worked. With Betty, her only symptoms were frequent hairballs (once a week when I first brought her home!) Since I started her on the Optagest, that's come down to once a month or longer. That's within my vet's acceptable frequency.
Amazon.com

Bonus suggestion:
If novel protein (Rawz) and enzymes (Optagest) don't get you the desired result, I definitely recommend engaging with an internal medicine specialist over a general vet. They'll be more knowledgeable, more experienced, more up-to-date, more dedicated (no dental, spay-neuter, and other unrelated procedures to fill their days), and generally more available (see previous) than a general vet. There's often a wait time for the initial consultation. But when I was still consulting with the internist for Betty, I could usually get a same day or next day call back on questions. I could also get appointments fairly quickly once we cleared the initial consultation wait time hurdle.

 

[FriendofFerals]

My vet prescribed Hills ID and said it’s hydrolyzed. I come to find out ID is not only ZD is hydrolyzed. I got a sample of ZD and she won’t go near it. It’s like hard jello.

Only other hydrolyzed wet food is Blue Buffalo HF but it’s salmon and she won’t eat it.

How important is hydrolyzed diet for IBD kitties? Alternatives? Also most hydrolyzed cat food contain some kind of gum and I thought gums and thickener are Allergic

There are only 2 wet hydrolyzed options I know of, the Hills (which my cat throws up immediately and it's full of carbs...and have a diabetic cat that can't accidentally eat any), and the Blue Buffalo. My cat wouldn't touch that. Neither would the farm cats. The chickens would eat it though. $100+ down the drain.

However...there is a hydrolyzed dry option that is non prescription and they even make a carb free (like almost zero digestable carbs) called Young Again Zero Mature. A little goes a long way (like 1/3 cup is a full day's portion for a 12lb cat because it's very nutrient dense) but it's been a life saver for my IBD kitty who just wants regular wet food or dry. He hates the prescription stuff AND he has no teeth but he little pieces in the Young Again he can eat with no problem.

It's made with hydrolyzed pork also. He has CKD but drinks a lot because he's on prednisolone. I still sprinkle a little water on the dry Young Again food just to soften it a little and add moisture. It's been a life saver for him and my diabetic dry food addict who doesn't realize this is carb free...

Too much will give them diarrhea so follow the instructions and it will be OK.

LID Zero Mature Health - Young Again Pet Food