IBD - do hydrolyzed protein & novel protein diets really help a cat with IBD

[Molly and Abby]

Hi everyone - Molly doesn't have lymphoma but she was diagnosed with IBD. Her vets (regular vet & specialist/internal medicine vet) prescribed hydrolyzed protein & novel protein foods.

I am wondering if they really will work.

Molly had gastritis, was hospitalized b/c she wasn't eating, was vomiting & had explosive diarrhea about 3 weeks ago. She is better now but I was so scared!

The prescribed foods are Hills z/d, Royal Canin hydrolyzed protein & Royal Canin PR.

All three cats like the food. But I wonder how they work & how effective the new diet will be.

 

[daftcat75]

The idea with IBD (and hydrolyzed food) is that immune cells in your cat's gut are inappropriately recognizing certain proteins as foreign now and mounts an attack on them. This is where the inflammation and any butt and gut symptoms are coming from. With a hydrolyzed diet, the protein is pre-digested into smaller unrecognizable pieces; unrecognizable by the immune system. The amino acid components are still useful and available to the cat. This can work if the cat's immune system truly doesn't recognize the protein as being one of the proteins it is now weaponized against. Also, your cat obviously has to want to eat this and only this food. If you are feeding other foods or treats, you are defeating the point of a hydrolyzed diet. For this reason, a lot of cat guardians find it easier to simply switch proteins to something the cat hasn't had before. Novel proteins only have to be novel to your cat; not all cats. Most cat food is predominantly chicken and/or fish. Usually the first step in a novel protein diet is eliminating both chicken and fish. Often a switch to turkey is novel enough if the cat didn't regularly eat turkey. Many IBD cats don't find relief until they are fed even more novel proteins like rabbit or venison. Rawz single protein pates is going to be your best bet and truly the gold standard for conducting food trials for IBD kitties. They are simple recipes and the protein(s) on the front of the label is the only protein in the food. No additional or hidden proteins (like duck recipes that also contain chicken and fish as found in other foods.)
Wet Archives | RAWZ

It is also worth mentioning and emphasizing that whether you go with the prescription food or you go it on your own, you need to identify which proteins you are avoiding and then avoid them completely. It's not enough to be a duck recipe if it still contains chicken in the ingredients. It's not enough to switch their food if the treats still contain the trigger proteins.

Also, if Molly is currently eating dry food, IBD and dry food are pretty much incompatible. There are just too many nonsense and inappropriate plant-based ingredients in dry food to make food trials meaningful or effective. Even if you manage to find dry food without your trigger animal proteins, other ingredients in dry food like grains, starches, or legumes can be equally problematic with her IBD.

You can find loads more information on IBD and its management here:
IBDKitties – Helping Save Lives…One Paw at a Time

Here is another page on IBD.
StackPath

Because of the complexity of cat food recipes and their tendency towards mixing proteins and adding frustratingly inappropriate ingredients where they aren't needed, many guardians of IBD cats end up exploring homemade (raw or cooked) diets for their kitties. This gives the greatest amount of control over the ingredients. It can be as cost-effective (or even cheaper) than commercial diets. And most cats love homemade diets whether they have IBD or not. That may eventually be the way you go with Molly as well. That second link above will have more information on homemade diets with a preference for raw.

This page also has information on homemade diets with recipes for both raw and cooked.
Home

 

[Molly and Abby]

The idea with IBD (and hydrolyzed food) is that immune cells in your cat's gut are inappropriately recognizing certain proteins as foreign now and mounts an attack on them. This is where the inflammation and any butt and gut symptoms are coming from. With a hydrolyzed diet, the protein is pre-digested into smaller unrecognizable pieces; unrecognizable by the immune system. The amino acid components are still useful and available to the cat. This can work if the cat's immune system truly doesn't recognize the protein as being one of the proteins it is now weaponized against. Also, your cat obviously has to want to eat this and only this food. If you are feeding other foods or treats, you are defeating the point of a hydrolyzed diet. For this reason, a lot of cat guardians find it easier to simply switch proteins to something the cat hasn't had before. Novel proteins only have to be novel to your cat; not all cats. Most cat food is predominantly chicken and/or fish. Usually the first step in a novel protein diet is eliminating both chicken and fish. Often a switch to turkey is novel enough if the cat didn't regularly eat turkey. Many IBD cats don't find relief until they are fed even more novel proteins like rabbit or venison. Rawz single protein pates is going to be your best bet and truly the gold standard for conducting food trials for IBD kitties. They are simple recipes and the protein(s) on the front of the label is the only protein in the food. No additional or hidden proteins (like duck recipes that also contain chicken and fish as found in other foods.)
Wet Archives | RAWZ

It is also worth mentioning and emphasizing that whether you go with the prescription food or you go it on your own, you need to identify which proteins you are avoiding and then avoid them completely. It's not enough to be a duck recipe if it still contains chicken in the ingredients. It's not enough to switch their food if the treats still contain the trigger proteins.

Also, if Molly is currently eating dry food, IBD and dry food are pretty much incompatible. There are just too many nonsense and inappropriate plant-based ingredients in dry food to make food trials meaningful or effective. Even if you manage to find dry food without your trigger animal proteins, other ingredients in dry food like grains, starches, or legumes can be equally problematic with her IBD.

You can find loads more information on IBD and its management here:
IBDKitties – Helping Save Lives…One Paw at a Time

Here is another page on IBD.
StackPath

Because of the complexity of cat food recipes and their tendency towards mixing proteins and adding frustratingly inappropriate ingredients where they aren't needed, many guardians of IBD cats end up exploring homemade (raw or cooked) diets for their kitties. This gives the greatest amount of control over the ingredients. It can be as cost-effective (or even cheaper) than commercial diets. And most cats love homemade diets whether they have IBD or not. That may eventually be the way you go with Molly as well. That second link above will have more information on homemade diets with a preference for raw.

This page also has information on homemade diets with recipes for both raw and cooked.
Home

Thanks for the info and I will stick to the vet prescribed diet - the hydrolyzed protein & novel protein. Molly has had turkey, chicken, beef, pork and every type of fish known to man & made into cat food - so I will be avoiding those proteins for her diet. The novel protein the vets prescribed excludes those proteins.

The homemade diet - either cooked or raw - isn't something I am interested in pursuing. So I will stick to the vet prescribed diet. It is working for Molly & all 3 cats like it.

Thanks again.

 

[Molly and Abby]

Hi everyone - Molly doesn't have lymphoma but she was diagnosed with IBD. Her vets (regular vet & specialist/internal medicine vet) prescribed hydrolyzed protein & novel protein foods.

I am wondering if they really will work.

Molly had gastritis, was hospitalized b/c she wasn't eating, was vomiting & had explosive diarrhea about 3 weeks ago. She is better now but I was so scared!

The prescribed foods are Hills z/d, Royal Canin hydrolyzed protein & Royal Canin PR.

All three cats like the food. But I wonder how they work & how effective the new diet will be.

Sorry - Molly had pancreatitis - not gastritis.

 

[LTS3]

I personally feed my IBD cat a commercially available frozen raw cat food in a novel protein. There are some good brands out there these days that work well for cats with IBD and other gastrointestinal issues or food sensitivities.

It's fine to not feed a prescription food to an IBD cats. It's expensive food for pretty poor quality ingredients, IMO. Rawz canned cat food (not actual raw food. It's regular canned food) is one of a few commercial brands you can feed. There are limited ingredient brands you can also try.

 

[DebbieLamb]

One of my cats was diagnosed with pancreatitis a few years ago and the vet recommended he go on a novel protein diet. It is VERY hard to find a cat food that doesn't have chicken and/or fish in it. I tried, and while I did find a few, but he wouldn't eat them. I finally broke down and bought the Royal Canin Hydrolyzed diet the vet sold. They also had one that was made of rabbit (I can't remember the brand off the top of my head) that he liked but he wouldn't eat it consistently enough, and my other cat didn't like it at all. It's expensive but he only eats about half the recommended amount per day and she won't eat it at all now since she's been ill.

 

[DebbieLamb]

Sorry, your question was did the prescription diet help and I neglected to answer, and I can't figure out how to edit my post. It did help my cat. The only real issue with the prescription diet I found was weight gain. In spite of the fact that both cats were eating about half the recommended daily amount, they both gained weight.

 

[Molly and Abby]

I personally feed my IBD cat a commercially available frozen raw cat food in a novel protein. There are some good brands out there these days that work well for cats with IBD and other gastrointestinal issues or food sensitivities.

It's fine to not feed a prescription food to an IBD cats. It's expensive food for pretty poor quality ingredients, IMO. Rawz canned cat food (not actual raw food. It's regular canned food) is one of a few commercial brands you can feed. There are limited ingredient brands you can also try.

I will stick to the prescription food her vets want her to eat. It's working out very well for Molly & the other cats like the food too.

 

[Molly and Abby]

I personally feed my IBD cat a commercially available frozen raw cat food in a novel protein. There are some good brands out there these days that work well for cats with IBD and other gastrointestinal issues or food sensitivities.

It's fine to not feed a prescription food to an IBD cats. It's expensive food for pretty poor quality ingredients, IMO. Rawz canned cat food (not actual raw food. It's regular canned food) is one of a few commercial brands you can feed. There are limited ingredient brands you can also try.

I'll be sticking to the prescription food recommended by Molly's vets (primary & specialist) since they examined her & they know her very well. I trust & respect Molly's vets .