IBD in cat treatment

[Rosepud]

Hello, my cat was recently diagnosed with IBD, and will be put on metrotranzidol, and steroids, but we were told diet could also help to resolve the issue, but we're feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of that, so I was wondering if anyone had food recommendations or things that worked for them, and their cats?

 

[LTS3]

daftcat75

Take a read through these:

IBDKitties – Helping Save Lives…One Paw at a Time

www.ibdkitties.net

Feline IBD - Healing can happen!

Address the root cause of IBD in your cat. Treat inflammation and gut dysbiosis with proper tools to restore health, not just manage symptoms.

www.rawfeedingforibdcats.org

Every IBD cat is different. What generally works diet-wise is bland-ish canned food, meaning little to no junk fillers. The Rawz brand is a good choice but it's pricey and only sold at authorized stores and web sites. Amazon is not an authorized web site despite all the products you can find there through third party sellers. See Where to Buy | RAWZ

Most any limited ingredient brand of food will work, canned preferred as dry food may still bother some IBD tummies.

Many IBD cats have a chicken sensitivity so feed a novel protein like rabbit or venison instead.

I personally feed my IBD cat a commercial raw diet. Other people make their own raw from scratch or make a home cooked diet. There is a forum here on TCS to get more info on those diets.

Probiotics and digestive enzymes are often helpful. Prebiotics & Probiotics for Cats: Healing Inflammation and gut dysbiosis

 

[denice]

My rainbow bridge kitty, Patches, had IBD starting when he was only 18 months old. He was misdiagnosed and I did the vet hopping thing for 7 years before getting a good diagnosis. He was on a steroid for 7 1/2 years and tolerated it well. It also completely controlled his IBD. Every cat is different which is what makes this such a frustrating illness. If you want to try controlling this with diet which is successful for many cats try what is called a novel protein. A novel protein is one that your cat has not eaten before. You want to limit the grains and other fillers, get as close to just meat and the necessary nutrients as possible. Some people have good luck with a raw or home cooked diet. I will just put that out there and let you know there is a sub-forum in the nutrition forum for raw and homecooked diets. If you decide to try that do your research first, that sub-forum is a good resource. The diet needs to be balanced or it will do more harm then good.

 

[daftcat75]

I need to write my own article, a copy-and-paste number, as I seem to be looped into every IBD thread.

I just posted about this here:
George's Aloe Vera + Jarrow Saccharomyces Boulardii + MOS Probiotic

The gist of it is that food can be the best medicine or the slowest poison while trying to manage IBD. I can tell you from experience that medication alone will not provide meaningful maintenance as long as food is still keeping the inflammation fires burning.

1. Eliminate the dry food. Too many potential irritants to conduct meaningful food trials.
2. Rawz is the best limited ingredient diet (aside from homemade) that you can try. Rawz will send you samples if you write them and Incredible Pets sells by the can as well as the case making it easier to try without a case commitment. Try turkey, beef, or duck first because rabbit is still having shortages. However, if rabbit works, then go with that. You'll just have to stock up whenever you can to weather out the shortages. The rabbit with pumpkin is also a good choice and is sometimes more readily available than the rabbit without pumpkin.
Where to Buy | RAWZ
3. If you can't buy Rawz or want to go with something else, don't be fooled by "Limited Ingredient Diet" on the label. Some of them still contain nonsense ingredients like clay, cranberries, and peas (looking at you, Instinct!) Try to find something as close to meat, moisture, organs, and supplements--free of grains, gums, and vegetable proteins. If you can't find a gum-free food, eliminate carrageenan and agar agar to start. Xanthan gum is another that can cause problems. Guar gum is the most benign. I don't have an opinion on locust gum or cassia gum as these are often paired with other gums making trials nearly impossible.
4. Consider a homemade (raw or cooked) diet, either with a vitamin premix or your own mix of vitamins. Follow a recipe. Don't "off-road" it and risk nutritional deficiencies.

Recipes:
Home

Premixes:
Alnutrin with EggShell Calcium (Regular)
TCfeline Premix

Both of those premixes can be ordered in sample sizes.

 

[Rosepud]

I need to write my own article, a copy-and-paste number, as I seem to be looped into every IBD thread.

I just posted about this here:
George's Aloe Vera + Jarrow Saccharomyces Boulardii + MOS Probiotic

The gist of it is that food can be the best medicine or the slowest poison while trying to manage IBD. I can tell you from experience that medication alone will not provide meaningful maintenance as long as food is still keeping the inflammation fires burning.

1. Eliminate the dry food. Too many potential irritants to conduct meaningful food trials.
2. Rawz is the best limited ingredient diet (aside from homemade) that you can try. Rawz will send you samples if you write them and Incredible Pets sells by the can as well as the case making it easier to try without a case commitment. Try turkey, beef, or duck first because rabbit is still having shortages. However, if rabbit works, then go with that. You'll just have to stock up whenever you can to weather out the shortages. The rabbit with pumpkin is also a good choice and is sometimes more readily available than the rabbit without pumpkin.
Where to Buy | RAWZ
3. If you can't buy Rawz or want to go with something else, don't be fooled by "Limited Ingredient Diet" on the label. Some of them still contain nonsense ingredients like clay, cranberries, and peas (looking at you, Instinct!) Try to find something as close to meat, moisture, organs, and supplements--free of grains, gums, and vegetable proteins. If you can't find a gum-free food, eliminate carrageenan and agar agar to start. Xanthan gum is another that can cause problems. Guar gum is the most benign. I don't have an opinion on locust gum or cassia gum as these are often paired with other gums making trials nearly impossible.
4. Consider a homemade (raw or cooked) diet, either with a vitamin premix or your own mix of vitamins. Follow a recipe. Don't "off-road" it and risk nutritional deficiencies.

Recipes:
Home

Premixes:
Alnutrin with EggShell Calcium (Regular)
TCfeline Premix

Both of those premixes can be ordered in sample sizes.

We had tried feeding rawz duck and rawz rabbit, but only for four days apiece, which it seems isn't long enough to help if they have IBD? He was just diagnosed today, he's only 6 months old though and my partner and I both work full time so we worry about them not having food during the day, so we're a bit nervous about cutting out the dry, the both of them are 6 months old, and currently only eat a cup a day of dry and get wet 3 times a day. I guess I just don't know since kittens are supposed to have food available at this age, and his brother is fine. We've considered switching to raw before, but wanted to wait until they were a year and didn't need access to food all the time, but maybe it would be better to do it now.

 

[Rosepud]

He's also going to be on probiotics along with the other medications, it just seems like it's going to be a constant thing, and I am not sure exactly what the best system is, especially with him being so young

 

[Heart For Cats]

Hello, my cat was recently diagnosed with IBD, and will be put on metrotranzidol, and steroids, but we were told diet could also help to resolve the issue, but we're feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of that, so I was wondering if anyone had food recommendations or things that worked for them, and their cats?

Dietary changes have been proven to help cats with IBD. Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet is made for cats with intestine disorders and allergies. Amazon reviewers claim their cats who have IBD stopped vomiting and having diarrhea after eating NVI LID.

 

[Rosepud]

Dietary changes have been proven to help cats with IBD. Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet is made for cats with intestine disorders and allergies. Amazon reviewers claim their cats who have IBD stopped vomiting and having diarrhea after eating NVI LID.

I believe that food has peas in it, which we are avoiding due to the studies showing it could block taurine absorption

 

[Heart For Cats]

I believe that food has peas in it, which we are avoiding due to the studies showing it could block taurine absorption

I don't know if peas are bad for cats with IBD, but they seem to be everywhere as an alternative to grains for carbohydrates.

 

[denice]

Peas are another filler. When Grain free became a buzz word for pet food companies started using peas so they could say that they were grain free.

One of the foods that I fed Patches was Hounds & Gatos, it was one that he ate well. I remember it was hard to find and expensive but to give you an idea of what an ingredient list looks like on a food that has a minimum of fillers.

Lamb & Liver Wet Cat Food - Hound and Gatos

Lamb, Lamb Broth, Lamb Liver, Agar-Agar, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Tricalcium Phosphate, Salmon Oil, Taurine, Salt, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Magnesium Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid

 

[daftcat75]

Six months old is much too young for IBD. I don’t believe that’s right. How did the vet come to that diagnosis? Did he have an ultrasound?

 

[Rosepud]

Six months old is much too young for IBD. I don’t believe that’s right. How did the vet come to that diagnosis? Did he have an ultrasound?

Yes, he's had radiographs, an ultra sound, blood work, a fecal panel, ultrasound, and intestinal biopsy, he also had a heartworm test along the way. He also has asthma

 

[daftcat75]

Yes, he's had radiographs, an ultra sound, blood work, a fecal panel, ultrasound, and intestinal biopsy, he also had a heartworm test along the way. He also has asthma

Rough. Poor guy. I would definitely look at food as medicine so he doesn’t have to be on steroids long term. You can get timed feeders to give him more access to food throughout the day and night. I would also look into raw or homemade because these tend to be the best diets for IBD cats. You might find a number of his health concerns start to resolve with a more appropriate diet. If he liked the Rawz, give it more time. Four days is definitely not long enough. They say it could take up to thirteen weeks to properly evaluate a food for allergies. But I would add that you’ll know if a food is making matters worse. You don’t need to wait that out. Worse foods rarely become better. But better foods may take a long time to become apparent.

 

[daftcat75]

My recommendation for a timed feeder is the clamshell design. The wheel design effectively puts time limits on portions and rotates uneaten food back inside the machine. With the clamshell, once open, he can come back to it as many times as it takes for him to finish. No time limits. I recommend buying them and using them in pairs. They don’t fail often. 3 or 4 times in a few hundred or thousand uses in my experience. But the stakes are high when they do if you have an acid barfer (vomits white foam if he goes too long between meals.)
PAWISE Automatic Pet Feeder for Dogs and Cats, 1.5 Cup Food Dispenser Feeder with 48-Hour Timer - Single https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FT93YM2/?tag=thecatsite

 

[Rosepud]

My recommendation for a timed feeder is the clamshell design. The wheel design effectively puts time limits on portions and rotates uneaten food back inside the machine. With the clamshell, once open, he can come back to it as many times as it takes for him to finish. No time limits. I recommend buying them and using them in pairs. They don’t fail often. 3 or 4 times in a few hundred or thousand uses in my experience. But the stakes are high when they do if you have an acid barfer (vomits white foam if he goes too long between meals.)
PAWISE Automatic Pet Feeder for Dogs and Cats, 1.5 Cup Food Dispenser Feeder with 48-Hour Timer - Single https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FT93YM2/?tag=thecatsite

The good news is it's in his lower digestive tract so he doesn't vomit and he doesn't have to go often it's just always runny, but he's also incredibly picky and it took nutritional yeast to get him to eat the rawz, we tried offering raw once and he wanted nothing to do with it, his brother eats literally anything though so it's definitely just something

 

[Catmom1234567890]

My kitty recently diagnosed with IBD. Confirmed by tissue biopsy. She never had vomiting or diarrhea, just hairball blockage which tells me her gut motility is super slow.
What’s is causing her GI to thicken? How do I know which food is giving her allergic reaction because she doesn’t have GI symptoms other than hairball?
We feed her different proteins in rotation , she didn’t vomit or had diarrhea.

 

[daftcat75]

The good news is it's in his lower digestive tract so he doesn't vomit and he doesn't have to go often it's just always runny, but he's also incredibly picky and it took nutritional yeast to get him to eat the rawz, we tried offering raw once and he wanted nothing to do with it, his brother eats literally anything though so it's definitely just something

How's his weight? Is he gaining weight like a kitten should?

You mentioned he's getting metronidazole. That could cause runny stools as it is killing the good bacteria in his gut with the bad. Saccharomyces boulardii should be given with his food to help with the antibiotic runs. It is a yeast-based probiotic. It will survive the antibiotics unlike traditional probiotics.

More info on s. boulardii
My Cat Has Diarrhea - What Do I Do?

And the brand they recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O4PUCZU/?tag=thecatsite

You should be able to find this at Whole Foods, Vitamin Shoppe, or wherever you would buy human probiotics. Even though it doesn't require refrigeration, it may be in the refrigerator case with other probiotics.

A lot of cats like the taste of s. boulardii. I got my Krista through a nasty clostridium infection (gut bug) with the stuff when the metro just wasn't working. For severe diarrhea, you can give half a capsule every few hours until it becomes less urgent and frequent. It doesn't sound like that's where you are. In your case, I would try the maintenance dose of 1/2 a capsule twice a day. Experiment with it. Your cat will get sick of eating the stuff before you find a toxic dose.

Optagest digestive enzymes was another thing I found useful with Krista in her last year. I would try these at perhaps half the recommended dose for several days to see if they make matters worse before slowly working up to the recommended portion.
Optagest Digestive Aid - Digestive Enzyme Blend for Dogs & Cats

 

[Feelyne]

My rag doll boy had horrible ibs for years. Explosive diarrhea all over the house, poor appetite...we got him under control for the long term with curcumin and changing his food brand flavor and type at every meal.

 

[daftcat75]

My rag doll boy had horrible ibs for years. Explosive diarrhea all over the house, poor appetite...we got him under control for the long term with curcumin and changing his food brand flavor and type at every meal.

IBS is not the same as IBD.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a sensitivity of the lower bowels characterized by frequent urges to defecate, diarrhea or constipation, and cramping. The condition is typically caused by stress, dietary intolerance, or a disruption in the bowel’s chemical functions. Irritable bowel syndrome is often confused with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The difference is that IBS occurs as a result of a psychosomatic (mental) condition while IBD is an inflammation of the intestinal lining caused by an underlying disease.

Source: Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Cats - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, Management, Cost

Constantly switching food on an IBD kitty is a recipe for disaster. With IBD, inflammation triggers need to be identified and eliminated through food trials. This task becomes so much harder with a constantly rotating source of potential irritants and allergens.

 

[Rosepud]

How's his weight? Is he gaining weight like a kitten should?

You mentioned he's getting metronidazole. That could cause runny stools as it is killing the good bacteria in his gut with the bad. Saccharomyces boulardii should be given with his food to help with the antibiotic runs. It is a yeast-based probiotic. It will survive the antibiotics unlike traditional probiotics.

More info on s. boulardii
My Cat Has Diarrhea - What Do I Do?

And the brand they recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O4PUCZU/?tag=thecatsite

You should be able to find this at Whole Foods, Vitamin Shoppe, or wherever you would buy human probiotics. Even though it doesn't require refrigeration, it may be in the refrigerator case with other probiotics.

A lot of cats like the taste of s. boulardii. I got my Krista through a nasty clostridium infection (gut bug) with the stuff when the metro just wasn't working. For severe diarrhea, you can give half a capsule every few hours until it becomes less urgent and frequent. It doesn't sound like that's where you are. In your case, I would try the maintenance dose of 1/2 a capsule twice a day. Experiment with it. Your cat will get sick of eating the stuff before you find a toxic dose.

Optagest digestive enzymes was another thing I found useful with Krista in her last year. I would try these at perhaps half the recommended dose for several days to see if they make matters worse before slowly working up to the recommended portion.
Optagest Digestive Aid - Digestive Enzyme Blend for Dogs & Cats

He's gaining weight well, he actually has a bigger tummy than expected his primordial pouch is massive, enough the vet was confused and said she'd never seen that, he's already 10lbs and we've been monitoring his weight. I'll definitely look into the s.boulardii, our vet is giving us some probiotic as well, I think proviable. I will also look into the optagest as well.