My Allergic Ibd Siamese Kitty

[Jojo&Tutu]

Just did ACTT blood food allergy testing on my allergic Siamese IBD pancreatitis cat. She can only eat venison, rabbit, shellfish, carrots, spinach, eggs and a few other things. Stupid vet had me add sweet potatoe into her food and she had a bad reaction. And her test showed a high allergy to sweet potatoes. Stupid vet said blood allergy testing is not accurate but it is for her as it matches all her past issues with food. She is on Just Juicy Venison currently but cans are currently coming in dented a lot. Hounds and Gatos rabbit is a possibility but they use salmon oil. Any other suggestions?
Thanks bunches

 

[Daisy6]

First of all, you need to find a vet who is nor "stupid" in your opinion. Is there one who specializes in natural pet care? They know a lot more about feline nutrition so their favorite diets have no plant-based allergens or IBD triggers.

Nature's Variety Instinct has received more 5* reviews than I can count by people whose cats were diagnosed with IBD or IBS (irritable bowl syndrome) and literally cured by eating NVI. The brand has a limited ingredient diet (LID) collection that I think includes rabbit.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! baby meezer!!
LTS3 if you have a moment, do you have additional thoughts/suggestions?

 

[1 bruce 1]

Just did ACTT blood food allergy testing on my allergic Siamese IBD pancreatitis cat. She can only eat venison, rabbit, shellfish, carrots, spinach, eggs and a few other things. Stupid vet had me add sweet potatoe into her food and she had a bad reaction. And her test showed a high allergy to sweet potatoes. Stupid vet said blood allergy testing is not accurate but it is for her as it matches all her past issues with food. She is on Just Juicy Venison currently but cans are currently coming in dented a lot. Hounds and Gatos rabbit is a possibility but they use salmon oil. Any other suggestions?
Thanks bunches

What was the reasoning for adding sweet potato?
Where are you getting the dented cans, and would they offer an exchange or at least a price slash?
Poor kitty. And if you don't feel your vet is helping, I agree with Daisy6 --find one you think CAN help. Most holistic vets are more up to date on the nutrition front (ESPECIALLY when dealing with allergies, IBD, AND pancreatitis...wow!), they might be able to help if you can locate one nearby.

 

[Furballsmom]

Here's a website for you;
IBDKitties – Helping Save Lives…One Paw at a Time

 

[LTS3]

As long as the dented cans are still sealed properly, they are fine to feed. But I understand if you don't want to take the risk. Can you return the cans or get a refund?

Give LID foods a try:

Blue Buffalo Basics
Merrick Limited Ingredients
Koha Limited Ingredient
Natural Balance LID
Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet | Instinct Pet Food

You can also look into home cooked or raw. I feed my IBD cat Nature's Variety frozen raw rabbit. Other people have good luck with Rad Cat (no fillers like fruit and veggies) or making their own raw from a recipe or with a premix.

 

[lisahe]

I agree about looking for a new vet, something that's not always easy, depending on where you live... we take our cats to a cat specialist and she's wonderful because she sees only cats so she's great at recognizing patterns and making diagnoses.

What LTS3 mentions about "no fillers like fruit and veggies" is really important with an IBD cat. The simpler the recipe the better, which is why something like Hound & Gatos might work, though I seem to recall that some of their foods have ingredients like duck liver. Is pork also ruled out, Jojo&Tutu ? Pork is one of our cats' favorites and there are a few brands (some raw) that make pork foods. A lot of the pork food that we feed is homecooked; I use the EZ Complete supplement, which has chicken liver, though apparently even some IBD cats who can't handle chicken meat can eat chicken liver. You could request a sample of EZ if you're interested. The company's founders are also great about answering questions. They're very knowledgeable.

I'm glad that Furballsmom mentioned the IBD Kitties site: it was very useful to us when we had an IBD cat.

 

[1 bruce 1]

I'd LOVE a cat only vet!!! Though are vets are great =)
One is a large animal/small animal vet that actually makes ranch calls.

 

[lisahe]

I'd LOVE a cat only vet!!! Though are vets are great =)
One is a large animal/small animal vet that actually makes ranch calls.

Our cat vet makes house calls, too! We usually take the cats in, though, because they seem to get more worked up if she comes here. I'm not sure if the short drive wears them out (meow! meow! MEOW!) or they feel like their safe haven is invaded if she comes here but it's easier (and of course cheaper) to go to the office. We love our vet!

 

[1 bruce 1]

Our cat vet makes house calls, too! We usually take the cats in, though, because they seem to get more worked up if she comes here. I'm not sure if the short drive wears them out (meow! meow! MEOW!) or they feel like their safe haven is invaded if she comes here but it's easier (and of course cheaper) to go to the office. We love our vet!

It's amazing how territorial cats can be!

 

[Jojo&Tutu]

My regular internal medicine vet was a professor at UC Davis and Tutu had seen her for 15 years. We didn't always agree but she would listen and was very open to learning new things I would bring to her attention. She only suggested a little pumpkin for her constipation. My regular internal medicine vet is on serious family medical leave and there is no one as good in town that I have found to replace her. I have been going to a closer facility to an different internal medicine vet who I don't often agree with and am thinking to find someone new. I found a holistic vet but she is too far away however that vet is doing a new saliva food allergy test for Tutu and it will be interesting to see if the blood allergy test she had done matches the saliva allergy food test as they test different parts of the immune system. I myself am very allergic to medications and some foods, had full skin allergy testing years ago which is supposed to be accurate for people and later had blood allergy testing which matched perfectly hence I believe in the value of food allergy blood testing. I don't like this current vet putting down my decisions arguing that blood allergy testing is not accurate and yet all her wonderful decisions have only caused greater dysfunction for Tutu. She wanted Tutu to have some carbs for helping her kidney function so she had me add sweet potatoe and Tutu's mouth swelled up. She wants me to continue subq fluids even though Tutu's last creatinine was normal. Tutu stresses out with the sub q fluids. Tutu's BUN was quite elevated partly due to her high protein diet, partly due to a flare up of pancreatitis and IBD following I131 treatment for a thyroid adenoma (tumor) partly due to her thyroid dropping after the I131 treatment (she is on thyroid meds until her thyroid comes back up as it will following getting rid of her thyroid adenoma with the I 131). Her BUN also elevated partly due to her stress of being away from home for two weeks until I could be exposed to her as I myself have an adenoma parotid gland tumor so it is taking kitty time to readjust. Her BUN also elevated due to her pancreatitis as per her new vet which partly happened because the new vet put her on sweet potatoe. I knew something was wrong with adding in sweet potatoe even before the blood allergy test came back and so I removed all carbs from her diet. She still needs something because she gets so constipated. Am thinking of adding in a bit of baby food carrots which is ok for her. Or I am thinking of using a tint bit of Miralax instead of pumpkin as she is a little allergic to pumpkin. Any experience with this? I've looked at ingredients all foods and will look at your suggestions but I think she is allergic to legumes (peas and definately chickpea) so guar gum ingredient is out. I like the Just juicy venison but can't risk dents wish they would fix the problem. Chewys refunds me but it is getting hard to find product. Cannot use:No pork no chicken no duck no lamb no peas no sweet potatoe not recommending beef no fish. I cannot risk raw. I am disabled and don't cook for myself anymore. So cooking is likely out. Shellfish ok but not regularly I think. Eggs ok rabbit ok venison ok carrots ok spinich ok. Excuse my calling my current vet stupid but I am so frustrated. My kitty is such a sweetheart. She is sitting with her head resting on my foot right now and I am determined to help her - to figure this out. Stupid vet wanted me to feed her Rayne which has ingredients in it she has already had trouble with. I miss my regular internal medicine vet. I hope her family is doing better. Thank you for suggestions.

 

[Jojo&Tutu]

My regular internal medicine vet was a professor at UC Davis and Tutu had seen her for 15 years. We didn't always agree but she would listen and was very open to learning new things I would bring to her attention. She only suggested a little pumpkin for her constipation. My regular internal medicine vet is on serious family medical leave and there is no one as good in town that I have found to replace her. I have been going to a closer facility to an different internal medicine vet who I don't often agree with and am thinking to find someone new. I found a holistic vet but she is too far away however that vet is doing a new saliva food allergy test for Tutu and it will be interesting to see if the blood allergy test she had done matches the saliva allergy food test as they test different parts of the immune system. I myself am very allergic to medications and some foods, had full skin allergy testing years ago which is supposed to be accurate for people and later had blood allergy testing which matched perfectly hence I believe in the value of food allergy blood testing. I don't like this current vet putting down my decisions arguing that blood allergy testing is not accurate and yet all her wonderful decisions have only caused greater dysfunction for Tutu. She wanted Tutu to have some carbs for helping her kidney function so she had me add sweet potatoe and Tutu's mouth swelled up. She wants me to continue subq fluids even though Tutu's last creatinine was normal. Tutu stresses out with the sub q fluids. Tutu's BUN was quite elevated partly due to her high protein diet, partly due to a flare up of pancreatitis and IBD following I131 treatment for a thyroid adenoma (tumor) partly due to her thyroid dropping after the I131 treatment (she is on thyroid meds until her thyroid comes back up as it will following getting rid of her thyroid adenoma with the I 131). Her BUN also elevated partly due to her stress of being away from home for two weeks until I could be exposed to her as I myself have an adenoma parotid gland tumor so it is taking kitty time to readjust. Her BUN also elevated due to her pancreatitis as per her new vet which partly happened because the new vet put her on sweet potatoe. I knew something was wrong with adding in sweet potatoe even before the blood allergy test came back and so I removed all carbs from her diet. She still needs something because she gets so constipated. Am thinking of adding in a bit of baby food carrots which is ok for her. Or I am thinking of using a tint bit of Miralax instead of pumpkin as she is a little allergic to pumpkin. Any experience with this? I've looked at ingredients all foods and will look at your suggestions but I think she is allergic to legumes (peas and definately chickpea) so guar gum ingredient is out. I like the Just juicy venison but can't risk dents wish they would fix the problem. Chewys refunds me but it is getting hard to find product. Cannot use:No pork no chicken no duck no lamb no peas no sweet potatoe not recommending beef no fish. I cannot risk raw. I am disabled and don't cook for myself anymore. So cooking is likely out. Shellfish ok but not regularly I think. Eggs ok rabbit ok venison ok carrots ok spinich ok. Excuse my calling my current vet stupid but I am so frustrated. My kitty is such a sweetheart. She is sitting with her head resting on my foot right now and I am determined to help her - to figure this out. Stupid vet wanted me to feed her Rayne which has ingredients in it she has already had trouble with. I miss my regular internal medicine vet. I hope her family is doing better. Thank you for suggestions.

My regular internal medicine vet was a professor at UC Davis and Tutu had seen her for 15 years. We didn't always agree but she would listen and was very open to learning new things I would bring to her attention. She only suggested a little pumpkin for her constipation. My regular internal medicine vet is on serious family medical leave and there is no one as good in town that I have found to replace her. I have been going to a closer facility to an different internal medicine vet who I don't often agree with and am thinking to find someone new. I found a holistic vet but she is too far away however that vet is doing a new saliva food allergy test for Tutu and it will be interesting to see if the blood allergy test she had done matches the saliva allergy food test as they test different parts of the immune system. I myself am very allergic to medications and some foods, had full skin allergy testing years ago which is supposed to be accurate for people and later had blood allergy testing which matched perfectly hence I believe in the value of food allergy blood testing. I don't like this current vet putting down my decisions arguing that blood allergy testing is not accurate and yet all her wonderful decisions have only caused greater dysfunction for Tutu. She wanted Tutu to have some carbs for helping her kidney function so she had me add sweet potatoe and Tutu's mouth swelled up. She wants me to continue subq fluids even though Tutu's last creatinine was normal. Tutu stresses out with the sub q fluids. Tutu's BUN was quite elevated partly due to her high protein diet, partly due to a flare up of pancreatitis and IBD following I131 treatment for a thyroid adenoma (tumor) partly due to her thyroid dropping after the I131 treatment (she is on thyroid meds until her thyroid comes back up as it will following getting rid of her thyroid adenoma with the I 131). Her BUN also elevated partly due to her stress of being away from home for two weeks until I could be exposed to her as I myself have an adenoma parotid gland tumor so it is taking kitty time to readjust. Her BUN also elevated due to her pancreatitis as per her new vet which partly happened because the new vet put her on sweet potatoe. I knew something was wrong with adding in sweet potatoe even before the blood allergy test came back and so I removed all carbs from her diet. She still needs something because she gets so constipated. Am thinking of adding in a bit of baby food carrots which is ok for her. Or I am thinking of using a tint bit of Miralax instead of pumpkin as she is a little allergic to pumpkin. Any experience with this? I've looked at ingredients all foods and will look at your suggestions but I think she is allergic to legumes (peas and definately chickpea) so guar gum ingredient is out. I like the Just juicy venison but can't risk dents wish they would fix the problem. Chewys refunds me but it is getting hard to find product. Cannot use:No pork no chicken no duck no lamb no peas no sweet potatoe not recommending beef no fish. I cannot risk raw. I am disabled and don't cook for myself anymore. So cooking is likely out. Shellfish ok but not regularly I think. Eggs ok rabbit ok venison ok carrots ok spinich ok. Excuse my calling my current vet stupid but I am so frustrated. My kitty is such a sweetheart. She is sitting with her head resting on my foot right now and I am determined to help her - to figure this out. Stupid vet wanted me to feed her Rayne which has ingredients in it she has already had trouble with. I miss my regular internal medicine vet. I hope her family is doing better. Thank you for suggestions.

Just an update
Tutu seems better in that she is hungry and eating good. I tried to offer her Koha venison but it was fatty and not juicy and she shook her paw no and went to her cupboard where her food is kept, rubbed against it a lot to let me know she wanted her Just juicy venison. So I gave it to her. It is a good product. Protein tested ok only for rabbit or venison. She is allergic to salmon and there is salmon oil in most products including her current food. She is allergic to peas, legumes and sweet potatoe so that eliminates a lot too. I think I will keep her on her Lotus Just juicy venison and try a little Miralax and leave off pumpkin see how that helps her constipation and allergies. She does get occasional bumps perhaps in her salivary gland or thyroid that go away. Probably allergy related. At a point when her thyroid is more stable I will try some other proteins. I think her thyroid is coming back because she is eating well and hungry. She is on some thyroid meds to help too, will retest T4 thyroid soon. It is a good sign that she is hungry and eating well.

 

[duckpond]

Very glad to hear she is doing better! Hopefully this will continue and she will just get better and better! Eating well is a very good thing!

 

[Furballsmom]

I'm sorry I didn't see your question earlier on the miralax, some people's cats do ok with it. Dissolve the powder in water first use 1/4 tsp twice daily, although for some, they only use 1/8 tsp.
It seems a cat can eventually become accustomed to it, and also, determining the correct amount for your cat can be a bit of a balancing act.
All the best to you and your baby meezer!!

 

[t c c]

JoJo&Tutu-You said that you did both an allergy blood test at the vet and a test thru the mail, and that you were going to compare them, to see if the mail-in test is accurate. Please let us know:
1-Was the mail-in test was accurate?
2-How much was the vet's blood test?
3-Which mail-in test did you do?
I am looking for an easier way to figure out the allergy, rather than doing a food trial. The trials take so long to do, and lots of money. Not to mention the pain to the cat, while the correct allergy is not being found out. I just found out about these allergy tests, so would prefer that, if they are accurate. Thanks for any feedback.