Anyone with a cat with IBD?

Question

Have you tried the raw meat diet and had any success?

Answer 1

as a lifetime owner of indoor/outdoor cats, and a lifetime feeder of meat, cooked, to cats as treats, i can tell you i do not think it is a good idea.

meat brings out the wild in them. cat food keeps them domesticated.

if you throw a recently weaned kitten a piece of steak, he attacks it, growls, digs his claws into it.

meat should only be a treat, a supplement or used on the sick or feral.

Answer 2

Hi there... So you have an IBD cat too. Welcome to the world of diarrhea and vomit. UGH! Been there done that. So sorry to hear about your kitty. :o( Mine had the same problem... until I put him on a Raw diet and he never ever had another IBD symptom again. Cured.

I cannot beg you enough to consider RAW for your IBD cat. If you can take the time to make your own... start here for good information.

http://www.catnutrition.org/

and here:

http://www.catinfo.org/

If you don’t' want to deal with making your own you can purchase a great pre-made raw from here. I have used it and my cats love it.

http://www.felinespride.com

I can not stress to you the importance of wet food with an IBD cat. Try it. You have nothing to lose except diarrhea!

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Cats with IBD can generally be treated with hypoalergenic  diets and steroids DO NOT FEED RAW DIETS TO CATS!!!! Toxoplasmosis and maby other fun problems like Salmonela might be in your future. IBD is a life long manageable problem  

Answer 4

I've starred your question to hopefully bring in others with personal experience.

I probably shouldn't even be answering since I technically don't have a cat with IBD.  But from what little I know about it, it's an inflammation.

My cat Poppy suffered from inflammation for her first two years of life.  That cleared up as soon as I got her off the kitty crack (Purina) and onto a grainless canned food.  She's since been switched to raw and is still doing very well.

I'm quite fond of saying that you could now bounce a quarter off her poo!

And I feel compelled to add this:  Eating raw meat doesn't make cats wild.  LOL  It's true that cats who begin eating species appropriate foods may improve so perhaps it appears that they're going wild when it's simply that they feel better and have more energy!

Have you checked out the various Yahoo groups for those with IBD cats?  If you do you're sure to find a larger pool of those with personal experience.

Answer 5

I do a raw meat diet (with a supplement powder from Feline Instincts).  I have done this for eight years now and if you are willing to make the effort I can assure you that you will see the benfits within the first few weeks.

None of my cats has had the IBD.  You can go to http://www.felineinstincts.com and read testimonials from owners about IBD being "cured" almost overnight.  I was on many raw feeding groups as I went into doing this type of food and read many testimonials as to its benefits for cats with IBD.

So go to that site, start looking for a source for organic chicken and/or turkey, get a small jar of the powder and give it a month's try.

There is also a product called Phytomucil which you can get from http://www.animalapawthecary.com   It contains licorice, marshmallow and slippery elm - all of which are very soothing to inflammed intestines.  It is a liquid and easy to squirt into a cat's mouth for dosage.  I recently got some from my vet when my kitten was having a bad bout with "squirty" diarrhea.

Answer 6

My cat was diagnosed with IBD several years ago and we also had him on the venison diet.  I fed him the raw Prairie canned venison and when he got tired of it I occasionally tried the rabbit and duck.  He did very well on this diet for a couple of years then started to get really sick again.  We took him back to the vet and he was diagnosed with lymphoma.  I would recommend the raw diet and trying the alternative protein sources such as rabbit and duck for variety.  If your cat gets sicker, then I would have the cat checked for lymphoma which I later learned has symptoms that mimic IBD which can turn into lymphoma.  Cats respond very well to chemo treatments, unlike people.  They try different drugs and then space out treatments.  It's a pill they give them and just need to check blood work occasionally.  Our cat celebrates his 17th birthday on Labor Day weekend and has been on chemo for two years now.  Our vet told me that sometimes the chemo drugs are used on extreme cases of IBD to put them into remission.

Answer 7

I know many who have had success using a  raw diet with ibd. I work on a diabetes board and see it all the time

Glad you are doing research. here is my normal ibd post

Hi

You have unfortunately probably been feeding dry foods

   You need to either switch to canned foods with no grains or as little as possible or a raw diet where there are no grains at all.

  What you also want to do is cut down on the fats

A human grade quality canned food like Merrick or wellness with chicken breast added would be great.



Diet plays a huge part in most IBD cats, If a  no grain diet doesn't do the trick,

A novel protein like rabbit,vennison ect with no grains,

  For a raw diet which is the best choice, you can buy something like nature's variety or you can make your own

These sites shows you how

http://www.catinfo.org/makingcatfood.htm

http://www.catnutrition.org/pictorial.ph...

Here is a link about ibd

http://www.felineoutreach.org/EducationD...

http://www.catnutrition.org/ibd.php

My info comes from working with diabetic cats worldwide and many of them have other issues including ibd. I am giving you info that works

Answer 8

Hi N Luv,

I have an 8-year-old Oriental Shorthair neuter with IBD. I discussed raw diet with my vet and she suggested that I try the venison diet first and see how he does. I found the same thing with the Royal Canin, which I assume you are using. He would eat it one day, and then refuse it. After spending $48.00 on a carton of the diet, I was quite concerned, not only about his not  eating it, but the huge financial cost. Of course I wouldn't use this as a reason to stop using it if he ate it all the time.

I joined the IBD support group on Yahoo.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Felin...

and got some excellent support and information. Through the group I learned of Natural Balance Venison and Peas, which is about 1/2 the cost, is 6 oz instead of 5.5 and my cat adores it. He does not get picky with this brand at all.

In addition to changing to the Natural Balance, we give him 2.5 mg of Pepcid AC daily ( it comes generic by the way) but make sure it is only the Pepcid AC with nothing added.  We also had him on Vitamin B-12 injectable twice a week for 6 weeks.

He hasn't vomited in 6 weeks, not even a hairball! He has picked up the weight he lost and is doing fabulously.

We cannot use steroids as he has Feline Herpes, but with these terrific results I am so glad that is not even up for consideration.

My vet felt that raw beef or chicken diet, with suppliments of course, may be irritating to the gut, as IBD often comes from food allergies. Chicken and Beef, since I had been giving him a diet of Wellness of the same meats, she felt would not make sense, since a hypoallergenic diet needs to be a food which he had no contact with prior to diagnosis.

Talk to your vet about the B-12 and Pepcid. They really helped tremendously. His appetite perked up amazingly. Hope this helps, and good luck with your kitty. Try the group also, they are the best, and can give you more information about what type of meat may be best if you are still considering raw.

Troublesniffer

Owned by cats for over 40 years

Former breeder of Oriental Shorthairs, and Siamese

Freelance writer and blogger at http://www.petside.com/