IBS vs. food allergy?

mrsbrak

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After spending around $700 at the vet this year trying to figure out why Little Kitty has had diarrhea and chronic UTI, my vet said he has ruled out everything except IBS. I asked if it could be a food allergy, but he glossed over the suggestion and was quick to write a prescription for an antibiotic with prednisone.

Anyone here reluctant to start your cat on a daily medicine regimen without at least checking for allergies? Sometimes I feel like vets are in collusion with drug companies.

Anyway, I put Little Kitty on Wellness since it's gluten free and the last 2 days seem to have made a difference with the diarrhea. Hard to be sure yet.

My other question is if anyone can recommend a source for buying Wellness in bulk ... that stuff is pricey!

Thanks, everyone!
 

beandip

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I don't have any direct experience with IBD...or did your vet say IBS? To my knowledge, allergy tests for cats are expensive and sometimes not all that conclusive. Prednisone is often used for IBD...by trying it for a short term you'll be able to see if helps or not. I would avoid using it long term, although they say cats have less issues with it than dogs and humans. "Less" but not necessarily "none", if you know what I mean. My cat is on it (daily) and I'm weaning him off now, as we've had some success treating his issues with diet and limited meds now.

The UTIs, diet can play a part but I wouldn't say they are related to a food allergy... ALTHOUGH - they are often caused by bacteria from the stools entering the urethra, particularly in females as their opening is less protected from outside bacteria. So fixing the diarrhea issue could help the UTIs.

From what I have read, cats with chronic diarrhea oftentimes have trouble with grains in their food. Did the vet suggest any particular foods? I might suggest eliminating grains and trying that if you haven't already.

Were you referring to Wellness dry or wellness canned?

EDIT...

a couple of articles I found

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body...l_disease.html

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/ibd.html
 

jenny82

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Originally Posted by mrsbrak

My other question is if anyone can recommend a source for buying Wellness in bulk ... that stuff is pricey!

Thanks, everyone!
I can answer this one....try www.petfooddirect.com!

You can sign up to have them email you coupons (I've seen up to 22% off) and they sometimes have sales as well.
 

icklemiss21

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My vet did extensive testing for allergies and it turned out to be a common food dye... so no medication needed, just no food with certain colouring in it.

You will likely see very little improvement in less than a week on a new food, with the allergy testing we went 8 weeks on each as well as blood work to be sure. Cats can have finicky tummies and some take as long as 3 months to get fully used to a new food, especially a dry food.
 
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mrsbrak

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Arggh! I typed a long reply and then I must have gotten logged out, so I lost it. Let me try this again.

I checked out the link about IBD vs IBS. My vet didn't clarify the difference between the 2, so that was helpful info. I think Little Kitty has IBD.

I've had LK on the Wellness food for at least a week now and the diarrhea seems to have cleared up well. I introduced some Wellness dry one day (I think it was the Super 5 Mix?), but he had diarrhea by day's end, so we went right back to the canned and he was fine by the next day. Amazing.

I'm hoping the simple diet change will cure the diarrhea. LK is one of those cats you cannot pill, so the prednisone/antibiotic meds would be very difficult to manage. I was glad to see Sharky's post about the grain-free dry foods. I might try those later after LK seems fully recovered.

I posted a comment in another thread about Wellness food that they had responded to my question about which of their canned foods were truly grain free. This was their reply:
When Wellness was first introduced, they were all grain-free. However, when we brought the "fishier" ones in the group i.e. Salmon & Trout, Sardine, Shrimp & Crab and Chicken & Lobster, consumers were calling stating these formulas were much soupier than the others. In turn, that is why we added grains to these formulations.

Good to know. Thanks again everyone for your helpful advice!
 

mzjazz2u

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One of my cats has a history of IBS (not quite as simple as IBS but long story) and he is doing well now on Evo canned and a bit of Nutro dry to tide him over during the day. When he was really bad though, he almost died. It could be that it isn't even a food allergy but a sensitivity. There is a little bit of a difference. Anyway.... if you can control your cats symptoms with another high quality food then I say more power to you!
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by mzjazz2u

One of my cats has a history of IBS (not quite as simple as IBS but long story) and he is doing well now on Evo canned and a bit of Nutro dry to tide him over during the day. When he was really bad though, he almost died. It could be that it isn't even a food allergy but a sensitivity. There is a little bit of a difference. Anyway.... if you can control your cats symptoms with another high quality food then I say more power to you!
Oh do I know sensitivities.. they act like allergys but arent based off IGE but one of the other immunoglobulins


I too use nutro to control my Zoeys issues ( wheat soy and some fish)
 

beandip

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Originally Posted by mrsbrak

I'm hoping the simple diet change will cure the diarrhea. LK is one of those cats you cannot pill, so the prednisone/antibiotic meds would be very difficult to manage. I was glad to see Sharky's post about the grain-free dry foods. I might try those later after LK seems fully recovered.
I'm glad that the wet Wellness is working so well. That's great.


I hope you can get along without medicating LK daily, but one thing you might try are Pill Pockets (www.pillpockets.com). Small pills like prednisone fit perfectly in those, and larger pills can be broken and fed in multiple treats. They have been a lifesaver for me. The cats just eat them up with the pill inside. They're available at Petco, Petsmart, and smaller mom/pop type pet and feed stores too.
 
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