Food advice for IBD

Hi, my vet thinks my kitty has IBD, and wanted him to go on a diet with meats which included venison, rabbit, or duck. Ares likes to have both wet and dry food, so I purchased Nature's Variety Rabbit meal (dry). I opened the bag, and the kibble is the size of small boulders in comparison to the Wellness Kitten Health that he has been using! Ares liked the smell and licked a piece of the NV, but looked at me like "Am I expected to fit this in my mouth?". I really liked the ingredients from NV. As for wet, he eats both NV and Natural Balance (venison and peas). I have read that NB now has a Peas and Duck dry formula. Has anyone tried it? Would it be considered appropriate food for a 6 month old kitten? Any other thoughts on foods for IBD?

Thanks!

CANNED food would be best ... raw or homemade can also help... Pt try to get away from dry.... at six months a all stage/adult food is okay

FIRST start out with one meat and some dry with just one meat ... rabbit and rabbit dry ( as long as it has just rabbit not chicken or fish or any other meat).. for about 6 weeks then introduce one meat at a time if the dry is good leave it and add another flavor to the wet rotation... Duck doesnt set with my animals real well so I avoid it but the is personal and IMHO ..

Also, I believe that very large kibble, particularly if it's hard, may be bad for IBD. Though maybe you just mean that it's larger than kitten food, and is thus normal sized. But oversized would probably not be the right food to choose.

I can recomment Natural Balance... I haven't tried the Peas and Duck, though. Only the Venison and Peas wet and dry. My cat did well on it and he loved the taste of both versions. The Natural Balance is formulated for both kittens and adult cats.

Thanks Shary and Emmylou! I will try to add raw to Ares's diet, but the problem is he really doesn't like food that isn't a paste, so I have been hesitant to try it. I know I should be getting away from dry food, but he is inconsistent in the amount of wet food he eats, and since he's not a foodie cat, I worry about starving him . Honestly, I don't think I'll feed him the NX rabbit. (I would have to break it up just to get him to eat it.) I will try and get him to eat more wet food, but it is good to know that NB has a dry formulation of peas and vension as that is by far his favorite wet food.

Thanks again!!

I just have to add my two cents . For argument sake, my youngest kitten, Simon, has IBD. (We think, he has not had any invasive procedures done but we have tried EVERYTHING else) and the food he has responded the best to is a raw doet. He literally went from having diahrrea everyday to hard poop after 2 feedings of raw. I do understand raw isn't for everyone, so if it is something you would not consider doing, wet is also very good. In my experience, its the dry that casued the issue, so I might reccomend getting your baby off dry completely. No one in the house eats dry anymore and it really has worked out for us just fine. We even had a dry addict and she went to wet and then now to raw. Anyway, just my thoughts, good luck with the food drama!!

Walter, 13 is my IBD boy.

In August, he came home from ICU on 5 mg of Pred per day, plus Cypro PRN for appetite improvement. His guts were so swollen one vet looked at the X-ray, suspected a tumor and called in a radiology consult.

My (more experienced) vet said she thinks it is the carbs, but suggested nothing by brand. I began researching. I had to get him off the prescription, allergy diet he had eaten for eight years. I bought baby food of the same protein source as that (lamb). And he did better on it ... (no GRAIN. DUH!), but back onto the prescription stuff (WITH grain), HE DID WORSE AGAIN. Barfed bile, and ate less. While still on 5 mg pred and cypro.

I read up on alternative foods. And I bought. And I bought. And I bought.

The ONLY grain-free canned this so-and-so will eat is Fancy Feast, 3 flavors ... liver and chix, turkey and giblets, or salmon and shrimp. None of healthier ones. Fortunately I have 3 young and hungry cats to pawn off his rejects on . But ... he gained weight on the FF! And kept eating!

What healthy stuff WILL he eat??? Frozen Raw. Not very much, he is old and fairly inactive ... and SMALL. 7 lb on hospital discharge in early August, 9 at his peak 4 yrs ago. HOWEVER .... the good news is, he now JUMPS UP ON THE COUNTER in anticipation of every meal. He runs with the kitten and plays with her! He maybe is gaining weight (no scales at home, but his muscles are coming back some). No cypro. 2.5 mg pred, every OTHER day.

So, that is what I will feed him. AND since he is my SEVENTH IBD cat, despite my long-term dedication to prescription name brand diets (ahem), the young cats will get grain-free, low-carb food, from now on.

Wow - it sounds like raw might really be the way to go! I really haven't done any research on raw foods, but I think I will do so, and see what might work for Ares

Thanks again!