diet suggestions for possible IBS

Georgia has had chronic loose stools for as long as we've had her.

After going to the vet and ruling out parasites and diseases, we've decided she may just have IBS.

We've already switched over to Taste of the Wild kibble, which alone hasn't helped.

We also used to feed all the cats fancy feast, but I've decided it may not agree with Georgia so I'm not letting her have it anymore (which she is NOT happy about.  I even tried adding pumpkin to it to firm up her stool but didn't work...)

The vet gave us samples of i/d and w/d.  Problem is she doesn't like them as much as fancy feast, but she had a little.

Is one better than the other for IBS?

Should I just stick to Taste of the Wild kibble for her and cut out wet food all together?

I have a theory that wet food may cause wet stool, but maybe that's just silly.

Are there other wet foods that are good for sensitive stomachs?

My Ibd cat Bugsy had diarrhea day in and day out for 14 months. We tried everything - all antibiotics, all tests, prednisolone, natural treatments..... SO many drugs that affected his liver. His only choice, was exploratory surgery..... which whatever they found out, I wouldn't be able to treat it anyways, as he can't tolerate medications any longer.
I decided to give a raw diet a try...... I was against it for the longest time, but I had no other options - it was either that, or an extensive, traumatic, and like any big surgery, potentially life threatening procedure. Long story short, in 5 days, even before he was on 100% raw he had 100% solid poop. FIVE days.
I never looked back, and will never look back.
He is off all supplements, and doing fantastic - so are all my other cats - his only problem? The occasional contispation :lol3:

Here is my transition thread, if you are interested - be aware, it is LONG :lol3: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/239771/...lucky-bugsy-and-hope-to-raw-challenges-galore

Hmm, interesting.  Do you make your own or get the commercial frozen raw food?

Also, I forgot to mention the vet also gave her probiotics.

It seemed like for a couple days she was free of loose stools, but then had one today that was semi solid...  So maybe starting to improve?

If you do a search on managing IBD or IBS in people, you'll find the one common theme: avoiding GI stimulants or irritants. As additives to food are almost always irritants, in cats, this equates to a diet with as few additives as possible in the foods you choose to feed her. As cats' GI systems are set up to digest proteins and fats, you want to look for foods that are as low in carbohydrates as possible. Pet foods are not allowed to list the carbohydrate content, but you can use the guaranteed analysis provided on the food to figure it out. To compare foods, everything must be converted to a dry matter basis (to account for the differing levels of moisture content in the various foods). This dry-matter-basis converter makes the process simple, and calculates the carbs for you: http://catcentric.org/ Scroll down to the "Special Features" on the right hand side (3rd box down), you'll see the link to the dry matter basis calculator. :nod:

abnihon said:

Hmm, interesting.  Do you make your own or get the commercial frozen raw food?

Also, I forgot to mention the vet also gave her probiotics.

It seemed like for a couple days she was free of loose stools, but then had one today that was semi solid...  So maybe starting to improve?

Click to expand...

I give them Commercial raw right now - Rad Cat.... It seems that for cats with IBD and IBS, a diet with bone meal or calcium is more easily digestible for them. Rad cat is one of them, and Nature's Menu, purchased online, another. Rad Cat is really excellent - I have been very successful with it. My intention is to go Frankerprey later, but I am not ready for home made yet - I am fine as is now :nod:
As far as probiotics, yes, I definitely give to all of mine - I use Proviable-DC.

This is excellent reading:
http://ibdkitties.net/Aboutraw.html