IBD Help

Poor Naku is in need of some vibes.

Over the past few months (really, since about a month after we adopted him), we have been on a rollercoaster with Naku and his vomiting.

To sum it up, here is what has happened:

- Week before/of Christmas, Naku had a real bad bout of diarrhea, then it resolved

- New Years Day, Naku started vomiting (blood included) took him to the ER

- ER said he is negative on parasites, and since he was recently adopted and tested on, he is clear of all other diseases but had an inflammed colon and was put on 3 diff meds (can't remember names) for his vomiting and inflammation

- Started to eat again that week, vomiting was ok for a day or two, then returned

- Regular vet gave him a different medicine (thought another caused upset) and then said maybe try his diet

- Realized he was vomiting with chicken and turkey

- Tried duck and that induced more vomiting

- Kicked out poultry from diet and the vomiting stopped temporarily

(He is on a grain free wet/dry diet)

He still vomits, maybe once or twice a month? When he does vomit, it is usually through a 24 hour period. He also has TERRIBLE breath (ever since we adopted him). It smells like rotten garbage. I've brushed his teeth, and that didn't really help too much and vets have never said anything about his teeth. In the past week, we also started him on Proviable DC from Amazon due to his vomiting.

I have done some reading on IBD, but could someone who has an IBD cat provide some more info on it? Or PM me some info?

Should I call the vet? (We just moved and are hoping to get them both into a cats only clinic) From what I have been reading, it seems everyone has been able to somewhat control the IBD through diet. Also, does anyone have estimates on how much (about) tests run for IBD?

I really feel terrible he has to go through this. I really want to get him healthy asap.

Thanks everyone for your help!!!!!

Oh im so sorry to read about Naku I do hope he starts feeling better soon.

Im sorry I cant help but im sure someone will be able to offer advice soon I just wanted to really send some     to you both!

It's a very frustrating journey when you have a cat with allergies or IBD. It took us a long time to get Wiggie's constant diarrhea under control. We were told it was over $300 for allergy testing, and decided not to as it doesn't seem to matter what food he's on, and we tried a huge range. I don't know if he has a specific allergy or more of a bowel problem anyway. What works for us if a high fibre diet and feeding him small amounts 4-5 times a day.
He will occasionally vomit, as does our other cat, but not for all day like Naku.
I know it's hard dealing with this and I'm sorry I don't have specific advice to give other than it can take a long time to get to the bottom of his troubles.

Yes, depending upon the severity of how much damage has already been done to their systems from the chronic inflammation, a proper diet is frequently all that is required. If using canned foods, it can be difficult to find the right ingredients that work for your cat. For many cats, making the switch to a species-appropriate diet and eliminating all additives is all that is needed. This is easy to do by feeding a raw diet. There are other options, but this tends to have the most immediate, dramatic results.

This thread is very instructive: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/241609/koko-most-likely-has-ibd-a-new-journey-for-me

And this website will be helpful: http://www.ibdkitties.net/

Poor Naku :rub: I am sorry about Naku and hope that you can get some resolution to his health issues :cross: I just want to send along extra vibes for you and your baby :heart3: I do think diet will play an important role in getting Naku better - probably an important key to solving the troubles .....

-_aj_- said:

Oh im so sorry to read about Naku I do hope he starts feeling better soon.

Im sorry I cant help but im sure someone will be able to offer advice soon I just wanted to really send some 

 

 to you both!

Click to expand...

Thank you!

pushylady said:

It's a very frustrating journey when you have a cat with allergies or IBD. It took us a long time to get Wiggie's constant diarrhea under control. We were told it was over $300 for allergy testing, and decided not to as it doesn't seem to matter what food he's on, and we tried a huge range. I don't know if he has a specific allergy or more of a bowel problem anyway. What works for us if a high fibre diet and feeding him small amounts 4-5 times a day.
He will occasionally vomit, as does our other cat, but not for all day like Naku.
I know it's hard dealing with this and I'm sorry I don't have specific advice to give other than it can take a long time to get to the bottom of his troubles.

Click to expand...

I think we might try feeding him more often throughout the day. Just in small amounts. Thank you!

LDG said:

Yes, depending upon the severity of how much damage has already been done to their systems from the chronic inflammation, a proper diet is frequently all that is required. If using canned foods, it can be difficult to find the right ingredients that work for your cat. For many cats, making the switch to a species-appropriate diet and eliminating all additives is all that is needed. This is easy to do by feeding a raw diet. There are other options, but this tends to have the most immediate, dramatic results.
This thread is very instructive: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/241609/koko-most-likely-has-ibd-a-new-journey-for-me
And this website will be helpful: http://www.ibdkitties.net/

Click to expand...

Thanks LDG! I was doing a lot of reading lastnight on IBDKitties.net and for their canned recommendations, Naku is eating all of those. He is on a mixture of beef (typically Evo, BG, or Merrick Cowboy Cookout), Venison (Evo, Natural Balance L.I.D. or Nature's Variety), Rabbit (Nature's Variety), and Lamb (Nature's Variety). I think I will definitely have to do some more reading on feeding raw to see if it could be an option for him. I will also check the other post you recommended. Thank you!!

Feralvr said:

Poor Naku

I am sorry about Naku and hope that you can get some resolution to his health issues

I just want to send along extra vibes for you and your baby

I do think diet will play an important role in getting Naku better - probably an important key to solving the troubles .....

Click to expand...

Thanks!! I sent over the vibes to him.

Considering the vets are closed over the weekend and he isn't vomiting today, we will just monitor him over the weekend and keep him on wet - especialy considering, the dry TOTW Canyon River is what he was eating most recently that induced some vomiting this time around. So, all wet might be an option for now, while I read more about raw, and I think I will at least keep a diary for the vet on his progress in diet.

I just PM'ed you. I have plenty of experience with this (unfortunately).

IBD is frustrating and unfortunately expensive to deal with. I have a cat with it that has atypical symtoms. His episodes start with constipation,not eating, and vomiting bile. I never did find a food trigger for it. He would have a flare after being on the same food for several months. Because of his atypical symptoms it took several vets to find one who identified it. He is on Prednisolone to control it but for no apparent reason it was back late Thursday night. He was straining often to try to go on the floor and I never had litter box problems with him. I thought since he is a neutered male that he had a urinary blockage so I took him to the ER and he was constipated. They gave him an enema, something for nausea, and sub-q fluids. He still didn't seem right yesterday so I took him to his regular vet. She gave him something for his appetite, something to improve the motility in his digestive track, and a stool softener. Today after two vet trips and $750.00 he seems to be back to his old self. I think catching it early before it snowballed kept him from having a really nasty flare. There has been no change in his diet in over a year. It's just a trial and error thing and there is no one size fits all way to control it. Finding a really good and knowledgeable vet is key to controlling this and the vet bills can get expensive. My cat ended up really sick with fatty liver disease and I just about had given up. When he was so sick with the liver problems I took him to a cats only vet clinic on the other side of town and she was able to figure out what was going on with him. It was expensive but he was also being treated for the fatty liver problem which included putting in a feeding tube.