Increased IBD

denice · Sep 9, 2013

Is it just me or has there been a real increase in IBD in just the last few years. I joined here in early 2006 because my cat had what was finally diagnosed as IBD but it seemed like there were many more threads about CRF. I am sure there are still CRF kitties but it seems like now of the chronic illness a majority of the threads are now about IBD. Maybe I am just more sensitized to it but it seems like there has been a big increase.

peaches08 · Sep 9, 2013

That's a great question. As a vet once explained it to me, it's hard to tell if there is an increase in certain ailments of cats or people are better about getting their cats to the vet.

goholistic · Sep 9, 2013

Could it be that many people are too quick to consider IBD as a possible diagnosis for their cats because the symptoms fit so nicely? I am in situation right now where I have to consider IBD for Sebastian. But could it really be something else?

Do we know if these cases of IBD are popping up after being fed commercial food? I can't help but wonder.

Is it genetics? I don't know. If so, the offspring of feral and stray colonies with the condition would reveal an increased population of IBD cats over time.

It's like nowadays there are all kinds of autoimmune diseases in humans that seem to be more prevalent now - Lupus, Crohn's, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Addison's, Gullain-Barre syndrome, MS, etc.

Were there autoimmune diseases in the 1400 and 1500s, for example? Perhaps. Although it seemed infectious and contagious illnesses from bacteria, viruses, and parasites were more prevalent then, as well as nutritional deficiency diseases and disorders. Some of the problems were inadequate preservation of meats and dairy, lack of cleanliness, and the social/economic/logistic challenges of obtaining grains and seeds for food, leading to the illnesses of that time. According to this abstract, the concept of autoimmunity didn't show up until the 1900s (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19883799).

It seems now we've mastered refrigeration and aseptic practices and so do not suffer the illnesses of our ancestors, but are now in a time of pollution, caustic chemicals, man-made/artificial materials, and genetically modified foods that are altering the cells that make up our bodies. I have no reference for this. It is my opinion.

Anyway, I think the same applies to our pets. They are being exposed to all of that which we are also being exposed.

denice · Sep 10, 2013

Cats have definitely not adapted as well as dogs to a commercial diet. When you look at their wild ancestors it makes sense that they wouldn't. Wolves do hunt and their preference is for fresh meat but they can survive from scavenging if necessary. The big cats don't scavenge, unless you consider stealing another predators kill scavenging.

Dogs can survive quite well on a vegetarian diet but cats can't. Cats also have a higher protein requirement than dogs. I think over generations of eating commercial food the genetics of domestic cats are changing and not for the better.

I grew up on a farm and am 57 years old. We always had barn cats and the main part of their diet was the mice they caught and occasional table scraps. Of course they weren't watched for signs of illness the way my pets are but some of them lived for years. They probably lived until they could no longer catch enough to live.

jclark · Sep 10, 2013

Denice said:
Is it just me or has there been a real increase in IBD in just the last few years. I joined here in early 2006 because my cat had what was finally diagnosed as IBD but it seemed like there were many more threads about CRF. I am sure there are still CRF kitties but it seems like now of the chronic illness a majority of the threads are now about IBD. Maybe I am just more sensitized to it but it seems like there has been a big increase.

More awareness and the Internet. Google IBD and most of the hits appear to be dated within the last couple of years.

vball91 · Sep 10, 2013

In addition to all of the above, I think that more people are understanding or at least questioning that vomiting regularly or semi-regularly is not normal in cats, whether it is hairball related or not.

jcat · Sep 10, 2013

Another factor may be that cats are increasingly being kept exclusively indoors, so their owners are more aware of vomiting, diarrhea, etc., and take them to the vets' office more often or quickly. More and more people are remaining single and/or childless, too, which also might mean that pets are receiving more attention. Likewise, the economic crisis has caused a lot of people to spend more time at home. To some extent the more widespread use of endoscopes by "general practitioner" vets might result in more diagnosed cases or more interest on their part in researching IBD/IBS.

denice · Sep 10, 2013

I go to a cats only vet clinic but it isn't a speciality clinic. She did the ultrasound and needle biopsy on his liver there at the clinic. If a biopsy had been done she would've done it there. We do have two speciality type clinics here one that is with an emergency clinic and the other at the university's vet school. I think cats being indoors has something to do with the increased diagnoses. I know Patch's would not have survived several of his flares without vet care. A cat that stays outside most of the time would simply have disappeared.

ldg · Sep 10, 2013

I think it's all of the above:

- Increased awareness
- Increased diagnosis
- Increased incidence

Gary has a rare brain disorder. When he was diagnosed 7 years ago, the average time to accurate diagnosis was 7 years. More and more people are being diagnosed with this,and the time most people take to get an accurate diagnosis is now 3 - 5 years if they don't get lucky with a good neuro right off the bat. Are more people suffering? Or are more neurologists aware of the condition? Likely both.

GoHolistic said:
Could it be that many people are too quick to consider IBD as a possible diagnosis for their cats because the symptoms fit so nicely? I am in situation right now where I have to consider IBD for Sebastian. But could it really be something else?

Do we know if these cases of IBD are popping up after being fed commercial food? I can't help but wonder.

I fully expect this has something to do with it. As others have pointed out, cats have generally moved indoors. These cats are now completely dependent on us for their food. Over the past 20 years, there has been a large consolidation in the Pet Food Industry, and the giants of commercial pet food now manufacture the bulk of it internationally. I think the combination of species-inappropriate ingredients and - especially within the last 5-10 years or so, lower and lower quality ingredients with reliance on more and more supplementation is taking its toll on our kitties' GI systems.

GoHolistic said:
Is it genetics? I don't know. If so, the offspring of feral and stray colonies with the condition would reveal an increased population of IBD cats over time.

And that's happening. I have quite a few friends that are rescuers, and it seems that the number of kittens dying due to fading kitten syndrome is astronomical now vs 10 years ago.

GoHolistic said:
It's like nowadays there are all kinds of autoimmune diseases in humans that seem to be more prevalent now - Lupus, Crohn's, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Addison's, Gullain-Barre syndrome, MS, etc.

Were there autoimmune diseases in the 1400 and 1500s, for example? Perhaps. Although it seemed infectious and contagious illnesses from bacteria, viruses, and parasites were more prevalent then, as well as nutritional deficiency diseases and disorders. Some of the problems were inadequate preservation of meats and dairy, lack of cleanliness, and the social/economic/logistic challenges of obtaining grains and seeds for food, leading to the illnesses of that time. According to this abstract, the concept of autoimmunity didn't show up until the 1900s (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19883799).

It seems now we've mastered refrigeration and aseptic practices and so do not suffer the illnesses of our ancestors, but are now in a time of pollution, caustic chemicals, man-made/artificial materials, and genetically modified foods that are altering the cells that make up our bodies. I have no reference for this. It is my opinion.

Anyway, I think the same applies to our pets. They are being exposed to all of that which we are also being exposed.

I have a reference for this - at least to the impact of diet on the health in successive generations. This is written by Michelle T. Bernard, the author of Raising Cats Naturally, and hosted here: http://www.blakkatz.com/potscats.html

Now - this isn't meant to bring up any debate about raw vs cooked. In fact, I really don't like the Pottenger study as a support for raw vs. cooked, because the importance of taurine to the health of cats was not known, and many of the problems observed in the cooked meat diet can be explained by a taurine deficiency. My only point is look at what happens to the cats through the generations when something is "off" in the diet. ...yet the foods we feed our cats are more and more processed, and made more frequently of put-together-components with a heavy reliance on vitamin supplementation.

Is it really any wonder there would be an increased incidence of GI problems involving the GI tract itself? I suspect/expect there's a relationship between highly processed foods and IBD in humans. AND add to that all the chemicals and toxins we (and our animals) are exposed to...

Anyway, here's the Pottenger Cat Study summary by Michelle Bernard

I have been spending a lot of time lately looking at the state of feline nutrition research. Research is still conducted in the same manner as it has been since commercial cat food was first introduced. Cats are put in small cages and offered purified diets which are missing one nutrient or another until signs of deficiency are noted. I am very opposed to laboratory testing using animals of any kind - especially cats.

There was one research experiment proving the nutritional needs of cats conducted many years ago that I believe offers more insight to the nutritional needs of cats than any feed trial conducted by a cat food manufacturer.

Between the years of 1932 and 1942, Dr. Francis Pottenger conducted a study involving over 900 different cats, including at least four generations. This study was not planned. Pottenger was using the cats to test adrenaline extract. He could not understand why the cats were such poor operative risks and their offspring were showing signs of nutritional deficiency. He was feeding what was then considered to be a high quality nutritionally complete diet consisting of two-thirds cooked meat scraps (muscle meat and organ meat) from a local sanatorium, one-third raw market grade milk and one third cod liver oil.

As neighbors kept donating an increasing number of cats to his laboratory, Pottenger exceeded his supply of cooked meat scraps so he placed an order at a meat packing plant for raw meat scraps. Again, including muscle meat, organ meat and bone. Perhaps the phobia of feeding raw meat was prevalent even then because he only fed a segregated group of cats the diet containing the raw meat scraps. Within a short period of time, however, the differences between the cats fed the raw meat scraps and those fed cooked meat scraps became evident.

Pottenger then conducted a controlled study to determine why the cats fed raw meat were apparently healthier than those fed cooked meat. This study was not conducted to benefit feline nutrition. The cats in Pottenger's study were laboratory cats being used to study the effects of heat processed food for the benefit of human nutrition.

The raw meat fed cats were uniform in size and skeletal development from generation to generation. Over their life spans, they were resistant to infections, to fleas and various other parasites and had no signs of allergies. In general, they were gregarious, friendly and predictable in their behavior patterns. They reproduced one homogeneous generation after another with the average weight of the kittens at birth being 119 grams (4.20 ounces). Miscarriages were rare and litters averaged five kittens with the mother cat nursing her young without difficulty.

The cats fed the cooked meat diet reproduced a heterogeneous strain of kittens, each kitten in a litter being different in size and skeletal pattern. Health problems ranged from allergies to infections of the kidney, liver, bones and reproductive organs. By the time the third deficient generation was born, the cats were so "physiologically bankrupt" that none survived beyond the sixth month of life, thereby terminating the strain.

Cooked meat fed cats showed much more irritability. Some females were even dangerous to handle. The males, on the other hand, were more docile, often to the point of being unaggressive and their sex interest was slack or perverted.

Abortion in pregnant females was common, running to about 25% in the first deficient generation to about 70% in the second generation. Deliveries were generally difficult with many females dying in labor. The mortality rate of kittens was also high as the kittens were either born dead or are born too frail to nurse. Many cats showed increasing difficulties with their pregnancies and in many instances failed to become pregnant. The average weight of the kittens born of cooked meat fed mothers is 100 grams (3.4 ounces), 19 grams less than the raw meat nurtured kittens.

Raw meat fed males of proven virility were used for breeding, therefore, the experimental results primarily reflected the condition of the mother cat.

Most of the deficient cats died from infections of the kidneys, lungs and bones. If these infections were eliminated as a cause of death by modern day antibiotics, it would have allowed the cats to reveal their ultimate degenerative fates.

When I see the difficulties experienced by breeders today, I cannot help thinking that Pottenger's studies are simply being repeated. Granted we have an excellent arsenal of drugs available to nurse our cats through infections and other ailments, but the more chronic ailments are still showing through.

More detailed information on Pottenger's studies are available through the Price Pottenger Foundation, La Mesa, California - 800-366-3748
[emoji]169[/emoji] 2000 Michelle T. Bernard
Blakkatz Cattery
All Rights Reserved

goholistic · Sep 11, 2013

Thanks for the referencing that study, LDG. It is interesting.

I also agree with everything you said. I think it is a combination of things, and so it's difficult, if not impossible, to point the finger at one factor.

Increased IBD

denice

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