Older cat with possible IBD or colitis, how to treat?

carebearbaby1 · Feb 25, 2014

JClark, what brand of vit. B12 do you get and where do you get it? All I can find are huge pills that don't dissolve well.

Does the insatiable appetite ever go back to normal? She's already eaten almost a month's worth of food in less than a week.

I will be looking for a good probiotic when I get paid and try it. Poops are still solid and only twice a day.

jclark · Feb 26, 2014

carebearbaby1 said:
JClark, what brand of vit. B12 do you get and where do you get it? All I can find are huge pills that don't dissolve well.

Does the insatiable appetite ever go back to normal? She's already eaten almost a month's worth of food in less than a week.

I will be looking for a good probiotic when I get paid and try it. Poops are still solid and only twice a day.

http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/supe...min-1000-mcg-60-quick-dissolving-tabs/cm-1005

My understanding is that the appetite will only go back to "normal" once the cat is no longer on prednislone. Like I said earlier, I suspect your Vet will want to reduce the dosage and frequency. The idea is to get the dosage down to the bare minimum. A reduced dosage and frequency should help with the crazy appetite.

carebearbaby1 · Feb 28, 2014

Grr, my home computer drives me crazy. I can read posts, but can't respond. Bear is doing very well. She's on her second bag of NVI raw, but hopefully she won't go through this one in a week. I ran out two days before I could get more so I had to feed her regular canned food. She got diarrhea right away and she didn't like the food. She says it just doesn't compare. She seems to be putting on weight, I'm going to take her in next week to get weighed. I'm also in the process of weaning her off her steroids. I want to try a natural anti-inflammatory. I found a rosehip supplement that looks promising. I've used rosehips before when my joints get inflamed and I'm hoping it'll work for her too. I researched it and it doesn't seem to have any side effects in cats. I ordered some all natural, quick dissolve vit B12 tablets. I'm sure she'll like those better than the shots. She's got the toughest skin I've ever seen on an animal. I bought her some freeze dried lamb lung which I thought would be a good treat for her, but it was a no go, even after I soaked it in water. The dogs like it though so not a total waste of money.

I'm considering using this for a probiotic supplement. I had her on it before I put her on raw so I don't know if it was helping or not.

http://www.holisticblend.com/supplements/HV_probioticsEnzymes.php# If you click on the Click here for Instructions link it lists the Probiotics in it.

I'm thinking about getting her these for treats. What do you think?

http://www.zoomed.com/db/products/E...6IjIiO3M6ODoiS2V5d29yZHMiO3M6Njoic2hyaW1wIjt9

jclark · Feb 28, 2014

carebearbaby1 said:
Grr, my home computer drives me crazy. I can read posts, but can't respond. Bear is doing very well. She's on her second bag of NVI raw, but hopefully she won't go through this one in a week. I ran out two days before I could get more so I had to feed her regular canned food. She got diarrhea right away and she didn't like the food. She says it just doesn't compare. She seems to be putting on weight, I'm going to take her in next week to get weighed. I'm also in the process of weaning her off her steroids. I want to try a natural anti-inflammatory. I found a rosehip supplement that looks promising. I've used rosehips before when my joints get inflamed and I'm hoping it'll work for her too. I researched it and it doesn't seem to have any side effects in cats. I ordered some all natural, quick dissolve vit B12 tablets. I'm sure she'll like those better than the shots. She's got the toughest skin I've ever seen on an animal. I bought her some freeze dried lamb lung which I thought would be a good treat for her, but it was a no go, even after I soaked it in water. The dogs like it though so not a total waste of money.

I'm considering using this for a probiotic supplement. I had her on it before I put her on raw so I don't know if it was helping or not.

http://www.holisticblend.com/supplements/HV_probioticsEnzymes.php# If you click on the Click here for Instructions link it lists the Probiotics in it.

I'm thinking about getting her these for treats. What do you think?

http://www.zoomed.com/db/products/E...6IjIiO3M6ODoiS2V5d29yZHMiO3M6Njoic2hyaW1wIjt9

Understood, best of luck. FWIW I find NV Raw Lamb to be one of their higher calorie versions. (1/2 patty for 16+ lbs, intact, active adult).

carebearbaby1 · Mar 2, 2014

I got Bear the shrimp, she says it's good, but not as good as the treats she's not supposed to have. Her 14th birthday is next week, last month I was really worried that she wouldn't make it. She's still eating like crazy, but the hair on her nose is growing back and she's grooming herself again.

carebearbaby1 · Mar 5, 2014

Bear's second bag of raw lasted 1 day longer than the first. The hair on her nose is almost completely grown back and she's been out a lot more than before. Last night she actually slept with me. Took her to the vet to get weighed today and she weighs the same as in December, 7lb 9oz. I'm going to take her back in two weeks and see if she gains any. Going to switch her from NVI Rabbit to Beef, purely for financial reasons. I saw on Hare-today.com that they sell whole, ground mouse. I'd love to try her on that, but you have to have a min order of 10lbs and I'm not willing to commit to 10lbs of ground mouse. She's almost off the steroids now, she gets it every other day for 4 more days then she's done. Her poop hasn't changed, but she has started pulling her hair out on her back, which is what she does when her allergies are acting up.

mrsgreenjeens · Mar 5, 2014

So there is nothing in THIS thread about allergies causing her to pull her fur out. What's with that? If you're weaning her off her steroids, isn't that going to make her allergies worse? I'm sure there is more to this picture that I'm not seeing, just wondering, since this is the first I am reading about the fur pulling and I see you are only switching to a different raw for cost savings, not because you suspect an allergen in that food.

carebearbaby1 · Mar 7, 2014

In post 15 on this thread I talked about her food allergies. The steroids aren't for her allergies and she's never been on steroids before to treat her allergies. She's only been on the raw diet for 2 weeks and before that I was feeding whatever canned food I could afford, regardless of ingredients. She was eating 5 5.5oz cans a day, so it'll take a while for the allergens from that to work their way out of her system. I think maybe the steroids were helping with that too and now that she's coming off of them, she's a bit itchy again. The raw doesn't have any of her known allergens in it, but with Bear you never know. The itchy should start to go away soon, if she's not allergic to anything in the raw. I bought her some pinky mice today, as a raw snack, that didn't go over too well, lol. She picked it up a few times while she was eating her lunch and decided that it wasn't food. I kept telling her that she used to eat mice when she went outside, but that was 11 years ago and she doesn't remember. I'm sure the trip to the vet didn't help, she's a stress groomer.

mrsgreenjeens · Mar 7, 2014

carebearbaby1 said:
In post 15 on this thread I talked about her food allergies. The steroids aren't for her allergies and she's never been on steroids before to treat her allergies. She's only been on the raw diet for 2 weeks and before that I was feeding whatever canned food I could afford, regardless of ingredients. She was eating 5 5.5oz cans a day, so it'll take a while for the allergens from that to work their way out of her system. I think maybe the steroids were helping with that too and now that she's coming off of them, she's a bit itchy again. The raw doesn't have any of her known allergens in it, but with Bear you never know. The itchy should start to go away soon, if she's not allergic to anything in the raw. I bought her some pinky mice today, as a raw snack, that didn't go over too well, lol. She picked it up a few times while she was eating her lunch and decided that it wasn't food. I kept telling her that she used to eat mice when she went outside, but that was 11 years ago and she doesn't remember. I'm sure the trip to the vet didn't help, she's a stress groomer.

Sorry, I did see that she had food allergies, just never saw anything that she pulled her fur out on her back because of them. What I am most familiar with with food allergies is itching around the heat, therefore, scratching around the head.

I have to ask this question...were the pinkies already dead, or, ( gulp), alive? I know, I know. It's natural for cats to catch and eat their own food, but I still don't want to have to watch that

. ABut what I've read is that if they are dead, sometimes you need to cut them in half so the cats can smell/see some blood to actually realize they are food. Did you try that?

carebearbaby1 · Mar 7, 2014

They're frozen, I got them from a reptile feed store. I considered cutting it in half, but the thought made me want to lose my lunch. I don't know if I could do it. She hadn't eaten it when I had to leave to go back to work, but when I got home it was gone so one of the cats ate it. I'm thawing another one to see if she'll eat it. I may summon the courage to cut it up.

carebearbaby1 · Mar 9, 2014

Bear doesn't seem to be doing as well on the beef as she did with the rabbit. I know it's only been a few days and with the change in protein it may take a while for her system to adjust. I found a rabbit formula made by Vital Essentials that I can order through work, so I can get twice as much for the same price. It also doesn't have all the added veggies and things that the Nature's Variety has, so if she is allergic to something in that it should stop if I switch her. Has anyone ever used this brand?

http://vitalessentialsraw.herokuapp.com/pages/products?species=Dog&protein=Rabbit

carebearbaby1 · Mar 23, 2014

Bear was doing very well on the new food until yesterday. Liquid diarrhea, yuck! She got into some food that she wasn't supposed too and I was also giving her a rosehip supplement that I ran out of. I can't get any more until tomorrow when the herbal store is open, so I should have time to see if it was just the other food or if she needs the anti-inflammatory.

carebearbaby1 · Mar 25, 2014

Bear still has diarrhea and now isn't eating well. Started her on Metronidazole today, hoping that helps.

Worried about my baby.

carebearbaby1 · Mar 28, 2014

Don't know why I tried the Metronidazole, it made her worse just like last time. Bought her the Nature's Variety Rabbit again and she seems to be feeling better. Hopefully she'll be back on track again soon. I think it was the bone pieces in the Vital Essentials that was making her sick. She kept throwing them up.

peaches08 · Mar 28, 2014

Maybe getting her back on the raw rabbit will help?

carebearbaby1 · Apr 1, 2014

Nearly one week back on the NV raw rabbit and she's doing much better. Diarrhea is gone. I'm not going to try any other food, I'm going to stick with what works from now on. Another happy note, Bear's 14th birthday was about a week ago. Last year I didn't know if she'd make it. When I go to pick up the little dog's meds at the vet later this week I'll take her in to get weighed again.

abbyntim · Apr 1, 2014

Glad to hear Bear is doing better on the NV raw rabbit!

carebearbaby1 · Apr 7, 2014

Took Bear in to get weighed today and she weighs 6oz less than last month. I thought she was filling out. I don't know how much weight she lost when I was trying different foods. I'm going to take her back in two weeks to check it again.

carebearbaby1 · May 9, 2014

Had to say goodbye to my beautiful girl on Monday. She stopped eating her raw and started losing weight. The vet suspected intestinal cancer. I miss my sweet girl everyday.

betsygee · May 9, 2014

I am so sorry to hear this. RIP, little Bear.

Older cat with possible IBD or colitis, how to treat?

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Just what part of meow don't you understand.