Foods Your Cat Eats to Reduce IBD

nicolefrank117

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
May 20, 2014
Messages
145
Purraise
3
Since this is mainly about food and less on the disease itself I thought it would be a good place where everyone can post what foods they currently feed their cat that seem to keep their IBD symptoms under control. It doesn't have to be a debate over who feeds better food to their cat etc. Just a listing where everyone can post what food they found that works. Maybe we all will see a pattern :)

Post Brand - Flavor - Wet/Dry/Raw etc. 

GO!
 

peaches08

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 11, 2013
Messages
4,884
Purraise
290
Location
GA
My cats were not biopsied, so going by the designation we use for humans, mine have IBS-D and raw is what helped them.  Still working on the hairball issue, though.  Mine do not take any medications.  I tried meds before moving onto raw, they didn't work consistently for any of my cats. 
 

denice

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Feb 7, 2006
Messages
18,836
Purraise
13,144
Location
Columbus OH
Hounds & Gatos  Lamb

Hounds & Gatos  Pork

Nature's Variety    Lamb

Wild Calling Magic Meadow  which is buffalo

Wild Calling Pheasant was fine for my IBD kitty but didn't agree with my other kitty

EVO Venison

My kitties are unfortunately kibble addicts and they aren't completely off kibble.  They get a little FROMMs salmon.  My kitty that doesn't have IBD gets diarrhea with some of the grain frees I think they are too rich for her.  The FROMMs doesn't have grains but it has the fruits and veggies in it.

My kitty gets 1/4 mg of dexamethasone daily.  During shedding season I give Miralax daily because he is prone to constipation.
 

carolina

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 17, 2008
Messages
14,759
Purraise
215
Location
Corinth, TX
When nothing, absolutely nothing worked for years... And we were pretty hopeless, Raw did.
Today Bugsy is healthy and 100% medication free. The only thing he takes at the moment is Vets Best Hairball Control (all natural) during shedding season (he is a Ragdoll, as most of my cats.
So, yes, Raw - homemade, nothing else.
 
Last edited:

peaches08

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 11, 2013
Messages
4,884
Purraise
290
Location
GA
When nothing, absolutely nothing worked for years... And we were pretty hopeless, Raw did.
Today Bugsy is healthy and 100% medication free. The only thing he takes at the moment is Vets Best Hairball Control (all natural) during shedding season (he is a Ragdoll, as most of my cats.
So, yes, Raw - homemade, nothing else.
Ordered some Vet's Best Hairball Relief.  Do you give it at meal time?
 

rubysmama

Forum Helper
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Nov 25, 2013
Messages
25,278
Purraise
62,764
Location
Canada
Ruby was never diagnosed with IBD, however, from the time I adopted her she always had loose diarrhea like stools.  And she would throw up clear bile at least twice a week.  This went on for 2 months until 1 morning I woke up and she had thrown up several times overnight and then immediately after she ate.  

I took her to the vet that morning and he said she might have IBD or IBS but before we did expensive tests to try Royal Canin Medi-cal hypo-allergenic canned food.  I started her on it immediately and her stools became normal formed the next day and the only time she has thrown up since is 2 hairballs, both in the past couple months since she has been doing her spring shed.  Prior to the food change she had been eating a combination of  IAMS canned food and dry food.
 

carolina

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 17, 2008
Messages
14,759
Purraise
215
Location
Corinth, TX
Ordered some Vet's Best Hairball Relief.  Do you give it at meal time?
I do because they go INSANE for it... So if I give it before, all he!! breaks lose... I swear, they LOVE these things!
I am happy to say, coincidence or not, not only it has helped a lot with hairballs, but also it has helped with digestion - Lucky for example is finally able to eat full meals of hearts and pork, and she wasn't before of Vets Best (made her throw up)
 

peaches08

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 11, 2013
Messages
4,884
Purraise
290
Location
GA
I do because they go INSANE for it... So if I give it before, all he!! breaks lose... I swear, they LOVE these things!
I am happy to say, coincidence or not, not only it has helped a lot with hairballs, but also it has helped with digestion - Lucky for example is finally able to eat full meals of hearts and pork, and she wasn't before of Vets Best (made her throw up)
Really??  OK, that's probably what I'm going to have to do too.  That's good to know about then digestive issues, Gadget will vomit beef sometimes due to inhaling it and digestive issues.  Thank you!
 

carolina

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 17, 2008
Messages
14,759
Purraise
215
Location
Corinth, TX
Really??  OK, that's probably what I'm going to have to do too.  That's good to know about then digestive issues, Gadget will vomit beef sometimes due to inhaling it and digestive issues.  Thank you!
I think ldg ldg noticed similar results, but with the digestion of beef by one of her cats.... Again... Might be a coincidence, but.... A good one, right?
 

micknsnicks2mom

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 15, 2014
Messages
11,590
Purraise
5,295
Location
...with the cats...
my snick was diagnosed with possible IBD (we successfully treated, so our vet felt no need for further tests) about 5 years ago. snick's IBD symptoms are (mainly) diarrhea and (as the IBD has progressed) vomiting.

we started snick on natural balance limited ingredient diet salmon & green pea canned and dry foods and she only ate that for the first year. during this first year, snick also was given unflavored metamucil mixed into her canned food once each day.

after the first year, i gradually reduced the metamucil until she was not getting any. i then started giving snick plain pureed canned pumpkin mixed into her canned food. snick tended to have her poops become dry from the pumpkin, so we only use that if she has some too loose/diarrhea stools. in that second year i started introducing other grain-free canned cat foods, because snick got to the point that she was not wanting the same food every day. snick did well with weruva and natures variety instinct canned cat foods.

the third year snick's IBD was pretty stable, and we were able to try soulistic's canned cat foods. she did very well on that brand, and it's become her favorite brand. i started gradually mixing some natures variety instinct dry foods into the natural balance LID dry, and later this year started adding some taste of the wild dry. we treated the two flare-ups she had that year with pepcid ac, 1/4 tablet per day of flare-up.

the 4th year snick's IBD progressed to the next stage. her flare-ups were treated with pepcid, and she ate stage 1 meat baby food for several days -- until her gastro upset had calmed enough to start gradually working back to the soulistic canned food. snick was also able to start eating weruva's cats in the kitchen canned along with the soulistic and original weruva canned. this helped my picky eater get the variety she loves.

this 5th year, snick only had one flare-up but it was so bad that i thought i was going to lose her -- and was due to our mickey, snick's litter mate brother, crossing the rainbow bridge. we successfully treated with pepcid and the jar baby food. snick started taking 1/4 tablet pepcid every other day, and we continued with that for 4-5 months. we've gradually reduced the frequency of the pepcid to 1/4 tablet once every 10th day, which has been fine so far. i've been able to add occasional cans of tiki cat, wellness healthy indulgence pouches, and natural balance platefulls grain free pouches to our list of foods snick does well with.
 

ldg

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jun 25, 2002
Messages
41,310
Purraise
842
Location
Fighting for ferals in NW NJ!
I think ldg ldg noticed similar results, but with the digestion of beef by one of her cats.... Again... Might be a coincidence, but.... A good one, right?
I didn't notice it until Carolina mentioned it. But it took about a year to work Sheldon up to 50% raw white meat and 50% raw beef. This year has been a really bad hairball year, and the egg yolks and egg yolk lecithin didn't prevent them (after a year, hairball-free). So I started them on the Vet's Best, as it is (mostly) slippery elm, marshmallow, and psyllium. I know SEB and Marshmallow help digestion (and all kinds of things :lol3: ). I was washing dishes the other day, and didn't notice Shel polishing off Lazlo's beef-only meal. I got the paper towels ready.... and never needed them! Any other time he's eaten more red meat than provided in the meal, he's thrown up. And I already use digestive enzymes. I do think the Vet's Best also has some digestive enzymes in it, actually. Perhaps they're different enough? :dk:
 

peppermintplant

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Dec 24, 2013
Messages
88
Purraise
8
Location
California
I fed Hill's i/d with a lot of success for years, but when I started learning more about cat food and she started showing signs of a food allergy on top of the IBD, I switched her to a grain-free, all-canned limited ingredient diet. First I used Nature's Variety, but they were expensive and the quality was off and on, so she's going back and forth on Natural Balance venison and duck right now, with Hounds & Gatos rabbit as an occasional treat (because it's pricy). I'd like to eventually add in another flavor, maybe lamb, but venison is the only "hoof" food she's been able to tolerate and it took a couple of weeks so I'm wary. The switch seems to have helped a lot — when I was in for a recent crisis the vet commented that she couldn't feel any intestinal swelling at all, and she had a little even on the i/d, so it's been a real improvement for her.

She's not on medication for the IBD, although she's been on metronidazole in the past, pretty frequently the first year or so she had it, as well as a round of prednisolone once. We try to use Cat Lax (for constipation) or Diar-Sanyl (for diarrhea) first before going to a medication and that gets her issues under control probably two-thirds of the time when she has a flare-up. She's had IBD for four years. While she never had a biopsy, her vet gave her the diagnosis based on ruling everything else out and thickening in her intestines (which the vet said pointed to something more severe than IBS). Basically the only things it could be was IBD or lymphoma, and since metronidazole and diet got it under control and she's still kicking, it was IBD.

tl;dr version:

Venison and pea Natural Balance

Duck and pea Natural Balance

American Rabbit Hounds & Gatos

All canned, no dry.

Meds only as needed.
 

jcat

Mo(w)gli's can opener
Veteran
Joined
Feb 13, 2003
Messages
73,213
Purraise
9,851
Location
Mo(w)gli Monster's Lair
Mogli gets two brands of grain-free, gluten-free, mainly single-protein canned food, one of which is prescription, and both of which are European (German) brands:
Vet-Concept: goat, duck, reindeer, kangaroo, rabbit, horse (prescription, single protein, 1% - 3% potato or turnips)
Catz: veal, lamb & rabbit, beef & duck liver (regular brand)

He can't tolerate chicken or any grains, including rice. We're not sure about turkey or goose, because he's only been fed them home-cooked a few times. He gets a couple of pieces of prescription dry rabbit & potato "Allergy", again Vet-Concept, as a between-meal snack.

He gets home-cooked beef or pork about twice a week (meat only).

He's currently not on any medication, and hasn't been given steroids. When he has a flare, he gets a European (Spanish) nutraceutical called
Entero-Chronic
 
Last edited:

anthor

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 25, 2014
Messages
1
Purraise
1
We give our two Canned Pumpkin one or two teaspoons each mixed in with their wet food. This has helped resolve completely their diarrhea problems. It also helps constipation problems too. Important Note:- Make sure it is pure pumpkin NOT pumpkin pie mix.

Food wise they get:

Wet:

Solid Gold - Blended Tuna

Dry:

Blue Wilderness - Grain Free Chicken Recipe

Solid Gold - Indigo Moon (Grain Free)

Both Dry are high protein 40% & 46%.

Wet they get once a day with the pumpkin.

I realize they're expensive foods but don't trust what's in the cheaper food especially after the Chinese plastic in the food fiasco in recent years.
 

southpaw

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Jul 27, 2007
Messages
117
Purraise
15
Location
Minnesota, USA
My guy currently eats Holistic Select Indoor/Weight Control. We're on bag 3 and he's still doing really well! (Sometimes he starts to have a flare-up after being on the same food for a while).

He's also done well on -

Natures Variety Instinct - chicken

Natures Logic - chicken

Raw - chicken and pork

All dry foods, except the raw of course. He has not needed medication.
 

therese

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Jan 29, 2014
Messages
116
Purraise
54
My cat, an orange domestic shorthair, neutered male, whom I rescued as a feral at 3.5 weeks old,  has had chronic soft wmelly stool since, well, probably his whole life.  

He is four years old now and after trying many foods, meds, etc.  we have settled on Hills Science Diet Prescripton WD dry, and one Vetasyl   (psyllium fiber ) cap mixed with water daily.  He also was on several antibiotics which didn't phase this, so its not a parasite.

We did the boutique foods, all the other prescription diets, hyperallergenic,  wholistic, homemade, chicken and rice, pumpkin,  everything and the WD which has less than 9% fat, is the only thing that works for him, with the fiber capsule.  The 9% fat content is the key here. In addition, he can't tolerate ANY canned foods, including the WET WD .......he immediately gets diarrhea if we add any WET WD.

We take the Vetasyl cap ( over the counter, I get mine from pet meds, but make sure you check with your vet before using ) mix with water, then mix in the dry WD, a little more water.  I mix a  cup of this daily and keep in the fridge, in tuppperware, tightly covered,  giving him small meals throughout the day.   And we have to keep a fountain going at all times to make sure he drinks enough water, because that is important with the fiber caps.

He has never had an actual diagnosis of IBD because that would involve internal biopsies, but he gets shaped, somewhat firmer stools with this and does well, no more horribly smelly poops either.   ( they are not hard tootsie rolls, but are shaped and somewhat firm ) 

When all this was going on, I had a friend who ran a cat rescue and she told me right away that, with this problem,  I could not give the cat anything that was over 7-9% fat content and she was right.  The vets didn't even pick up on this, although my vet was willing to work with me on all this and agreed, after he saw the results.

And the vet recommended the fiber caps which helped tremendously. 

I know that there are pros and cons with the Hills Prescription diets, and the dry diets,  but honestly, in this case, the WD works for him, and that is what we have used for the last few years.  He is a big healthy boy and looks great.  
 
Last edited:

zoneout

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Apr 14, 2013
Messages
992
Purraise
99
Location
Stamford, CT USA
My 13 yo cat`s IBD was so bad we were about ready to put her down.   On bad days she threw up 3 times and was having seizures from losing electrolytes and getting dehydrated.   She lost 50% of her body weight.  None of the prescription foods were helping... she had been on every kind of kibble and canned her whole life so-called quality foods like Evo, Wellness, and Blue Buffalo.   $3K of vet bills were doing nothing to improve her quality of life.   She sat hunched up all day in the closet - it was heartbreaking.

As a FINAL resort and out of desperation I figured I would try RAW.   Went and got some radcat chicken and turkey.   The improvement was nearly immediate.   Within a week the vomiting was becoming less frequent.    Now 2 months later this cat is totally HEALTHY.   She regained all her body weight.   She doesn`t vomit any more.   She is the kind, loving animal she had been before IBD took over her life.

After the first month I could no longer afford radcat... its roughly $15 a pound.   So it was costing me about $50 per week.    So I went to the supermarket and got a container of Chicken livers.  $2.99/pound.    She ate those.   Then got ground turkey $2.50/pound on sale.    She eats that.    So for about the same cost as quality canned cat food I am feeding her REAL food that cats need to thrive on.   
 

ldg

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jun 25, 2002
Messages
41,310
Purraise
842
Location
Fighting for ferals in NW NJ!
zoneout zoneout do you use a recipe or follow the prey model raw feeding guidelines? It's great your kitty is doing so well on raw. Many cats see this kind of improvement, and rapidly, when properly transitioned to raw. I'm just concerned about her diet being properly balanced between meat and organs, with the right amount of calcium, based on the way you presented her diet. Liver should only be 5% of her total diet unless you cannot provide another secreting organ such as kidney. If using only liver for organ, it still should not exceed 10% of her diet. :) She needs a source of calcium. Ground meat should only be fed cooked due to the increased risk of bacterial contamination (unless you grind it yourself, and all ground food needs to be supplemented to account for oxidation of nutrients). Especially pre-ground, taurine is a must (along with other vitamins). You may know all this, but as I said, the way you presented it (feeding her a tub of liver), it sure doesn't sound like her diet is at all nutritionally balanced. If she eats 5 ounces of food a day, a one pound tub of liver should last 64 days (at 5% of the diet): 32 days at most (at 10% of the diet). Feeding more than that and she runs the risk of vitamin A toxicity.

Are you familiar with our raw feeding forum? We have excellent resources and many members that can be of assistance in properly balancing a raw diet. It's not at all difficult, but is a critical component for her long term health. :)

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264154/raw-feeding-resources
 
Last edited:

roguethecat

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Mar 25, 2014
Messages
684
Purraise
197
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
 
My cats were not biopsied, so going by the designation we use for humans, mine have IBS-D and raw is what helped them.  Still working on the hairball issue, though.  Mine do not take any medications.  I tried meds before moving onto raw, they didn't work consistently for any of my cats. 
exactly the same here - the Rogue's issues went away completely when I put him on raw. Only no one of my crowd has any hairballs at all
(ridiculously glossy coats instead
 )

so for the poll: brand - Rodentpro mice of all ages, rats up to medium size, medium Guinea pigs. Occasionally quail, pork brain/ any squishy organs. Currently, for whatever reason, they don't like chicken or turkey or nice grassfed beef (so I ate that one myself
. but not raw, me).
 
Last edited:
Top