Ok to Mix & Match IBD Prescription Food?

Is it ok to mix & match prescription food brands and types? My cat is thought to have IBD and I think someone from the vet clinic ordered Royal Canin Hydrolyzed dry with another brand (Hills or Purina?) canned food. It's either that or they ordered the Royal Canin novel protein duck canned food. 

Is it ok to mix & match like that? It doesn't seem like it would be. Also, any suggestions on prescription food for a 15 year old IBD cat would be appreciated. I'd prefer to stick with prescription right now, just to see what happens. I wouldn't use it long term though.

No, there shouldn`t be any problem mixing brands or types of food.  Though they are referred to as `prescription food` it is basically a marketing gimmick and there is no medicines contained in the food itself.

IBD kitties are different in what foods they tolerate and in what combinations, it is very much a trial and error thing.  It really is best to try one thing at a time so if you get a negative reaction you will know what caused it.  In theory a food that contains a hydrolyzed protein is 'neutral'.  The protein is broken down into basic amino acids so the body doesn't recognize it and therefore doesn't cause a reaction.  

Right, I agree when you are trying to find which food a cat tolerates it is best to go one at a time so as not to confuse things.   I thought you meant mixing prescription foods would cause a drug interaction.... which is not the case.

So just to be clear, it's ok to use Royal Canin hydrolyzed dry food and Hill's hydrolyzed canned food together?
 

Ideally, especially for IBD you would want one food at a time to check on tolerance.   Say you offer 2 foods and there is a vomiting episode - well which food caused it then?   See what I am getting at?

Like @Denice said though `in theory` there should not be a problem with 2 different hydrolyzed foods since they should not cause a reaction IF your cat is sensitive to a particular protein.

HOWEVER, since you do not know for sure that it is a protein sensitivity AND/OR if the problem is simply dry vs wet food I would suggest the best course of action is to go with ONE particular food at a time.

Furthermore, do not start out buying cases of this food - it is very expensive - just buy a can or a small bag to try first in case your cat refuses it.

Lastly, if you need to choose between the 2 - go with the canned food first.    Dry food in itself brings other problems along with it.

Good luck!

Thanks.

The problem is that my cat is super picky and always has been. She prefers dry food but I've been trying to get her to eat more canned food which she doesn't like. I can only get her to eat canned with a low dose of an appetite stimulant. She'll eat this hydrolyzed dry food without the stimulant, but I worry about her kidneys. So I don't know what to do. I don't think the vet knows either. Suggestions?
 

Some history please....  what was the specific food you were feeding for most of the time before she developed `symptoms of IBD`.

It seems you did not do a biopsy which is the only way to be sure it is IBD - correct?   What did your vet do - xray and ultrasound?

What were the symptoms that led you to go to the vet - vomiting or diahreah?

zoneout said:

Some history please....  what was the specific food you were feeding for most of the time before she developed `symptoms of IBD`.

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She preferred mostly dry food. Up until the last 2-3 months she mainly ate Purina One Chicken & Rice (the old formula, not the new one). Then she started getting into the other cats' food which is Purina Cat Chow. I don't know how much of that she ate.

As for the canned food, up until the last 2-4 months, I could barely even get her to eat 1/6 of a 5.5 oz. can of Friskies. She would eat the 9 Lives Tuna in Sauce or the Fancy Feast Cod, Sole & Shrimp, but I rarely gave them to her.

Since she developed issues serious enough to see a vet, she started eating predominantly canned and very little dry. But she'll only eat if she's given an appetite stimulant. I use a lower dose than what was prescribed. Why use a big dose when a smaller one works just as well.

zoneout said:

 
It seems you did not do a biopsy which is the only way to be sure it is IBD - correct?   What did your vet do - xray and ultrasound?

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The vet did an ultrasound. A radiologist came in and did it, gave his opinions, then sent the images to a internal medicine specialist. They only said the small intestine was thickened, something that was noticeable on a physical examination.

I'm hesitant about doing a biopsy since it requires anesthesia. There may be an issue with her heart. We did an ultrasound on that too and I'm trying to get more info from the cardiologist.

zoneout said:

 
What were the symptoms that led you to go to the vet - vomiting or diahreah?

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Diarrhea / loose stools. There hasn't really been any vomiting. She last vomited about 5 weeks ago, that was around the time I made the first appointment with the vet. I actually made the appointment because she was acting weird. In the three days before the appointment, that was when I realized that the diarrhea was chronic and not just sporadic. She has always been shy about using the litter box in front of me. But in the last 5 weeks, she seems to like having me nearby and doesn't seem to mind if I watch.

Did the blood tests come back close to normal?

blukitty said:

 
Thanks.

She'll eat this hydrolyzed dry food without the stimulant, but I worry about her kidneys. So I don't know what to do. I don't think the vet knows either. Suggestions?
 

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OK then, here is what I would suggest.   Go to a raw food diet and add the probiotic S. Boulardis.   

The raw food will help repair your cats inflammed intestines and the S. Boulardis is proven to work in cases of chronic diahreah.   

For raw food I would recommend Rad Cat.   Some boutique pet stores carry it, Whole Foods market might have it or it can be ordered from 

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Rad-Cat-Raw-Cat-Food-Diet/537000.aspx

For s. boulardis there are a variety of probiotics that have it but here is one I can recommend.

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Only-Natural-Pet-GI-Support/999044.aspx

Your cat might dive into the raw or might not without a little coaxing at first so get a topper you can sprinkle to entice her like freeze-dried chicken or bonito flakes.   My cat didnt recognize what the raw food was until I coaxed her with freezedry chicken then she was bonkers after that.

Good luck.

Please talk to your vet before trying anything like a raw diet, especially if your cat has IBD and perhaps a heart problem. A raw diet can be contraindicated for cats with IBD-related malabsorption, and the bacterial load risky for a cat with heart problems like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. It may be okay, but it also may not, so seek professional advice on that point.

Our cat has neutrophilic IBD (diagnosed by biopsy) complicated by food allergies which we manage to keep fairly well under control with a canned Rx diet, with a few pieces of dry given as a snack twice a day. He gets two or three homemade cooked meals a week. We consulted a certified animal nutritionist who worked out a diet plan for him. For about the first half year or so he was given just one brand, with different meats added very gradually, but I've carefully added two commercial brands to his rotation. What he gets is low-fat, grain-free and single-protein food with some unusual meat like kangaroo, reindeer, goat and horse, though he also gets more common ones like duck, rabbit and veal. He didn't do at all well on the hydrolyzed protein food he was on prior to our adopting him, though many cats do.

I would really recommend seeing a certified nutritionist.

jcat said:

Please talk to your vet before trying anything like a raw diet, especially if your cat has IBD and perhaps a heart problem. A raw diet can be contraindicated for cats with IBD-related malabsorption, and the bacterial load risky for a cat with heart problems like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. It may be okay, but it also may not, so seek professional advice on that point.

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Two points:

1) Many vets are not familiar enough with a raw diet to provide an actually informed opinion, but they take the "party line" of the position of the American Veterinary Medical Association that it is dangerous to feed a raw diet, period. So yes, seek professional advice - but ensure your vet is not biased against raw due to lack of knowledge about it. That is to say, get professional advice from a vet qualified to provide it.

2) There are commercial raw foods treated with high pressure pasteurization, while not eliminating bacterial risks, certainly dramatically reduces them.

jcat said:

Please talk to your vet before trying anything like a raw diet, especially if your cat has IBD and perhaps a heart problem. A raw diet can be contraindicated for cats with IBD-related malabsorption, and the bacterial load risky for a cat with heart problems like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. It may be okay, but it also may not, so seek professional advice on that point.

Our cat has neutrophilic IBD (diagnosed by biopsy) complicated by food allergies which we manage to keep fairly well under control with a canned Rx diet, with a few pieces of dry given as a snack twice a day. He gets two or three homemade cooked meals a week. We consulted a certified animal nutritionist who worked out a diet plan for him. For about the first half year or so he was given just one brand, with different meats added very gradually, but I've carefully added two commercial brands to his rotation. What he gets is low-fat, grain-free and single-protein food with some unusual meat like kangaroo, reindeer, goat and horse, though he also gets more common ones like duck, rabbit and veal. He didn't do at all well on the hydrolyzed protein food he was on prior to our adopting him, though many cats do.

I would really recommend seeing a certified nutritionist.

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To follow on from what @jcat  has said, can I please draw everyones attention to the following:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/282314/recommending-a-homemade-diet-hold-your-horses/0_100

For anyone interested in looking further in to raw feeding please conduct the converstation in the Raw and Home Cooked Food Forum.