Update on Rachael

I posted a little while back about my cat Rachael who throws up after eating wet food. What ended up being the best for her is to just give her a spoon size amount and the rest of her diet is dry food. Well recently I noticed blood when she went #2. There was a blob of it on the rug where she sat. This was the first I saw it. Then 2 days ago I saw the same kind of spot in the litter box after she used it, along with some blood drip on the side where she got out. Blood was bright red and mucousy. I got first appt I could at vet yesterday. They ran complete blood tests, parasite check, anal exam, physical, and everything came back good. Now I am frustrated because if she is fine, why is this happening? The vet sent me with some dewormer/anti-inflammatory in one, just in case. She said its best to just give Rachael dry food if that works for her. Has anyone seen a similar situation or have any advice? 

Blood in the litter box was the first sign that our cat had digestive problems that were most likely IBD. Unfortunately, this happened in the early 2000s when there was less online information about IBD and our vets led us to believe that "colitis" of this sort was difficult to definitively diagnose and not necessarily very dangerous. Our cat did live a pretty long and active life but her problems got worse over the years. 

Based on our experience and given that Rachael also vomits (our cat developed that habit, too, over the years), I'd definitely ask the vet about IBD and food sensitivities. I'm not sure what you're feeding her, but it's possible something in her food is causing inflammation in her intestines. Good luck!

Thank you! The vet did mention IBD after I asked if Rachael could possibly have something like IBS, which I have and her symptoms are similar to mine. The vet said that she would probably have diarreah as well and she hasnt had that. She said that a test for that would be a biopsy and most pet owners would not want to pay for it, and that it would just be a matter of treating the symptoms anyway. I have been trying several dry foods for sensitive systems. The one she seems to like best and do the best on is Purina One Smartblend for sensitive systems. What foods worked best for your cat who had IBD?

Mia828 said:

 
Thank you! The vet did mention IBD after I asked if Rachael could possibly have something like IBS, which I have and her symptoms are similar to mine. The vet said that she would probably have diarreah as well and she hasnt had that. She said that a test for that would be a biopsy and most pet owners would not want to pay for it, and that it would just be a matter of treating the symptoms anyway. I have been trying several dry foods for sensitive systems. The one she seems to like best and do the best on is Purina One Smartblend for sensitive systems. What foods worked best for your cat who had IBD?

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That's great that you already discussed IBD with the vet. Our cat didn't get diarrhea until has last years... from what I've read and heard, IBD can take very different courses. Our cat never had a biopsy or real diagnosis, either: she was already very frail by the time I realized what she had. (Unfortunately, I figured that out before the vets!)

The causes of IBD also seem to be very individual and they can be difficult to pin down. Even in her last months, when she was pretty sick, Brooksie's symptoms improved significantly when I put her on grain-free canned foods, mostly without fish. She hardly vomited during that time and her diarrhea was less frequent, too. As for specific foods, Brooksie seemed to do particularly well when she ate a lot of Weruva foods. She also liked Merrick's Cowboy Cookout. Some of those foods were carby, with potato and peas, so I'm pretty convinced it was either wheat, corn, or fish that was bothering her. We didn't know anything about feline nutrition when we had her and her diet wasn't the best, something I still feel terrible about.

Knowing what I know now, if I had to do it again -- earlier, before her symptoms got really bad (she most likely had lymphoma that developed from her IBD which probably developed from some sort of sensitivity she had for much of her life) -- I'd have tried to wean Brooksie off dry food and her beloved Fancy Feast foods with wheat gluten. I'd have put her on a wet-only diet of canned and raw foods like we feed our new cats. They don't get grains, potato, peas, or carrageenan. I'd also strongly suggest keeping a food and symptom diary so you can try to figure out what, exactly, Rachael ate before she has bloody stools or vomits; I found a diary very useful. That and reading all the labels.

Just about anything can cause IBD or other sensitivities: a certain meat, vegetable fillers, carrageenan, a grain... it can be hard to pin down but it's worth it! A case in point: our new cats, who we adopted in December 2014, are Siamese mixes with delicate stomachs (our vet says Siamese and mixes are prone to IBD and other digestive issues) and one cat stopped vomiting and having gas when we took all the potato out of their diet. We were lucky it was relatively easy to figure out.

Two other things. The IBD Kitties site is very useful as is Dr. Lisa Pierson's Catinfo.org site, which is where I learned lots of basics about cat nutrition.

I didn't mean to write so much but hope at least something here is useful -- after what we went through with Brooksie, I always hate to hear about problems like Rachael's! Good luck!

Thank you so much for all the wonderful info! I truly appreciate you taking the time to share your experiences on this and what you have learned from it. Im going to take your advice so I can do whatever I can to help Rachael. I'll definitely check out those sites you mentioned too! Thank you again and good luck with your new kitties!

Mia828 said:

Thank you so much for all the wonderful info! I truly appreciate you taking the time to share your experiences on this and what you have learned from it. Im going to take your advice so I can do whatever I can to help Rachael. I'll definitely check out those sites you mentioned too! Thank you again and good luck with your new kitties!

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You're very welcome! I hope you're able to figure out, soon, what causes her problems... there are lots of threads on TCS where people tell what helps their IBD cats. I seem to remember that a lot found that Nature's Variety Instinct foods improved their cats... but none of mine have ever liked those foods. The big thing seems to be that whatever works, works!