Cat recently diagnosed with IBD - I have a few questions

Today my cat had an ultrasound after a few bouts of vomiting and the Dr. Believes it's IBD. I've done some research on the disease but still have questions. He told me to restrict him to one type of food for the next 8 weeks or so to try and determine which protein may be causing the issue. If we determine that the protein I'm giving him is not the cause, can he then try other food with the same protein or will he be limited to one type of food for the rest of his life? The other question I have is more pressing; I have read that long term IBD can cause cancer-is this if the IBD goes untreated? Or it can happen anyway? Any advice anyone can offer on IBD will be greatly appreciated!

I have a 12 year old kitty who had his first flare when he was 18 months old.  Because of his age and the fact that his symptoms mimicked foreign body ingestion he wasn't diagnosed.  Several flares, several vets and six years later he was finally properly diagnosed.  Since I had tried all the possible diets short of raw during the six years before he was diagnosed we went right to a steroid which he has been on for 4 1/2 years now.  Hopefully you will find the right diet for your kitty.  It actually is very individual to the kitty and is a matter of trial and error.

There is some indication that IBD can turn into small cell lymphoma but there is no definitive proof of that.  I think part of the reason for that thinking is that it can be very difficult to differentiate between severe IBD and lymphoma.  Getting the inflammation under control and maintaining control is necessary for kitty's health.

Any long term inflammation can cause cancer, so if you're able to find food that doesn't irritate his digestive tract you reduce the chance of cancer later on. There's a lot of debate over rotating proteins. Some people find that their cats develop a sensitivity to any protein they feed them, once they've been eating it long enough. Some people find that if they go long enough without feeding a problem protein, their cat can handle it again, but some find that once a problem protein, always a problem protein. Rotating proteins might help reduce the chance of developing a sensitivity to a new protein, but you won't find any consensus on how often to switch proteins. Some people do a different protein every day, which doesn't make sense to me because exposure to an irritant protein can have effects days later, and you won't be able to pinpoint which protein is causing a problem if you rotate too often. Switching every few weeks to months makes more sense to me.

Besides proteins, there are other ingredients that some people find irritates their cat's digestion (like guar gum, carageenan, various vegetables, etc). You have to be a bit of a detective to figure out which ingredient in a food is causing issues for your cat. It's frustrating and you'll probably end up throwing a lot of food away (it helps to get the smallest quantities possible for the first week on a new food).

A lot of people on these forums have mentioned having success with using slippery elm to soothe their cat's digestive tract so it can heal. Probiotics also have a really dramatic effect with reducing digestive issues.

Thanks for all the info. I was told to feed him one protein (I chose tuna since he prefers it) for 8 weeks to determine if that's the problem. The issue is I have always fed him a variety of proteins, daily. So eliminating the culprit will be tough. Have you had any experience with steroids? This was an option my vet gave me. I think I'll try to see if he'll eat the Royal canin hypoallergenic diet. It's rabbit and I'm not sure how he'll feel about it, but we'll see!

Denice said:

I have a 12 year old kitty who had his first flare when he was 18 months old.  Because of his age and the fact that his symptoms mimicked foreign body ingestion he wasn't diagnosed.  Several flares, several vets and six years later he was finally properly diagnosed.  Since I had tried all the possible diets short of raw during the six years before he was diagnosed we went right to a steroid which he has been on for 4 1/2 years now.  Hopefully you will find the right diet for your kitty.  It actually is very individual to the kitty and is a matter of trial and error.

There is some indication that IBD can turn into small cell lymphoma but there is no definitive proof of that.  I think part of the reason for that thinking is that it can be very difficult to differentiate between severe IBD and lymphoma.  Getting the inflammation under control and maintaining control is necessary for kitty's health.

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Could you tell me about your experience with the steroids?

Is the tuna food grain free? Also, check the ingredients of the Royal Canin food, the hypoallergenic food my vet prescribed me had soy and gluten and other potentially irritating stuff.

Narrowing down what proteins are causing the problem takes a lot of patience, but it's possible! Also be aware that more than proteins can cause issues, at least one person on here found out that it was the potatoes in their cat's "grain free hypoallergenic" food that was causing the problem. There's plenty of threads here about the whole allergy/intolerance detective process.

I got my cat a steroid injection once, when she was having pretty serious problems (diarrhea, not eating...). She seemed better for a few days and after that slowly declined to where she was before the shot. She didn't have any of the scary side effect other people have mentioned, but I decided not to bring her back for more steroids because the benefit wasn't that strong and I've personally had bad experiences with taking steroids. (A friend calls prednisone "preggers-zone" because it makes him bloated and weepy/mood swingy, which I think sounds about accurate. I also had problems with the water retention increasing the pressure in my eyes. And since I can't ask a cat how she's feeling....)

It is grain free, it's avo derm tuna with prawns. I have a sneaking suspicion the culprit is tomato-I was feeding him a seafood tomato bisque from nutro for a few months. Oddly the first ingredient in the "seafood" bisque is chicken. I'm just hoping tuna isn't the culprit since it's his favorite. I think I'll steer clear of the steroids unless absolutely necessary. Thanks for the input regarding those!

Kitties generally tolerate steroids well.  The main side effect with long term usage is diabetes.  I think there is a genetic predisposition at work as well, I have seen kitties here develop diabetes quickly and others have been on a steroid for several years with no issues.

My kitty has been on a steroid for 4 1/2 years with no issues.  He takes prednisolone which is the preferred steroid for IBD.  He had the beginnings of a flare about 3 1/2 years ago and that has been the only issue that he has had since starting it.  He did recently have to have his dosage increased from 2 1/2 to 5 mg a day.  He was losing weight for no apparent reason, no other symptoms.  He has gained some weight since the dose was increased.  That is common.  I don't know if it is developing a tolerance to the steroid or progression of the IBD.  If he can get another good 4 1/2 years out of this dosage he will be 17 and it could be academic by then.

If you can get the inflammation under control with things like diet and probiotics that would be great.  If not which was the case with my  kitty then don't be afraid of trying the steroid.  If necessary you  want to go with the lowest dosage to keep the inflammation under control.  Usually they begin with a higher dose, my  kitty was very sick when he started as in going into fatty  liver.  He was on 10 mg when he was very sick then the dosage was tapered down.  Steroids are always tapered down.  Suddenly stopping them can cause a rebound inflammatory response that can actually be worse then the original inflammation.

Mmm, seafood bisque. Cat food makers really know how to make a canned meat paste sound delicious. The Avoderm Tuna and Prawn looks good, unless your cat has an issue with guar gum. To eliminate allergies, it's generally better to stick to one protein, but if your cat only has an appetite for tuna/prawn because of his digestion issues, it's better to feed two proteins than let him starve himself into liver problems. I have heard that tuna is addictive, though, and it might be hard to get him to switch to other food later.

(The seafood tomato bisque ingredients are an allergy nightmare! Chicken, multiple kinds of fish, pork, shrimp, wheat gluten, tomato... I'm surprised they didn't throw a little swirl of milk in at the end, just to make sure it's got a little of everything. And "natural flavors" can be made of any plant or animal they feel like...)

Good lord! Thank you so much for looking into that-I had preemptively thrown away all my cans of it. I spoke to the vet about selected protein PR by royal canin-the ingredients look good and it's rabbit so it's a new/different protein. The other thing is, I was giving him a supplement to prevent structure crystals that was working and now the vet is suggesting I stop that in case that's the culprit. So now I'm worried about crystals again. I don't have children which is good because I don't know how I survive cat ownership without giving myself ulcers!

Ty3535 said:

Good lord! Thank you so much for looking into that-I had preemptively thrown away all my cans of it. I spoke to the vet about selected protein PR by royal canin-the ingredients look good and it's rabbit so it's a new/different protein. The other thing is, I was giving him a supplement to prevent structure crystals that was working and now the vet is suggesting I stop that in case that's the culprit. So now I'm worried about crystals again. I don't have children which is good because I don't know how I survive cat ownership without giving myself ulcers!

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The diagnosis of IBD is really what I was predicting in your other thread, I don't mention this because I'm pointing out being correct, but because you said he ate a fish based diet regularly and always had, it is the only thing he will eat.

So I highly suspected IBD.

That said, I am wondering about your feeding the Avoderm (which by the way is great food in itself) the tuna and prawns type.

Fish is in itself it's own protein class, all fish basically, so rather than thinking about the tomato bisque he was fed for a few months, think about what he has eaten for several years, it has been fish.

IBD doesn't happen after a short time on one food, it's a progressive disease that happens when a certain protein based food is given for long periods of time.

The cat has done just fine on it, it's decent food so why switch it up right? This is why.

Cats can start reacting to that very same food they had always done so well on.

So I wanted to throw that in there as food for thought

It may very well be fish if that has been his main protein for a long period of time.

I'm so relieved you were right! The radiologist said he couldn't completely also rule out lymphoma but that it was highly unlikely; apparently the symptoms minic IBD. I'm really hoping its not the fish as I'm very concerned about what type of food I can get him to eat-he's so picky. I'll give the rabbit a try but I'm not optimistic.

Ty3535 said:

I'm so relieved you were right! The radiologist said he couldn't completely also rule out lymphoma but that it was highly unlikely; apparently the symptoms minic IBD. I'm really hoping its not the fish as I'm very concerned about what type of food I can get him to eat-he's so picky. I'll give the rabbit a try but I'm not optimistic.

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Rabbit has a distinct taste, my Krissy did not like it and would even touch it.

This is why you need to try other proteins not given before.

Chicken, fish, lamb are in so many foods, despite the name the label says too, so those are not proteins you want to be trying.

Do you feed dry or canned?

He can only eat canned because of crystals forming in his urine. If he won't eat the rabbit I'm not sure what else to try. I've given him both duck and venison and he won't eat either.

Do you know over how long a period of time he would've had to have eaten whatever is causing this? Months, years?

Geez I SO went through this exact same thing! Very stressful!

So as far as canned, people have very good results from their cats liking Nature's Variety Instinct, different flavors are available.

My picky butt cat would not eat the canned, only the dry. 

I needed some certain protein that I could get dry and canned that she would eat.

Because she would not eat any of the grain free better brand foods, and was used to and likes fancy feast, i went to blue buffalo limited ingredient dry turkey food and fancy feast classics turkey canned and turkey/cheese classics, and one other turkey one.

It's worked for close to a year now, after a good 6 months of that only, I am now able to give her and my other cat Simone some chicken when I get the rottisserie chickens from the store which they always loved.

But just once randomly and we get away with it.

More than once in a row and right away she vomits again, so I've learned.

Everything is turkey, even her treats, sort of the bedtime ritual. Simone gets temptations and Krissy gets Instinct turkey raw boost mixers.

Ty3535 said:

Do you know over how long a period of time he would've had to have eaten whatever is causing this? Months, years?

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Years since he is 8 now, which is usually the case.

I didn't think of turkey - that's a good one I'll have to try. I'm going to attempt the royal canin rabbit, which at $60 a case will hurt my wallet, but if he eats it and it keeps him healthy I'll try anything. I'll check out the instinct formulas too.

If it takes years, I doubt the supplement for his urinary issues was the culprit, in which case I'll continue giving to him. It's chicken based and not fish based so I think it'll be okay, given that I'm 90% sure tuna/fish is to blame.

Supplement as in what is it? 

Beware of chicken too, simply because there is chicken and fish in most cat food.

Not that you feed friskies canned, but as an example, their foods almost all have fish and/or chicken in every single one, despite it being beef, or whatever.

It's just cheap and can be called meat by products.

My point here is basically, I think it's fish with your cat, good chance at least for sure, since that has been his protein for years.

You don't say what the food was that you fed him during his life, but even if it were kit n kaboodle, or whiskas, nobody is going to give you a bad time, it is what it is.

But otherwise if you don't say, google the food and read it's ingredients, make sure that chicken wasn't in there too, it's common whether you would know it or not without actually reading the ingredients to know.

Chicken and fish are extremely common IBD culprits.

Carageenan and guar gum, and wheat gluten also.

But I still think yours is fish