Just diagnosed with IBD

Thank you for your reply. I am well aware that there are few  "textbook" cases and that anyone (human or otherwise) may be atypical for a condition and yet still have it. That being said, I have had dealings with a large number of vets over the years as I have a professional background in animal welfare as well as being a lifelong pet parent, myself. And I have learned (and this pertains to human medicine as well) that a second opinion can save a life.

No I don't feed them fish either. Just the lamb, beef and pork.  At one time I did also feed them the salmon but they weren't crazy about it, so I stopped. They haven't had any  in at least 6 months.

Although H&G is their main diet, I do give a second brand as a meal topper. I do this because I don't think it's a good idea to have pets reliant on one brand only. Anything can happen, such as  a brand recall, or a brand takeover, or a long "out of stock" issue. I'm in eastern Canada and there is only one pet food chain carrying H&G, so it's not as if I can simply get it elsewhere if the one chain carrying it has stock issues. As a meal topper, I was adding a little Wellness (the turkey formula only). But recently I've changed the meal topper to Weruva because I think Wellness is over-rated; they still use carrageenan, for one thing. And  I question the veggies I sometimes find  in their products, most notably, potatoes.  The ingredient list  may say "sweet potatoes" but there's no question that regular spuds have sometimes been added.  The Weruva formula I'm trying is a lamb pate. I just started this new "topper" and must say all my kitties really like it, including my little IBD boy, but he's not the best judge since he'll eat anything in site and never gets enough (which is actually part of his illness.) And bear in mind  that the H&G food is at least 80 percent of the portions, the topper only between 10-20%.

One more point, I'm giving them mostly lamb now, because I'm almost certain that if my IBD boy has developed a protein intolerance, it won't be to lamb, because in recent months, I was feeding them mainly the beef and pork. They'd gone off the lamb at one time, so I stopped buying it. This was a few months back and my kitty only started showing symptoms more recently.   So presumably it will be either beef or pork causing the problem. And I have already stopped giving him the beef. Hopefully we'll see some improvement down the road.

Felines6, is the Weruva you are feeding the Lamb Burgini? That one does have some tuna, though it doesn't smell very fishy!

As for the Wellness food, I'm not sure which one you're feeding but wouldn't be overly surprise if your cat improve now that you've nixed that -- a fair number of cats don't do well with carrageenan. And one of ours has difficulty with potato so I know that ingredients can be an issues, too!

In any case, I hope the changes you've made will help. IBD can be tricky but your cats' limited diet should make it relatively easy to sort things out. Good luck!

I am  glad there is someone else who thinks Wellness is overrated.  That is one that people seem to really think is fantastic and even the end all be all of foods  It is a good food but I too think it is over rated.  I think Hounds and Gatos is a much better food.  Some kitties won't eat it because the texture is different from many other foods but it is a great food.

Denice said:

 
I am  glad there is someone else who thinks Wellness is overrated.  That is one that people seem to really think is fantastic and even the end all be all of foods  It is a good food but I too think it is over rated.  I think Hounds and Gatos is a much better food.  Some kitties won't eat it because the texture is different from many other foods but it is a great food.

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I also think Wellness is overrated! Some of their Core pates are decent food but their heavy use of potato doesn't impress me in a good way, either!

Potato is my biggest complaint about Weruva, too: they have lots of nice shredded meat foods that are thickened with potato starch. I've also found that the Cats in the Kitchen foods that we feed are inconsistent: the shreds of chicken vary a lot and the cats don't like the cans where they're small! They're very discerning creatures. (They also don't like Hound and Gatos much, except the lamb. What can you do!?)

Yes the texture of Hound of Gatos does take some getting used to. When I first fed it to my gang, they looked at me like I was crazy. But they got used to it pretty quickly and they've been happy with it ever since, and it's now over 2 full years that they've been eating it. I can't say they all like all the flavors (they all hated the trout), but overall, they still like it.  Re Wellness,  It isn't a bad food, but I think there are better choices available. And their continued use of carrageenan is a big negative!

Yes it is the Lamb Burgini. I just checked the can and the tuna is the #3 ingredient which means a significant amount. I can't imagine why a lamb diet should have fish as such a prominent ingredient!  Furthermore I notice that the #1 ingredient isn't even lamb, but rather, fish broth!  Lamb is #2. Not too impressive for a so-called lamb formula!  Even though I feed the  Weruva as a meal topper only, and it comprises only a small percentage of the meal, I don't think I'll be buying it anymore, and will look elsewhere for a meal topper.

I think Wellness is overrated as well! I think it is a really great food in some regards, especially for cats that do not have sensitivity issues. Although it is grain-free among other things, it still has foods that cause major sensitivity issues, like peas and potatoes. Over most of the food you find at regular stores, Wellness Core and Wellness is much better, but there are even more foods that are even better!

Agreed!

Felines6 said:

 
Yes it is the Lamb Burgini. I just checked the can and the tuna is the #3 ingredient which means a significant amount. I can't imagine why a lamb diet should have fish as such a prominent ingredient!  Furthermore I notice that the #1 ingredient isn't even lamb, but rather, fish broth!  Lamb is #2. Not too impressive for a so-called lamb formula!  Even though I feed the  Weruva as a meal topper only, and it comprises only a small percentage of the meal, I don't think I'll be buying it anymore, and will look elsewhere for a meal topper.

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We fed Lamb Burgini to our previous cat in her last months: it was a real favorite, though I, too, didn't initially realize it had fish. (My second biggest complaint about Weruva is that they use fish in so many of their foods.)

Our cats have sensitive stomachs, so a few experiences like that -- and changes of recipes, too -- have made me a big reader of labels (for which I sometimes wish I had a microscope!) and Web sites. We also don't feed carrageenan so there's a lot of reading going on!

I didn't read everyone's else's responses, so I may repeat what someone has already said. I am dealing with a cat (Maxx) who is a year old. I took him to a cat clinic because I figured they only see cats and maybe I could get better answers. To make a long story short, she believes Maxx may have a food allergy (soft poos is what we've been dealing with). So she recommended trying a limited protein diet that he has not had. So now he is switching over to prescription Royal Caine Rabbit. They do offer both dry and wet. My cat wants nothing to do with wet, so he eats the kibble and I try to keep water fountains around my house. I can't say if his poos have improved because at the moment he is also on metronidazole and not fully 100% on rabbit yet. Ask to see if you can get Royal Caine prescription rabbit in wet if your kitty needs to have a prescription diet. I also know that Nature's Variety has canned rabbit as well as kibble. Good luck!

I know what you mean about the microscope!  The ingredients lists are so small! Presumably the companies don't want consumers to find out what's in the food. Compare this with some of the buzz words you see on the cans or bags,  such as "New and Improved" or "Meatier Flavor". You can read those from across the room!

I have followed your suggestion. It is now a week since I took my little guy off the beef formula. Actually I'm feeding him just the lamb formula because I know he can't be allergic to it since I hadn't bought lamb in almost a year and his symptoms are relatively recent. I stopped the lamb because all my cats seemed to get tired of it and the only Hound & Gatos formulas they liked at the time were beef and pork. So I stepped up both to make up for the loss of the lamb.

My kitty was at the vet's this week because he needed a B12 injection - his level was very low, which means he's not been absorbing nutrients from his food, which is a sign of  intestinal issues i.e. IBD. I told the vet I was going to continue with the Hound & Gatos (lamb) since it is a very limited ingredient, single meat protein food, most suitable for a kitty with food allergies. She had originally suggested the usual Royal Canin and also Raynes, a company I'd never even heard of. They're supposed to be an option for pet owners who don't like the commercial prescription diets like RC and Science Diet. But she agreed that it made sense to eliminate the beef and stick with Hound & Gatos lamb and see if we get positive results. He had already lost one third of his weight as a result of his condition (he'd been 10.5 lbs and was now down to 7.5). At the vet's this week, he was weighed and he's gained a half pound, woo-hoo! I'd like to think it's because he's already improving just one week after stopping the beef, but that's just wishful thinking. More likely is the fact that I'm just feeding him more to try to at least stop the weight loss. However the fact that he gained weight is a good sign because if his condition was really serious, I don't think he would be able to gain, even with the food increase.

So I'm hoping we're on the right track.

Thanks for your help and enjoy the weekend.

Hi, just getting back to you regarding your advice about the D3. I was at the vet's with my kitty this week and I spoke to her about it. As expected she was not aware of the connection between D3 and IBD, but she's open minded and said she was going to research the subject and get back to me. The next day she called me saying she'd done her research and was in agreement that D3 supplementation was recommended. She suggested the dosing amount and I'll be getting the tablets tomorrow at the local pharmacy, since D3 is the same for kitties, doggies and pet people too.

Thank you very much for the information you provided. Both myself and my kitty appreciate it!

Have a great weekend!

Georgina 

Felines6 said:

 
Hi, just getting back to you regarding your advice about the D3. I was at the vet's with my kitty this week and I spoke to her about it. As expected she was not aware of the connection between D3 and IBD, but she's open minded and said she was going to research the subject and get back to me. The next day she called me saying she'd done her research and was in agreement that D3 supplementation was recommended. She suggested the dosing amount and I'll be getting the tablets tomorrow at the local pharmacy, since D3 is the same for kitties, doggies and pet people too.

Thank you very much for the information you provided. Both myself and my kitty appreciate it!

Have a great weekend!

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Just remember that there IS a toxic dose.  For most cats, that would be about 8000-10,000 i.u.'s.  Daily dosing is of D3 is not recommended for cats.  Most people give D3 to cats every 3 1/2 days exactly - usually Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings.  And it's very important to have your baby's blood levels of D3 checked on a monthly basis.  You need to know his blood levels once the lab work is done.  He's probably at about 20 ng/ml right now.  Your goal for him is 50 ng/ml or a bit better.  D3 is such an awesome tool and I'm so glad that you have a wonderful, openminded vet.  i do as well and they are rare.  Please let me know how he does.  He's getting lots of help with the new food and the B12 shots.  And I would feed him any time he would eat.  If he's gained a little, he's holding onto at least some nutrition.  Hugs - you're doing great.

Did they test for malabsorbtion? That would explain the big appetite and loss of weight.

Sorry, didn't see this is page 2. Cleary you have had that test.

I'm glad to hear about the weight gain, @Felines6, that's very good news!

MaggieMay said:

 
Georgina 

Just remember that there IS a toxic dose.  For most cats, that would be about 8000-10,000 i.u.'s.  Daily dosing is of D3 is not recommended for cats.  Most people give D3 to cats every 3 1/2 days exactly - usually Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings.  And it's very important to have your baby's blood levels of D3 checked on a monthly basis.  You need to know his blood levels once the lab work is done.  He's probably at about 20 ng/ml right now.  Your goal for him is 50 ng/ml or a bit better.  D3 is such an awesome tool and I'm so glad that you have a wonderful, openminded vet.  i do as well and they are rare.  Please let me know how he does.  He's getting lots of help with the new food and the B12 shots.  And I would feed him any time he would eat.  If he's gained a little, he's holding onto at least some nutrition.  Hugs - you're doing great.

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I want to make sure that anyone reading my posts about Vitamin D3 on this thread knows that the use of D3 as a therapeutic agent is to be done ONLY under a vet's care.  It is too easy to give far too much D3 to a cat unless you are aware of their current blood levels of D3 and commit to having these blood tests done on a continuing basis as long as D3 is being given.  The dosages for cats are tiny. Overdoing the dosage the slightest bit can cause calcification of any and all organs, including heart, lungs, kidneys and liver.  That's why you must have blood tests run every 2-4 weeks, depending on your cat's health condition.  

Twice weekly dosage at the most is advised, and always at the direction of a vet who understands the properties of cholecalciferol (D3).  This is not the same thing as the commonly vet-prescribed Vitamin D2.  This link is to a Vitamin D3 in olive oil (far more bioavailable than dry D3 tablets), specifically formulated for pets by a holistic vet, which can be ordered by your vet.  Also available on this website are D3 test kits which also must be ordered by your vet.  http://rxvitamins.com/infopets-rxd3.html  You may have to try several vets before you find one who understands what D3 does in the body and what it is capable of, both good and bad, and who will test your cat's blood and order these drops.  For maintenance, feed a good grain-free or low-carb wet food with D3 supplement included.