Enzo is eating, but is it enough?

Enzo (9 years old, neutered male) eats about 1 can of wet food per day. Sometime 1 1/2. Right now he is eating Merrick limited ingredient turkey and Natures Variety Instinct chicken. He doesn't eat dry food. He does get treats a few times a day (smart n tasty, chicken flavor). He has IBD and can't have grains or seafood.

He was just at the vet last week and had a urinalysis and full blood work. Everything was fabulous according to the vet (her word, not mine!)

The can says 1 can per 6 pounds of body weight. He is a little over 13 which if my math is correct means he should be eating at least two.

He is behaving totally fine, plays, has energy, no personality changes. His urine and poop output haven't changed. When he eats, he eats normally. He had most of his teeth removed a few years ago because of decay. The vet looked closely in his mouth last week and said it was fine. So I don't know if it's a matter of appetite, because he certainly seems to have one, I'm just nervous it's not ENOUGH of an appetite.

Has anyone had experience with their cat not always eating all of the recommended serving?

I forgot to mention the size of the can. It is the full 5.5 ounce.

I think just keep a vey close eye on his weight. Many members with IBD cats have baby scales so they can track the cat's weight, as weight loss is a common side effect of IBD. Remember, though, that the quantity given on the can is just a guideline - all cats are different, and some will need more and others less to maintain a healthy weight.

It's definitely worth offering an extra meal or two though - little and often (or 'mouse-sized meals') is the way a cat has evolved to eat, and you may well find Enzo will eat more if you try this method.

Wonderful to hear that he's doing so well so far though IBD is SUCH a hard disease to manage, so it's fantastic that the vet was so pleased with him at his last check up [article="32479"][/article][article="31116"][/article]

Thank you so much for replying! After talking with the doctor who performed the ultrasound when I first found out about the IBD, I decided to completely remove all seafood from his diet since that was his primary source of protein. The symptom he was having that led to the IBD diagnosis was vomiting and since switching him to different non-seafood proteins and doing a grain free diet, we've had no further vomiting. The weight loss that accompanies IBD, is that normal? He had lost 1/4 of a pound at the vet visit, but she wasn't concerned since it was such a small amount and said sometimes even the scales in different exam rooms can be off. I will look right now about getting a baby scale-I think I will feel better being able to monitor his weight. Thank you so much again!

Sadly, weight loss is very common with IBD It makes perfect sense when you think about it though - if you felt nauseous and/or had an upset tummy, you wouldn't feel like eating either! Finding a diet and feeding schedule (and meds where necessary) that works for your cat is key, and it sounds like you're well on your way to achieving that now

His metabolism might be on the slow side as well. Have you thought about doing a fecal microbiota transplant to try to cure the ibd?

I haven't heard of that. What does it involve? I was doing some research and saw that sometimes prednisone/anti nausea meds can be given but that seems unnecessary since he's not vomiting or having diarreah. I'm hoping it may just be he has a slow metabolism and might not need those two full cans that are recommended. I hate to put him through another vet visit, especially since he just had the "senior panel" and everything was great. If he had any other symptoms I'd take him in a heartbeat. I ordered a baby scale :-) so I will definitely monitor his weight.

Are they sure its really ibd or did the suggest some other things it could be as well? He doesn't seem to have the ongoing symptoms of it. Its natural for there metabolism to slow as they age but you shouldn't notice a big difference in weight because of it.

FMT is an amazing treatment that replaces the gut and intestinal flora of an affected cat with the flora of another cat which reproduce and take over the digestive system replacing the old flora. Just search ibd fecal microbiota transplant cats and you'll find a whole lot of information about it. The tricky thing is finding a vet that knows how to do it. Hollistic vets are your best bet, and it's not too expensive.

It sounds like you have him on the right kind of food though. It's possible he's just not that keen on it? Has he always been a light eater or did he just start eating less?

I will be researching that tomorrow, thank you! They didn't do the biopsy which I guess is only way to conclusively diagnos the IBD. The dr who did the ultrasound was so sure that it was IBD that he recommended I not put him through a biopsy. He did say you can never rule out lymphoma without a biopsy, but he felt strongly it wasn't that. He didn't mention any other things it could be. His stomach lining was thickened, and he had the vomiting. Those were the only two signs. I do give him probiotic every day as well. I did order the baby's scale so I will weight him what do you think, every week? To make sure there is no change.

As far as the eating less, I have to be honest, I only recently started keeping a written record so it may be that he had only eaten this amount the whole time. Even if that's the case, I'm worried it's not enough since it's only 1/2 the recommended serving size.

I've heard more than once that the "recommended" serving is set high so you buy more food.

I totally understand why this worries you, especially with a kitty diagnosed with IBD. I think if Enzo is acting happy and is eating then I wouldn't stress him with a vet visit. You sound like you have a good plan of action: charting food intake and weighing him.

You've gotten good advice and have a couple of good articles that will be helpful in this. Keep us posted on how Enzo is doing.

It sounds like you have everything under control. A FMT is an amazing procedure but I don't think its necessary as he doesn't have rampant diarrhea and his weight is steady. If you weighed him a couple times a week for a month or so then recorded it you could come up with a weight chart for him. If he's not getting enough to eat it will show up on that. You could also see if you could find additional wet foods with about the same ingredients that he can tolerate. Cats can be really picky eaters and maybe the consistency or even an after taste has him not wanting to gobble it down. I wouldn't be too concerned though, you've got what sounds like a relatively healthy kitty with a few age related issues. As long as he maintains his weight and doesn't start vomiting again I'd write this off as a hick up in his life's tail.

A cool side note about FMT. It's being used for c. diff infections in hospitals with a 95% cure rate. It's also being reviewed for several other potential diseases and illnesses with great results. Theirs trials in place testing it as a weight loss cure. The type of gut flora we have in our digestive track determine how well we absorb nutrients and what nutrients and fats get broken down and processed. They tested it by giving naturally (not diet related) obese mice the gut flora of naturally lean mice and the obese mice lost weight. There are several human trials running now. Cool huh? 

Wow! That is amazing! Even though he may not need it (sounds like he doesn't) I'm definitely going to research it some anyway. It sounds very interesting. Once I get the baby scale I will weigh him a few times a week to start to get a baseline and go from there. You're right, I think as long as there's no vomiting/diarreah I'll save him a vet visit. Thank you SO SO much for all the help!