Weaning IBD cat off Prednisolone, symptoms coming back

cc0000

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My 12 year old cat was doing great after being put on Prednisolone. He has been slowly tapering down, but, after going from 1/2 a pill (2.5 mg) everyday to 1/2 every other day, he's started to act sickly again.

The first day off he was very tired, and, before his next dose, his stomach started gurgling again.

I called the vet and he said go back up to 1/2 a pill a day and then call back on Monday. But, Prednisolone is not recommended long-term.

What else can I do to help my IBD cat? He loves dry food which is awful for him, and only eats small amounts of wet food now before he gets sick of it.

With the IBD he has no diarrhea, but has awful projectile vomiting once a week if not under control and his stomach gurgles like crazy. He also will stop eating and drinking sometimes so has been to the vet a lot for this.
 

denice

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Your kitty has the same symptoms as mine with flares, vomiting and anorexia.  He was actually prone to constipation and never had diarrhea.  My kitty has been on prednisolone for almost six years now.  Some kitties IBD can't be fully controlled without a steroid.

Some people swear by a raw diet.  I never tried that.  I did try many different types of commercial foods and he would continue to have flares.  To be honest I never did figure out a food trigger for his flares.  He actually had his first flare when he was only 18 months old and it took six years of vet hopping to get a diagnosis.  He was even so sick a couple of times that he was hospitalized on an IV.

Here is an article on transitioning kitty to  a new food  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transit...-to-a-new-type-of-food-canned-raw-or-homemade   It can be a long slow process.
 
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cc0000

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Thanks for the response. So far, the steroid treatment is the only thing we've tried that's stopped the awful flareups. Before, he would constantly go back and forth each week.

My vet really doesn't want him on Prednisolone long-term because of the risks, but, if nothing else works, what can you do? He gets so sick he has to be syringe fed to prevent liver failure.

Has anyone had any success with a grain-free dry food? 

Thanks.
 

jcat

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Treating IBD is ALL about food. I really encourage you to both read this site and join the FB group. They are amazing and have helped heal tons of IBD cats. 

http://www.rawfeedingforibdcats.org/
Raw feeding is not the answer for every cat with IBD and can in fact exacerbate the disease, so it should not be experimented with without consulting a vet and board certified nutritionist.

Our cat has IBD which is controlled by a limited ingredient low fat grain-free diet - in his case a canned diet with unique proteins like reindeer, horse, kangaroo, goat, buffalo and rabbit plus about 3% potato or turnips. He gets a few pieces of grain-free kibble as a snack, e.g. rabbit and potato or horse and sweet potato, so there are dry choices (I can't recommend a brand because Mogli gets ones only available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland). His nutritionist also okayed a home-cooked diet, but raw was definitely out due to the fat content - to put it bluntly, it came out the other end undigested.
 

missmimz

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Raw feeding is not the answer for every cat with IBD and can in fact exacerbate the disease, so it should not be experimented with without consulting a vet and board certified nutritionist.

Our cat has IBD which is controlled by a limited ingredient low fat grain-free diet - in his case a canned diet with unique proteins like reindeer, horse, kangaroo, goat, buffalo and rabbit plus about 3% potato or turnips. He gets a few pieces of grain-free kibble as a snack, e.g. rabbit and potato or horse and sweet potato, so there are dry choices (I can't recommend a brand because Mogli gets ones only available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland). His nutritionist also okayed a home-cooked diet, but raw was definitely out due to the fat content - to put it bluntly, it came out the other end undigested.
I've never heard of one cat that didn't benefit from eating a bio appropriate diet or raw or homecooked. You can easily view the scientific information on their website if you're skeptical. Fat content issues have to do with the type of protein you're feeding, not whether or not it's raw.
 
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missmimz

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The OP asked about Prednisolone and grain-free diets. Before taking the thread off topic, please read the following, written by the site owner:


Recommending a homemade diet? Hold your horses!
I'm giving the OP resources, they can choose whether or not they want to pursue that option. Just because they didn't ask about raw specifically doesn't mean it shouldn't be offered as a potential option. It's sad that the owner and mods of this site are distinctly anti-raw, even when evidence suggests it works for sick cats.
 

denice

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I've never heard of one cat that didn't benefit from eating a bio appropriate diet or raw or homecooked. You can easily view the scientific information on their website if you're skeptical. Fat content issues have to do with the type of protein you're feeding, not whether or not it's raw.
You have heard of one, mine.  I tried home cooked even though I didn't try raw.  I tried every protein available.  He would go anywhere from several weeks to several months and then flare.  Some of his flares were severe enough to require hospitalization.  There would be no change in diet or probiotics and then he would be deathly ill for no apparent reason.  As I said he was only 18 months old when his started which is very young.
 

missmimz

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You have heard of one, mine.  I tried home cooked even though I didn't try raw.  I tried every protein available.  He would go anywhere from several weeks to several months and then flare.  Some of his flares were severe enough to require hospitalization.  There would be no change in diet or probiotics and then he would be deathly ill for no apparent reason.  As I said he was only 18 months old when his started which is very young.
I said benefit, not cure. Some cats will still have flairs no matter what, while others will thrive. Simple easy to digest bio appropriate diets have helped hundreds if not thousands of cats.
 

missmimz

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Has his T4 been tested? Vomiting is an uncommon symptom of IBD, in fact my oldest cat was misdiagnosed as having IBD when he was having almost daily vomiting, turns out he was going into hyperthyroidism. Once he was cured with I-131 the vomiting disappeared.
 

AbbysMom

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I'm giving the OP resources, they can choose whether or not they want to pursue that option. Just because they didn't ask about raw specifically doesn't mean it shouldn't be offered as a potential option. It's sad that the owner and mods of this site are distinctly anti-raw, even when evidence suggests it works for sick cats.
This site, that you label as "anti-raw" has a specific section dedicated to it. Also, some of the TCS Team members have in the past and currently do feed raw.

What we are "anti" are people who crusade for one specific type of diet. Not all diets work for every cat, just like not all diets work for every human. Their humans can also be limited by budget, time, space limitations and what is readily available. No one should be made to feel like an awful caretaker for feeding what they feed, which I see far too often on here.

Just a reminder of one of the rules -

We do not allow the “bashing” of raw or cooked diets in the Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food forum. We will not allow the “bashing” of commercial feeding options in the general Cat Nutrition forum.
Fair is fair. :dk: Feel free to suggest options and refer them to the raw feeding forum for further discussions.
 

missmimz

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This site, that you label as "anti-raw" has a specific section dedicated to it. Also, some of the TCS Team members have in the past and currently do feed raw.

What we are "anti" are people who crusade for one specific type of diet. Not all diets work for every cat, just like not all diets work for every human. Their humans can also be limited by budget, time, space limitations and what is readily available. No one should be made to feel like an awful caretaker for feeding what they feed, which I see far too often on here.

Just a reminder of one of the rules -
Fair is fair. :dk: Feel free to suggest options and refer them to the raw feeding forum for further discussions.
I suggested an option with a resource, if the OP is interested s/he can click the links and read. I don't have any hidden agenda beyond a desire to see all cats thrive, which should also be the goal of this forum.
 

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My 12 year old cat was doing great after being put on Prednisolone. He has been slowly tapering down, but, after going from 1/2 a pill (2.5 mg) everyday to 1/2 every other day, he's started to act sickly again.

The first day off he was very tired, and, before his next dose, his stomach started gurgling again.

I called the vet and he said go back up to 1/2 a pill a day and then call back on Monday. But, Prednisolone is not recommended long-term.

What else can I do to help my IBD cat? He loves dry food which is awful for him, and only eats small amounts of wet food now before he gets sick of it.

With the IBD he has no diarrhea, but has awful projectile vomiting once a week if not under control and his stomach gurgles like crazy. He also will stop eating and drinking sometimes so has been to the vet a lot for this.
I am a human doctor, not a vet and any advice that I give concerning a cat should be checked by a vet.  Having said that, if prednisolone relieves your cat's symptoms, and with your vet's agreement, you could continue prednisolone indefinitely.  You should ask your vet about the side effects of long term prednisolone in cats first, but I understand that cats are particularly resistant to the complications of steroids as compared to humans.  If your vet has no other treatment for IBD, then long term prednisolone, on the lowest effective dose, may well be your only option.

With all best wishes,

Geoffrey
 
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cc0000

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Wow, I didn't realize there were more responses to this post. I wasn't getting any email notifications.

Thank you to all who have responded. His T4 was tested and normal. My vet really doesn't want him on steroids long-term because of the risks, but, I have to talk to him again on Monday to discuss where to go from here.

I know food can help or hurt cats with IBD. I've heard about raw diets, novel protein diets, grain-free, and putting cats on wet food without additives like carrageenan. I just don't know what is best for my cat who will only eat small amounts of wet food and loves dry food, unfortunately.

I know so many people have cats that get IBD. I just want to know, from those with experience, if there was a certain food their cat thrived on.

If no food stops the flareups, where do you go from there? It seems steroids may be a necessary evil in certain cases.
 

Anne

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I would consider consulting with a professional cat nutrition expert on this. There's a list of certified experts here - 

http://www.acvn.org/ and some of them offer phone consultations. Experimenting with food with a cat that already has a strong preference can be stressful and in itself make things worse rather than better, so I wouldn't make any changes without the advice of an actual expert.
 

vicki054

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My 12 year old cat was doing great after being put on Prednisolone. He has been slowly tapering down, but, after going from 1/2 a pill (2.5 mg) everyday to 1/2 every other day, he's started to act sickly again.
The first day off he was very tired, and, before his next dose, his stomach started gurgling again.

I called the vet and he said go back up to 1/2 a pill a day and then call back on Monday. But, Prednisolone is not recommended long-term.


What else can I do to help my IBD cat? He loves dry food which is awful for him, and only eats small amounts of wet food now before he gets sick of it.


With the IBD he has no diarrhea, but has awful projectile vomiting once a week if not under control and his stomach gurgles like crazy. He also will stop eating and drinking sometimes so has been to the vet a lot for this.
IBD/IBS big problem for my 12 year old. Tried Rad Cat frozen raw food and he's been better for the last couple of years.
 
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missmimz

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IBD/IBS big problem for my 12 year old. Tried Rad Cat frozen raw food and he's been better for the last couple of years.
I love Rad Cat. Such awesome good quality food! 8 of my 10 cats eat and love it, none are IBD but I've heard really good things about it for IBD cats. Glad it's helping your baby 
 
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cc0000

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I've never heard of FMT for cats. I'm not sure if they are done around here or how much the procedure would cost.
 
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