Natural Balance Indoor Ultra Rabbit & Salmon Meal Dry food

cubscat

cubscat

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Bochy Pussinski, the 10-year-old tortie I adopted in November, has been diagnosed with IBD and is on what I call the million dollar diet from the vet, Royal Canin Selected Protein Rabbit canned and dry. This food, combined with an on/off regimen of metronidazole tablets, helps to hold her diarrhea and vomiting at bay fairly well, except for the daily small spit-up (always on the carpet, of course -- my rugs are a horror since she arrived!). The kicker is the cost of this diet: the vet charges $71 for an 8lb bag of the dry food and $3.17 per 5 oz can for the wet. Even if I order from Chewy.com, the cost ($54 for the dry and $58 for a case of 24 cans) is still too high for me as I live on Social Security.  I've read very good user reviews for Natural Balance Indoor Ultra Rabbit and Salmon Meal dry food: folks who have cats with food allergies (as is probably also the case with Bochy), diarrhea and vomiting issues have had good luck stemming those problems using this product.  Has anyone here used this dry formula for a cat with similar digestive issues?  I'd still need the occasional canned food to be able to give Bochy her pills periodically and am going to try a can of Natural Balance LIB Duck and Green Pea this week to see how she fares.  Any and all feedback would be welcome as I don't need to anything for another week or so.
 
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missmimz

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With IBD you really need to try and stay away from all kibble. Ideal diet is going to be homecooked or raw, but some IBD cats do okay with high quality canned food. I would highly, highly suggest you read these links about how diet and IBD are very closely related, and how many people have controlled their cats IBD with a bio appropriate diet.

http://www.foodfurlife.com/raw-feeding-and-ibd-in-cats.html

http://www.rawfeedingforibdcats.org/start-here.html

EZ complete is an awesome product that a lot of IBD cats do well on. You can use it for cooked or raw, so if raw isn't within your comfort zone perhaps consider trying it with cooked food. The company will send you a sample to try. 
 
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cubscat

cubscat

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Thank you for your response, missmimz.  When Bochy was first diagnosed with IBD a few weeks after I adopted her, I did, indeed, read numerous articles and blogs about her condition, possible dietary treatments, etc.  The vet initially tried her on Hills i/d wet and dry but, as it is chicken based, she didn't do too well thus the switch to the Royal Canin Selected Protein Rabbit wet and dry. 

I'm trying to find a select protein food that Bochy can tolerate and that I can afford to feed her without having to forego feeding myself or paying monthly bills.  As a disabled senior, I barely cook anything elaborate for myself these days so home-cooked cat meals are not an option.  I would love to be able to continue to keep Bochy on the Royal Canin or another high echelon selected protein food but, as I mentioned, funds are an issue as Social Security is my sole income -- for example, continuing the Royal Canin regimen for 12 months would surpass the cost of one mortgage payment for me; add to that the monthly cost of her metronidazole prescription which will cost as much in 12 months as my homeowner's insurance for a year.  In addition, each animal responds differently to even high quality foods: a neighbor's young cat with IBD cannot tolerate Royal Canin, Wellness, Merrick, etc., but does just fine on Iams -- go figure!  I've tried Bochy on Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit and Natural Balance Venison and Pea  wet food with poor results. It's hard to find affordable rabbit-based food that doesn't have chicken as a co-ingredient fairly high up the list.  This NB Indoor Ultra Rabbit and Salmon Meal does have a chicken product, chicken fat, listed as the 7th ingredient, but at least it's not chicken meat, meat by-products or meal so maybe she'll be able to tolerate it.  In the end, all I can do for her is the best I can afford.
 
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missmimz

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CubsCat said:
 
Thank you for your response, missmimz.  When Bochy was first diagnosed with IBD a few weeks after I adopted her, I did, indeed, read numerous articles and blogs about her condition, possible dietary treatments, etc.  The vet initially tried her on Hills i/d wet and dry but, as it is chicken based, she didn't do too well thus the switch to the Royal Canin Selected Protein Rabbit wet and dry. 

I'm trying to find a select protein food that Bochy can tolerate and that I can afford to feed her without having to forego feeding myself or paying monthly bills.  As a disabled senior, I barely cook anything elaborate for myself these days so home-cooked cat meals are not an option.  I would love to be able to continue to keep Bochy on the Royal Canin or another high echelon selected protein food but, as I mentioned, funds are an issue as Social Security is my sole income -- for example, continuing the Royal Canin regimen for 12 months would surpass the cost of one mortgage payment for me; add to that the monthly cost of her metronidazole prescription which will cost as much in 12 months as my homeowner's insurance for a year.  In addition, each animal responds differently to even high quality foods: a neighbor's young cat with IBD cannot tolerate Royal Canin, Wellness, Merrick, etc., but does just fine on Iams -- go figure!  I've tried Bochy on Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit and Natural Balance Venison and Pea  wet food with poor results. It's hard to find affordable rabbit-based food that doesn't have chicken as a co-ingredient fairly high up the list.  This NB Indoor Ultra Rabbit and Salmon Meal does have a chicken product, chicken fat, listed as the 7th ingredient, but at least it's not chicken meat, meat by-products or meal so maybe she'll be able to tolerate it.  In the end, all I can do for her is the best I can afford.
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Homecooked or raw is significantly cheaper than any canned food and leaps and bounds better. EZcomplete is a more expensive pre-mix, but if you hop over to the homecooked thread you could also find recipes that use alnutrin, which is a cheaper alternative. I would personally not put my hope in any of these canned or kibbles being a long term solution for an IBD cat. In order to heal the gut you really need to invest in pure meat and vitamin only foods as well as probiotics. 
 
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