Raw Food Diet??

My cat Bella has severe Inflammatory Bowel Disease. She is allergic to just about every brand and type of food out there. The only food she does ok (but not good) on is IVD Green Peas and Venison. She still has cycles where she does very poorly though. We are sure that she is allergic to the "poultry" they use in all commercial cat foods. I have been reading that raw food diets have very impressive results for cats with IBD. So, if anyone out there has their cat on a raw food diet or knows about raw food diets, please let me know. Thanks!

Check your private messages. I just sent you some information. Hope you are able to find something that works for Bella.

Thanks! I will definitely check those links out! I'll keep you updated. If anyone else has any suggestions please let me know

No information sorry, but wanted to say I love the name of your baby!!

I imagine any links I have are just duplicates of what has already been sent, and since I have no personal experience with feeding raw, I'll let those who have comment.

But, I have dealt with ibd, and just thought I'd share, that as much as I'm not a fan of Hills Science Diet, their prescription Z/D has saved my Joshua's life. He had too many issues with the IVD foods, and this was his last resort..it has worked well for him over the past 2-3 years.

I agree with Pat. z/d is a great food when all else fails. IMO raw diets can be very dangerous so if you are seriously considering it- do your research! I would not recommend it if anyone in the household is immunocomprimised, pregnant or if there are any young children. (I would actually never recommend raw, period.)
Alternatives to raw include a homemade, cooked diet. You still need to do your research and make sure you balance the diet, but this is a much safer way to feed IMO.

I would definately recommend a well prepared raw diet. I've seen it do miracles ro cats with gastrointestinal "issues". I know of one cat who was condemned to death by every vet because of her IBD. No medical diet worked and they really tried every single one availabe on the market. The owner was quite desperate when she asked me for help. We first started out on a cooked diet since she had nothing worth the name immune system left and she did better on that diet, but she didn't become really healthy so we (me, the owner and a vet) decided that we should try a raw diet... Within a week on a raw diet the cat was back in business! Today (after appr. 4 month) she's perfectly healthy and the vets that treated her consider it being a miracle.

I have friend of mine who had a cat with basically the same problem as the cat mentioned above but he wasn't quite as ill as the other cat and this cat made a full recovery on a home cooked diet. We started out with cooked food there to of the same reason, he had a very poor immune system and we didn't wanna take any chances. He's completely healthy today and the owner have switched to raw and the problems are gone.

So I'd recommend starting with a cooked diet. If that works out well there's no need to feed raw (if you don't have any other reasons for feeding raw that is).

Take a look at:

www.littlebigcat.com
www.catnutrition.org

You'll find recipes on both raw and cooked feline diets there and lots of info. Start searching the web and reading books about it. make sure you have enough knowledge to make your own catfood before starting.

Before even considering raw, make sure the meat is safe! I only use Swedish meat (free from antiobiotics, hormones, parasites and always checked fot bacteria such as salmonella before it reached the market) and mostly organic meat.

Sol,
Thank you so much! I have decided to start out on a cooked diet. The vets I work with also recommended this first. I have several books I'm in the middle of reading, and I'm also gonna check out those websites . I hope that Bella will be able to make an improvement like the other cats did.
Thanks so much,
Julia

PS Bella is allergic to ingredients in the Hill's z/d also.