Feeding a cat only Radcat Turkey and nothing else?

[whistle pig]

Hi all,

I have a 13 yo kitty with IBD with whom I've tried seemingly every drug and type of food. Canned and cooked food of all kinds makes him vomit. Steroids didn't help, nor did the pharmacy of other drugs vets have tried. We've also changed vets several times trying to find someone who might know more than the others, but no medication has helped.

For well over a year, he's been on what is essentially a mono diet of Radcat turkey flavor. I've tried other flavors, such as chicken or lamb, but even in small amounts they cause a flare up of his symptoms. His mild symptoms are gulping and burping constantly, acting lethargic and generally seeming miserable. When they worsen he throws up.

On the Radcat turkey he seems to do okay. He maintains his weight, no puking, he still gulps, but otherwise acts peppy and normal. His coat is not the highest quality, though.

He is also on regular B12 shots and pepcid at night, sometimes mylicon if he seems gassy. He gets a small sprinkle, maybe 1/4 packet a day of Fortiflora. This is not ideal, I know, but otherwise I think he's sick of the Radcat and this encourages him to eat. 

I've tried feeding him foods from Hare Today such as their ground rabbit and duck, but his gulping and lethargic behavior worsen on these foods. He cannot eat bone (makes him really sick) so I've tried adding the Alnutrin supplement.

I just feel like having him on a single food for the rest of his life is not ideal. On the other hand, I've wasted so much money and thrown away so much meat trying out other foods. I feel like at a certain point I should just give up and go with what works.

My current vet is very skeptical both of raw food diets and of Radcat in particular. She's the best vet we've had so far so I'm not willing to change. She doesn't think Radcat has all the nutrition a cat needs (though their site says they are certified as complete source of nutrition) and so I'm worried I'm causing him a long-term deficiency.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

Thank you so much.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Personally, Radcat is one of my favorites as far as raw food goes.  I wonder why your Vet doesn't like it.  Have you asked?  I means, WHY doesn't she think it's 100% nutritionally complete...what does she think is missing?????

It IS worrisome if your guy is not loving it and you need to put FortiFlora on it to get him to eat

.  I have one cat who does like to eat the same food day in and day out for long periods of time, then suddenly he'll stop with that food and that's it.  He did that with Radcat lamb,right after I had ordered a CASE of it

.  And unfortunately,none of my other cats like lamb, so....

I have another cat who likes a variety every other meal.  I'm heard pressed to keep his interest because there are only so many proteins out there, and he doesn't like rabbit, turkey, etc.  It's a constant game around here at dinner time.

BUT, on the other hand, there are thousands of cats, probably millions of them, that eat the exact same food every meal of their lives (probably kibble) and never know any difference. 

On a side note, I see now that Radcat has expanded their protein line...have you tried any of the new ones with any success?   And you mentioned he's getting B12 and pepcid.  Has he ever been on any steroids?  That is the normal medication for IBD cats, I thought.  

 

[whistle pig]

Thanks for your response! To answer your question, yes, we did try steroids, but they did absolutely nothing.

I may try reintroducing some of the other Radcat proteins in tiny amounts. The chicken seems to be really bad for him. I might try giving him a tablespoon of lamb here and there.

Yes, I also feel sorry for him eating the same thing day in and day out. If he's really hungry, we don't need the Fortiflora, but I'd say we go through a partial packet every day.

Thanks again.

 

[whistle pig]

And also, glad I'm not the only one out there who feels like a chef struggling to keep up with the tastes of gourmand diners.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

 
Hi all,

I have a 13 yo kitty with IBD with whom I've tried seemingly every drug and type of food. Canned and cooked food of all kinds makes him vomit. Steroids didn't help, nor did the pharmacy of other drugs vets have tried. We've also changed vets several times trying to find someone who might know more than the others, but no medication has helped.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

My apologies if I'm covering ground you've already traversed.  Idiopathic Inflammatory bowel disease, as you're already doubtless aware, isn't actually a disease as such, despite the word being contained in the common descriptor - it's a syndrome - i.e. a set of symptoms - in this case involving chronic inflammation of all or a specific portion of the digestive tract.  In cats, the symptoms are, as a general rule, the manifestation of one of three diseases lymphoplasmacytic gastritis, lymphoplasmacytic enteritis, or lymphoplasmacytic colitis, with two less common conditions including specific granulomatous regional enteritis (i.e. Crohn's Disease in Human patients) or histiocytic ulcerative colitis - and depending upon the cause, the treatments are pretty varied.  Has your veterinary gastroenterologist's pathology laboratory already made a specific determination?  If not, or if you've not seen a veterinary gastroenterologist, I'd urge you to do so, since determining causation and the affected gastrointestinal area is the first step in either treatment or in management.

If you've not seen a veterinary gastroenterologist - and with the assumption that your veterinarian has at least already done a CBC, a Serum Biochemistry Panel, urinalysis, serum free T4 concentration, and fecal analysis (zinc sulfate flotation, direct smear, fecal wet mount, ELISA for antigen detection) - I'd gather the test results and seek out a qualified gastroenterologist, writing a brief summary of symptoms, and sending the above test results along prior to the consultation.  The only way to properly diagnose the specific ailment is via an endoscopic biopsy of the mucosa of the stomach and colon, and without a proper diagnosis, any treatment is simply palliative.  Once a pathologist has made an examination of the two biopsies, your veterinarian will actually be able to treat the disease rather than the symptoms.

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[lisahe]

Quote:

 
And also, glad I'm not the only one out there who feels like a chef struggling to keep up with the tastes of gourmand diners.

You are not the only person who feels this way: I call myself "cat catering" and refer to "plating" the food because one cat has to have her food mounded and topped with chicken Pure Bite dust (she's picky) and the other has to have her food spread out (she eats too fast and vomits). I should add, though, that Ireland (she of the mounded food) will eat Rad Cat without Pure Bites. Score one for cat catering.

As for your mention of your vet's objection to your feeding only Rad Cat: the last vet who treated our previous cat was also under the very false impression that Rad Cat isn't a complete food. I don't know where this comes from but wonder if it's because some vets associate raw food with some people's attempts to feed raw meat without supplements. That vet specifically told us "don't feed her any of that Rad Cat" but, yes, I fed her that Rad Cat (chicken) because it was one of the few foods Brooksie would eat in her final weeks. And her symptoms -- IBD and kidney disease -- lessened, much to the vet's surprise. (But not mine!)

Anyway, good luck!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Now that LisaHE brought it up, I was wondering if you (@whistle pig) have ever tried using something like 100% pure freeze dried  protein like Whole Life or Pure Bites as your topper, rather than FortiFlora.  You can get it in all kinds of different proteins...turkey, lamb, beef, tripe, etc. and depending on which brand you get, it normally will turn to powder when crush it between your fingers to makes a great topper.  All it contains is a single ingredient. 

Also, is he on a good probiotic?  My understanding is that Gut Flora can actually have a lot to do with IBD, and probiotics can be key to help balance that issue.  Many people here on TCS use Nexabiotic for their cats.

 

[lisahe]

 
Now that LisaHE brought it up, I was wondering if you (@whistle pig) have ever tried using something like 100% pure freeze dried  protein like Whole Life or Pure Bites as your topper, rather than FortiFlora.  You can get it in all kinds of different proteins...turkey, lamb, beef, tripe, etc. and depending on which brand you get, it normally will turn to powder when crush it between your fingers to makes a great topper.  All it contains is a single ingredient.

Yes, this is a good point: Pure Bites has lots of unusual proteins! Ireland's favorite is Pure Bites chicken but she also loves duck liver, which powders very nicely so I don't have to use much at all. Bravo also makes good freeze-dried treats and I've seen other brands of similar single-ingredient treats at Petco. Pure Bites in the dog-size package are cheaper per ounce than in the cat-size package but definitely do a test run before buying!

I don't understand what it is about these treats that Ireland loves so much but she's gotten so she doesn't like to eat anything without them. Cat Catering wonders if this is a good thing or a bad thing but of course the main thing is that Ireland, who has always been a slow, lackadaisical eater, will enthusiastically eat just about anything that has Pure Bites on it!

 

[livelovepurr]

Please take 1CatOverTheLine advice. The only way for your veterinarian to come up with a real treatment plan is to do an endoscopy with biopsy. It may do you well to ask your veterinarian to refer you to a specialist.

 

[whistle pig]

Thank you all for your further advice! I'm going to look into both the probiotics and the freeze dried toppers. Would bonito flakes be ok? He loves those, though I've also heard fish is bad for IBD cats.

Several years ago he had an endoscopy and biopsy done but only of the esophagus/stomach. I know there are further tests that can be done of the intestines, but our vet at the time, who specialized in cats, said that they would be too invasive given his age at the time of 10 years or so. They found inflammation of the esophageal opening, if I can recall correctly. Now I wish we'd had further tests done. I've never seen a gastro specialist but have seen multiple vets, two of which have been cats-only vets. I may look around to see if there are any gastro specialists in the area. Locally, we have a Medvet but I absolutely loathe them after numerous bad experiences with other cats there.

Anyways, thanks for that advice and I'm definitely going to seek out further help, perhaps at the local vet school.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I guess on the Bonita flakes all you can do is try them and see what happens.  It could be the amount would be so small that it might just be enough to peak his interest to eat, OR it could cause issues.  I guess you'd find out quick enough

So was it with the Endoscopy that you were told IBD?  This sounds alot like an acid reflux issue in humans, which I don't know what that equates to in cats, but you're already giving Pepcid in the evening, and apparently that's helping somewhat.  It's just odd that only Radcat helps him and nothing else works. 

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

 
So was it with the Endoscopy that you were told IBD?  This sounds alot like an acid reflux issue in humans, which I don't know what that equates to in cats

It does, and in cats, as in Humans, it's referred to as Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease.  Here's a brief overview:

http://healthypets.mercola.com/site...14/12/28/gastroesophageal-reflux-disease.aspx

Do note the paragraph addressing hypochlorhydria.

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