Fish Oil in Food-Okay for cat with IBD?

[ty3535]

Hi!

My 10yo male has IBD. He was switched to Merrick limited ingredient diet (turkey or chicken) after the diagnosis and we have had no more vomiting for about 2 years. However, unfortunately the formula, or at least the color/texture of the Merrick has changed and he will no longer eat it. I would like to try Nutro senior soft loaf (chicken) but I notice on the ingredient list (pretty close to the bottom) fish oil is listed. We never conclusively determined if the allergy was to grains (nutro is grain free) carrageenan, or the seafood diet he was on. If it was just the seafood causing the vomiting, will the fish oil in the nutro cause problems again? Thanks for any help!

 

[missmimz]

With IBD it's complicated, some cats can be triggered by almost anything in commercial foods. Fish oil is likely the omegas in the food, but I'm not a fan of anything labeled "fish oil" because there are low quality ones out there. The fact they're non-specific isn't a good thing. Of course cats all need a good omega, but the ones in the food probably aren't the best.

I'd personally recommend you look at higher quality foods for an IBD cat. Something like Feline Naturals, or Ziwipeak, or freeze dried raw like Primal, Stella and Chewy, Northwest Natural, or Fresh is best, or if you're interested moving towards raw or homecooked, which IBD cats do very well on.  

 

[ty3535]

With IBD it's complicated, some cats can be triggered by almost anything in commercial foods. Fish oil is likely the omegas in the food, but I'm not a fan of anything labeled "fish oil" because there are low quality ones out there. The fact they're non-specific isn't a good thing. Of course cats all need a good omega, but the ones in the food probably aren't the best.

I'd personally recommend you look at higher quality foods for an IBD cat. Something like Feline Naturals, or Ziwipeak, or freeze dried raw like Primal, Stella and Chewy, Northwest Natural, or Fresh is best, or if you're interested moving towards raw or homecooked, which IBD cats do very well on.  

Thanks so much! I've tried all kinds of various raw and homecooked and he won't have anything to do with it. I've tried Instinct, halo, tiki cats, nearly any high end food you can think of. I need something seafood, grain, and carrageenan free which is hard to come by. He gets an omega supplement so I'm not too worried about the food providing that. He seems to like it. It only comes in small cans which is kind of a hassle. I found a few other that might be suitable if the vomiting starts with the nutro. Thank you so much!