Help Finding good foods for IBD cat!

[luckycharm]

Thank you guys for the suggestions!  After taking his pred last night he started eating again, but the thing is, is that he still only wants the z/d.  I guess as long as he's eating something I should be happy...but I don't feel like the z/d has enough in it to be as nutritional as he needs.  I got the Instinct today and tried the turkey out and he ate a few bites and now does not want it.  I'm going to try to mix in a little with the z/d to see if he'll eat it and gradually try to transition him over. 

Do you really think it would be safe to feed him the tuna?  I also have a tuna, beef, salmon weruva pouch he hasn't tried yet but that has the bad stuff in it too.    I don't want to feed him that if it's going to hurt him more then help him, but I understand what you're saying about getting something into him.   

I didn't call my vet since he started eating again a little.  He seems to be doing a little better today so maybe yesterday he just wasn't feeling to well.  I'm still going to ask about the ultrasound though and get something for days when his tummy is acting up. 

 

[lisahe]

That's good news that he ate a little, including some of the turkey. A few bites is a start!

As for tuna, well, I would probably prefer to use it as a last resort. If he's eating some of the other stuff, I'd probably stick with that if I thought it was enough. One thing that sometimes worked with Brooksie, though, was using pouch food as a topper for other food: maybe a small bit of the tuna on top of the turkey might get him to eat more turkey? I would be hesitant to use a lot of tuna (particularly with menadione in it) but if I were in a situation where the cat wasn't eating at all, I'd definitely go for small bits of tuna over the (significant) risks associated with not eating. Tuna is often used for these purposes. OTOH, as LisaMarie12 said, sometimes baby food works for cats so maybe Poke would eat that?  (I bought some for Brooksie but ended up never using it so have no personal experience with it.)

It's horribly hard to know what to do in these situations, isn't it?!

 

[lisamarie12]

 
Thank you guys for the suggestions!  After taking his pred last night he started eating again, but the thing is, is that he still only wants the z/d.  I guess as long as he's eating something I should be happy...but I don't feel like the z/d has enough in it to be as nutritional as he needs.  I got the Instinct today and tried the turkey out and he ate a few bites and now does not want it.  I'm going to try to mix in a little with the z/d to see if he'll eat it and gradually try to transition him over. 

Do you really think it would be safe to feed him the tuna?  I also have a tuna, beef, salmon weruva pouch he hasn't tried yet but that has the bad stuff in it too.    I don't want to feed him that if it's going to hurt him more then help him, but I understand what you're saying about getting something into him.   

I didn't call my vet since he started eating again a little.  He seems to be doing a little better today so maybe yesterday he just wasn't feeling to well.  I'm still going to ask about the ultrasound though and get something for days when his tummy is acting up. 

That's great news - I'm glad Poke's appetite has increased.

If all he'll eat is the Z/D then so be it - don't worry about the ingredients at this point, regardless - the food is complete and balanced and the main issue right now is for Poke to eat and regain his strength.  If you switch the foods around a bit too much, it could possibly upset his stomach more. At this point, I would only try the other foods - Weruva pouches, if he doesn't eat enough Z/D or stops eating it but if it's working, that's a start.

I also agree with LisaHE to use the tuna as a last resort. 

If you can get the ultrasound done, that will give you a clearer idea of what you are dealing with and at that point, you can revisit food options.

NV's LID turkey is not one of their better sellers as far as palatability, NV's rabbit does far better, however, if you are mixing a little LID turkey in with the Z/D and he likes it, great, but if not, don't sweat it.

Keep us posted, sending good thoughts your way ...

 

[luckycharm]

Today is another semi bad day for Poke.    He threw up this morning.  I think his throwing up is a little bit of my fault too because like LisaMarie mentioned, I think i'm trying too many things and it's upsetting him more.  He's almost out of Z/D and I don't go to the vet until Tuesday so I opened up a pouch of the tuna, salmon, beef Weruva to see if he would eat that and he gobbled it up like he was starved to death.  Why does he only like the things that aren't good for him and the things that are good for him he doesn't want anything to do with?!  Ugh!  It's frustrating but it also kind of makes me laugh cause he's a little like me in the fact that i'd go for a candy bar instead of a carrot any day.  Lol.  He won't touch the LID turkey or rabbit now.  Last night I was SO happy because he ate some of the rabbit so i thought for sure he was finally going to like it and I could slowly ween him off the z/d and feed him the good stuff, but nope, when I tried again this morning he wouldn't touch it. 

He will also eat his z/d hypoallergenic treats which i usually reserve for him at medicine time to reward him for being good while taking his meds.  I'm sure he'd eat the z/d dry food I have left as well if I gave it to him...but he still has bouts of diarrhea and I don't want him to get dehydrated from eating the dry.  

At this point though...until he stops eating the z/d I think i'm just going to stick with that and add a little pumpkin in it every so often to help with with diarrhea.  I'm also going to get him a probiotic  if he will take it and see about getting some nausea medication for him to take when he has vomiting spells.  If he stops eating the z/d, then maybe i'll try one of the other cans and maybe he will be more apt to eat them once he gets tired of the z/d.  I'll have to rotate between the z/d and weruva pouches though till Tuesday since I only have half a can of z/d left.  I hope it will be okay...but it's my only option since he won't eat anything else. 

 

[lisamarie12]

 
Today is another semi bad day for Poke.    He threw up this morning.  I think his throwing up is a little bit of my fault too because like LisaMarie mentioned, I think i'm trying too many things and it's upsetting him more.  He's almost out of Z/D and I don't go to the vet until Tuesday so I opened up a pouch of the tuna, salmon, beef Weruva to see if he would eat that and he gobbled it up like he was starved to death.  Why does he only like the things that aren't good for him and the things that are good for him he doesn't want anything to do with?!  Ugh!  It's frustrating but it also kind of makes me laugh cause he's a little like me in the fact that i'd go for a candy bar instead of a carrot any day.  Lol.  He won't touch the LID turkey or rabbit now.  Last night I was SO happy because he ate some of the rabbit so i thought for sure he was finally going to like it and I could slowly ween him off the z/d and feed him the good stuff, but nope, when I tried again this morning he wouldn't touch it. 

He will also eat his z/d hypoallergenic treats which i usually reserve for him at medicine time to reward him for being good while taking his meds.  I'm sure he'd eat the z/d dry food I have left as well if I gave it to him...but he still has bouts of diarrhea and I don't want him to get dehydrated from eating the dry.  

At this point though...until he stops eating the z/d I think i'm just going to stick with that and add a little pumpkin in it every so often to help with with diarrhea.  I'm also going to get him a probiotic  if he will take it and see about getting some nausea medication for him to take when he has vomiting spells.  If he stops eating the z/d, then maybe i'll try one of the other cans and maybe he will be more apt to eat them once he gets tired of the z/d.  I'll have to rotate between the z/d and weruva pouches though till Tuesday since I only have half a can of z/d left.  I hope it will be okay...but it's my only option since he won't eat anything else. 

I'm sorry to hear Poke had a bad day.

Do the best you can with what he currently has available to eat. The main priority is that kitty needs to eat and the digestive upset, to the best of your ability, needs to minimized - a tough call for sure, however, if your vet thinks that the ZD may help and you think he'll eat some of the ZD dry, then consider doing that.

I understand your concern though about not wanting him to get dehydrated if he still has loose stools.  A probiotic may help with this. 

Have you tried maybe feeding him smaller amounts but more times throughout the day?

It'll work out, I realize though this is difficult.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

At a certain point, if a cat is vomiting and/or having diarrhea more often than not, I'm not sure if you can attribute it to a single or a couple of the rotating foods you are trying. If a cat is refusing certain foods that may have been tasty for him at an earlier point, or even just recently, it may not simply be the brand of food - or a cat being "finicky". He may dearly want to eat that food, but... it could be the digestive upset and GI inflammation from vomiting and having diarrhea frequently is making him feel nauseated and, much as we hate to think about it, in some pain. Also, if a cat has vomited often when eating a certain food, he will come to associate his vomiting with that food's smell... and feel it is in his best interest to avoid something that makes him feel nauseous and like vomiting. Does that make sense?

At this point, I agree withLisaMarie12, that getting him to eat as regularly as possible and to reduce digestive upset is important! Her suggestion about smaller food portions, more frequently, is a good one, in my view. I'd also suggest another idea is to make a slurry of his favorite, "go to" canned food (or even adding a teaspoon or tablespoon of rabbit or turkey LID with his z/d canned in that same slurry). This could also be easier for him to digest. When my own rainbow kitty was really sick, both smaller portions more frequently and also making her wet food a slurry helped her to eat when her GI system was inflamed and she felt nauseated. (But I also had her on Metronidazole to help with her diarrhea, and anzemet for anti-nausea, among other things like a probiotic and Vita B12 shots; subQ fluids as needed). I'm not a vet nor a tech or nurse, just speak from my own experience... so always check with your vet on the course of action! I am glad you'll have that opportunity on Tuesday.

It's too bad your access to getting an ultrasound is 2-3 hours away! I think an ultrasound would be helpful. Usually, the cat needs to fast beforehand, so it is often something that takes a bit of planning in any case.

I hope Poke is feeling better today!

 

[betsygee]

Pumpkin may be a good idea--I had two IBD cats--one had problems with diarrhea and one with vomiting.  Adding pumpkin to their food helped both of those problems--for awhile, anyway.  (After awhile, Molly wouldn't eat anything with pumpkin in it.)  

 

[lisahe]

I'm so glad that PushPurrCatPaws mentioned subQ fluids! Our cat always perked up noticeably after she had fluids -- they're great to ease the stress on the body of dehydration from vomiting and diarrhea. We also served her various slurries (though I called them "goulash" ) and they often helped... as did sometimes pureeing foods she didn't seem interested in. Sometimes a change of texture makes all the difference to a cat, whether healthy or ailing.

I hope today goes better for Poke, though it is good to hear that even yesterday, which sounds like it was a bit rough, he did have some interest in his new and old foods!

 

[luckycharm]

Poke is still having some bad days, but he's still eating which is good.  I do feed him in smaller portions during the day....but he seems to want to eat a lot more at night after taking his pred.  I don't know if it has something to do with the pred making him want to eat more or what.  I know that it can have that effect on him.  He seems more apt to eat the rabbit at night because I gave him some last night and he ate two small helpings, but then when I tried again today he only nibbled at it and left the rest there.  He hasn't thrown up since the last time I mentioned it though...so that is good at least. 

Here is what he will eat.

z/d - I have weruva pumpkin patch up that I mix with this two or three times a day.  Only problem is I have about one or two more servings of z/d left and I don't go to the vet till tuesday afternoon and that is when I can get more.

Weruva Pumpkin Jack Splash and 1 if by land 2 if by sea pouches - He'll eat these with no problems at all.  Pretty much devours them but I worry about the menadione and I know too much fish is a bad thing.  I did write the company and ask them about the menadione and David from Weruva gave me a long list of why I shouldn't be worried about it and that the amount they add to the food is so small that it won't hurt your cat.  I don't know if thats a bunch of crap or not, but it still makes me iffy about feeding this to him even though he loves it and it doesn't make him sick.

LID Rabbit -  He will eat this only sometimes, and I have tried mixing it with the zd and also putting the weruva on it as a topper but if he's not interested in it he'll just eat up the good parts and leave most of the rabbit part in his dish. 

Z/D hypoallergenic dry food and treats -  He will eat these no problem as well.  If it comes down to feeding him this over the weruva, maybe I can add a little bit of pumpkin on top add a little water to the dry food so he can get moisture out of it at least and it won't dehydrate him. 

One thing that worries me though is his fur is looking really strange.  It's like it's ruffled and puffed up, and i'm assuming it's because he isn't feeling well and may be in some pain from stomach upset.  He looked like this when he first got sick as well but he was looking better up until about a week ago.  Sometimes he'll have bouts where his fur will do this and then it calms down.  So I think I associate it with him not feeling well and getting him some meds for the nausea will help him along with the probiotic. 

I'm not sure what you guys mean by feeding him a slurry.  Do you mean just mixing up a bunch of different things? 

Also, I have had him on the metro and it didn't seem to really do anything for him.  I'm also very leery of that drug because of the side effects...but then again i'm leery about the pred too.  I guess anything you do is going to have some risks involved.  I may ask my vet about the vit b shots.  I'm not sure what you mean about the subQ fluids.  Our vets here are pretty, I don't want to say dumb, because I don't think they are dumb, I just think that since my area is so small they are limited to everything they can do....so that might not be an option but I won't know till I ask. 

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I'm not sure what you guys mean by feeding him a slurry.  Do you mean just mixing up a bunch of different things? 

By "slurry", I mean adding water to your cat's canned food meal, enough so that it is a mushy "lickable" serving of food. Chopping up the pate or food bits as well. (Think along the lines of adding a bit of water to Gerber baby food... it becomes a loose slurry -- I like to think of it as a room temperature Cat Food Smoothie.) For my last cat, it was an easier way for her to get her food nutrition this way as she basically could lap it up, instead of try to swallow & process chunks of food. It seemed to cause less stress on her esophagus and upper GI tract, etc. During her last months, she vomited a lot, and it is very important to try to get food into them (and fluids). The vomiting needs to be addressed. Sometimes you have to just give them the food they will happily tolerate, and put aside some of your feelings or worries or knowledge about this or that (like dry food worries, or fish worries, or brand quality worries). It's important they eat, and eat food they can keep down. Hopefully, they will get better and you can slowly return to a better food situation.

I think I read that your cat just turned 14 yrs old - this is a senior cat. Sometimes, when they are ill or older, giving them "their happy food" brings less stress for them and their systems. Your upcoming vet visit will hopefully be instructive and helpful... I would be surprised if your vet did not know about giving subQ fluids.