IBD cat on Hills i/d, transitioning to raw

[nicole auletto]

Hello there!
My cat, Meeko, started showing symptoms the end of June, and was (informally) diagnosed with IBD the beginning of August. It's informal because my vet suggested we do a cancer marker test, and only go forward with the endoscopy if it had come back positive.
Since his diagnosis, we have had him on Hill's Prescription i/d dry food. We tried every prescription wet food, only to have him refuse it after a day, if he would eat it at all. I'm not happy about him being solely on dry food, but he's been doing very well, gained his weight back, and hasn't vomited or had diarrhea. With the exception of the couple times he got into our other cats' food. They are on natural balance indoor ultra canned. Meeko had some recently and vomited almost immediately.
After doing a ton of research, I decided a raw food diet would benefit him (as well as the other two). I've read that it's best to transition them to wet food only first, then to the raw. Tonight, I gave him a teensy bit of Stella & Chewys freeze dried duck, mixed with his dry food. I'm talking a quarter size amount. He sniffed at it and wouldn't touch any of his food. He was definitely hungry, my boyfriend gave him a new dish of dry that he wolfed down.
Has anyone else had an IBD dry-food addict? Is there a trick to getting them to like the food? Is there a comparable wet food that won't make him vomit immediately?
I'm just so frustrated with it all. I want what's best for my babies, but I'm also very fearful any small change will flare up his IBD, and he's been doing so well.
Thank you so much for reading!

 

[lisamarie12]

I'm sorry your kitty Meeko has IBD, I empathize, I have an IBD kitty as well although he is currently asymptomatic.  It sounds like Meeko is improving a bit on the Rx  food and I commend you for wanting to improve his diet.  There are cats that won't touch the Rx foods, dry or canned, so your situation isn't unique as far as Meeko not wanting the canned Rx food.

I haven't fed our cats kibble for almost four years now, when they were young, I gave them about 10% of dry which they loved. I was able to get them off kibble with a FD raw food. I realized the cats didn't care what was in their dry food bowls as long as they liked the food.

Regarding Stella & Chewy's: every cat is different as far as what is palatable to them, many cats love SC's freeze dried foods, others do not. My cats fall into the latter category; one cat will eat the duck, duck goose albeit not all that enthusiastically while the other won't touch it at all, same with SC's FD turkey. I did once give them SC's chicken & salmon (when SC used to sell trial size packages) which they both inhaled.

You may have better luck with Primal's FD food, they have a turkey food you could try. Primal uses veggies / fruits that are meant to act as "food based supplements", my cats love Primal (although I'm not thrilled with having recently learned of  their use of cranberries in the food but that's something you could decide to either research or not, to use Primal as a means to an end).

There are other freeze dried foods out there as well as Primal and SC's, K9 Naturals is another. Is your cat sensitive to chicken? You may want to try SC's FD chicken and maybe add some FD toppers, e.g., Pure Bites or Bravo - both of these meat only treats are raw, you can even re-hydrate them with water. I've also had luck with Primal's FD turkey liver treats, a little sprinkled on top of the food.

Mikey's IBD symptoms cleared up beautifully on raw, no more loose or smelly stools, vomiting, etc., - it's amazing the difference a diet makes. Even when I had him on 75% raw and 25% canned (Instinct / NV), his stools were fine.

Which brings me to the topic of canned food: The NB you are using contains carrageenan and other gums, in some cats carrageenan can cause inflammation of the colon. NB Ultra is also high carb and contains grains which may exacerbate IBD symptoms. I first learned about carrageenan when the director of one of the cat rescue groups here in NYC told me she could not feed Nat'l Balance (I used to work for NB), because of the carrageenan in the food. Also guar gum is an ingredient you want to avoid. Guar gum is derived from the guar bean - imagine cats trying to digest anything bean related.

It's all about protein, a healthy amount of fat and minimal to zero vegetable matter and carbs for kitties.

Instinct canned food is gum free. Tiki Cat's Gourmet Carnivore line is also gum free as is Nature's Logic.  Of course this doesn't give you a whole lot of options re: canned so at a minimum, try to find canned foods without carrageenan.

While ideally transitioning from dry to wet to raw might be the best option, there are those who transition from dry to raw, albeit gradually.  You could keep trying this route, see what works.

Cats being cats and sometimes fussy, I now have my cats on commercial raw as well as a semi-cooked homemade (turkey) diet properly supplemented with U-Stew and this is working well.

Most importantly, esp for IBD cats, just go about making changes gradually. First you'll have to find something Meeko likes, usually the rule of thumb is 25% of the new food for the first three days, 50% days 4-5, 75% 6-7, etc.  There is no deadline, no rush, go at Meeko's pace.

It'll all work out Nicole, it'll just take a bit of time, trial and error.

 

[nicole auletto]

Thank you so much for responding! Meeko had been doing really well on the dry rx food, so it's definitely helping him, I just want what's best for him. I'm going to keep trying, there is just too much evidence of IBD cats doing well on raw. I also tried the primal beef FD and he wouldn't touch it, so maybe primal frozen raw will be my next attempt.
My other two boys looooooove it though! So the transition is going wonderfully with them. I obviously want them all as healthy as possible, so I'm grateful they all aren't resisting the change!
Just have to find Meeko's sweet spot to get him to eat it! Recently he's had some diarrhea, though I think he had gotten into the regular kibble I had. They're so bad! Meeko opens the cabinet and the baby squeezes in and opens it more so he can get in there too!

 

[lisamarie12]

Thank you so much for responding! Meeko had been doing really well on the dry rx food, so it's definitely helping him, I just want what's best for him. I'm going to keep trying, there is just too much evidence of IBD cats doing well on raw. I also tried the primal beef FD and he wouldn't touch it, so maybe primal frozen raw will be my next attempt.
My other two boys looooooove it though! So the transition is going wonderfully with them. I obviously want them all as healthy as possible, so I'm grateful they all aren't resisting the change!
Just have to find Meeko's sweet spot to get him to eat it! Recently he's had some diarrhea, though I think he had gotten into the regular kibble I had. They're so bad! Meeko opens the cabinet and the baby squeezes in and opens it more so he can get in there too!

I'm glad Meeko has improved on his current diet although it sounds like he had a little setback recently.

You may want to contact Primal and ask for a free sample pack of freeze dried; maybe Meeko might like the turkey or even Primal's new pork. My little IBD guy really likes Primal's pork but I've fed it for a few months and I'm rotating and now trying other meats. But he did very well on it; I have read that other IBD cats have done well on it also.

Mikey also likes Primal Pronto rabbit, the bags are small, just one pound.

Or you could try Rad Cat, if you can get a small container of e.g., turkey to sample - RC is very nice, meat only, my little guy really likes RC.

Good luck.

 

[missmimz]

One of my cats has/had IBD symptoms, both the vet and i suspect he has at least some IBD but he doesn't have a formal diagnosis. He was vomiting his kibble almost daily and had a very low appetite. I started giving him Slippery Elm and transitioned him to mostly raw with some Ziwipeak "kibble." It's easier to transition to wet first and then raw, but my cat actually wanted to go straight to raw. It's a lot of trail and error. He never like FD, but really liked Rad Cat, then didn't like Rad Cat. We finally settled at raw that i make with boneless grinds from HT. Be patient, use toppers, and go slow. It's possible, though!