IBS 5yr old cat.

[jclark]

It has been awhile since I last posted.

It appears one of my 5yr old cats is developing IBS.

It started a little over a month ago after a visit to the vet for their vaccinations (we skipped a year).

First bout of small intestine diarrhea occurred about 2 days post vet and then about once every two weeks.

I initially thought it was the new dry (I rotate) called Grasslands by a Canadian company but I was wrong. I feed them raw after the episode (usually last just 1-day) and he clears up.

I was thinking of mixing probiotics into their food and feeding raw 3x/week rather than once.

Their current daily regime has been the following:

Mix of 3oz wet + 1/3 cup dry (AM/PM)
1/3 dry (late afternoon)

Food:
Nature's Variety Instinct Dry: Rabbit or Salmon with or without freeze dried raw.

Nature's Variety Instinct Wet: Salmon, Venison, or Lamb

Nature's Variety Raw: Lamb

Wet is rotated daily.


Needless to say I'm disappointed that I'm having to deal with this yet again. I hoped the constant rotation would prevent this from happening.

All suggestions welcome but what do you think about my plan for increasing raw and probiotics mixed in food?

 

[She's a witch]

Are you sure this is IBD and not some parasite she got at the vet office? It’s not uncommon. I’d check fecal sample to rule this out
I’m all for rotating food but wet, personally I wouldn’t be changing dry food at all; is it possible for you not to feed dry at all?

 

[MissClouseau]

IBS or IBD? There isn't much information online about IBS but one distinction is said to be IBS could be just over things like stress or dietary intolerance and could be cured just by removing the cause. Whereas with IBD, absorbing nutrition might be a challenge I'm told depending on how severe IBD is. Like I have seen recommending B12 shots for IBD, but not for IBS.

I will leave these here:

Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Cats - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, Management, Cost

Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Cats - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, Management, Cost

I second She's a Witch. Since this started shortly after the vet visit, it might be a reaction to the vaccine, or something caught at the clinic, or something triggered from the stressed.

Rotating food sometimes seem to do more harm than good. Normally I rotate wet food with my cat as well and it's been working fine but lately it doesn't. I'm told by the vet it could be about the season - it's shedding season where we live so more hairball related issues + the daylight changing with the season so everything else is changing slowly too like how much she sleeps, when, calorie need, etc

Not saying this for the current problem necessarily but if possible, I suggest using more than one brand. I had this issue with N&D brand. I don't know what they add or what they do with their food but both wet and dry food from them cause digestive issues in my cat after a while. Usually not right away but in less than a month.

If I were you, personally for now I wouldn't make much changes like increasing raw food, and I wouldn't rotate wet foods, but go with the simpler formula for a few days with the same schedule and see how it goes. Like one certain wet food, and one certain dry food a day, the same ones for a week.

 

[jclark]

Are you sure this is IBD and not some parasite she got at the vet office? It’s not uncommon. I’d check fecal sample to rule this out
I’m all for rotating food but wet, personally I wouldn’t be changing dry food at all; is it possible for you not to feed dry at all?

I'm suspecting a precursor to IBS due to the infrequency and short duration. I would think a parasite would cause an episode which would last for a couple of days. I initially suspected it was the new dry, but when I pulled the dry for the PM feeding I gave them each 5oz of NV Instinct Venison and the one had an episode the following day. Of course I initially thought it was a reaction to the vaccine but apparently the reaction involves chronic diarrhea. Due to the infrequency (1 day every 2-3 weeks).

I'm not sure going away from dry completely is an option. We're talking about the dietary needs for two 20 lbs Main Coon cats. Wet food would be about 12 oz/day per cat. That's big $$$

From my experience with this (You can see my previous posts 5 yrs ago) the disease progresses like this: IBS -> IBD -> Various forms of intestinal cancer.

 

[jclark]

IBS or IBD? There isn't much information online about IBS but one distinction is said to be IBS could be just over things like stress or dietary intolerance and could be cured just by removing the cause. Whereas with IBD, absorbing nutrition might be a challenge I'm told depending on how severe IBD is. Like I have seen recommending B12 shots for IBD, but not for IBS.

I will leave these here:

Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Cats - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, Management, Cost

Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Cats - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, Management, Cost

I second She's a Witch. Since this started shortly after the vet visit, it might be a reaction to the vaccine, or something caught at the clinic, or something triggered from the stressed.

Rotating food sometimes seem to do more harm than good. Normally I rotate wet food with my cat as well and it's been working fine but lately it doesn't. I'm told by the vet it could be about the season - it's shedding season where we live so more hairball related issues + the daylight changing with the season so everything else is changing slowly too like how much she sleeps, when, calorie need, etc

Not saying this for the current problem necessarily but if possible, I suggest using more than one brand. I had this issue with N&D brand. I don't know what they add or what they do with their food but both wet and dry food from them cause digestive issues in my cat after a while. Usually not right away but in less than a month.

If I were you, personally for now I wouldn't make much changes like increasing raw food, and I wouldn't rotate wet foods, but go with the simpler formula for a few days with the same schedule and see how it goes. Like one certain wet food, and one certain dry food a day, the same ones for a week.

Since this just started occurring I'm thinking a precursor to IBS. I just bought some more food a couple of days ago so perhaps I'll just rotate weekly and see how that goes.

 

[She's a witch]

I’d still start with checking fecal sample and consult with the vet. Chronic diarrhea can still be infrequent, but regular. Also, it takes time for intestines to heal once irritated with something (parasite, sudden introduction of dry food etc), so maybe that’s what you see.

It seems you feed red meat mainly, some cats don’t react to red meat lightly. Are they allergic to chicken? How about Duck, Turkey?
Also, if you feed dry and wet in one meal or in short interval, some say it affects the digestion in a negative way as they digest very differently.
Personally, I’m a fan of raw for my cats and I’ve heard first hand how good it is for cats with digestive issues, so I wouldn’t hesitate to continue it especially if they react great to it. I would definitely stop rotating the dry though, it should be introduced slowly every time. If you have to continue to feed dry, I’d do it in the minimum acceptable for you, the less the better.
My cats get probiotics daily, not for digestive issues but it also helps in that area. I wouldn’t do it though without consulting vet first.

 

[drelocks]

If you are really suspecting the start of IBS to IBD to lymphoma then I strongly suggest getting an ultrasound. If there's an IBD or lymphoma issue, it will show.

Our 5 year old cat just died of lymphoma - ultrasound showed either IBD or lymphoma. His only real GI issues was bouts of colitis.

I say this because your cat may just be having an upset stomach. I think we over analyze, switch foods, add pumpkin, fiber, etc. and tend to make things worse. Sometimes cats just have soft poop - perhaps they ate too much that day, perhaps they were stressed about something, could be anything!

I've learned a lot with Cashew's illness and death. If I ever suspect something with Walnut, I'm going to get the testing done as soon as possible so I can know what we are dealing with. I also have to be careful not to "give" Walnut symptoms because I'm still so raw over Cashew.

 

[jclark]

I’d still start with checking fecal sample and consult with the vet. Chronic diarrhea can still be infrequent, but regular. Also, it takes time for intestines to heal once irritated with something (parasite, sudden introduction of dry food etc), so maybe that’s what you see.

It seems you feed red meat mainly, some cats don’t react to red meat lightly. Are they allergic to chicken? How about Duck, Turkey?
Also, if you feed dry and wet in one meal or in short interval, some say it affects the digestion in a negative way as they digest very differently.
Personally, I’m a fan of raw for my cats and I’ve heard first hand how good it is for cats with digestive issues, so I wouldn’t hesitate to continue it especially if they react great to it. I would definitely stop rotating the dry though, it should be introduced slowly every time. If you have to continue to feed dry, I’d do it in the minimum acceptable for you, the less the better.
My cats get probiotics daily, not for digestive issues but it also helps in that area. I wouldn’t do it though without consulting vet first.

The really don't like bird (Turkey, Duck, Chicken) wet or dry as I've occasionally tried to sneak some in. I seem to remember that the cat with the issue would occasionally vomit the dry chicken. I used to feed them canned pork but NV pulled it from their line up. My guys love pork.

When these guys were kittens we had a senior who had IBD. Since they all ate the same food I would just mix probiotics in with their raw (They each received about 2oz/raw per day.) At the time Nature's Variety Raw was formulated to be suitable for both cats and dogs so I would buy the 6 oz patties and saved $$ in the process.

I see what you're saying about mixing wet w/dry. I suppose after 5 yrs I could now be an issue.

 

[She's a witch]

Yeah my cat doesn’t like birds either, they love venison, lamb etc and they could eat it all the time interestingly they like frozen raw chicken though, I think raw is more important than the fact it’s chicken I try to feed them as much Rabbit as I can afford as it mimics a bit more natural cats food rather than big ungulate animals. Mine adore Rawz rabbit.