Likely IBD. I need advice/help

[Syl]

I've read through so many threads and found tidbits of what I'm experiencing here but nothing specific enough for me to know how to move forward.
My 10 year old calico has always had bouts of vomiting occasionally maybe 1-2x a year. Mostly often, she feels icky for a couple of days, low appetite and then goes back to normal. I've switched her foods so many times after each bout but I wasn't monitoring things properly. I didn't know everything to look for. I thought quality of the food was more important than what type of protein or whatnot. My second cat was diabetic a few years back (remission now) so I had them on high protein, low carb soft food mainly and dry food offered to graze on rarely.
So ffw to her last 2 bouts, only a couple of months apart this year. They were bad. 1st bout landed is in er 3 times, they weren't much help. I've been to 3 different vets and had thousands of dollars of tests done .
This is what has been concluded thus far.
No known disease, cancer, parasites, did the test to rule out pancreatitis. Ultrasounds, xrays. Only thing noticeable was very swollen intestines. Likely IBD. no biopsy done because of the swelling and that she'd began vomiting blood the second bout. So ibd or lymphoma. I know it's not lymphoma because this has been going on her entire life. So the usual was prescribed from what I've read in these threads. Probably a food allergy. Was given cerenia for vomiting, mirataz to help with appetite temporarily, prednisolone over 6 weeks and hydrolyzed dry food diet.
So ffw 6 weeks- she's off all meds.
Here's the good news, no vomiting since. She's acting like a totally normal cat except some scratching which tells me now off the prednisolone, she's already have some sort of allergy but maybe unrelated to the food thing.
Bad news- she HATES the food. Purina pro plan HA. I mean, she's eating enough to not die, but she's so skinny. AND SHE'S SO HUNGRY. I've caught her trying to steal food from any possible source. Even a tomato on the counter- that's not like her. She's always preferred wet food so I was able to find hydrolyzed canned - Blue natural HF wet food, also a prescription. She won't touch it, actually looks like she'll gag just sniffing it. I tried mixing with regular food at first to slowly introduce- nope. Like I offered her a turd. I've tried wetting the dry, heating both, mixing, crushing. Called the vet to ask if there was some sort of flavor enhancer but he didn't know if I've that wouldn't undo the benefits of the food.
So, my dilemma- the food is full of junk not suitable to feed anything. But she isn't vomiting. But she's consistently losing weight due to the bitter flavor and foul smell of this food. She was already a picky eater. I don't know what foods she specifically is allergic to and my vet said it's risky doing elimination at this point since her bouts get worse. He said elimination can take years to figure out.

Do any of you have any suggestions? Are there tests? Allergy tests? DNA tests? A way for me to find anything palatable to put her on without a high risk of reaction? Find a certain food not likely to have a reaction and see if it does? We did the sensitive stomach and probiotic diet, hairball formula in case blockages were causing it. She literally is slowly starving but constantly hungry and meowing, taking me to her food bowl. She tries to eat it but just get disgusted.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. Have her thyroid tested. Even if you did it 6 months ago, test again.

IBD is inflammation and inflammation over time can turn into cancer. Just keep that in mind.

Dry food is always high in carbohydrates. Cats cannot process carbohydrates and it causes a chronic inflammation.

My cat has to go on a novel protein diet of venison by royal Canin. Canned only. It works for her. She also gets prednisolone 5 mg twice a day and Chlorambucil every other day With Cerenia on those days. I give her sub q fluids as needed and a vitamin b injection weekly. I use Visbiome probiotic daily.

The above works for my cat who has suspected lymphoma after having IBD throughout her life. She is also hyperthyroid so she gets Methimazole twice a day.

hope this helps

 

[fionasmom]

IBDKitties – Helping Save Lives…One Paw at a Time

This website is very comprehensive and might be of help to you.

 

[Sajast]

Royal Canin makes a dry Hydrolyzed food that my guys love. There’s also Hills z/d I think. I’m using Hydrolyzed as a base food as I introduce novel proteins for my food allergy cat (very high white blood cell count). So far we’ve struck out on rabbit, duck, venison and boar. And yes, unless they react right away it can take time to see. My girl vomited the next day after eating rabbit but duck took a month for symptoms to appear It’s a very frustrating process.

I also had a strictly IBD cat years ago who could only eat Royal Canin Gastrointestinal for whatever reason or else she would have blow out diarrhea. Moral of the story, don’t give up! There are a lot of food options out there to try.

ETA: food allergy tests in animals are not considered reliable (although I think there is one) and most vets won’t offer it. The best bet is to find a food they will eat and eliminate/reduce symptoms without medication. Hydrolyzed is great for food allergies but idk if it helps with non-food allergy related IBD. My girl had a measureable white blood cell count reaction so for her it was pretty easy to diagnose. If I were you I’d try Royal Canin Hydrolyzed (Royal Canin is usually palatable for finicky cats) and if symptoms don’t improve then maybe go for the gastrointestinal formula. My last IBD cat made me biased toward Royal Canin when it comes to veterinary formulas lol. Had the most success with them and my cats always love the prescription foods. But of course your mileage may vary.

 

[Syl]

Hi. Have her thyroid tested. Even if you did it 6 months ago, test again.

IBD is inflammation and inflammation over time can turn into cancer. Just keep that in mind.

Dry food is always high in carbohydrates. Cats cannot process carbohydrates and it causes a chronic inflammation.

My cat has to go on a novel protein diet of venison by royal Canin. Canned only. It works for her. She also gets prednisolone 5 mg twice a day and Chlorambucil every other day With Cerenia on those days. I give her sub q fluids as needed and a vitamin b injection weekly. I use Visbiome probiotic daily.

The above works for my cat who has suspected lymphoma after having IBD throughout her life. She is also hyperthyroid so she gets Methimazole twice a day.

hope this helps

Thank you for the response. I was trying to be so meticulous in adding the medical tests they did but forgot that. The er vet checked her thyroid less than 6 months ago and then a month or 6 weeks after that, her regular very did and all was normal.
My other cat was the diabetic so I know how dry food is loaded with carbs and that's another reason I hate this dry food formula.
She was on the prednisolone for 6 weeks but the vet said long term use is really bad. Your suggestion of trying novel protein canned diet really intrigues me. It seems like it could solve the allergy problem, her pickiness (she loves canned food, except hydrolyzed) and get better nutrition/hydration. I will discuss with vet. I'm just SO nervous she'll flare up again and since she's so skinny now, she can't afford it

 

[Syl]

Royal Canin makes a dry Hydrolyzed food that my guys love. There’s also Hills z/d I think. I’m using Hydrolyzed as a base food as I introduce novel proteins for my food allergy cat (very high white blood cell count). So far we’ve struck out on rabbit, duck, venison and boar. And yes, unless they react right away it can take time to see. My girl vomited the next day after eating rabbit but duck took a month for symptoms to appear It’s a very frustrating process.

I also had a strictly IBD cat years ago who could only eat Royal Canin Gastrointestinal for whatever reason or else she would have blow out diarrhea. Moral of the story, don’t give up! There are a lot of food options out there to try.

ETA: food allergy tests in animals are not considered reliable (although I think there is one) and most vets won’t offer it. The best bet is to find a food they will eat and eliminate/reduce symptoms without medication. Hydrolyzed is great for food allergies but idk if it helps with non-food allergy related IBD. My girl had a measureable white blood cell count reaction so for her it was pretty easy to diagnose. If I were you I’d try Royal Canin Hydrolyzed (Royal Canin is usually palatable for finicky cats) and if symptoms don’t improve then maybe go for the gastrointestinal formula. My last IBD cat made me biased toward Royal Canin when it comes to veterinary formulas lol. Had the most success with them and my cats always love the prescription foods. But of course your mileage may vary.

Thank you, I'll try some of the royal canin. The Purina had been successful this far in no vomiting but it doesn't even look or smell like something edible. And the Blue Natural hydrolyzed is like congealed gel mixed with bile. Jess seriously that nasty. Maybe if she'll eat the royal canin and get some weight back on I can try to find a wet food she can tolerate. You're right, so frustrating!
If the reactions were sudden all the time, this would make sense but sometimes she'll do a good for weeks or months and then react. So it makes me question whether it's food but I can't think of anything else to cause such a severe reaction.
I did ask my vet about z/d because they had more wet food options but he said no, it specifically needs to be hydrolyzed.
Even an additive for scent/taste would help. This spoiled calico of mine has literally turned her nose up at fresh salmon fillet from the grocery store lol she is so picky!!

 

[Sajast]

Thank you, I'll try some of the royal canin. The Purina had been successful this far in no vomiting but it doesn't even look or smell like something edible. And the Blue Natural hydrolyzed is like congealed gel mixed with bile. Jess seriously that nasty. Maybe if she'll eat the royal canin and get some weight back on I can try to find a wet food she can tolerate. You're right, so frustrating!
If the reactions were sudden all the time, this would make sense but sometimes she'll do a good for weeks or months and then react. So it makes me question whether it's food but I can't think of anything else to cause such a severe reaction.
I did ask my vet about z/d because they had more wet food options but he said no, it specifically needs to be hydrolyzed.
Even an additive for scent/taste would help. This spoiled calico of mine has literally turned her nose up at fresh salmon fillet from the grocery store lol she is so picky!!

I’ll admit I wasn’t very thrilled with the ingredients in the Royal Canin Hydrolyzed but I was desperate lol. And now she’s getting chonky after losing a few pounds due to nausea induced anorexia. I think Blue is Hydrolyzed salmon so maybe that’s what’s turning her off? RC is Hydrolyzed soy with some chicken fat, which looks pretty similar to Purina’s ingredients plus or minus differing preservatives and the amount of chicken. So I’d say still worth a try! I just wish RC made a canned version lol.

ETA: According to Hill’s website Z/d is Hydrolyzed…my vet recommended it to me this last week as a long term wet food solution but they were sold out so I haven’t tried my girl on it. But the manufacturer says it’s Hydrolyzed.

 

[LTS3]

daftcat75 will have lots of good info for you.

Gnereally, no, prescription food such as Z/D is not needed at all. A bland-ish novel protein food that has few fillers works well for most IBD cats. I feed my IBD cat a commercial raw diet. There are good brands of novel protein canned food you can feed if a raw or home cooked diet is not feasible, such as Rawz or Koha. Dry food shouldn't be fed to IBD cats because of the starches and other fillers that can be irritants to the GI tract.

 

[silent meowlook]

The only thing is, if she is immune compromised a raw diet isn’t a good idea.

The Prednisolone is usually for life in these cats. Cats do tolerate Prednisolone fairly well. My ct is on10 mg a day. Any less and she does poorly. You have to weigh the risks against how the cat feels.

 

[KatzRuleMe]

First, I saw your thread by chance and decided to register here because I know what I have gone through with my Angel (no longer gracing my life after 14 years or so) and now have 3 kitties from the same litter that I have been dealing with IBD since the day we adopted them from a local shelter. I wanted to say my heart goes out to you and wish I could give you a big {{HUGZ}} for some comfort. My old Angel vomited about every day most of her life. My nonstop complaining about it and trying to find other vets (my fav vet had retired and moved) and arguing with the vet that I was not doing a third diabetic test as she would test negative so why blow the $$ on another? After a sudden run to a emergency vet (she had crashed and was dead weight on the floor with an outrageously high fever) they suspected cancer or IBD from blood tests. Eventually, she had an ultrasound. They found intestinal swelling but only a biopsy would confirm cancer or IBD, they leaned towards the latter. I choose to not do the biopsy. She had been through so much in her lifetime (long story) and just wanted to get her eating again and feeling better. Eventually, she joined all her buddies in heaven.

Now I am treating my 3 litter buddies, all with IBD (my vets call it IBS, whatever). After many lab tests, including a very comprehensive lab test, no explanation for their diarrhea that the shelter told me wrong information on the cause of it at adoption time. Thyroids were checked and put on many different prescription foods. This went on for a year and they were not gaining weight like they should, thus it was stunting their nutritional growth (I feel so guilty about that!). I finally kinda pitched a fit after a year of many trials and errors and different vets all meeting and suggesting different tests, etc. I was really worried about the extremely stinky, really soft and flat poohs. And did I mention my kitties are the most pickiest of eaters? So invasive biopsies were scheduled for all three to get a clinic diagnosis of IBD or cancer. Well, none of the vets really wanted to do that on the day of and they all were worried about the cost for us and the effect on the kitties (one year old at the time - their age always factored into treatments - luv my vets and the clinic I found!).

So I agreed to put them on hydrolyzed food (finally settled on Hill's Prescription Diet Gastroinestianal Biome - they LOVE it) and medication. I had tried different RX foods with them over time but the Biome worked magic for them. The medication - Metronidazole (as Benzoate) Tiny Pills has been the answer for them. It is prescribed by weight and specifically compounded for them at a compounded pharmacy and mailed to me. My vet worked out a more cost effective price for me from the compound pharmacy (bless their hearts!). My 3 babies are now over 2 years old (they were 2.5 months when I brought them home). The medication did wonders on their intestines and the poohs are normal now, still have some stink but can live with it and their weight is pretty normal now. In fact, my Tribble is becoming a porker! I do free feed as my vet said they need the nutrition to grow as they did not get it for the 1st year of their lives and it remains to be seen what the effect is on them. They did tell me they do not know how long they will live so all I can do is love them like crazy and not think about it.

Vomiting was not too much of an issue with them except one of the girls, Marnie. But she is nowhere where my Angel had been. The incredibly bad smelling poohs, tho'...after losing count over how many kitties in my lifetime with most having kidney failure and some cancer, I knew that was not normal. I did not go the route of prednisolone because it can bring about cancer after so much time. I learned this from one of my past cats, Carson, who had to be on it for something else and eventually, after stopping that med., he developed cancer suddenly and is in heaven with his buddies. I will put my kitties on it if they take a sudden down turn but for now I am working on lowering their current medication to a lower dose and am not finding whiskers all over the place (they finally stopped shedding them!). The goal is to find a maintenance dose that works for each one and maybe change the food in the future (very expensive but my vets also worked to find me the cheapest price - did I mention how fantastic and caring they are? ;-D ). My kitties detest soft food tho' I suspect Tribble might like some but to keep them separated just will not work - they will go nuts if separated.

We have never sat down to figure out the ever growing cost because they are family. I just hope the current supply chain issues in the States do not affect their medicine or food. In the meantime, they are adult cats acting like crazy kittens every day. And they enjoy watching the feral cats outside that I am taking care of and trying to socialize so I can get them to our other local shelter for either adoption or put in their Barn Working Program to keep them happy. Two adults and two kittens but winter is tough here so soon, I need to carefully catch them and then watch my indoor babies look for them once they are gone (have done this in the spring with a different feral).

Oh, my cats do not have food allergies but like you, have tried so many tests, foods, medications, etc. I cannot remember all the RX foods as my paperwork is a bit of a mess. I blame it on my kitties and crochet. :-D But maybe there will be some helpful information for you in my story. Then again, maybe not. Do know that you are not alone and we all are here with you and for you. My heart goes out to you.

 

[Syl]

The only thing is, if she is immune compromised a raw diet isn’t a good idea.

The Prednisolone is usually for life in these cats. Cats do tolerate Prednisolone fairly well. My ct is on10 mg a day. Any less and she does poorly. You have to weigh the risks against how the cat feels.

I'll ask the vet again why he only did the pred for 6 weeks. All he told me is it's hard on them for extended time.

 

[LTS3]

Pred can cause diabetes-like symptoms. Long term use can cause the actual disease. Diabetes is very treatable with insulin and / or diet.

Some IBD cats only need a short course of pred based on symptoms. My IBD cat occasionally goes on pred before he can stop and be symptom free for awhile.