Food Options For IBD Cat

[wildlifer]

I did a search & found some older threads, which were helpful, but I wanted to see what folks were using successfully currently. Cat is ~10, just (like, yesterday) started pred & metronidazole & ludicrously expensive z/d food & we have some FortiFlora on the way. Hopefully that will calm things down so he can stop looking like I starve him & stop explosive butt squirts. But ludicrously expensive food is…ludicrously expensive & I am not in that income bracket, so would love to hear what the other options are. He was previously eating Blue Buffalo Indoor, I had just switched him to their Sensitive Stomach version about 5-7 days ago, but vet wanted to go ahead & do the z/d to limit things as much as possible.

Relevant info: I live in a rural area, so no easy access to pet stores outside of Southern States/TSC. So options must be available on something like Chewy & not cost as much as caviar (not that I know how much that costs). And no raw foods.

Thanks in advance!

[rubygirl1968]

The only foods I had luck with were the novel protein foods that are outrageously expensive. Rabbit was the most liked, but there are duck, venison, quail, and I’m forgetting something, but it has slipped my mind.

If he will eat z/d, it’s supposed to be good but mine wouldn’t eat it. I always try to do the best I can but I don’t have a big budget either and it can be a challenge.

I know you said no raw, but there is freeze dried raw on chewy that mine did pretty good on. He wouldn’t eat it consistently without other foods thrown in the mix so it lasted awhile. It comes in cubes you break up and mix with warm water.

I think it was Primal Instinct ?? Stella and Chewy was cheaper so naturally it was no good. :uhoh:

I hope you find something he will eat that is good for his system.

[Simkie]

While I’m not a huge fan of Hills, I’ve always had to use z/d for these guys and found the novel protein options to set them off. Sorry

[rubygirl1968]

@Simkie

While I’m not a huge fan of Hills, I’ve always had to use z/d for these guys and found the novel protein options to set them off. Sorry

That’s what my vet said too. Sunny just wouldn’t eat the z/d. Apart from the freeze dried raw, chicken would give him horrible diarrhea. The rabbit he did pretty good on.

They’re all so different. At least there are choices now.

[wildlifer]

Yeah, so far he’s not too keen on eating it, it is definitely strong smelling. But he has eaten some & it’s only been two feedings (I do have his old food mixed in to transition) , so I am hoping he will give in eventually since I paid an arm & a leg for it.

ETA – if anyone has any tips of further coercing cat to each the z/d, would love to hear them. Going to ask vet on Tues, but would be nice if I could get some more calories into already way-too-skinny cat before then. Maybe I should wait on the metro in case that is suppressing his appetite?

[rubygirl1968]

Maybe mix a little tuna in it or the water off of it. Clam juice, chicken broth.

[Simkie]

My go-to trick for inappetent cats is:

Pepcid
Mirtazapine
+/- Zofran depending on severity and duration

IME, they don’t eat because they’re nauseous. Offering new food without treating the nausea just creates aversion. So treat the nausea (pepcid, zofran) and make them hungry (mirtazapine) before offering something novel.

I HATE being pukey and absolutely won’t eat when I feel that way. I don’t blame them for the same thing

”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹

[wildlifer]

I wouldn’t blame him for that either, but he was rejecting it before he even tried it.

Lol at mirtazipine - I took that for a while , finally told my dr I refused to take it anymore bc I gained more weight than I ever had since I couldn’t stop compulsively eating, so I can verify that it blocks the signal that makes your stomach feel full. It also makes you very sleepy.

[rubygirl1968]

@wildlifer , I can share my experience with IBD. Sunny was diagnosed with it and I didn’t have the money for ultrasound and biopsy. I had a cat with end stage kidney disease at the same time and money was tight.

I have always said that if they got cancer I was going to make them comfortable until I couldn’t and let them go, so I didn’t want to put them through more tests for nothing.

He wouldn’t touch the RX food, he didn’t tolerate metronidazole at all so we were left with prednisolone and occasional injections of long lasting steroids.

He lost a lot of weight and it was challenging to find something that didn’t give him diarrhea and he would eat. It took high doses of steroids but it did help and he did gain some weight back.

It’s a lot of trial and error. I sometimes wish I’d borrowed money for the tests, but realistically I don’t know that it would make a difference.

You have to treat the cat, not the tests, and since metronidazole was out there wasn’t many options. I tried Tylan, a different antibiotic, but he quit eating while on it too.

He did better on prednisolone vs Prednisone so that may make a difference for your guy.

I hope you find a treatment that works and food he will tolerate.

[Simkie]

@wildlifer

I wouldn’t blame him for that either, but he was rejecting it before he even tried it.

Yeah, no surprise with nausea. Treating it will help.

Mirtazapine is an excellent appetite stimulant, as you found. It’s used in small doses a couple times a week for this. Wedgewood compounds it in a transdermal prep, which is excellent. Highly recommend.

[wildlifer]

@rubygirl1968 Thank you for sharing your story – so sorry you had two sick cats at once! I cannot afford the expensive tests either, but I generally go by the same philosophy of my excellent large animal vet – as you said, treat the animal in front of you, as expensive diagnostics will often not change an already-chosen management action from an experienced & competent treatment team.

Thanks for the tips, Simkie, I will definitely keep that in mind if we need to go there & make my cat munchy with a side of sleepy & not depressed (he’s not depressed, he’s a pretty sweet, happy guy, but guess he would be even happier). Like you, I’ve never been a huge fan of the Hills stuff either, but I recognize that this definitely seems to be a niche situation requiring delicate balances – I already have a very high maintenance horse, not sure why the cat had to join in!

Cat has eaten some of the z/d this weekend. He definitely is not keen on the smell & clearly informs me he would prefer something else, but hey, wouldn’t we all. I am still mixing in some of his old food & some treats, just to make sure he gets some calories in him – it also takes advantage of the fact that he is bad at precision-picking-up with his mouth bc he has bad/missing teeth (had a rough early life), so when he tries to pick out the pieces he likes best, he gets some of the z/d by accident. Hopefully, he will continue to realize it is food & it doesn’t actually poison him & I can keep working on increasing the proportion of it.

I really appreciate the comments – this is a new one for me, I didn’t even know cats could have this until about a year ago. It’s so helpful hearing your experiences. This cat is the most loving, awesome cat I’ve ever met, he just showed up in my yard one day about 8 years ago & has lived in my house, showering me with gratitude ever since, so I really want him to stick around as long as possible!

[Angela_Freda]

My Diabetic/Acromegaly cat had IBD… I fed Daves Pork.

[Angela_Freda]

@wildlifer

I did a search & found some older threads, which were helpful, but I wanted to see what folks were using successfully currently. Cat is ~10, just (like, yesterday) started pred & metronidazole & ludicrously expensive z/d food & we have some FortiFlora on the way. Hopefully that will calm things down so he can stop looking like I starve him & stop explosive butt squirts. But ludicrously expensive food is…ludicrously expensive & I am not in that income bracket, so would love to hear what the other options are. He was previously eating Blue Buffalo Indoor, I had just switched him to their Sensitive Stomach version about 5-7 days ago, but vet wanted to go ahead & do the z/d to limit things as much as possible.

Relevant info: I live in a rural area, so no easy access to pet stores outside of Southern States/TSC. So options must be available on something like Chewy & not cost as much as caviar (not that I know how much that costs). And no raw foods.

Thanks in advance!

Daves, Pork?

[Go_Fish]

I had excellent results with Tiki Cat. There are several varieties - you have to experiment with different flavors. My cat did well with the chicken in broth. Stay away from any sort of fish, dry food or carbs. Meat diet only.

[wildlifer]

Good update: he is eating the z/d on its own! He broke down & accepted it as not-poison & for now, at least, is actually cleaning it up better than his old food. Now I guess we just wait & see what happens with his poor guts, sounds like it takes a while for that inflammation to settle.

Thanks for the additional suggestions, I will check those out!

[rubygirl1968]

@wildlifer

Good update: he is eating the z/d on its own! He broke down & accepted it as not-poison & for now, at least, is actually cleaning it up better than his old food. Now I guess we just wait & see what happens with his poor guts, sounds like it takes a while for that inflammation to settle.

Thanks for the additional suggestions, I will check those out!

That’s wonderful!! I hope he feels better soon.

[PDDT]

I’ve had better success with i/d with my IBD cat. I know it still costs the same.

[Boomer]

I have 2 cats with IBD - well, one of them definitely has it. They are on Fussie Cat Duck & Quail dry food with Koha Duck Pate wet food. Poo wise, things are all good now. One of the cats occasionally throws up though so I’ve debating on trying the vet formula to see if I can get the vomiting to decrease to a more “normal cat” level.

The key thing I’ve found with mine is to pick something and don’t change anything! I made the mistake of changing from pate to chunks and whatever the difference was, my cat’s bowels were not happy and I spent much time cleaning up runny poo and a trip to the vets office for meds.

[Darkwave]

My cat has IBD and severe allergies - we manage her with a strict Z/D diet, prednisolone, and ursadiol (to treat a tendency to develop gallstones).

Have you tried Z/D dry? I actually use that as a treat/snack for all of our cats - they adore it, where the Z/D wet is hit or miss. If he gets turned off to the Z/D wet, that might be a fallback

{and yes, I know dry cat food comes with a host of its own issues, but Z/D dry may be a better option than a wet food that is inflammatory]

[wildlifer]

The dry z/d is what we are using now, that’s what the vet recommended.