Kitty diagnosed with IBD - Need Advice

[ThingsGottaChange]

After having a bunch of blood work done my vet says Duke has IBD. He wants to put him on Prednisone and Metronidazole and have him start eating Hill's Science Diet ID. I can deal with the pills, no problem. But, I'm not too crazy about Hill's brand food. I've read tons of info on cat food and Hill's doesn't get very good reviews. Not to mention that it's $32 for a 10# bag. I'm going to start him on the meds right away but need some advice on food. He does prefer canned. But also eats dry. I also have two other cats in good health so, I want to find something everyone can eat.

If anyone has a cat with IBD, can you please let me know what you are feeding them? I'm sure I'm going to have to pay a hefty price for the cat food but, I want it to be good quality. No, I'm not going to do home made. Don't have a car to get to the store when needed. I'm also on disability so want to watch the cost as best I can. I did run across this a bit ago. Any input on this would also be appreciated. http://www.proplan.com/dry-cat-food/sensitive-skin-stom... /

Thanks so much for any help with this. Duke and I are eagerly looking forward to not living in the House of PoopAndPuke anymore. ;)

(Also posted in Pet's Forum)

[Bertha Venation]

1. I don't have any advice, I'm afraid.

Just commiseration. It can be hell to live with a sick cat, and I can't imagine doing so on a fixed income. Best wishes to you. :hug:

edit - spelling

[hippywife]

2. You might find better assistance with this

in the Pet Forum. Good luck! :hi:

[ThingsGottaChange]

8. Thanks, hippywife. I did post there, too. nt

[dropkickpa]

3. Switch to a diet that is very good

Not crap like Hills, Iams, Purina, etc.

Wellness, Solid Gold, Innova are all good foods for cats. You'll find that, although the upfront cost may be higher, in the long run the costs actually even out as the volume they'll actually need to eat to maintain a healthy weight will be much lower because the higher quality diets are much more nutritionally dense and bioavailable.

Crappy diets are full of useless fillers which aren't utilized, leading to a lot of poop. Crap in, crap out. Also, the fillers and low quality ingredients are useless at best, or, as you see with your sick kitty, dangerous to their health in worse cases.

[DeepBlueC]

4. It is prescription food..take his advice please

Please take your vet's advice. If you care to ask your vet about another brand of prescription food do so, But don't think because you buy something else that is supposed to be "good" food that it will be adequate to manage your pet's digestive problems. You will end up spending more on vets and causing your pet needless suffering.

I have used some kind of ID wet food and it was very helpful. I think it comes in wet and dry and I use both.

[dropkickpa]

6. Vet's are NOT nutritionists, they have a 2-4 week lecture on it,

THAT'S it. Prescription diets are crap, by and large.

I work in research with vets, nutritionists, food manufacturers, etc., and we all know this is true. We never use these type of products because they are total crap.

The vet in clinical practice gets a nice kick-back selling them though.

A diet marketed for an animal that has stomach upsets and potential allergies should have, first off, a single protein source. There are two protein sources in i/d. Secondly, by-products should be avoided for an animal who's having stomach issues, by-product could be the feet scooped off the slaughterhouse floor for all anyone knows. Lips and assholes folks!

Here is a list of Hill's cat I/D's ingredients, it is *crap*.

Dry

Chicken By-Product Meal, Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Powdered Cellulose, Dried Chicken, Chicken Liver Flavor, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Calcium Sulfate, Dried Beet Pulp, DL-Methionine, Iodized Salt, Dried Yeast, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Taurine, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Rosemary Extract.

Canned

Water, Pork Liver, Pork By-Products, Chicken, Wheat Flour, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Corn Starch, Brewers Rice, Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken Liver Flavor, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Powdered Cellulose, Guar Gum, Potassium Chloride, Taurine, Choline Chloride, Iodized Salt, Vitamin E Supplement, DL-Methionine, Thiamine Mononitrate, Ascorbic Acid (source of vitamin C), Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Beta-Carotene, Manganous Oxide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate

[ThingsGottaChange]

9. Great info, dropkickpa

What is your take on wet vs dry? I read so much about only feeding canned (or raw - ain't gonna happen) and if you feed your cat dry food you should basically be shot. I had also read earlier that vets really don't know much about nutrition. Yeah, I know their "thing" is to sell their product. I think I'm gonna see what Wellness has to offer.

Thanks so much for your input!

[DeepBlueC]

12. cats don't drink enough water on their own to eat an all dry diet

Many peole think it leads to obesity and eventually to kidney problems.

[dropkickpa]

13. It depends on how the cat eats

If your cats are grazers, wet can be a problem because it can dry out and get funky, negating a lot of the benefits of wet food, especially if you are out of the house for a large part of the day and can't monitor them 24/7. But, if they're eat in one sitting types, wet is the preferable way to go in my opinion.

I'm not a hard-core feed one way or the other type, because people need to take into consideration their and their cats abilities, personalities, and lifestyle. Even if you can just work in wet for one feeding, you are adding some benefit no doubt.

So many people are adamant that their way is the holy grail and everyone else is fucking WRONG that a lot of things go from being science or fact based to being a thing of reality to being a belief system, where logic and realistic goals and life circumstances get thrown out the window.

I don't blame vets too much, their profit margins are VERY small, it's very hard to keep a clinic in the black, so sales are a huge part of them keeping their doors open. And frankly, they honest to god really just don't KNOW. I do blame to food manufacurers, because they DO have nutritionists, and they DO know, they just don't give a flying fuck. It cost them the same to make a can of regular science diet as it does a can of i/d and they sell the regular at a store for $0.91 and the i/d at the vet for at least $1.54 a can. And they charge the vet for it, too. They're big business, and they're in the business of selling food.

[flvegan]

5. ProPlan is crap.

Yikes, did I say that out loud? Anyway, look at the ingredients:

Lamb, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, dried egg product, wheat flour, soy protein isolate, fish meal, chicken meal, soybean meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), oat meal, lamb meal, animal liver flavor, soybean oil, potassium chloride, phosphoric acid, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, DL-Methionine, taurine, choline chloride, zinc proteinate, salt, Vitamin E supplement, manganese proteinate, ferrous sulfate, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), niacin, copper proteinate, calcium carbonate, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

"Animal fat" means "we have no earthly idea what dead critter this came from, but we think it's consumable. And all that grain.

If you can find Wysong products (or get them online) that's what I'd recommend. Their Archetype is incredibly expensive, but I've heard raves from other cat owners. Their Nurture product is also supposed to be excellent.

I don't care for Hill's i/d either. We've used it in the past (because it was free). However, I'm not going to tell you that your vet is wrong. You ultimately need to do what you think is best for Duke.

Good luck!

[ThingsGottaChange]

10. I've said that out loud myself!

Figure any Purina product is crap. I went to Wysong's site and the recommendation they made was Anergen. http://www.wysong.net/products/anergen-natural-healthy-dog-cat-food.php Can I get your opinion? Actually, the Archetype isn't much more expensive than Anergen. I know I'm asking the wrong person this but, what's with all the veggies in cat food? ;-)

I'm gonna ask you about wet vs dry, too. Or both?

Thanks for the input!!

[flvegan]

11. Anergen is good too, but I think that's an alternative for allergies.

I'm not positive, though. The other two are largely for digestive issues. The Archetype is almost completely raw, I think. Honestly, if it has the name Wysong on it, it's more than most likely a very good product.

Cat food normally has veggies in it for fiber, I believe.

I prefer dry if it's going to be left out for "grazing" kitties, since it doesn't dry out and the wet just stinks so awfully. Every now and then, pit-bull test kitty here gets a nice bowl of stinky wet food. When that can comes out, she becomes my very best friend instantly.

[Captain Hilts]

7. Frank had to eat venison only. He did okay and was okay with it. nt

[ThingsGottaChange]

14. Well, here's what I just ordered

Wellness Core dry food. Here's the info http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/cat_wellness_dry_core.html

Hope this works. Thanks everyone for all the help!

[lizziegrace]

15. I've got my cats on Wellness Core

Gracie has an allergy to the fillers in other foods and this is the only one she'll eat with no reaction.

My 16 year old male is having trouble chewing it, so I grind it up and combine it with the Wellness Core canned and pouches so he gets filled up.

I've been very pleased with it and if you search on the company website, you can find local stores that carry it.

[GoCubsGo]

16. If Wellness doesn't help...

Here is another one to try: http://www.naturesvariety.com/instinct_cat

I used to cat-sit a kitty with IBD. She seemed to do best on Science Diet Sensitive Stomach formula, but the only thing that really helped was the steroid injections. After a while, even those didn't work. Still, she made it to almost 15 years old. I miss her.

[GoCubsGo]

17. P.S.

I'm a staunch supporter of foods free of corn, soy and wheat. I am convinced that these items are one of the main causes of the epidemic of feline diabetes. Cats are carnivores, and they shouldn't have to eat cattle feed. Paying more for a higher quality food will save you money in the long run on vet bills. I feed mine the corn/wheat/soy free foods, like Blue Buffalo Spa Select and By Nature Naturals/Organics. My vet raves at how well my old man is doing on them. He's 15, and has pretty good coat. I wish I could afford the grain free stuff. Both of my kitties LOVED the Solid Gold Indigo Moon sample I tried on them.