Anyone with an IBD cat? Help need advice

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Aimz123

Aimz123

Member Since 2023
Hi all

My cat Ernie has IBD and has for awhile. He’s currently on 0.7ml prednisolone. With the new diagnosis of diabetes a few weeks ago he also had FIC come on. Since then he has been nauseous (swallowing a bit and licking his lips).

He is currently on odansetron twice a day, Gabapentin twice a day and buprenorphine once a day (this is being slowly weaned off).

My query to those with IBD cats is while I know I can give odansetron three times a day it ultimately is masking the issue causing the nausea.

I’m currently also in the process of switching his Hills I/D kibble to Ziwi Peak Beef and have been introducing Fancy Feast pate watered down too.

Do you think the food changes are the culprit of the nausea or more the FIC symptoms like the vet is suggesting? The vet has said it’s likely pain related making him nauseous but I’m not so sure.

He hasn’t been eating amazing either it’s a task to get him to eat 2/3 of what he should have. He’s on Mirtazapine every other day. He has had cerenia before but I took that away as he hasn’t vomitted as such and he’s on so much medication atm

He just had some Fancy Feast before but looks like he’s belching or feeling vomitty from eating now. Which he wasn’t before.

So stressed out between the FIC, Diabetes and now IBD issues I don’t know what to do. I’m at a loss.
 
Was he also tested for pancreatitis? Is he getting a good probiotic? How was IBD diagnosed? How long has he been on prednisolone?

I have a cat who seems to have either IBD I’d SCL. The endoscopy was inconclusive. She was on prednisolone daily, Visbiome probiotic, and ondansetron every 6-8 hours. I switched her to a novel protein and have been able to stop nausea meds. She’s down to prednisolone twice a week.

You might want to ask your vet if budesonide might be worth trying as many cats don’t get the glucose rising with it. I would not stop ondansetron. Any vomiting? If so you could add cerenia. Stool normal? It sounds like the nausea is not controlled even with ondansetron. I’m sorry your cat has this issue.
 
tiffmaxee said:
Was he also tested for pancreatitis? Is he getting a good probiotic? How was IBD diagnosed? How long has he been on prednisolone?

I have a cat who seems to have either IBD I’d SCL. The endoscopy was inconclusive. She was on prednisolone daily, Visbiome probiotic, and ondansetron every 6-8 hours. I switched her to a novel protein and have been able to stop nausea meds. She’s down to prednisolone twice a week.

You might want to ask your vet if budesonide might be worth trying as many cats don’t get the glucose rising with it. I would not stop ondansetron. Any vomiting? If so you could add cerenia. Stool normal? It sounds like the nausea is not controlled even with ondansetron. I’m sorry your cat has this issue.
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He was tested for pancreatitis and that came back negative. He is on fortiflora atm as it seems to make him eat and he’s been stable on that and Hills I/D for the longest time till the diabetes was diagnosed. IBD was diagnosed by and IM specialist via ultrasound. He has had IBD for about 2 years but on the prednisolone solidly since January this year, before he was on and off the Pred. I was switching him to Ziwi Peak Beef dry because he really doesn’t like wet much and in Australia it’s hard to get novel proteins easily. I would change him to the venison variety but it’s always sold out here so I’m loathe to change to that as supply will become an issue. He is eating some of the FF pate when watered down but wont eat a full can.

No vomiting yet. Today was the first day I thought omg he’s literally going to vomit his food but it was after I gave him the appetite stimulant Mirtazapine which I feel he gets quite a few side effects from. He does eat again which is great but he gets lethargic then vocal and for the first time today a bit like he’s going to vomit.

Nausea seems to have started when his FIC symptoms came in but I feel that’s getting under control now and he still appears nauseous.

Stool and wee is normal again thank god but now the nausea. I can’t win. It’s literally one thing after another.
 
Aimz123 said:
No I haven’t seen any low carb kangaroo cat foods here unfortunately. Not that I’m aware of anyway
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You won’t get any canned kangaroo that I am aware of here in Australia.
Have you thought of feeding raw kangaroo? You can buy that from Woolworths.
I feed kangaroo to one of my cats with tummy issues, who can’t eat chicken or pork.
You can get either fresh raw minced kangaroo or raw fresh kangaroo steaks…just make sure they are not the ones with a Sauce added.
Or you could try cooking fresh kangaroo.
 
Sheba had FIC (FLUTD) and she didn’t get nausea from it. She certainly had pain and discomfort.
I suspect the nausea is from the swap off the Hills food. Does he still eat the kibble…I mean does he like to eat it?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
You won’t get any canned kangaroo that I am aware of here in Australia.
Have you thought of feeding raw kangaroo? You can buy that from Woolworths.
I feed kangaroo to one of my cats with tummy issues, who can’t eat chicken or pork.
You can get either fresh raw minced kangaroo or raw fresh kangaroo steaks…just make sure they are not the ones with a Sauce added.
Or you could try cooking fresh kangaroo.
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I don’t think he will take to raw as we’ve tried a couple of raw meats here and there and he just sniffs it and walks off. He’s after the gravy broth type experience lol that’s why the FF pate works because watered down it’s like a broth.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Sheba had FIC (FLUTD) and she didn’t get nausea from it. She certainly had pain and discomfort.
I suspect the nausea is from the swap off the Hills food. Does he still eat the kibble…I mean does he like to eat it?
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That’s what I thought I seriously feel it could be the food swap. He loves the kibble he’s eating the Hills and Ziwi Peak mix happily still. Just not sure whether to continue with the transition or not. I’ve halted making more adjustments atm so the split is about 40g Ziwi Peak and 30g Hills I/D atm.

He prefers the kibble over the Fancy Feast
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Did you have any issues with eating/nausea before the swap to a low carb diet?
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No his nausea was non existed as far as I could see. He was losing his appetite though which led to the constipation. Which led to the diabetes diagnosis.

It could have been two things happening tbh. The diabetes and the IBD flaring. This is so frustrating. Fix one thing for another to happen
 
Aimz123 said:
Just not sure whether to continue with the transition or not. I’ve halted making more adjustments atm so the split is about 40g Ziwi Peak and 30g Hills I/D atm.
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I think I would halt the transition at the moment to make sure he is eating enough food. We can work around the dose and the BGs.
could look into the kangaroo.
You are not reducing the prednisolone are you?
 
Aimz123 said:
I don’t think he will take to raw as we’ve tried a couple of raw meats here and there and he just sniffs it and walks off. He’s after the gravy broth type experience lol that’s why the FF pate works because watered down it’s like a broth.
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Do you think he would eat the kangaroo cooked ?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
I think I would halt the transition at the moment to make sure he is eating enough food. We can work around the dose and the BGs.
could look into the kangaroo.
You are not reducing the prednisolone are you?
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Should I just hit pause with the current mix of both foods or just revert back to all the old Hills I/D? The prednisolone reduction was only dropped once from 0.8 to 0.7. Then the vet didn’t shift it again as he was having all the issues with the FIC so she left it the same.

I’m thinking I won’t give him anymore Fancy Feast as that’s the real new add on and it’s been more noticeable the nausea since adding it in. I might go back to the FF broth which he’s always had and never reacted to.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Do you think he would eat the kangaroo cooked ?
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I don’t think so. It’s all about the liquid with broths or the crunch of the kibble. He’s fussy lol

I also think I better halt the churu. I was giving him that as a treat to entice him to eat his food by letting him lick some then squeezed some on his food
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Do you know what foods trigger the problem?
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With his IBD I feel it was chicken or something in the treats he was getting at the time. He originally was on Hills T/D, greenies snacks, temptations and dine lickable treats. Then he slowly developed worse and worse IBD symptoms and vomitted blood one day. Since being on the prednisolone he hasn’t vomitted blood again.

With regards to his current diet if this is an IBD attack it could be the churu and fancy feast but those ones are definitely not chicken they are fish based. It could be the Ziwi peak beef but I’m not sure as he wasn’t really getting beef when he initially had IBD issues at the start. I’ll dial back the treats. If I need to use treats I have two kangaroo treats I can give him instead one is by prime 100.
 
@Bron and Sheba (GA)

On a side note his PMPS tonight is 8.3. Still not high enough for a full 1 unit dose is it? Was thinking 0.5?

It’s so weird at +8 he was at 9.7 which is usually his nadir point but like last night he dropped low at PMPS
 
Aimz123 said:
@Bron and Sheba (GA)

On a side note his PMPS tonight is 8.3. Still not high enough for a full 1 unit dose is it? Was thinking 0.5?

It’s so weird at +8 he was at 9.7 which is usually his nadir point but like last night he dropped low at PMPS
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Next time you get a lower than normal number…stall, don’t feed and test again in 20 minutes to see if the BG is rising.
I think tomorrow I would try 0.75 unit for the am and pm dose to see if you can shoot both with that dose.
 
One of our cats will vomit if he eats a whole can of Fancy Feast. But given no more than 2/3 can, max, he's fine. So we feed him 4 times a day, and if he's really begging (he's a piggy) sometimes an extra meal or partial meal in between his breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime meals. Remember that the water added to his food also takes up room in his stomach. I know you are dealing with many other situations to manage, but maybe this one little idea might help.
Also, you say you are using FF fish flavors because of no chicken. Here in the US, the FF Turkey and Giblets classic pate is also chicken-free. It's about the only flavor besides the fish ones that is. But read the labels carefully and constantly, they keep changing what they put into their mixes based on available supply.
 
Gracie85 said:
One of our cats will vomit if he eats a whole can of Fancy Feast. But given no more than 2/3 can, max, he's fine. So we feed him 4 times a day, and if he's really begging (he's a piggy) sometimes an extra meal or partial meal in between his breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime meals. Remember that the water added to his food also takes up room in his stomach. I know you are dealing with many other situations to manage, but maybe this one little idea might help.
Also, you say you are using FF fish flavors because of no chicken. Here in the US, the FF Turkey and Giblets classic pate is also chicken-free. It's about the only flavor besides the fish ones that is. But read the labels carefully and constantly, they keep changing what they put into their mixes based on available supply.
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I’m not sure if Ernie eats much normally. He use to just get 1/2 cup of Hills I/D per day and that’s all. But with the switching of food I’m trying to get him to have 1/2 can FF pate and 1/4 cup kibble. But as mentioned I think it was too much change all at once so I’m going to try to stick to the kibble transition only.

I have seen the Turkey variety here and beef also but it comes in combo packs that include chicken so not sold separately which is annoying.
 
Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
Forti flora is not a good probiotic. It’s really a flavor enhancer. With IBD, you need a GI tract specific probiotic like Visbiome. He also needs b12 supplements. Is he getting that? B12 deficiency can cause them to lose apetite.
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Ah yes I’m aware but it’s the only thing that seemed to be working for him and also that he would eat. I was trying Blackmores Paws brand which is a more comprehensive probiotic but he wasn’t into eating the food as much as before so I stopped that one.

He had one b12 shot at the vet but none since then. Not sure if they’ve tested his levels for that. It’s a lot of stuff he’s on atm. Also he is impossible to pill.
 
Aimz123 said:
I don’t think he will take to raw as we’ve tried a couple of raw meats here and there and he just sniffs it and walks off. He’s after the gravy broth type experience lol that’s why the FF pate works because watered down it’s like a broth.
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You could also use a raw food recipe but cook the protein before adding the supplements. That is what I do for Simon, my IBD kitty.
 
Lisa and Witn (GA) said:
You could also use a raw food recipe but cook the protein before adding the supplements. That is what I do for Simon, my IBD kitty.
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Unfortunately it’s a texture thing for Ernie it either needs to be wet as in broth consistency or crunchy like kibble. Eg the FF broths he won’t eat the chunks of fish in it ‍♀️
 
There’s no pilling needed for b12. I give Bobo the shot biweekly. Biweekly is the norm. You need to start doing that. All IBD cats need additional b12 and they’ll need it for the rest of their lives. There’s an oral supplement too that is a chewable treat and Bobo loved but most cats don’t absorb b12 orally well. The b12 test has to be done on an empty stomach and it’s pricey. It’s easier to just keep him on the shots since it’s water soluble and it has no side effects.
 
Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
There’s no pilling needed for b12. I give Bobo the shot biweekly. Biweekly is the norm. You need to start doing that. All IBD cats need additional b12 and they’ll need it for the rest of their lives. There’s an oral supplement too that is a chewable treat and Bobo loved but most cats don’t absorb b12 orally well. The b12 test has to be done on an empty stomach and it’s pricey. It’s easier to just keep him on the shots since it’s water soluble and it has no side effects.
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Ooo bi weekly is doable I was worried it was a daily thing. I’ll add that to the list to follow up with the vet! Thanks for this info!
 
Aimz123 said:
Unfortunately it’s a texture thing for Ernie it either needs to be wet as in broth consistency or crunchy like kibble. Eg the FF broths he won’t eat the chunks of fish in it ‍♀️
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Will he eat finely ground food if it is soupy? You could use a meat grinder to grind the cooked meat and add the broth from cooking it to add more moisture. My cat doesn't like chunks either and that is what I do.
 
Lisa and Witn (GA) said:
Will he eat finely ground food if it is soupy? You could use a meat grinder to grind the cooked meat and add the broth from cooking it to add more moisture. My cat doesn't like chunks either and that is what I do.
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That could be an option. I’m concerned about whether I would be able to sustain something like that though. I split time between two households which is on pause atm as I’m trying to get Ernie regulated and off some of the meds he’s been on for his FIC. It’s something to consider though.
 
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