? Irritable Bowel Disease/Diabetic Friendly Foods

[Marc & Jen]

Hi All, it's been a while since I've been on the forum. Our diabetic cat, FA has been doing really well.

Our other, non-diabetic cat (Molly), has recently been diagnosed with IBD (irritable bowel disease) after having diarrhea on and off for a couple years now. Recently it has been much worse, so much to the point that I need to wipe her bum after she uses the litter box (she is long-haired which doesn't help). We have just started her on Fortiflora probiotics and some antibiotics to see if it makes any sort of difference. It is likely that she has an intolerance to the food that we are feeding them, however with FA being diabetic, we feel like we are quite limited in what we can do to change their diet. We don't have the option of separating them so they have to eat the same food.

We originally had them eating FF turkey & giblets, however due to the current pet food shortage, we have struggled to get this flavour since the beginning of the pandemic. So as of the last year or so we have been feeding them whatever FF classic pate flavour that we have been able to find. This could be the reason that she's having a bad IBD flare up since we have been changing up their food every few months/weeks.

I'm just looking to see if anybody has experience with finding a diabetic friendly food that also helped with their cat's IBD? Or any other tips are also welcome!

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Hi I did a search for you and found this that one of our members suggested
But I will also tag @Sienne and Gabby (GA)
@Wendy&Neko

Here is what I found
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/ibd-suitable-foods.252711/

 

[Wendy&Neko]

IBD = inflammatory bowel disease. More info there: https://www.ibdkitties.net/ Raw food is an excellent choice for IBD kitties, there are so many more low carb protein options. https://www.rawfeedingforibdcats.org/ Neko was on raw food, some premanufactured, some made with a premix like FoodFurLife. Which I mentioned on the link Diane included, along with some low carb canned food options.

Fortiflora is not a good probiotic. Go for Visbiome (made especially for IBD) or Proviable.

 

[Marc & Jen]

IBD = inflammatory bowel disease. More info there: https://www.ibdkitties.net/ Raw food is an excellent choice for IBD kitties, there are so many more low carb protein options. https://www.rawfeedingforibdcats.org/ Neko was on raw food, some premanufactured, some made with a premix like FoodFurLife. Which I mentioned on the link Diane included, along with some low carb canned food options.

Fortiflora is not a good probiotic. Go for Visbiome (made especially for IBD) or Proviable.

Ok thank you, good to know! I will finish this round of meds/probiotics just to see if it makes any sort of difference (I kind of expect not) and then will move on to the next thing to try. We did try instincts last year however I don't think we gave it a good enough of a shot and was trying to feed both cats different foods which I don't think worked out too well. So I think it's probably worth trying again along with one of the other probiotics that you suggested (assuming we can actually find the food due to the shortage ). We have a baby on the way in 2 months so unfortunately I am looking for the quickest/easiest solution at the moment with everything going on. You have provided some good resources that I will definitely be referring back to.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

One of my kitties has IBD. His symptoms have been very well controlled. Like Wendy, I use a (partially) raw food diet. I had difficulty sourcing raw, novel proteins so I alternate between raw and canned novel proteins. My cats used to be fed a diet of either chicken or turkey and it was the poultry that caused the inflammation. I now feed my guys pork (raw and use the FoodFurLife pre-mix) and ZiwiPeak venison and lamb and rabbit. The Raw Feeding for IBD cats website has a wealth of information about supplements, managing common problems like diarrhea, etc. They also have a Facebook page where you can get questions answered. If you opt for canned foods, look for food that does not contain gums or carrageenan as both can cause inflammation.

 

[Marc & Jen]

One of my kitties has IBD. His symptoms have been very well controlled. Like Wendy, I use a (partially) raw food diet. I had difficulty sourcing raw, novel proteins so I alternate between raw and canned novel proteins. My cats used to be fed a diet of either chicken or turkey and it was the poultry that caused the inflammation. I now feed my guys pork (raw and use the FoodFurLife pre-mix) and ZiwiPeak venison and lamb and rabbit. The Raw Feeding for IBD cats website has a wealth of information about supplements, managing common problems like diarrhea, etc. They also have a Facebook page where you can get questions answered. If you opt for canned foods, look for food that does not contain gums or carrageenan as both can cause inflammation.

Thank you! I have joined the Facebook group I'm hoping they can be just as helpful as this forum has been in helping manage FA's diabetes! Just like with feline diabetes, it seems like I will have to take the management of feline IBD into my own hands as the vets once again don't seem overly knowledgeable on the subject. At this point it's quite overwhelming, I have a lot to learn.