New to forum and would appreciate advice for cat with IBD and diabetes

[justme4112]

Bat Boy has a history of IBD - bloody diarrhea and vomiting - was on chemo for a year to try to control the IBD. Appears to be sensitive to chicken and fish. We have tried novel protein diets - duck, rabbit, and hydrolyzed protein diets. Found that Hills Z/D controls the symptoms but is of course high in carbs. He diagnosed with diabetes on 1/10/25. I tried once again to make a food switch for him to low carb canned food. Bad diarrhea. I tried adding Dr. Elseys low carb dry food - tried separately - salmon, chicken, and rabbit flavors. Diarrhea. I tried young again Zero carb hydrolyzed food. Diarrhea. Right now the Hills z/d controls the ibd symptoms and he also eats portions of Fancy Feast low carb canned. Small portions or he gets bloody diarrhea. I am currently giving fecal transplant capsules in the hope that it may help his IBD. He is a fractious cat. He gets transdermal gabapentin in his ear twice daily for arthritis pain and anxiety. He does NOT allow BG testing in his ears. Has CGM on. I am immune compromised and cant risk him biting me so all treatments have to be safe. I am feeling defeated right now.

 

[CORKY]

Bat Boy has a history of IBD - bloody diarrhea and vomiting - was on chemo for a year to try to control the IBD. Appears to be sensitive to chicken and fish. We have tried novel protein diets - duck, rabbit, and hydrolyzed protein diets. Found that Hills Z/D controls the symptoms but is of course high in carbs. He diagnosed with diabetes on 1/10/25. I tried once again to make a food switch for him to low carb canned food. Bad diarrhea. I tried adding Dr. Elseys low carb dry food - tried separately - salmon, chicken, and rabbit flavors. Diarrhea. I tried young again Zero carb hydrolyzed food. Diarrhea. Right now the Hills z/d controls the ibd symptoms and he also eats portions of Fancy Feast low carb canned. Small portions or he gets bloody diarrhea. I am currently giving fecal transplant capsules in the hope that it may help his IBD. He is a fractious cat. He gets transdermal gabapentin in his ear twice daily for arthritis pain and anxiety. He does NOT allow BG testing in his ears. Has CGM on. I am immune compromised and cant risk him biting me so all treatments have to be safe. I am feeling defeated right now.

@Sienne and Gabby (GA)

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

You may want to look into making your own cat food. There are completers you can add to the protien of your choice or use this recipe https://www.rawfeedingforibdcats.org/balanced-recipe-for-use-with-raw-or-cooked-proteins.html

I buy all of my supplements from Amazon. I use powdered eggs instead of fresh and cook my meats before adding the supplements.

 

[justme4112]

You may want to look into making your own cat food. There are completers you can add to the protien of your choice or use this recipe https://www.rawfeedingforibdcats.org/balanced-recipe-for-use-with-raw-or-cooked-proteins.html

I buy all of my supplements from Amazon. I use powdered eggs instead of fresh and cook my meats before adding the supplements.

Thank you. I would hope to find a commercial food as I am a vegetarian (my cats are not, ha ha), but I will take a look. What kiinds of proteins does your cat like? Our cats do not want any of our chicken or fish that my husband eats. Not people food kitties I guess.

I see, the whole website is about feeding IBD kitties, great! Thank you! I would love to get his diabetes in remission and just be dealing with the IBD!!

We had another cat years ago that went into remission within 3 weeks on low carb canned cat food and stayed in remission until the end of his life.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I rely on the website for IBD kitties that Lisa linked. There is an excellent section there on supplements that addresses managing diarrhea. If you want to continue to try novel proteins, make sure there's no carrageenan or gums in the canned food. They can cause GI issues. My IBD cat really likes ZiwiPeak. It does contain free-lipped mussels so if anything fishy is a problem, it may not be a good choice.

 

[justme4112]

I rely on the website for IBD kitties that Lisa linked. There is an excellent section there on supplements that addresses managing diarrhea. If you want to continue to try novel proteins, make sure there's no carrageenan or gums in the canned food. They can cause GI issues. My IBD cat really likes ZiwiPeak. It does contain free-lipped mussels so if anything fishy is a problem, it may not be a good choice.

I wondered about the ziwi peak. It's so darn expensive to give it a try. There really should be a website where they sell broken up packs of these foods. It's tough getting an $84 pack of canned food and the cats stick their noses up and walk off, ugh. I have about 6 kinds of food here at the very moment that didn't work for various reasons. After trying those to get him on low carb food as we were starting on the insulin and failing, I was hoping to get him regulated on the z/d (which works for his IBD) and then try to some new options. Thank you for the info. about carrageenan and gums. The vet recommended staying on the Z/D and adjusting the insulin right off the bat. I knew how stressful managing a diabetic pet was and wanted to get him off of the carbs!

 

[CORKY]

I wondered about the ziwi peak. It's so darn expensive to give it a try. There really should be a website where they sell broken up packs of these foods. It's tough getting an $84 pack of canned food and the cats stick their noses up and walk off, ugh. I have about 6 kinds of food here at the very moment that didn't work for various reasons. After trying those to get him on low carb food as we were starting on the insulin and failing, I was hoping to get him regulated on the z/d (which works for his IBD) and then try to some new options. Thank you for the info. about carrageenan and gums. The vet recommended staying on the Z/D and adjusting the insulin right off the bat. I knew how stressful managing a diabetic pet was and wanted to get him off of the carbs!

If you are in US try CHEWY.com they have the best prices

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Most stores will take returns of unopened food. They are very familiar with fussy cats! I know too well the problem of food that they turn noses up. My IBD (non diabetic) likes something for a couple weeks, then not. . She's allergic to fish and beef and I think venison, and I try to limit the amount of chicken. She does well on turkey, rabbit, pork, lamb, quail and duck. She also can't handle anything with green lipped mussels. You get really good at reading ingredient labels. There is fish in way too many places there shouldn't be! But there are lots of limited ingredient diet canned foods out there that are low carb.

Good luck with the fecal transplants. I tried it and it didn't work for my girl. But I have seen some for whom it does.

 

[squeem3]

My diabetic has IBD and food allergies. The only protein I can feed him is rabbit. He's always eaten commercial raw food in various proteins. For the past couple of years he has been eating Vital Essentials freeze dried rabbit. It's pretty bland with no unnecessary junk. For snacks he gets a limited ingredient canned rabbit.

Sometimes independent pet stores have samples of food. Or contact a pet food company directly and ask for samples. Cat shows, pet fairs, etc will often have free samples and product info.

Is your cat taking any or medicines for the IBD? Steroid use is known to cause diabetes in cats. Like mine My diabetic will always need the steroid for his IBD (and it helps with his asthma too) so he's never going to go into remission.

 

[CORKY]

My diabetic has IBD and food allergies. The only protein I can feed him is rabbit. He's always eaten commercial raw food in various proteins. For the past couple of years he has been eating Vital Essentials freeze dried rabbit. It's pretty bland with no unnecessary junk. For snacks he gets a limited ingredient canned rabbit.

Sometimes independent pet stores have samples of food. Or contact a pet food company directly and ask for samples. Cat shows, pet fairs, etc will often have free samples and product info.

Is your cat taking any or medicines for the IBD? Steroid use is known to cause diabetes in cats. Like mine My diabetic will always need the steroid for his IBD (and it helps with his asthma too) so he's never going to go into remission.

Some cats never go into remission but can well be regulated like my Corky, see his spreadsheet, he will be a lifetime diabetic but healthy and I am just OK with that

 

[squeem3]

My first diabetic never went into remission either and his blood glucose levels would never stay in a good range for long. His only other health issue was asthma which was controlled by inhaled meds that did not affect the diabetes. Some cats just don't go into remission and that's ok You can do everything FDMB recommends and still have a lemon. The cat is more than just blood glucose numbers. Having a happy and otherwise healthy cat is more important

 

[justme4112]

My diabetic has IBD and food allergies. The only protein I can feed him is rabbit. He's always eaten commercial raw food in various proteins. For the past couple of years he has been eating Vital Essentials freeze dried rabbit. It's pretty bland with no unnecessary junk. For snacks he gets a limited ingredient canned rabbit.

Sometimes independent pet stores have samples of food. Or contact a pet food company directly and ask for samples. Cat shows, pet fairs, etc will often have free samples and product info.

Is your cat taking any or medicines for the IBD? Steroid use is known to cause diabetes in cats. Like mine My diabetic will always need the steroid for his IBD (and it helps with his asthma too) so he's never going to go into remission.

Fortunately Bat Boy has not been put on steroids for the IBD. He improves with metronidazole, but I don't want him on that long term as it's linked to nerve damage. I have MS so I know too much about the pain of nerve damage. He was on chlorambucil chemo med for a year, but did not show any noticeable improvement on it, so we took him off of that. He has nausea meds as needed for vomiting, and he is on gabapentin twice daily for arthritis pain, anxiety, and aggression. Other than that, and now having diabetes - he's great, lol.

I'm sorry that your kitty has multiple issues. Did it take you long to figure out how to manage the diabetes on top of the others? Was it hard to get him/her regulated?

 

[justme4112]

Some cats never go into remission but can well be regulated like my Corky, see his spreadsheet, he will be a lifetime diabetic but healthy and I am just OK with that

WoW! That is an amazing spreadsheet!! You are doing great with Corky

 

[CORKY]

WoW! That is an amazing spreadsheet!! You are doing great with Corky

My Corky is a Hero!!! And it’s been almost 3 years, with diligence and 0-10% only with Fancy feast, following every step this amazing Forum and their amazing members with no vet interference!!

 

[CORKY]

My Corky is a Hero!!! And it’s been almost 3 years, with diligence and 0-10% only with Fancy feast, following every step this amazing Forum and their amazing members with no vet interference!!

 

[justme4112]

Most stores will take returns of unopened food. They are very familiar with fussy cats! I know too well the problem of food that they turn noses up. My IBD (non diabetic) likes something for a couple weeks, then not. . She's allergic to fish and beef and I think venison, and I try to limit the amount of chicken. She does well on turkey, rabbit, pork, lamb, quail and duck. She also can't handle anything with green lipped mussels. You get really good at reading ingredient labels. There is fish in way too many places there shouldn't be! But there are lots of limited ingredient diet canned foods out there that are low carb.

Good luck with the fecal transplants. I tried it and it didn't work for my girl. But I have seen some for whom it does.[/QUOTE

Thank you! I'm sorry the fecal transplant didn't help for your cat. It seems to be regulating my guy's litter box habits better, but I'm not sure that it's fixing the diarrhea that comes from e very food we've tried but the Hill's hydrolyzed protein. Thank you also for listing the proteins that seem to be ok for your cat. That's helpful. I know what you mean about reading labels! Almost every commercial food including many "limited ingredient" diets have chicken and/or fish as the secondary source of protein in them. Those proteins are no go for us. Part of me says to give him the fancy feast low carb canned food that he loves and let the bloody diarrhea rip (pun intended0. I know I'd fold when the blood showed back up, though I think pea protein is a horrible idea for cats, too. Lots of limited ingredient diets like to throw those in. Talk about a gassy bloaty mess, blech.

 

[justme4112]

My Corky is a Hero!!! And it’s been almost 3 years, with diligence and 0-10% only with Fancy feast, following every step this amazing Forum and their amazing members with no vet interference!!

Maybe I'll try some of the other flavors of fancy feast with my IBD guy. The elegant medleys are his favorite and too much gives him bloody diarrhea, but I'll think on it. Besides watching him suffer with IBD he took to peeing all over the house and our workshop when was more symptomatic from the IBD. That was NOT a good thing and we knew that he was feeling unwell then.

"No vet interference..."

 

[justme4112]

Thank you all for your replies! I was battling hypoglycemia for a lot of the day today and feeling really hopeless. I appreciate your photos of kitties and all of the information and ideas

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

Thank you. I would hope to find a commercial food as I am a vegetarian (my cats are not, ha ha), but I will take a look. What kiinds of proteins does your cat like? Our cats do not want any of our chicken or fish that my husband eats. Not people food kitties I guess.

I see, the whole website is about feeding IBD kitties, great! Thank you! I would love to get his diabetes in remission and just be dealing with the IBD!!

I usually feed mine chicken, pork and rabbit. Mine do not like dark meats like beef or venison. I also feed multiple cats this so I make large batches at a time. The good thing is that it is low carb so it will also help with keeping the glucose levels lower

 

[CORKY]

Maybe I'll try some of the other flavors of fancy feast with my IBD guy. The elegant medleys are his favorite and too much gives him bloody diarrhea, but I'll think on it. Besides watching him suffer with IBD he took to peeing all over the house and our workshop when was more symptomatic from the IBD. That was NOT a good thing and we knew that he was feeling unwell then.

"No vet interference..."

Do not ever hesitate to take him to the vet if you see anything irregular though, there are times that the vet interference is a blessing​

 

[CORKY]

Thank you all for your replies! I was battling hypoglycemia for a lot of the day today and feeling really hopeless. I appreciate your photos of kitties and all of the information and ideas

If you ever have a low BG Before AMPS/PMPS post us 1 hour before we can coach you along so you don’t have to miss a dose
PS:
When you reach 50 posts start a new one with the same title and put “Continuation” in front of the title, we are all here to help you​

 

[squeem3]

My cat has been diabetic for over a year now. He's my second cat to have diabetes so managing diabetes is nothing new to me. I wouldn't say he's regulated. His numbers tend to be in the 200s with occasional forays lower but he never stays in a good range for long. A dose increase may drop levels too low but going back to a lower doesn't may not do much of anything

 

[tiffmaxee]

How long did you give each novel protein? For it to succeed you need to start with one protein only for at least a month. Dr. Elsey’s salmon for example contains chicken. So if a protein never eaten before was given while feeding that the chicken would ruin the trial. It’s important to read the ingredients and not just the label. I made the mistake of buying a bag of salmon which I returned when I read the ingredients. Now I look carefully before buying. I moved to raw single ingredient food but with bird flu I need to find a good supplement and start cooking. I’m currently feeding pork.

 

[CORKY]

How long did you give each novel protein? For it to succeed you need to start with one protein only for at least a month. Dr. Elsey’s salmon for example contains chicken. So if a protein never eaten before was given while feeding that the chicken would ruin the trial. It’s important to read the ingredients and not just the label. I made the mistake of buying a bag of salmon which I returned when I read the ingredients. Now I look carefully before buying. I moved to raw single ingredient food but with bird flu I need to find a good supplement and start cooking. I’m currently feeding pork.

@squeem3

 

[squeem3]

I don't recall with Leroy. What didn't upset his tummy caused allergic reactions like bald spots or feline acne I knew novel proteins was ideal for IBD so I started one protein at a time. Usually an allergic reaction would show up within a few weeks. Beef was too rich for his tummy and gave him an IBD flare up. Same with pork. All poultry caused bald spots. Vension seemed ok but was hard to source and I don't have freezer space for homemade raw or cooked. So we settled on rabbit. NV had a frozen raw rabbit that worked until they discontinued the medallions They still have the Raw Bites which civvie eats and what gets Leroy to swallow his pills. We tried various other brands of frozen and freeze dried raw rabbit. Some brands contained ingredients that caused allergic reactions or horribly stinky poop. We finally found a freeze dried raw rabbit that didn't contain extra ingredients and it's working so far for Leroy.

 

[justme4112]

If you ever have a low BG Before AMPS/PMPS post us 1 hour before we can coach you along so you don’t have to miss a dose
PS:
When you reach 50 posts start a new one with the same title and put “Continuation” in front of the title, we are all here to help you​

Thank you! I work out of the house 5 days a week and am gone 9 hours at a clip, so I've been conservative about shooting low numbers - except for yesterday when I knew I'd be home. That proved to be a mistake. Emergency vets are all a 2 hour drive from here so I kept giving him food for hours. Of course diarrhea tonight from all of the extra foods yesterday that his system can't take. I shot low this morning and again tonight to adjust for the hypos yesterday and prolonged action of the insulin. He goes low after bouts of diarrhea so I'd rather his BG be high than have him as my husband put it, "go 4 paws up." Thank you for the tips! I've been managing his IBD for several years now and trying soooo many different foods. I call Hills the "evil science diet" because our last cat with diabetes also was on it when he was diagnosed. When the vet suggested to try the hydrolyzed protein diets I was really reticent because I knew they were high carb and I've been feeding only low carb for years to all of our cats. I will try some of the suggested foods here in small portions to see what happens. It was a relief when the hydrolyzed finally actually helped. It's a balancing act. Our first 2 cats lived on Meow mix for most of their lives and they lived to be 22 and 21. 2 of our most recent cats who lived strictly on low carb canned lived to 9 and 12. Lots of factors at play...

 

[justme4112]

I don't recall with Leroy. What didn't upset his tummy caused allergic reactions like bald spots or feline acne I knew novel proteins was ideal for IBD so I started one protein at a time. Usually an allergic reaction would show up within a few weeks. Beef was too rich for his tummy and gave him an IBD flare up. Same with pork. All poultry caused bald spots. Vension seemed ok but was hard to source and I don't have freezer space for homemade raw or cooked. So we settled on rabbit. NV had a frozen raw rabbit that worked until they discontinued the medallions They still have the Raw Bites which civvie eats and what gets Leroy to swallow his pills. We tried various other brands of frozen and freeze dried raw rabbit. Some brands contained ingredients that caused allergic reactions or horribly stinky poop. We finally found a freeze dried raw rabbit that didn't contain extra ingredients and it's working so far for Leroy.

Thank you. Rabbit would be our 1t choice to try, although he got sick from Dr. Elsey's clean protein rabbit. Of course it has chicken added, too which could explain the difficulty.

 

[justme4112]

How long did you give each novel protein? For it to succeed you need to start with one protein only for at least a month. Dr. Elsey’s salmon for example contains chicken. So if a protein never eaten before was given while feeding that the chicken would ruin the trial. It’s important to read the ingredients and not just the label. I made the mistake of buying a bag of salmon which I returned when I read the ingredients. Now I look carefully before buying. I moved to raw single ingredient food but with bird flu I need to find a good supplement and start cooking. I’m currently feeding pork.

Yes, I am also concerned about raw with bird flu hitting. Every time I think I've found the ideal food to try, bam, I read the ingredients and pffft!

 

[justme4112]

My cat has been diabetic for over a year now. He's my second cat to have diabetes so managing diabetes is nothing new to me. I wouldn't say he's regulated. His numbers tend to be in the 200s with occasional forays lower but he never stays in a good range for long. A dose increase may drop levels too low but going back to a lower doesn't may not do much of anything

This sounds familiar. It seemed like each dose increase would start to bring his numbers down and then by the 3rd shot they would peg out at 400 (which is high as the freestyle libre 3 plus CGM registers). He seems to work into and overcome each dose- EXCEPT for the 4.25. He starts out high on this dose and then drops down too low. I'll keep plugging away...

 

[justme4112]

How long did you give each novel protein? For it to succeed you need to start with one protein only for at least a month. Dr. Elsey’s salmon for example contains chicken. So if a protein never eaten before was given while feeding that the chicken would ruin the trial. It’s important to read the ingredients and not just the label. I made the mistake of buying a bag of salmon which I returned when I read the ingredients. Now I look carefully before buying. I moved to raw single ingredient food but with bird flu I need to find a good supplement and start cooking. I’m currently feeding pork.

Bat would have bloody diarrhea within days and I would never let it go past 2 weeks as he was obviously miserable. Metronidazole fixes him right up. It seems like that should be a clue as to the source of his GI troubles. Maybe giardia? He's been tested for tons of stuff, but still the thought lingers.
Most of the single ingredient commercial diets include pea protein. That seems like such a bad idea for obligate carnivores. Peas are so hard on digestive systems.

 

[CORKY]

Bat would have bloody diarrhea within days and I would never let it go past 2 weeks as he was obviously miserable. Metronidazole fixes him right up. It seems like that should be a clue as to the source of his GI troubles. Maybe giardia? He's been tested for tons of stuff, but still the thought lingers.
Most of the single ingredient commercial diets include pea protein. That seems like such a bad idea for obligate carnivores. Peas are so hard on digestive systems.

@Sienne and Gabby (GA)

 

[tiffmaxee]

I feed raw so no peas. You could make your own food with a single protein. You could cook it and add a supplement mix such as Easy Complete. There are others.

 

[squeem3]

Have you looked into these brands of bland-ish novel protein foods?

https://rawznaturalpetfood.com/product-category/minimally-processed-natural-cat-food/ The 96% canned ones
https://kohapet.com/collections/limited-ingredient-diet-pate
https://raynenutrition.com/collecti...5OEntgqdv5SxYNL5pezvP8I5w50loanI3xyJ4aEzdPuX4

Look into raw diets too, commercially available ones if you can't make it from scratch for whatever reason. The commercial options are frozen, freeze dried, air dried, and dehydrated. Look for these at independent pet stores or online. There are some subscription frozen raw cat foods you could have delivered on a regular schedule. The shorter the ingredient list, the better for IBD cats. Home cooked is an option, too, and there might be a home subscription service (Smalls?).

Are you familiar with these two web sites?

https://www.ibdkitties.net/
https://www.rawfeedingforibdcats.org/

 

[Tilda]

Highly recommend Rayne Nutrition rabbit cups (the others are higher in carbs)-- I suspect our girl has some form of IBD in addition to allergies. She has steroid induced diabetes and is in remission currently.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Bat would have bloody diarrhea within days and I would never let it go past 2 weeks as he was obviously miserable. Metronidazole fixes him right up. It seems like that should be a clue as to the source of his GI troubles. Maybe giardia? He's been tested for tons of stuff, but still the thought lingers.
Most of the single ingredient commercial diets include pea protein. That seems like such a bad idea for obligate carnivores. Peas are so hard on digestive systems.

My veterinary cardiologist warned me against feeding peas or other pulses like chickpeas, lentils, etc. to my cats. I will not feed them to my cats. I have a cat with IBD (well 2 cats) and I have found that many, if not most, of these limited ingredient and single protein foods contain peas. You at least don’t want those peas and pulses in the first five ingredients. Another thing I have found is that many of them are high in phosphorus… so hard on the kidneys. Pea protein is added to make it look like the protein content is high, but cats need animal protein sources and not vegetable protein sources Be careful to check rabbit foods as rabbit is naturally higher in phosphorus.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Bat Boy has a history of IBD - bloody diarrhea and vomiting - was on chemo for a year to try to control the IBD. Appears to be sensitive to chicken and fish. We have tried novel protein diets - duck, rabbit, and hydrolyzed protein diets. Found that Hills Z/D controls the symptoms but is of course high in carbs. He diagnosed with diabetes on 1/10/25. I tried once again to make a food switch for him to low carb canned food. Bad diarrhea. I tried adding Dr. Elseys low carb dry food - tried separately - salmon, chicken, and rabbit flavors. Diarrhea. I tried young again Zero carb hydrolyzed food. Diarrhea. Right now the Hills z/d controls the ibd symptoms and he also eats portions of Fancy Feast low carb canned. Small portions or he gets bloody diarrhea. I am currently giving fecal transplant capsules in the hope that it may help his IBD. He is a fractious cat. He gets transdermal gabapentin in his ear twice daily for arthritis pain and anxiety. He does NOT allow BG testing in his ears. Has CGM on. I am immune compromised and cant risk him biting me so all treatments have to be safe. I am feeling defeated right now.

I am currently working with a person whose cat is on ProZinc and the cat has IBD/Triaditis, is on a high dose of Prednisolone and has to eat Z/D and other high carb foods that are hydrolyzed proteins — the cat must have these things— but the cat, Biddy, is doing pretty well overall with numbers in the blue (100s) lower yellows (lower 200s) and some greens (50-99.)Yes, we have had to adjust the insulin dose and it’s over 4 units, but Biddy is doing well and is much happier and healthier than before starting insulin. Don’t give up. You just have to work with what situation you find yourself and your cat.