| Welcome to IBD Kitties |
| Dedicated to Alex Provost August 1996 - July 2008 IBD, Hepatic Lipidosis, Pancreatitis (Triaditis) |
Feline Inflammatory Bowel Disease is a very serious condition that affects thousands of cats every year.
There is no known or specific cause and no cure. The mission of this site is to have as much information in one
place and as accessible as possible on IBD and the conditions and diseases that can occur along with it. There is
currently not enough research about Feline IBD and our goal here is to get things moving in that very direction.
We'll also be giving our personal experiences and recommendations of foods, medications, products, etc. These
recommendations are NOT meant to take the place of veterinary advice, as we are NOT veterinarians. It's only
here to help you ask better questions and offer additional knowledge to your veterinarian as they often times
rely on us for more up to date and accurate reporting on these issues. Some of the information on this site has
not been written by a veterinarian and should not be considered a replacement for a veterinarian visit. This site
is for informative purposes only, and you should always seek the advice and treatment of a vet above all else.
This site is dedicated to my beautiful girl who lost her battle on July 10, 2008 and will now serve, as well as so
many others, as an example and my angel guiding me to help others. Check back frequently as we're adding new
information constantly.
There is no known or specific cause and no cure. The mission of this site is to have as much information in one
place and as accessible as possible on IBD and the conditions and diseases that can occur along with it. There is
currently not enough research about Feline IBD and our goal here is to get things moving in that very direction.
We'll also be giving our personal experiences and recommendations of foods, medications, products, etc. These
recommendations are NOT meant to take the place of veterinary advice, as we are NOT veterinarians. It's only
here to help you ask better questions and offer additional knowledge to your veterinarian as they often times
rely on us for more up to date and accurate reporting on these issues. Some of the information on this site has
not been written by a veterinarian and should not be considered a replacement for a veterinarian visit. This site
is for informative purposes only, and you should always seek the advice and treatment of a vet above all else.
This site is dedicated to my beautiful girl who lost her battle on July 10, 2008 and will now serve, as well as so
many others, as an example and my angel guiding me to help others. Check back frequently as we're adding new
information constantly.
| Her Story |
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Alex came a very long way to find me. She was in a Texas shelter when my nephew adopted her and three other
cats while in the Army in 1996. He brought them all home to New Hampshire with him and all four cats lived
with my sister when my nephew went overseas. She never did like to be with other cats and was always very
nervous. My sister decided to give her to my tenant, an older woman, who was looking for a lap cat. My tenant
ruined Alex as far as I'm concerned. She not only fed her junk for food, but literally junk food like ice cream. She
was very overweight when I took her in.
Six years ago this past October, my tenant was dying of cancer at the same time as I was losing my cat Patches,
who was 20 years old. Patches lived a long happy life with us but had renal failure and was fading quickly. We
decided to let her go peacefully at the vets and it tore me apart. I didn't want another cat, I was too full of grief. I
tried for two weeks to find Alex a good home and I couldn't believe no one wanted her as she was the sweetest
cat I'd ever seen. In the end, I couldn't see her going to a shelter, I didn't think she'd survive. So I reluctantly
took her.
We fell in love with each other right away. She melted my heart and healed every part of my soul. Patches had
been my child for 20 years but was never a loving animal. She was very temperamental and moody. I loved her
very much regardless and I accepted her for who she was. But Alex was my soul mate, the love of my life.
I immediately put her on a diet, she lost weight and looked good for awhile. Her digestive problems started
about six months later. She would vomit for an entire day and I'd have to give her some Pepcid AC to get her
system calmed down. It wouldn't last though, only about a day. She became overweight again even though I
tried to feed her what I thought was good food and the right amount. I quickly found out what I thought was
good food was the worst possible thing to feed her.
In May of 2007 her vomiting became pretty bad. It lasted for days instead of just one day so I took her to the
vet to be checked out. The vet reprimanded me for Alex's weight which was 17 lbs. I didn't like it either but
didn't know what else to do. So I bought a baby scale and learned how to control her portions. Again, I bought
her what I thought was better food. The pet food recall happened in February of that year and I didn't have any
of the recalled cans, but different foods just kept getting recalled and poisoning more pets. So there's no way for
me to know if that was a cause or even added to the problem.
Then in February of 2008 everything went downhill. She started vomiting and couldn't stop. I took her in to the
vet and scheduled an ultrasound. Tests showed she had thickening of the small intestines and her liver was
bright red. She was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and an inflamed liver. That turned into hepatic
lipidosis in March of 2008 and then pancreatitis in June of 2008. The three conditions together are known as
triaditis.
After many months of severe ups and downs, I finally lost her quite suddenly on July 10th. During the time she
was sick I dedicated my every waking moment to doing everything I could to help her. Now my mission is to
help others learn how to care for their cats and how to better arm themselves with knowledge about this disease.
I feel it's important to tell her story because the condition of IBD rarely stays the only condition. Whether it's the
disease itself or the medications, there are many things that factor in and will have to be treated for the rest of
your cat's life. But you have the advantage of finding this site. Because with trial and error, everyone
contributing to this site will be helping other cats live a longer and healthier life. Maybe someday we can even
find a way to avoid this disease altogether.
cats while in the Army in 1996. He brought them all home to New Hampshire with him and all four cats lived
with my sister when my nephew went overseas. She never did like to be with other cats and was always very
nervous. My sister decided to give her to my tenant, an older woman, who was looking for a lap cat. My tenant
ruined Alex as far as I'm concerned. She not only fed her junk for food, but literally junk food like ice cream. She
was very overweight when I took her in.
Six years ago this past October, my tenant was dying of cancer at the same time as I was losing my cat Patches,
who was 20 years old. Patches lived a long happy life with us but had renal failure and was fading quickly. We
decided to let her go peacefully at the vets and it tore me apart. I didn't want another cat, I was too full of grief. I
tried for two weeks to find Alex a good home and I couldn't believe no one wanted her as she was the sweetest
cat I'd ever seen. In the end, I couldn't see her going to a shelter, I didn't think she'd survive. So I reluctantly
took her.
We fell in love with each other right away. She melted my heart and healed every part of my soul. Patches had
been my child for 20 years but was never a loving animal. She was very temperamental and moody. I loved her
very much regardless and I accepted her for who she was. But Alex was my soul mate, the love of my life.
I immediately put her on a diet, she lost weight and looked good for awhile. Her digestive problems started
about six months later. She would vomit for an entire day and I'd have to give her some Pepcid AC to get her
system calmed down. It wouldn't last though, only about a day. She became overweight again even though I
tried to feed her what I thought was good food and the right amount. I quickly found out what I thought was
good food was the worst possible thing to feed her.
In May of 2007 her vomiting became pretty bad. It lasted for days instead of just one day so I took her to the
vet to be checked out. The vet reprimanded me for Alex's weight which was 17 lbs. I didn't like it either but
didn't know what else to do. So I bought a baby scale and learned how to control her portions. Again, I bought
her what I thought was better food. The pet food recall happened in February of that year and I didn't have any
of the recalled cans, but different foods just kept getting recalled and poisoning more pets. So there's no way for
me to know if that was a cause or even added to the problem.
Then in February of 2008 everything went downhill. She started vomiting and couldn't stop. I took her in to the
vet and scheduled an ultrasound. Tests showed she had thickening of the small intestines and her liver was
bright red. She was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and an inflamed liver. That turned into hepatic
lipidosis in March of 2008 and then pancreatitis in June of 2008. The three conditions together are known as
triaditis.
After many months of severe ups and downs, I finally lost her quite suddenly on July 10th. During the time she
was sick I dedicated my every waking moment to doing everything I could to help her. Now my mission is to
help others learn how to care for their cats and how to better arm themselves with knowledge about this disease.
I feel it's important to tell her story because the condition of IBD rarely stays the only condition. Whether it's the
disease itself or the medications, there are many things that factor in and will have to be treated for the rest of
your cat's life. But you have the advantage of finding this site. Because with trial and error, everyone
contributing to this site will be helping other cats live a longer and healthier life. Maybe someday we can even
find a way to avoid this disease altogether.
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