| IBD Guidelines |
One of the most important things in regard to treating IBD is changing your cat’s diet. Dry food isn't good for their digestive tract
because it’s already extremely irritated and they need all the moisture they can get out of canned food. Especially if your cat has
diarrhea with their IBD, they can easily get dehydrated. Also, dry food is notorious for the way it's over-processed leaving little left
for nutrients, which is something your cat will need every last bit of. Even if your cat doesn't currently have any digestive problems,
staying away from any and all of the following ingredients, if it can be helped, will benefit you and your cat in the long run. But as
I've stated, if this is all they'll eat, or all they do well on, it's imperative to stick with it if you've tried other things and they can't
maintain.
Look for high quality protein, low carb, grain free foods. Cats are natural carnivores and domestication hasn't changed that. Corn
is one of the worst things that can be added to cat food, as it's highly indigestible even for humans. I happen to love corn, but I
don't eat it every day and neither should your cat. In fact, they shouldn't eat it at all. When an outdoor or feral cat gets hungry, does
it run for a corn or wheat field for dinner? Absolutely not! It goes hunting for birds, rodents, frogs…MEAT.
Wheat, wheat germ, wheat gluten, barley, corn, corn gluten, etc. for an IBD kitty, are ingredients that are known to irritate the GI
tract. In fact, those very ingredients are causing a long list of health problems such as food intolerance, food allergies, IBD,
diabetes, obesity, megacolon, acid reflux. Gluten allergies in humans cause high increases of celiac disease every year. Celiac
disease is an extreme allergic autoimmune response to gluten and it can also be life threatening. Gluten is a protein that's
commonly found in Rye, Wheat and Barley. People can easily change their diet and lifestyle once diagnosed. Diet change with
IBD is a must for their survival and if you can do it without any fuss, that's nothing short of a miracle with cats. But it can be done
and must be done slowly and methodically. But make no mistake...IBD is just as serious as celiac disease and MUST be
treated. Do not ignore the signs. If you ignore the problem and let your cat continue to have these issues, you'll have a much
tougher time giving it the help it needs to heal. If you notice weight loss, vomiting, nausea, lethargy, any one f those symptoms,
please get them to a vet immediately before it gets more difficult to treat.
Just like a person with IBD, colitis, diverticulitis, etc., cats need to stop eating an entire can in one meal. Your cat will probably
have to eat several to many small meals per day. This is the best way to ensure that your cat doesn’t gorge itself in one sitting
and then vomit the half digested food shortly to several hours afterwards. It’s a common problem with IBD kitties and even though
you must keep them eating, many small meals is the best way to go. This gives your cat time to digest each small meal and
hopefully not regurgitate it. Each time an IBD kitty vomits it irritates the GI tract with acid reflux usually occurring as well. Vomit
sometimes contains white foam or bile that’s backing up from the liver and pancreas excretions. A person with a bleeding ulcer
can tell you how much that hurts. So now you know why you’re kitty stops eating. Because when they get nauseas and vomit, it
hurts. If you ever see vomit with a pinkish/reddish tinge to it, that's blood. That means the GI tract has been very strained and it's
painful for them.
You'll want to feed a novel protein like rabbit, lamb, duck or venison; something that your cat isn’t usually exposed to in their diet.
These are specially processed to break down the structure of the protein into multiple, tiny particles that the immune system will
not recognize as an allergen. This is one way of “tricking” the immune response in your cat’s body. Sometimes it’s a specific
allergy they have to chicken, beef, egg, etc. It’s a process of elimination. Stick with low/healthy fats and carbohydrates as these
are converted into energy and the unused portion stored away for future use. This will give the liver and the GI tract a chance to
rest. But if the cat’s GI tract is already compromised, the rest of the organs are working harder to break these down, including the
liver. If too much fat and carbohydrates gets stored in the liver things can quickly escalate to hepatic lipidosis, (fatty liver
disease). Even healthy cats should only be allowed to ingest 3-5% of carbohydrates per meal, because cats don't have the
natural biological enzymes and enzyme pathways to process carbohydrates. Please see my foods page for a list of grain free
wet and dry foods: http://ibdkitties.net/Food.html.
If your cat has diarrhea, sometimes a low residue, low fiber diet can greatly improve their stools. A low residue diet contains
limited amounts of undigested or only partially digested ingredients and limits the amount of food waste that has to move through
the large intestine. This diet may help control diarrhea and abdominal cramping. Adding a teaspoon a day of 100% pure, canned
pumpkin to their food also does wonders to help improve symptoms of diarrhea. Don’t get the pumpkin pie filling, The pie filling
has a lot of sugar in it. Get the 100% pure pumpkin, preferably organic. It should look like squash when you open the can. If your
kitty has severe diarrhea due to antibiotics you can add a teaspoon per meal instead of one teaspoon a day. Both my cats were
on antibiotics when they were kittens for upper respiratory infections and the pumpkin took care of the diarrhea, but I had to put it
in every meal.
Treat are great but only if they’re free of any of the ingredients I’ve mentioned and are all natural and/or organic. Treats are just as
capable of making your kitty vomit or get diarrhea, it really doesn’t take much at all. Healthy treats should consist of very few
ingredients and mainly MEAT. Pet food companies have come a long way in making great treats and there's no reason to feed
the with a million ingredients in them. My healthy cats don't get anything with grains in them, not even treats. I have a
comprehensive list of grain free treats on this page: http://ibdkitties.net/Treats.html.
Think about elevating your cat’s food dish as well. When a cat eats as quickly as they tend to do with their heads facing in a
downward direction, they don’t usually pick their heads up to swallow, they just inhale. Keeping their heads slightly elevated or
even with their neck while eating helps to ensure the food goes in one direction, down. Some people have asked me about water
filters and I myself have a filter hooked up to my kitchen sink and only give filtered water to my cats, no tap at all. I feel it’s best for
my own health as well and this way none of us get the chemicals, contaminates and/or unhealthy bacteria that are in city water. If
you can't do a water filter, at least give only bottle water, preferably something from a health food store that's free of BPAs,
arsenic, etc. There are several brands out there. Read more about water here: http://ibdkitties.net/heatlthywater.html
IBD kitties are notorious for suddenly changing its preference of food. Their systems seem to become used to a protein very
quickly. It’s good to keep at least two or three difference foods in the house at all times for this reason. Even if your cat doesn’t
have IBD, veterinarians are now recommending you rotate their food choices very often. This will discourage their bodies from
getting used to one set of ingredients and developing an allergy to it. Would you want to eat the same thing for the rest of your
life? I highly doubt it, and they shouldn't either. The old school way of thinking it's okay to force the same food day after to day on
your cat is gone. This is a sure fire way to cause food allergies and intolerance. Please go to the food page for more information
on specific foods for IBD kitties and for giving healthy cats better feeding options: http://ibdkitties.net/Food.html.
On the premise of switching things around, the same may have to be done with medications, supplements, etc. As with anything
else there comes a point when the body gets too used to it and it may not work that well anymore. If you notice this happening
with their medication, don't get discouraged. Talk with your vet about other meds you can try and the same goes for any natural
treatments. It comes with the territory and having forewarning that this will in all most likelihood happen several times, can give
you a better way to be prepared for it. This can be a very discouraging and exhausting disease. Please remember to take time
for yourself because you are a caregiver. http://ibdkitties.net/Caregiver.html.
Fore more on this disease please see my guest blog: http://onlynaturalpetblog.com/2010/09/10/988/
because it’s already extremely irritated and they need all the moisture they can get out of canned food. Especially if your cat has
diarrhea with their IBD, they can easily get dehydrated. Also, dry food is notorious for the way it's over-processed leaving little left
for nutrients, which is something your cat will need every last bit of. Even if your cat doesn't currently have any digestive problems,
staying away from any and all of the following ingredients, if it can be helped, will benefit you and your cat in the long run. But as
I've stated, if this is all they'll eat, or all they do well on, it's imperative to stick with it if you've tried other things and they can't
maintain.
Look for high quality protein, low carb, grain free foods. Cats are natural carnivores and domestication hasn't changed that. Corn
is one of the worst things that can be added to cat food, as it's highly indigestible even for humans. I happen to love corn, but I
don't eat it every day and neither should your cat. In fact, they shouldn't eat it at all. When an outdoor or feral cat gets hungry, does
it run for a corn or wheat field for dinner? Absolutely not! It goes hunting for birds, rodents, frogs…MEAT.
Wheat, wheat germ, wheat gluten, barley, corn, corn gluten, etc. for an IBD kitty, are ingredients that are known to irritate the GI
tract. In fact, those very ingredients are causing a long list of health problems such as food intolerance, food allergies, IBD,
diabetes, obesity, megacolon, acid reflux. Gluten allergies in humans cause high increases of celiac disease every year. Celiac
disease is an extreme allergic autoimmune response to gluten and it can also be life threatening. Gluten is a protein that's
commonly found in Rye, Wheat and Barley. People can easily change their diet and lifestyle once diagnosed. Diet change with
IBD is a must for their survival and if you can do it without any fuss, that's nothing short of a miracle with cats. But it can be done
and must be done slowly and methodically. But make no mistake...IBD is just as serious as celiac disease and MUST be
treated. Do not ignore the signs. If you ignore the problem and let your cat continue to have these issues, you'll have a much
tougher time giving it the help it needs to heal. If you notice weight loss, vomiting, nausea, lethargy, any one f those symptoms,
please get them to a vet immediately before it gets more difficult to treat.
Just like a person with IBD, colitis, diverticulitis, etc., cats need to stop eating an entire can in one meal. Your cat will probably
have to eat several to many small meals per day. This is the best way to ensure that your cat doesn’t gorge itself in one sitting
and then vomit the half digested food shortly to several hours afterwards. It’s a common problem with IBD kitties and even though
you must keep them eating, many small meals is the best way to go. This gives your cat time to digest each small meal and
hopefully not regurgitate it. Each time an IBD kitty vomits it irritates the GI tract with acid reflux usually occurring as well. Vomit
sometimes contains white foam or bile that’s backing up from the liver and pancreas excretions. A person with a bleeding ulcer
can tell you how much that hurts. So now you know why you’re kitty stops eating. Because when they get nauseas and vomit, it
hurts. If you ever see vomit with a pinkish/reddish tinge to it, that's blood. That means the GI tract has been very strained and it's
painful for them.
You'll want to feed a novel protein like rabbit, lamb, duck or venison; something that your cat isn’t usually exposed to in their diet.
These are specially processed to break down the structure of the protein into multiple, tiny particles that the immune system will
not recognize as an allergen. This is one way of “tricking” the immune response in your cat’s body. Sometimes it’s a specific
allergy they have to chicken, beef, egg, etc. It’s a process of elimination. Stick with low/healthy fats and carbohydrates as these
are converted into energy and the unused portion stored away for future use. This will give the liver and the GI tract a chance to
rest. But if the cat’s GI tract is already compromised, the rest of the organs are working harder to break these down, including the
liver. If too much fat and carbohydrates gets stored in the liver things can quickly escalate to hepatic lipidosis, (fatty liver
disease). Even healthy cats should only be allowed to ingest 3-5% of carbohydrates per meal, because cats don't have the
natural biological enzymes and enzyme pathways to process carbohydrates. Please see my foods page for a list of grain free
wet and dry foods: http://ibdkitties.net/Food.html.
If your cat has diarrhea, sometimes a low residue, low fiber diet can greatly improve their stools. A low residue diet contains
limited amounts of undigested or only partially digested ingredients and limits the amount of food waste that has to move through
the large intestine. This diet may help control diarrhea and abdominal cramping. Adding a teaspoon a day of 100% pure, canned
pumpkin to their food also does wonders to help improve symptoms of diarrhea. Don’t get the pumpkin pie filling, The pie filling
has a lot of sugar in it. Get the 100% pure pumpkin, preferably organic. It should look like squash when you open the can. If your
kitty has severe diarrhea due to antibiotics you can add a teaspoon per meal instead of one teaspoon a day. Both my cats were
on antibiotics when they were kittens for upper respiratory infections and the pumpkin took care of the diarrhea, but I had to put it
in every meal.
Treat are great but only if they’re free of any of the ingredients I’ve mentioned and are all natural and/or organic. Treats are just as
capable of making your kitty vomit or get diarrhea, it really doesn’t take much at all. Healthy treats should consist of very few
ingredients and mainly MEAT. Pet food companies have come a long way in making great treats and there's no reason to feed
the with a million ingredients in them. My healthy cats don't get anything with grains in them, not even treats. I have a
comprehensive list of grain free treats on this page: http://ibdkitties.net/Treats.html.
Think about elevating your cat’s food dish as well. When a cat eats as quickly as they tend to do with their heads facing in a
downward direction, they don’t usually pick their heads up to swallow, they just inhale. Keeping their heads slightly elevated or
even with their neck while eating helps to ensure the food goes in one direction, down. Some people have asked me about water
filters and I myself have a filter hooked up to my kitchen sink and only give filtered water to my cats, no tap at all. I feel it’s best for
my own health as well and this way none of us get the chemicals, contaminates and/or unhealthy bacteria that are in city water. If
you can't do a water filter, at least give only bottle water, preferably something from a health food store that's free of BPAs,
arsenic, etc. There are several brands out there. Read more about water here: http://ibdkitties.net/heatlthywater.html
IBD kitties are notorious for suddenly changing its preference of food. Their systems seem to become used to a protein very
quickly. It’s good to keep at least two or three difference foods in the house at all times for this reason. Even if your cat doesn’t
have IBD, veterinarians are now recommending you rotate their food choices very often. This will discourage their bodies from
getting used to one set of ingredients and developing an allergy to it. Would you want to eat the same thing for the rest of your
life? I highly doubt it, and they shouldn't either. The old school way of thinking it's okay to force the same food day after to day on
your cat is gone. This is a sure fire way to cause food allergies and intolerance. Please go to the food page for more information
on specific foods for IBD kitties and for giving healthy cats better feeding options: http://ibdkitties.net/Food.html.
On the premise of switching things around, the same may have to be done with medications, supplements, etc. As with anything
else there comes a point when the body gets too used to it and it may not work that well anymore. If you notice this happening
with their medication, don't get discouraged. Talk with your vet about other meds you can try and the same goes for any natural
treatments. It comes with the territory and having forewarning that this will in all most likelihood happen several times, can give
you a better way to be prepared for it. This can be a very discouraging and exhausting disease. Please remember to take time
for yourself because you are a caregiver. http://ibdkitties.net/Caregiver.html.
Fore more on this disease please see my guest blog: http://onlynaturalpetblog.com/2010/09/10/988/
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