| Living With IBD - Major G. |
| Major Garrity - London, UK Male, Domestic Shorthair Born February 1999 Diagnosed with Feline Diabetes in February 2008 Diagnosed with Gastroenteritis in Oct 2008 Diagnosed with Mild Neutrophilic Inflammation of the large bowel in December 2008 Diagnosed with Suspected IBD in December 2008 |
In Nov 2007, Major had rabies vaccinations for the first time since 2001 due to our pending move to Bahrain. In mid-Dec, Major had a
mini-check up at his 30-day follow up blood test for his rabies booster. The check up revealed that everything was fine with Major. At
the end of Dec 2007, we noticed that Major’ appetite was off (he normally LOVES his food) for a few days but he bounced back. In Jan
2008, we noticed that he was more lethargic and drank more water but other than that, he seemed fine.
In Feb, we took him back to the vet for his annual vaccination and another check up before moving to Bahrain. This was when we
noticed that he had lost 0.7kg in two months. Later the blood test (both blood glucose test and frutosamine test) confirmed that Major
had feline diabetes. He was immediately put on Insuvet Lente insulin.
Major was on Hill’s Diet and Hill’s Prescription Diet (R/D) for his entire life till this point. Upon doing some research, I realised that dry
food is full of carbohydrate, and most commercial food is made of poor quality ingredients. I immediately switched him to wet food with
low carbohydrate content (less than 7%) with the intention of transitioning him to raw diet in the coming months.
Thanks to Feline Diabetes Message Board (FDMB) – www.felinediabetes.com, I received wonderful support and help from the
members of this forum to get us through a very rocky start of keeping Major's blood glucose under control.
I relied a lot on the valuable information provided by the Janet and Binky’s List. It is a very good start for anyone who is interested in
finding the appropriate diet for diabetic kitties. Janet and Binky’s List:
www.felinediabetes.com/diabetic-cat-diets.
Major was on Insulvet Lente for 4 weeks without much improvement. His blood glucose level was consistently high at pre-shots (in mid
20’s mmol/L). By the end of March, I decided to change to Insuvet PZI insulin and followed Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins’ protocol (www.
yourdiabeticcat.com/forums). Within two weeks of following this protocol, Major came off insulin. He is currently in remission. For any
cat lovers who care for their kitty’s health and dietary requirement, I highly recommend Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkin’s book – Your Cat.
I started transitioning Major from commercial food to raw diet (with bones) in March, by the end of May, Major was on 100% raw meat
diet. He was thriving on raw meat diet, his coat was shining, and he seemed to have much more energy. However, Major started having
occasional vomiting episodes after eating. After many trials and experiments, I believe vitamin B complex – one of the supplements in
his raw meat diet was making him sick. It did make sense to me as I know many people (including myself) also feel sick after taking
vitamin B complex. Therefore, instead of adding what’s required by the recipe, I only added about 1/5 the required amount of vitamin B
in his diet. It seemed to have solved the problem.
Major was doing very well on this new diet and was maintaining a normal blood glucose level. In July, I decided to introduce a new kind
of meat to Major’s diet – turkey. Up to this point, Major was on 100% raw rabbit diet and cooked turkey and chicken as snacks daily. As
a start, I only added about 15% of raw minced turkey to his normal rabbit meat diet. Major seemed fine but did vomit once.
I didn’t give him any more raw turkey meat until Oct when I added 50% raw minced turkey meat to his normal rabbit meat diet.
Within hours of eating this new turkey and rabbit meat diet, Major started having diarrhea – frequent with small volume. Other than
having diarrhea, Major was still eating well with good appetite. I took him to the vet, and the vet believed it was the contaminated meat
(possibly turkey) that caused the diarrhea.
Major was prescribed Zantac and a five-day course of antibiotics (Clavaseptin). Major’s diarrhea stopped immediately and was back to
his normal self. For a week after the start of his diarrhea, I gave him cooked chicken and commercial food.
Then I made a crucial mistake, I decided to give Major raw minced chicken right after he recovered from gastroenteritis. This brought
on the second bout of diarrhea and vomiting. The emergency vet prescribed another five-day course of antibiotics (Synulox) and
Zantac. This time, Major didn’t response to the antibiotic treatment immediately, and the diarrhea lingered for a few more days before
it finally stopped.
Almost as soon as Major completed the second course of antibiotics, the diarrhea returned. At this time, both our regular vet and the
emergency vet strongly objected that I continued to feed Major raw meat diet. Our regular vet also suspected that Major was allergic or
had food intolerance to chicken and turkey. So this really limited what I was able to feed Major as I also had to consider Major’s special
dietary requirement for his diabetes. Major doesn’t eat beef and throws up after eating lamb and fish. Now, he may be allergic to
chicken and turkey as well. That didn’t leave me with too many choices so I decided to home cook his food.
Following the raw recipe with cooked meat, I steamed rabbit meat or duck breasts then pureed the meat for Major. This diet lasted only
for a few days then Major refused to eat. I kept trying different ways of cooking, adding/omitting certain supplements. None seemed to
make him interested in his food. Out of desperation, I took out a bag of raw minced rabbit meat to thaw. Major jumped on the kitchen
counter and started licking the bag and wanted to eat.
This was a turning point for us. I decided to ignore what the vets told me and started feeding Major raw rabbit meat again
supplemented with some commercial food. The only problem was that as soon as I added those supplements, Major would refuse to eat
the raw rabbit meat. So I found a way for him to eat but this diet was not balanced. Within two days after Major started eating raw
rabbit meat supplemented with some commercial food, his diarrhea stopped. Over the next couple of weeks, he showed that he
preferred to eat the commercial food instead of the raw rabbit meat. So we put Major back on commercial food only. While his diarrhea
seemed to be under control, we also noticed that he seems nauseated at times. To control his nausea, Major started taking Zofran, 4mg
(1mg or 1/4 tablet twice a day).
It is not confirmed that Major has IBD but in the last two months, we have had the following tests done (listed in chronological order):
· Four sets of blood tests (14 Oct, 28 Oct, 13 Nov & 28 Nov)
· Cobalamin and Folate test at TAMU (13 Nov)
· fPTLI and TLI test at TAMU (13 Nov)
· Two sets of fecal analysis tests (14 Oct, 11 Nov)
· CTDS food panel test (13 Nov)
· Full thyroid panel test at Hemopet by Dr. Dodds (13 Nov)
· Abdominal ultra sound at Royal Veterinary Collage, UK (24 Nov)
· Two sets of rectal cytology tests done by two separate labs with samples taken at the same time (28 Nov)
· Urine analysis (15 Dec)
All the tests came back normal EXCEPT for his full thyroid panel, folate test and rectal cytology test.
Both the folate and full thyroid tests only indicated that something was not right with Major but they
couldn’t pinpoint what exactly was wrong with Major.
One of the feline specialists we consulted suggested that we get a rectal cytology test done.
Finally, the rectal cytology test (both tests by two separate labs) showed that Major has mild neutrophilic inflammation of large bowel.
It also showed presence of organisms that looked like clostridial spores and presence of many yeast-like organisms that may be
associated with one the three scenarios:
1. rabbit feces
2. probiotic therapy
3. antibiotic therapy resulting in an imbalance of normal intestinal microorganisms
Since Major was on rabbit meat diet, had been taking probitoic, had three courses of antibiotic therapies (including Antirobe for
redness/inflammation of his gum prior to taking two courses of antibiotics for two bouts of diarrhea), all three scenarios may be possible.
I also noticed a couple of times that if I added just a tiny bit more probitics into Major’s food, his would get terrible diarrhea. I have now
stopped giving Major any probiotics.
Following the rectal cytology test, the feline specialist recommended clostridial enterotoxin assay (ELISA) to check if the organisms that
look like clostridial spores are producing toxin or are merely present and benign.
Here’s some information on clostridial perfringens enterotoxemia:
According to Antech Diagnostics lab, clostridium perfringens is a normal enteric bacterium found predominantly in a vegetative, non-
enterotoxin producing form. Under certain conditions, the organism undergoes enteric sporulation at which stage the enterotoxin is
released. The organisms tend to colonize the distal small intestine and upper colon. Nutritional changes, alternation of bacterial
microflora, decreased local IgA immunity and intestinal epithelial injury may all play a role in initiating the spores forming change in the
strains of clostridium that produce this disease.
Most acute case responds well to fluids and oral antibiotic therapy directed against clostridium perfringens. ampicillin, amoxicillin,
tylosin, clindamycin or high dose metronidazole therapy are recommended.
Chronic cases require long-term antibiotic use and/or diet manipulation using high fibre content diets. Fibre has been shown to alter
colonic bacterial microflora and maintain a more acidic pH. These changes inhibit clostridial spore formation. Soluble fibre supplements
such as psyllium can also be used.
Update: December 23, 2008
Major still has some good days and bad days – reduced appetite and nausea. He is not 100% his old self – playful, energetic, great
appetite…….but he is still as sweet and affectionate as before.
Major’s next test after the Christmas holiday will be a clostridial enterotoxin assay (ELISA).
Major’s diarrhea is currently under control. Nausea is more of a problem now. He is currently taking Zofran, 4mg (1/4 table twice a day)
to keep his nausea at bay and folic Acid 200mcg a day for his folate deficiency. Major also gets vitamin 12 (cyanocobalmin) injection
once a week.
Update, May 1, 2009:
Major's IBD is controlled with raw rabbit mixed with Instinct Rabbit canned food. He takes Plant Enzyme and Probiotics by Animal
Essentials with each meal. He is fed fives times a day. Three main meals + two snacks.
He also takes Australian Bush Flower Essence ABFE. The essence is customised for Major's needs. I purchased the complete set (69
essences) to make up the dosing bottle myself. I also bought the book: Animal Healing by Marie Matthews as my guide to use the
essences. There's a yahoo forum for using ABFE to treat animals.
In short, Major seems to be doing better (touch wood) after we stopped feeding him chicken. So chicken and turkey seem to be the
trigger that started the whole nightmare.
Update: September 28, 2009
There hasn't been any change with Major. He is not taking any medication except 1/8 tablet Zantac before bedtime.
His is on a combination of Instinct rabbit and raw rabbit. Every once awhile my father in law will give him a teaspoonful of pumpkin to
keep him regulated.
Since we figured out that Major is allergic to chicken and turkey, Major has been on strictly rabbit diet, and this seems to work well with
him.
Update: February 7, 2010
Major's diet and daily care routine are still the same and nothing has changed with his health or IBD. He's still stable and doing well. We
are keeping his weight at 6.5kg (14.5 lb).
Update: June 10, 2010
Everything is the same except that Major is not on a raw diet now. He only eats NV Instinct Rabbit canned food. He doesn't like farmed
rabbit meat and because he's living in Canada, this is the only one available.
When I was at my wits end dealing with Major's re-occurring diarrhea, vomiting and poor appetite, I contacted Dr. Deva Khalsa whom I
found out about through a Yahoo Group I belonged to:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/WholeCatHealth/.
Dr. Deva Khalsa helped Major with his sever food allergies which was mis-diagnosed as IBD because the symptoms are somewhat
similar - diarrhea, vomiting, poor appetite. In Major's case, he was allergic to many types of protein (chicken, turkey, beef, eggs),
supplements like vitamin B - you name it.
In Major's case, Dr. Deva Khalsa used NAET technique and conducted fur testing to see which food, type of food, supplement and
elements were causing Major's allergic reactions. All I can say is that I am absolutely amazed by her work and the results.
Once Dr. Khalsa received Major's fur testing result, she prescribed a very unconventional treatment plan. Her treatment for Major
consisted of some homoeopathic remedies, several vials of liquid (not for consuming) and tapping certain meridian points along the
spine. I know it sounds strange, and crazy in a way, but it worked. NAET technique has been used to treat allergies for humans for a
long time but now many vets are using the same technique to treat animals.
She is based in New Zealand and Florida (splitting her time) and does phone and email consultation.
Her website is: www.doctordeva.com/
Update: June 8, 2011
In Feb of this year, we brought Sudbina and Major to Saudi Arabia from Canada where they were cared by my in-laws. Major had a
tooth extraction and dental cleaning last Nov. He had a post surgery reaction to the anaesthetics which caused GI upset (not due to
antibiotics) and diarrhoea. The diarrhea did clear up after the vet prescribed metronidazole but I noticed that Major was slowing losing
weight and his bowel movement was not quite normal.
At around the same time, I noticed Major started having large volume and pale color poops up to three times a day, and he was eating a
lot more to barely maintain his normal weight. After doing some research, I suspected that Major had pancreatic insufficiency. The vet
in Canada agreed to put Major on pancreatic enzyme. A friend of mine recommended that we use human grade, time released (coated)
pancreatic enzyme because the enzyme will break down the protein over time in the stomach. We put Major on Creon 5 (in the US, it's
been replaced by Creon 600). The result was dramatic. Major's poops became normal and he is able to maintain weight with his
usual/normal food intake.
As of March of this year, Major is back on half raw rabbit and half canned pork diet (Almos Nature). I am able to source raw rabbit meat
here in our neighboring country, Bahrain. He is doing fine on this diet.
Major had a fur testing for allergy tests by Dr. Deva Khalsa again earlier this year as a re-check. I credit Dr. Khalsa for correctly
determining the cause of Major's GI upset and diarrhea problems two and half years ago. Major was allergic to turkey, beef, chicken,
lamb.
mini-check up at his 30-day follow up blood test for his rabies booster. The check up revealed that everything was fine with Major. At
the end of Dec 2007, we noticed that Major’ appetite was off (he normally LOVES his food) for a few days but he bounced back. In Jan
2008, we noticed that he was more lethargic and drank more water but other than that, he seemed fine.
In Feb, we took him back to the vet for his annual vaccination and another check up before moving to Bahrain. This was when we
noticed that he had lost 0.7kg in two months. Later the blood test (both blood glucose test and frutosamine test) confirmed that Major
had feline diabetes. He was immediately put on Insuvet Lente insulin.
Major was on Hill’s Diet and Hill’s Prescription Diet (R/D) for his entire life till this point. Upon doing some research, I realised that dry
food is full of carbohydrate, and most commercial food is made of poor quality ingredients. I immediately switched him to wet food with
low carbohydrate content (less than 7%) with the intention of transitioning him to raw diet in the coming months.
Thanks to Feline Diabetes Message Board (FDMB) – www.felinediabetes.com, I received wonderful support and help from the
members of this forum to get us through a very rocky start of keeping Major's blood glucose under control.
I relied a lot on the valuable information provided by the Janet and Binky’s List. It is a very good start for anyone who is interested in
finding the appropriate diet for diabetic kitties. Janet and Binky’s List:
www.felinediabetes.com/diabetic-cat-diets.
Major was on Insulvet Lente for 4 weeks without much improvement. His blood glucose level was consistently high at pre-shots (in mid
20’s mmol/L). By the end of March, I decided to change to Insuvet PZI insulin and followed Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins’ protocol (www.
yourdiabeticcat.com/forums). Within two weeks of following this protocol, Major came off insulin. He is currently in remission. For any
cat lovers who care for their kitty’s health and dietary requirement, I highly recommend Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkin’s book – Your Cat.
I started transitioning Major from commercial food to raw diet (with bones) in March, by the end of May, Major was on 100% raw meat
diet. He was thriving on raw meat diet, his coat was shining, and he seemed to have much more energy. However, Major started having
occasional vomiting episodes after eating. After many trials and experiments, I believe vitamin B complex – one of the supplements in
his raw meat diet was making him sick. It did make sense to me as I know many people (including myself) also feel sick after taking
vitamin B complex. Therefore, instead of adding what’s required by the recipe, I only added about 1/5 the required amount of vitamin B
in his diet. It seemed to have solved the problem.
Major was doing very well on this new diet and was maintaining a normal blood glucose level. In July, I decided to introduce a new kind
of meat to Major’s diet – turkey. Up to this point, Major was on 100% raw rabbit diet and cooked turkey and chicken as snacks daily. As
a start, I only added about 15% of raw minced turkey to his normal rabbit meat diet. Major seemed fine but did vomit once.
I didn’t give him any more raw turkey meat until Oct when I added 50% raw minced turkey meat to his normal rabbit meat diet.
Within hours of eating this new turkey and rabbit meat diet, Major started having diarrhea – frequent with small volume. Other than
having diarrhea, Major was still eating well with good appetite. I took him to the vet, and the vet believed it was the contaminated meat
(possibly turkey) that caused the diarrhea.
Major was prescribed Zantac and a five-day course of antibiotics (Clavaseptin). Major’s diarrhea stopped immediately and was back to
his normal self. For a week after the start of his diarrhea, I gave him cooked chicken and commercial food.
Then I made a crucial mistake, I decided to give Major raw minced chicken right after he recovered from gastroenteritis. This brought
on the second bout of diarrhea and vomiting. The emergency vet prescribed another five-day course of antibiotics (Synulox) and
Zantac. This time, Major didn’t response to the antibiotic treatment immediately, and the diarrhea lingered for a few more days before
it finally stopped.
Almost as soon as Major completed the second course of antibiotics, the diarrhea returned. At this time, both our regular vet and the
emergency vet strongly objected that I continued to feed Major raw meat diet. Our regular vet also suspected that Major was allergic or
had food intolerance to chicken and turkey. So this really limited what I was able to feed Major as I also had to consider Major’s special
dietary requirement for his diabetes. Major doesn’t eat beef and throws up after eating lamb and fish. Now, he may be allergic to
chicken and turkey as well. That didn’t leave me with too many choices so I decided to home cook his food.
Following the raw recipe with cooked meat, I steamed rabbit meat or duck breasts then pureed the meat for Major. This diet lasted only
for a few days then Major refused to eat. I kept trying different ways of cooking, adding/omitting certain supplements. None seemed to
make him interested in his food. Out of desperation, I took out a bag of raw minced rabbit meat to thaw. Major jumped on the kitchen
counter and started licking the bag and wanted to eat.
This was a turning point for us. I decided to ignore what the vets told me and started feeding Major raw rabbit meat again
supplemented with some commercial food. The only problem was that as soon as I added those supplements, Major would refuse to eat
the raw rabbit meat. So I found a way for him to eat but this diet was not balanced. Within two days after Major started eating raw
rabbit meat supplemented with some commercial food, his diarrhea stopped. Over the next couple of weeks, he showed that he
preferred to eat the commercial food instead of the raw rabbit meat. So we put Major back on commercial food only. While his diarrhea
seemed to be under control, we also noticed that he seems nauseated at times. To control his nausea, Major started taking Zofran, 4mg
(1mg or 1/4 tablet twice a day).
It is not confirmed that Major has IBD but in the last two months, we have had the following tests done (listed in chronological order):
· Four sets of blood tests (14 Oct, 28 Oct, 13 Nov & 28 Nov)
· Cobalamin and Folate test at TAMU (13 Nov)
· fPTLI and TLI test at TAMU (13 Nov)
· Two sets of fecal analysis tests (14 Oct, 11 Nov)
· CTDS food panel test (13 Nov)
· Full thyroid panel test at Hemopet by Dr. Dodds (13 Nov)
· Abdominal ultra sound at Royal Veterinary Collage, UK (24 Nov)
· Two sets of rectal cytology tests done by two separate labs with samples taken at the same time (28 Nov)
· Urine analysis (15 Dec)
All the tests came back normal EXCEPT for his full thyroid panel, folate test and rectal cytology test.
Both the folate and full thyroid tests only indicated that something was not right with Major but they
couldn’t pinpoint what exactly was wrong with Major.
One of the feline specialists we consulted suggested that we get a rectal cytology test done.
Finally, the rectal cytology test (both tests by two separate labs) showed that Major has mild neutrophilic inflammation of large bowel.
It also showed presence of organisms that looked like clostridial spores and presence of many yeast-like organisms that may be
associated with one the three scenarios:
1. rabbit feces
2. probiotic therapy
3. antibiotic therapy resulting in an imbalance of normal intestinal microorganisms
Since Major was on rabbit meat diet, had been taking probitoic, had three courses of antibiotic therapies (including Antirobe for
redness/inflammation of his gum prior to taking two courses of antibiotics for two bouts of diarrhea), all three scenarios may be possible.
I also noticed a couple of times that if I added just a tiny bit more probitics into Major’s food, his would get terrible diarrhea. I have now
stopped giving Major any probiotics.
Following the rectal cytology test, the feline specialist recommended clostridial enterotoxin assay (ELISA) to check if the organisms that
look like clostridial spores are producing toxin or are merely present and benign.
Here’s some information on clostridial perfringens enterotoxemia:
According to Antech Diagnostics lab, clostridium perfringens is a normal enteric bacterium found predominantly in a vegetative, non-
enterotoxin producing form. Under certain conditions, the organism undergoes enteric sporulation at which stage the enterotoxin is
released. The organisms tend to colonize the distal small intestine and upper colon. Nutritional changes, alternation of bacterial
microflora, decreased local IgA immunity and intestinal epithelial injury may all play a role in initiating the spores forming change in the
strains of clostridium that produce this disease.
Most acute case responds well to fluids and oral antibiotic therapy directed against clostridium perfringens. ampicillin, amoxicillin,
tylosin, clindamycin or high dose metronidazole therapy are recommended.
Chronic cases require long-term antibiotic use and/or diet manipulation using high fibre content diets. Fibre has been shown to alter
colonic bacterial microflora and maintain a more acidic pH. These changes inhibit clostridial spore formation. Soluble fibre supplements
such as psyllium can also be used.
Update: December 23, 2008
Major still has some good days and bad days – reduced appetite and nausea. He is not 100% his old self – playful, energetic, great
appetite…….but he is still as sweet and affectionate as before.
Major’s next test after the Christmas holiday will be a clostridial enterotoxin assay (ELISA).
Major’s diarrhea is currently under control. Nausea is more of a problem now. He is currently taking Zofran, 4mg (1/4 table twice a day)
to keep his nausea at bay and folic Acid 200mcg a day for his folate deficiency. Major also gets vitamin 12 (cyanocobalmin) injection
once a week.
Update, May 1, 2009:
Major's IBD is controlled with raw rabbit mixed with Instinct Rabbit canned food. He takes Plant Enzyme and Probiotics by Animal
Essentials with each meal. He is fed fives times a day. Three main meals + two snacks.
He also takes Australian Bush Flower Essence ABFE. The essence is customised for Major's needs. I purchased the complete set (69
essences) to make up the dosing bottle myself. I also bought the book: Animal Healing by Marie Matthews as my guide to use the
essences. There's a yahoo forum for using ABFE to treat animals.
In short, Major seems to be doing better (touch wood) after we stopped feeding him chicken. So chicken and turkey seem to be the
trigger that started the whole nightmare.
Update: September 28, 2009
There hasn't been any change with Major. He is not taking any medication except 1/8 tablet Zantac before bedtime.
His is on a combination of Instinct rabbit and raw rabbit. Every once awhile my father in law will give him a teaspoonful of pumpkin to
keep him regulated.
Since we figured out that Major is allergic to chicken and turkey, Major has been on strictly rabbit diet, and this seems to work well with
him.
Update: February 7, 2010
Major's diet and daily care routine are still the same and nothing has changed with his health or IBD. He's still stable and doing well. We
are keeping his weight at 6.5kg (14.5 lb).
Update: June 10, 2010
Everything is the same except that Major is not on a raw diet now. He only eats NV Instinct Rabbit canned food. He doesn't like farmed
rabbit meat and because he's living in Canada, this is the only one available.
When I was at my wits end dealing with Major's re-occurring diarrhea, vomiting and poor appetite, I contacted Dr. Deva Khalsa whom I
found out about through a Yahoo Group I belonged to:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/WholeCatHealth/.
Dr. Deva Khalsa helped Major with his sever food allergies which was mis-diagnosed as IBD because the symptoms are somewhat
similar - diarrhea, vomiting, poor appetite. In Major's case, he was allergic to many types of protein (chicken, turkey, beef, eggs),
supplements like vitamin B - you name it.
In Major's case, Dr. Deva Khalsa used NAET technique and conducted fur testing to see which food, type of food, supplement and
elements were causing Major's allergic reactions. All I can say is that I am absolutely amazed by her work and the results.
Once Dr. Khalsa received Major's fur testing result, she prescribed a very unconventional treatment plan. Her treatment for Major
consisted of some homoeopathic remedies, several vials of liquid (not for consuming) and tapping certain meridian points along the
spine. I know it sounds strange, and crazy in a way, but it worked. NAET technique has been used to treat allergies for humans for a
long time but now many vets are using the same technique to treat animals.
She is based in New Zealand and Florida (splitting her time) and does phone and email consultation.
Her website is: www.doctordeva.com/
Update: June 8, 2011
In Feb of this year, we brought Sudbina and Major to Saudi Arabia from Canada where they were cared by my in-laws. Major had a
tooth extraction and dental cleaning last Nov. He had a post surgery reaction to the anaesthetics which caused GI upset (not due to
antibiotics) and diarrhoea. The diarrhea did clear up after the vet prescribed metronidazole but I noticed that Major was slowing losing
weight and his bowel movement was not quite normal.
At around the same time, I noticed Major started having large volume and pale color poops up to three times a day, and he was eating a
lot more to barely maintain his normal weight. After doing some research, I suspected that Major had pancreatic insufficiency. The vet
in Canada agreed to put Major on pancreatic enzyme. A friend of mine recommended that we use human grade, time released (coated)
pancreatic enzyme because the enzyme will break down the protein over time in the stomach. We put Major on Creon 5 (in the US, it's
been replaced by Creon 600). The result was dramatic. Major's poops became normal and he is able to maintain weight with his
usual/normal food intake.
As of March of this year, Major is back on half raw rabbit and half canned pork diet (Almos Nature). I am able to source raw rabbit meat
here in our neighboring country, Bahrain. He is doing fine on this diet.
Major had a fur testing for allergy tests by Dr. Deva Khalsa again earlier this year as a re-check. I credit Dr. Khalsa for correctly
determining the cause of Major's GI upset and diarrhea problems two and half years ago. Major was allergic to turkey, beef, chicken,
lamb.
Important note: even though this particular case turned out not to be
IBD, I feel it's important to illustrate how the symptoms may overlap
with other differential diagnoses and that people need to be aware of
work-ups and testing needed with their kitties to be sure it's not one of
these other diseases. I'm inclined to believe there's a food allergy/IBD
overlap in many cases and that more commonly IBD is misdiagnosed
as something else rather than that condition being misdiagnosed as
IBD.
IBD, I feel it's important to illustrate how the symptoms may overlap
with other differential diagnoses and that people need to be aware of
work-ups and testing needed with their kitties to be sure it's not one of
these other diseases. I'm inclined to believe there's a food allergy/IBD
overlap in many cases and that more commonly IBD is misdiagnosed
as something else rather than that condition being misdiagnosed as
IBD.
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