What to Feed a Cat With Ibs

UPDATED 2021 (Answers raw food added; minor updates)

I'm hearing from more and more cat lovers who are desperate to help their cats resolve colitis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or disease (IBD) symptoms, such as:

• diarrhea or loose stools
• constipation
• frequent hairballs or vomiting
• digestive reactions to certain foods (e.g., food allergies)

If you can relate, I've got good news to share.

I just saw a terribly stubborn case of feline irritable bowel symptoms healed through natural means. In a series of posts starting with this one, I'll share everything helpful I learned from that case and other research.

I'll start by doing my best to answer:"What natural food options might help my cat with these symptoms?"

But first, important: I am not a vet. Get a vet involved in your cat's condition. Sometimes these are symptoms of intestinal or gastrointestinal cancer – and you want to catch that early.

What are feline IBD and IBS?

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is an inflammatory immune-reaction syndrome in the gastrointestinal tract. We know healing has been possible for many humans and cats, but the roots of the condition have not been well understood, so doctors have not had reliable solutions.

The symptoms are regular bouts of diarrhea, constipation, or vomiting. You may also see mucous or blood in the stool. In some cats the only symptom is weight loss. Some may stop using the litter box because it reminds them painful experiences.

IBS has similar symptoms to IBD, and I believe it's a precursor to IBD. The difference is that IBD is so inflammatory that it causes damage to the intestines. Besides making everyone miserable, the scary thing about IBD is it can be deadly because:

• a cat can actually starve from a very serious case of IBD
• some experts believe the inflammation it causes can lead to the intestinal lymphoma which has become so common in cats

By the way, sometimes what you think are frequent hairballs are actually IBD symptoms. If you have a cat who gags or throws up hairballs more than once a month, consider it suspicious.

Natural cat food picks for cats with IBS/IBD symptoms

Mainstream vet medicine often puts cats with IBS/IBD symptoms on manufactured "hypoallergenic" foods like Hill's Z/D, but these foods are often high in carbohydrates (fattening) and low in quality protein. And according to expert Elizabeth Hodgkins, DVM, these foods don't always work either – at least not for long.

In her book, Your Cat: Simple New Secrets for a Longer, Stronger Life, Dr. Hodgkins explains that for mild cases of IBD, grain-free canned diets are helpful.

For tougher cases, she prescribes agrain-free raw diet of ground meat with cat-appropriate vitamin and essential-fatty-acid supplements mixed in – she refers to this as a "the most complete cure."

I agree with her on both accounts. And I have also noticed (and know as a human nutritionist)  that simple foods are the best for digestive issues. I have seen cats that do not do well with foods that have a lot of ingredients, even fruits and vegetables. (More on those in a moment.)

For more on grains and the feline digestive track, please see this post by Fern Crist, DVM and this article by Dr. Becker .

Therefore…

First choice

My first choice of natural cat foods from my "Best" list with the most simple, digestive-friendly formulas are:

• Radcat raw*. This one is my (and our cats') personal favorite because it doesn't include ground bones, which are difficult for some cats (like ours) to digest. Very high quality UPDATE: Rad Cat no longer in business : (
• NEW Answers Raw Cat Food, Detailed Formula, fermented with whey. Great clean ingredients and the food is is easy to digest because the whey helps break down the proteins. Plus, the whey also helps product against bacteria risk. This food has made a HUGE difference for our GI-lymphoma-surviving IBD cat.
• Hound & Gatos canned.  Good quality, simple ingredients. Several different formulas. Also available at Pet Food Express stores.
• Pure Vita canned. Simple ingredients, grain-free, low carb.
• Tiki Cat Koolina Luau canned and Puka Puka Luau . Very simple recipes.
• Life's Abundance Instinctive Choice canned. Again, simple and our cats love it. Because Life's Abundance only sells by the case, online, I suggest getting their trial size first, but most cats seem to love it.

Primal's raw cat food*has also significantly helped some cats with IBD. The formulas are not as simple (it has vegetables, fiber, and ground bones), but Primal is easier to buy locally, so if it works for your cat, great!

*Note that, due to slightly higher bacteria risk, raw may not be ideal for cats with cancer or otherwise severely weakened immunity.

Often IBD cats develop an intolerance for common meats they eat regularly, like chicken.

They may do better with less common ones like duck and venison. Feline Pride offers some helpful options there because they have a variety of meats to choose from. Hound & Gatos have a variety as well. Primal now has a Pheasant formula.

In a pinch

If those foods don't work for you for some reason, you could dip into the 2nd choice brands that offer other types of meats in the most simple formulas.

With some cats, constipation is made worse by foods with ground bones – most raw recipes have ground bones in them. When that's the case, then you could make homemade raw food with one of these complete supplements.

Please keep in mind that cats can die without enough of certain key nutrients so you need to follow very specific instructions if you want to start a homemade raw diet.

My current supplement favorites for making homemade cat food:

• Feline Instincts Supplement: They provide a recipe and nutrient supplement, which makes it easy to make sure your cat gets what they need. For constipated cats, I recommend the "No Bones About It" version.
• Alnutrin Supplement: A good supplement and recipe for bone-free homemade cat food. You can request a free sample here, and they include the simple recipe.

Homemade food caveats: Other than getting the nutrients wrong, the other risk with making bone-free food you don't grind yourself is that the meat may have unhealthy bacteria. I've been told not to use packaged meat raw, and that even fresh ground meat from a butcher may not be pure enough. Fresh unground meat is a safer choice. You could also cook the meat and then add supplement afterward. (You have to add the supplement after cooking, otherwise cooking will degrade critical nutrients, like taurine.) Alas, cooked meat is less digestible than raw meat.

What about vegetables? Do cats need some fiber?

For many IBS or IBD cats, the fiber in vegetables only causes more trouble—with one exception:for constipated cats whorespond well tocooked pumpkin or squash, a little pumpkin or squash are good to add to their food because it prevents constipation.

I also like pumpkin and squash because they don't contain disaccharides, which feed the bad bacteria.

Disacchar-what? Basically, vegetables that are high in disaccharides much more readily feed the bad bacteria at the root of inflammatory bowel conditions. This means cats with digestive trouble shouldavoid high-disaccharide ingredients like:

• Potatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• FOS (fructooligosaccharides) – a fiber "prebiotic"

What if no food on earth is working out?!

Sometimes a new food works for a while, and then the symptoms flare up again. Such was the case with my friend's cat.

This happens with tough cases of IBS or IBD.  First, I would stick with whatever simple foods cause the least reaction. Secondly, I'd assume a deeper healing of the gut is needed – that was the missing piece that solved my friend's cat's problems!

Stay tuned for that story in an upcoming post (update: it's here). In the mean time, here's a hint: seek help from customer service atVitality Science. They are amazing and will get your cat on the gut healing path I'm talking about.

What's your experience?

I welcome your cat's story here – we can all learn from each other!

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Source: https://loveofacat.com/2012/09/cat-foodsfor-feline-diarrhea-ibd-cat-throwing-up/

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