Cat with IBD (Eosiniphilic Enteritis)

My sweet 4.5 year old cat, has had IBD for most of his life.  Our former vet suggested 1.25mg of prednisone every other day combined with a special diet - Hill's prescription z/d.  We followed this regime for most of his life until about 6 months ago when Hudson started vomiting and having loose stools.  A new vet suggested a new diet:  Hill's d/d in venison and a stronger course of prednisone:  5mg twice daily for a week, 5mg once daily for a week, then 2.5mg once daily for a week, 2.5mg every other day for a week, and so on until we were back down to the 1.25mg every other day.  The prednisone did not seem effective, so we switched to prednisolone.  In any case, for about 2 months Hudson was on a very high dosage of these anti-inflammatories.  He developed diabetes and pancreatitis and had to be hospitalized for 10 days!  We have now switched to 1mg of Budesonide a day to help with the inflammation and to try and bring the diabetes under control, we are giving our cat 1cc of insulin a day and we have switched his diet to Nature's Variety Instinct brand of cat food in the rabbit formulation.  Our cat also gets 1/2 tablet of viokase 16 before each meal to help him digest his food as he was having very loose stools and urinating throughout the house.

I feel absolutely awful about the trauma our cat is going through.  And about how he is now diabetic (which I understand is transient in cats).  The hardest part is trying to figure out what I can feed him that will not cause an allergic reaction as chicken, turkey, duck, all fish and seafood, and now venison, are off the table.

I have great faith that he will soon be better...but some days it's just hard.  Can someone just let me know if they've been through a similar ordeal or give me a sense that I'm travelling down the right path?

[Savas]

Have you ever tried a straight raw meat/ fish diet? Actual fish and meat? Cat food may be designed for cats, but they are in the end, predators. I've found most stomach issues clear up when you give kitty a natural diet of the above, mixed with boiled plain white rice. most predators are actually omnivorous. however, they get their neccessary greens via their prey's diet.

Keep in mind to be really effective, you'd have to go for the more organic cuts. No unnatural antibiotics or steroids in it.

I find it hard to beleive his allergies will be an issue if you go this route. Generally most food allergies are activated in animals by the "unnatural" ingredients in the food.

Also; is your cat on an all dry food diet or wet only?

[mauis]

when I switched my cat to Wellness canned no grain cat food--the loose stools stopped --she was on prednisone and prednisolone both over a 6 month period but neither helped.  I switched her to wellness and the cow patty stools cleared up in days.  No problem since--it has been 2 years now.

[hudson45]

Thanks for your response.  It's crazy -- he's on sooo many medications right now:  Viokase (digestive enzymes), insulin, budesonide (as opposed to prednisone and prednisolone).  I'm actually trying this "Instinct" brand of cat food which is rabbit and also grain free -- as he appears to be allergic to every other protein!  It's just that we're at a point now where we're unsure of how he will do if we were to stop medicating him...

I hope to turn a corner soon...

[zodiacqueen]

Hi, don't feel bad about "putting the cat through stress", you are being a responsible, caring daddy to your kitty.  That says a lot!!  There are too many irresponsible pet owners out there that have no business owning anything alive-you are NOT one of them!!

My mother's cat was diagnosed with IBD, too-had it for years.  It was diagnosed by colonoscopy, and she was also on steroid injections for about 2 yrs.  She had vomiting-a lot of it.  The steroid injections caused(yes CAUSED) diabetes, and she had to be taken off-and when she was taken off the diabetes went bye bye.  Try googling "steroids and diabetes", it's interesting what comes up.  But, I will make a bet that once your kitty comes off of steroids then the diabetes will also go away.

By the way, we later found out that the so-called IBD was really caused by giardia, this is a protozoan-kind of like a parasite.  This is a separate specific test, not sure if this is a blood test, poop test or what-but I do know that it's different from the vet's typical worm test.  If your cat was a stray, then there's a real good chance that he might have this weird "bug".

Hope this helps!!

[catsmeow09]

My cat was diagnosed with IBD also, he is on Budesonide 0.25 twice a day. He was put on prescription food, Royal Canin Hypoallergenic

My vet provided 5 types of trial food, venison, deer etc to see which one he would eat. (He is a picky eater) He sniffed all the others and went for the Hypoallergenic
Since he has been on the medicine and food now, he stopped vomiting and diarrhea and actually gained weight. His fur grew back on his stomach as he was constantly licking away at his stomach before treatment.
I wish you and your kitty well