Young Cat (less than 1 year old) DX'd with UC

Are you 100% sure it is actually UC and not some form of temporary issue? If it is UC I would say the cat is screwed.

Lots of cats and dogs get UC....it's not just a human disease. :( My sister in law's cocker spaniel had it. I think he was on a low dose of steriods for it for quite some time. She eventually had to find another home for him and last I heard he was doing well.

some good info here...hope this can help your aunt and her kitty. www.halopets.com/pet-education/pet-articles/Inflammatory-Bowel-Disease-in-Cats.html

Hi Protocolteck. Sorry to hear this. What is your aunt feeding the cat?

Cats are obligate carnivores, which means their diet should consist solely of soft, moist meats or raw canned food. The more they shift away from their "paleo" diet to grain based foods riddled with additives, the more we see obesity and other medical conditions. Type 2 diabetes is on the rise in cats and it's 100% preventable. Autoimmune diseases follow similar metabolic mechanisms. It's a hard endeavor switching them back to raw meats because of habit, but it can be done gradually.

We have a couple cats with medical issues (not IBD) and, apart from obviously consulting with a vet or vets, the are terrific feline forums where you will get great responses-- for example, we have got excellent feedback at thecatsite.com which is quite active. As has been posted, plenty of cats and dogs live wonderful lives with IBD once it is treated.

Hey proto

My mom's cat had D and Blood for a long time (and she didn't tell me) and the first thing I did was bought her all new cat food - www.royalcanin.ca/index.php/Veterinary-Products/Feline-Nutrition/Veterinary-Therapeutic-Formulas/Gastro-Intestinal-Fibre-Response-Dry and they have a wet version of this as well. Expensive as heck but the cat loves it. I mix it 50/50 with their Gastro Intestinal High Energy stuff so that she doesn't get fiber overload. So I got rid of the grocery store crap (whiskas or whatever it was) - she had about a 50% improvement if not more. Was still somewhat "D" like but not watery and no bad smell.

The grocery store here sells this stuff that has zero additives or preservatives and is just fresh food. You keep it in the fridge and it lasts for one week. But she doesn't like it. So the above was the only thing I could find.

Then she had something else and I took her to the vet, and the vet gave her a course of antibiotics for a week and this combined with better food made a huge difference - about 90%. She even became super friendly and cuddly after.

Anyway.. sound kinda familiar??

Maybe she could try better nutrition first. Kinda like us.

Also - I'll dig out a paper on WOO and Thyme oil for young cows and animals with the same issue.. if your're interested at all. Or you can google it. There's lot's on the positive effects of adding this to their diets.

Kinda crazy.

But wanted to let you know that the change in food source made a big impact on my mom's cat and "D" and blood. The blood went away pretty fast with the food change.

EDIT: I have her booked for some IBD tests in two weeks. But the vet said to keep her on the food change for now.

Post Edited (Canada Mark) : 11/2/2013 7:11:06 PM (GMT-6)

http://www.newrootsherbal.com/product/view/id/56

http://www.naturesway.com/Products/Probiotics/14241-Primadophilus-Reuteri.aspx

http://www.naturesway.com/Products/Probiotics/14240-Primadophilus-Reuteri.aspx

I have a little glass bottle that I use to mix the two together.  I'd have to tell you exactly what I mix later tonight and I'll write it down today when I do it.

It would be easier to mix the two powders together than opening the reuteri capsules....I have to yet order just the powder for the cat.

It would probably be a good thing to try just the reuteri powder initially, but I like that there are many different strains so that's why I use the combo.

I do mix it in my cat's wet food.

I'm curious if your mom's cat is indoor or outdoor cat...it would be best for him to be strictly indoor.  Is he neutered as well?

It's also important that his litterbox be cleaned many times daily and changed often if he has bloody diarrhea.  Hopefully, once he gets on a  probiotic, his stools will get better and he'll have better bm regularity.

I'm also wanting to stress a culture to be done on his stool...not just a quick test...

q

 

Hi...sorry for the late reply.

It seems lots going on with this poor boy.

Your aunt's amazing to be willing to make some changes to help improve him. Many would have him pts, depending on one's financial situation or care tolerance.

I think the fibre food should be changed to pure pumpkin from a tin. It should, however, be placed into a glass container to maintain the integrity of it.

Probiotics should be added.

I also suggest that a possibility of ranitidine...it can help with a host of issues, vomiting, diarrhea, etc....but I'd have to find info regarding dosage for the size/weight of the cat..how often, etc.

Changing the water from a fountain might be in her best interests because it takes a lot of effort to clean the darn thing at very regular intervals. It does, however, encourage the pet to drink more. If he does drink from a water bowl...it should be replaced daily or evem twice daily and bowls cleaned before replacing. Highly fragranced soap should be avoided too, and rinsed very well. I wash all the cat's dishes with paper towel.

I'd also change his food...I wouldn't give him raw food or any human food. NO treats, just his hard food used for special treats fed by hand, used for teaching tricks, etc...

We've done research on lots of foods, and the two best dry foods that has agreed with our cat are
Natural Planet Organics

http://naturalplanetorganics.com/

and Performatrin Ultra (different formulas).

http://www.performatrinultra.com/cat/ingredients_grain-free.htm

The reason I like both these is that the kibble is a bit bigger and the cat chews rather than gobbles and swallows.

Has he had blood testing to see if he has any of the communicable diseases most felines can get? as well, any deficiencies, liver, blood, etc?

Did he recently get inoculated?  sometimes vaccines given in bulk can overload the immune system.  I'd consider a rethink on that issue (I'll comment more later).

Lots of stuff to deal with....it's overwhelming, but there are some things that can be started immediately such as food change.  I'd not use what she's using at this point. 

q

If my dog had UC and had a flare up like I had this past summer, for example, that would mean he'd be shooting crap, blood and mucous around my house about 30 times a day - on the floors, on the walls, on the furniture, all over the place.
I am sure that neither my dog nor my marriage would survive that for very long. We'd both be homeless within a week. At least we'd have each other.