Happy thoughts for my skinny kitty

[krazyaboutkatz]

Starr actually has both colitis and IBD. He tried many different diets like the Z/D, one by Purina, and I think another one by Hills which were all prescription diets but none of them worked. At first I thought that he had food allergies so I also tried a Venison and Pea formula by Natural Balance but it didn't work either.

He was actually on pred while he was eating the Z/D diet and this did work at first but then he became worse. Then my vet suggested that I try a grain free diet like Innova Evo. He did great on this food. He still had occasional accidents though so I also started taking him to holistic vet so he's also taking Primal Defense powder by Garden Of Life and GI Encaps by Thorne Research. Adding these really helped him. He also had acupunture treatments which have also helped him.

I was also trying to get him off of the pred and after a little over 1 year he was finally off of it and just taking the supplements. Unfortunately he started having more bad accidents again so I just recently had to start him on the pred again. A vet told me that it's very rare for cats with IBD to be able to do well on a special diet alone. They need the pred to help with inflammation and she's happy if the cat can be weaned down to either 5mg of pred every other day or 2.5mg of pred every other day.

Some people have also found that cats put on a raw diet will do very well. I started feeding him a little bit of raw turkey or chicken but I didn't notice any improvement. Now that he's back on the pred, he can't eat a raw diet. So now he eating the Innova Evo dry. Since the canned Innova Evo was causing him problems he also gets Beechnut Turkey or Chicken baby food and this is where I mix in his pred and supplements.

Your cat Ollie may also need to have vitamin B-12 injections. This helped my Starr a lot and gave him the energy that he needed to thrive. It also helped his fur and whiskers improve. Starr was probably down to about 7lbs at his sickest and he's a small cat and has always been very petite. Now he's probably in the 11-13lb range and a bit on the chubby side due to the pred. The pred will cause a huge appetite and he'll also drink a lot more water and pee a lot more. I don't free feed any more but Starr still gained weight.

I hope that some of this information has helped you. Good luck and I'll continue to keep Ollie in my prayers.

[Hellojosie]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to watch Ollie closely over the next month and take him back to the vet probably around Thanksgiving for a weigh-in. I'm going to mention IBD to her too when I go back- I did some reading up on it and the symptoms seem to match him exactly. Fingers crossed that all this time he's just not been digesting the dry food very well and the wet food diet will help!

Here's a pic of him in his Halloween costume...he's such a good sport, haha!

[krazyaboutkatz]

He's adorable. I sure hope that he doesn't have IBD. I'll keep him in my thoughts and prayers. Please continue to keep us updated about him.

[Hellojosie]

Well, this is only a semi-update. Ollie was on metronidazole for just over a week along with the canned low residue Iams food. When I ran out of the metronidazole (and I may be spelling that wrong) and the food, I called the vet's office back to see what the next step is. I told them that I haven't really noticed much of a difference so far in his poo consistency, but I would swear that he's putting on a little bit of weight. And he's only had one accident since Saturday and it wasn't a very big one. Anyway, so the vet decided I should start him on the dry low residue food as well as another round of the metronidazole and prednisole (sp?) too this time. Good thing he's a trooper when it comes to taking pills. I picked up more cans of the wet food too- he gets 1/3 of the can in the morning and at night and is sooo happy about that. And he loves the dry food version as well (and so does our fatty, Stewie).

So far, in the three days he's been on the dry food & the pred, I've noticed his poo, while still runny, is really dark in color. Gross. But as long as he's keeping it in the litter box, I can deal with it. Like I said, I swear he's looking a little "fuller", but it could all be in my hopeful mind. I'll have to get him back to the vet soon for an accurate weigh-in.

Thanks for all the happy thoughts! Hopefully this next round of food & drugs will help some!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks for the update. He's probably on prednisolone because this is what my Starr is also on. If the food that he's eating is darker in color then this is why his stools are looking darker. If not then you should mention this color change to your vet.

The pred will make him very hungry and thirsty so don't be alarmed about this. He may also start sneezing or having the sniffles at first because this is how my Starr has reacted each time he's been back on the pred. With Starr it went away in about 1 week. Unfortunately the pred makes their immune systems a bit weaker.

I sure hope that Ollie will do well on his meds and new diet and will start gaining some weight back and forming firmer stools. I'm still having some issues with my Starr and I most likely always will. Please continue to keep us updated. Good luck.

You can also crush the pred into his wet food and he shouldn't be able to taste it so this can be another option for you.