this time? IBD. It's been talked about before, but is pretty much the most likely diagnosis for Bella Mae at this time. I've had a suspicion of this, and have been reading about ibd and bookmarked the site ibdkitties.com and all that good stuff. So, essentially I'll have to keep doing what I've already been doing and then some. She has medication for me to give her twice a day for a month-but I'll likely be waiting until after we get back from Iowa City before doing so. Will be looking for more food that doesn't have chicken, and will stock up on more moist foods that are acceptable. It's frustrating because it seems food tends to be thrown more than eaten...moist-wise that is. Also difficult because I don't like to 'free feed' but I'm having to for Bella's sake. If she goes too long between meals, she'll throw up.Sooooooooooooo finding the right balance of food and stuff to add to the food to assist with digestion, etc.
It's not a death scentence by any means, but it does mean we will have some struggles here and there.
There is light tho-Bella's CREA levels are down to normal!!! This is great news as she's been above normal for about a year! (her values were high when she had her teeth cleaned in March and they were high several months after when she had her 'episode' when she refused water/food) to have them down to normal is a huge sigh of relief for me. Go Bella Mae!
IBD seems to be very common in kitties. Though of course you can't get a true diagnosis unless you take a internal sample. So a lot of things tend to be lumped into "IBD," including food allergies. Treating her would be the same, I assume, regardless. Do you have the recipe for Slippery Elm Bark? If not, I think I still have it somewhere. Very soothing when they have flare-ups.
ReplyDeleteLots of purrs to Bella Mae!
Oh yeah, do I have Slippery Elm Bark? Totally :) When Bella Mae had stool issues I gave it to her regularly. (and the best part is the Co-Op carries it in bulk!) Seriously, during most of the first year of having her she had on/off diarrhea. I suppose when you take in a stray sitting on your doorstep-literally-no real idea of age or what she ate beforehand. I think it's food sensitivities. I try and find canned foods she will accept that are gluten-free (same for Cordelia) but finding something either one will eat regularly is difficult. Bella went though a period where she refused moist food completely. She is currently not a great candidate for raw food-if I could find something locally tho that is pre-packaged I would try it.
ReplyDeleteHave probiotics as well...keeping fingers/paws crossed.