Author Topic: Inflammatory Bowel Disease - IBD  (Read 6821 times)

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Offline Lola

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Inflammatory Bowel Disease - IBD
« on: July 10, 2011, 09:59:34 AM »
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ibd
. Lots of tests, a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease and then on to the usual gamut of scores of special prescription diets and various other approaches. None of which made a whiff of difference for him. He was weary of the suffering and I was heartbroken over what he was going through.... http://www.catnutrition.org/



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To make a long story short, Duke got completely well again, quite literally overnight, because I finally came to understand that if I paid attention to what I fed him, many seemingly intractable and allegedly "incurable" problems could disappear. It was a hard lesson to learn, although I'm happy to report that Duke not only survived it all, but went on to thrive. The impact that a proper diet can have on a cat is probably most conspicuous and immediate for a cat suffering from digestive problems, but I've learned along the way that all kinds of serious health disorders can be reversed or dramatically improved if we feed these magnificent creatures properly. What is involved, quite simply, is sticking as close to Mother Nature as you can manage. Good common sense....


This is no joke. IBD most definitely is a curable disease in many, many cases. But it's never going to be cured if we keep putting the wrong fuel in a cat's digestive engine. If you're a veterinarian, please, please consider recommending this diet - with all the appropriate caveats about the wisdom of following a tested recipe to the letter - for your refractory IBD patients. What have you got to lose?
   http://www.catnutrition.org/ibd.html


http://www.catnutrition.org/testimonials.html  What lay people, vets, and a spunky cat named Rocko are
saying about catnutrition.org


http://www.catnutrition.org/faq.html
« Last Edit: January 13, 2014, 09:50:54 PM by Lola »
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Offline CarnivorousCritter

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Re: Inflammatory Bowel Disease - IBD
« Reply #1 on: July 24, 2011, 05:08:47 AM »
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I enthusiastically endorse the principles laid out in Anne's letter, and strongly urge my veterinary colleagues to consider what it has to say. As a practicing veterinarian whose eyes have been opened in recent years to the illogical practice of feeding a high carbohydrate, water-depleted dry food to obligate carnivores, I am increasingly disheartened by many of my colleagues who continue to (at best) disregard or (at worst) ridicule the growing body of scientific data that validates common sense when it comes to feeding carnivores.

~ Lisa Pierson, DVM
www.catinfo.org
Hurrah! Glad to see such a great website. If only Veterinarians would start listening to their clients! I am a Vet, and I am a huge advocate of raw meat diets for cats and dogs. I cannot fathom why other Vets still sell low quality "artificial" pet food. Luckily for me, I did extra "schooling" after my Vet degree. I also have a Bachelors degree in Wildlife Biology and Ecology, I guess that helped track me back to pet nutrition roots. It is so sad that we have to see out pets get so sick in order to start feeding them right! I will pass your website on to my kitty clients ASAP!

~ Dr. Corrinne Chapman, B.Sc., DVM
Calgary, AB Canada
I love your catnutrition.org website and will recommend my clients go to it. Here is the article I give ALL of my clients as I insist they stop feeding dry if they want ME to be their vet. Thanks for helping in this hard fight. We will win.

~ Elizabeth Hodgkins, DVM
Author, Your Cat: Simple New Secrets to a Longer, Stronger Life

http://www.catnutrition.org/testimonials.html
« Last Edit: July 25, 2011, 12:28:41 AM by Lola, Reason: Changed thread title »

Offline CarnivorousCritter

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Re: Inflammatory Bowel Disease - IBD
« Reply #2 on: July 24, 2011, 06:06:04 AM »
http://feline-nutrition.org/health/carnivore-digestion-and-inflammatory-bowel-disease

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...

The digestive system of a carnivore is very simple. Unlike herbivores and omnivores, cats lack salivary amylase used to initiate digestion of dietary starches...

The domestic cat's stomach, which is quite small, has two purposes. It holds the food and it is not necessary to hold a lot of food because the natural food of the cat is nutrient dense. Small wild cats hunt more frequently than their larger cousins because their prey is smaller.

While lions and tigers may gorge after a kill, small cats, if they are successful hunters, eat more frequently. The second function is the great acid break down. Hydrochloric acid dissolves and liquefies the food. Foods that cannot be digested — raw vegetable matter, cellulose, feathers, teeth and so forth — pass through the animal unchanged. As an experiment, feed your cat some whole corn or peas and watch it come back out the way it went in...

.The dissolved food, called " chyme" leaves the stomach at scheduled intervals and enters the small intestine. ... As there is limited enzyme activity capable of digesting carbohydrates, little or no digestion of carbohydrates can take place....

If the capacity of the small intestine to digest carbohydrate is exceeded, the undigested carbohydrates reach the large intestine. Because the cat has a non-functioning cecum and short colon, it has a limited capability to use poorly digestible starches and fiber by microbial fermentation....

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Highly digestible food yields more available nutrients for passive or active transport in intestinal absorption. Undigested residue (carbohydrates) alters pH and increases the liquidity of the chyme which means decreased stool quality and diarrhea. ... Because of all the carbohydrates, cats consuming dry food are prone to IBD. Most cats exhibiting IBD symptoms (diarrhea and vomiting) experience a complete reversal of symptoms when switched to a grain-free diet. http://feline-nutrition.org/health/carnivore-digestion-and-inflammatory-bowel-disease
« Last Edit: July 25, 2011, 12:28:56 AM by Lola, Reason: Changed thread title »

Offline Lola

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Re: Inflammatory Bowel Disease - IBD
« Reply #3 on: July 24, 2011, 03:21:04 PM »
Great posts, CC!

I was JUST reading http://feline-nutrition.org and their article (and others) concerning the dangers of dry food feeding.
The info can be read at their website and can be downloaded in PDF format.  Great way to pass around some critical information!!

IBD was one of the diseases mentioned.  :(

http://feline-nutrition.org/one-page-guides/the-dangers-of-dry-food
« Last Edit: August 06, 2011, 04:17:59 PM by Lola, Reason: noticed incorrectly spelled word »
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finnlacey

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Re: Inflammatory Bowel Disease - IBD
« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2011, 11:58:18 AM »
I beg to differ and vehemently protest anyone who says IBD is curable! It is NOT! IBD can be stabilized but it's irresponsible to say that it can be cured in many instances. This person writing that information, http://www.catnutrition.org/ibd.html, mentions someone who helped her see that IBD is curable. That person was the one who owned a support group where I first went to get help for Alex. I did receive help from other people there but she was never even on her own site. When I started IBD Kitties she wrote me some vile emails telling me that because I said that IBD doesn't have a cure, I was dangerous and spreading lies. She talked so badly about me and my site I had to threaten a lawsuit against her and several others. I also know who the person is that did the cat nutrition site and she used to be on that site. She bullied me and others because we didn't want to try raw immediately. I didn't even know what I was dealing with at all at the time as far as IBD and she went up one side of me and down the other. That got her almost kicked off the group.

As I explain on my website, I would love nothing better than to find a cure for IBD, especially if it was something as easy as a raw diet. It's just not so and in fact, a cat that has IBD may do well on that diet but if they have pancreatitis, pancreatic insufficiency, fatty liver or lyphoma, that raw bacteria actually exacerbates the illness and gives them terrible diarrhea, vomiting, etc. I've seen it over and over and many times with the case studies on my site! I am not trying by any means to say raw food is bad. Quite the contrary and I do have cases that it's helped so many kitties on my website, they still have their IBD stabilized and under control. BUT, the IBD has not gone away, there are occasional flare ups and things have to be changed around.

I cannot stand people doing this! It gives a pet parent false hope. It's a flat out lie!  bangshead

Sorry, I just know how desperate some pet parents are and when they listen to this, try it and then something happens where it gets worse or it doesn't improve anything, they're left even more angry, upset and confused. I've seen it.
« Last Edit: July 30, 2011, 12:12:24 PM by finnlacey »

Offline Lola

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Re: Inflammatory Bowel Disease - IBD
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2011, 02:01:14 PM »
I am sure there will be plenty of subjects where members will agree and disagree.  That is pretty much what this forum is for...furkid parents speaking up about what they have learned, experiences, etc.  Get the info "out there," and let the reader decide. 

I do have a question for you though...do you think IBD is avoidable (in an otherwise healthy feline), by not feeding dry?
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finnlacey

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Re: Inflammatory Bowel Disease - IBD
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2011, 02:57:59 PM »
I think you can try and do everything in your power to avoid your pet getting any disease, and YES, feeding dry is definitely something that may in fact provoke it. Is it the cause? No, there are several causes and some are not even known. I have a good friend who lost her beloved Snowball last year. She'd fed Snowball and all of her pets a raw diet their entire lives, no dry food! Snowball was one of the sickest kitties I've ever known. Her IBD was so bad it caused her to have all kinds of other issues like breathing problems which extended to heart problems and she finally died very tragically in my friend's arms. That's my point.

I'm sorry I got so upset. And I have no problem at all with people disagreeing with something I say. I don't pretend to know everything. What I do have a problem with is someone telling people there's a cure for something when there isn't. There just isn't! There's only so much we can do. We can try and do everything right and hope that our fur children will lead a long and happy life with very little health problems. And with any luck they will. But that does not guarantee it. Just like with humans. There are just no guarantees. People that have never smoked a day in their lives can die of lung cancer. Dana Reeves, Christopher Reeves' wife is a good example. So much more goes into it, it just isn't that simple as to say a certain diet will completely cure or even guarantee that a cat will improve or do well. It doesn't! That's why I have my website, to put as many choices and different treatments as possible so when one thing doesn't work, a parent can say, "okay, what's next. Let's try this now". There is too many variables. But YES YES YES. Dry food being like people eating a big bag of potato chips is so very very bad for them. Whether it leads to problems in the GI tract or it causes obesity like it did with my Alex. There's a chain reaction that happens. And as I said, for many of them, switching to a raw diet does wonders, just wonders! But...to say it cured them leaves a parent completely unaware that things are not as they seem and that at some point, it may or may not flare up again. Then they're frustrated, stressed and can't understand what happened. They need to understand that inflammation can and does spike at all odd times! Do you see my point? That's like me going around saying I have the cure for cancer! There isn't one! Period.

Very, very unhealthy water is actually just as big a deal for causing these diseases including cancer as dry food is, if not more so. The amount of bacteria, chemicals and pollutants in tap water is astounding. http://ibdkitties.net/heatlthywater.html. I have an over the counter water filter not only for them but for me. And the one I use filters out MANY things including those particular bacterias. I change that filter every 6 months. That is the only water they get, no tap. Also household chemicals, products we put on them, in them. The list is endless! I have sent a hundred newsletters out and each time I have a different thing to pick apart. It can literally drive me nuts! But proper nutrition and the proper carnivorous diet is #1 priority and I fully believe that and endorse it all the time! I actually get many of the parents who email me to try raw with their kitties. But on many occasions, it doesn't work or they end up having other issues like throwing up or diarrhea. The bacteria that's present in a kitty's GI tract that is already diseased can overwork the healthy bacteria that comes from raw and it's like a little war going on inside of them. Then it's a problem. Their system is taxed and instead of calming down, it gets worse.

So long explanation is that no, IBD is not guaranteed to be avoided by any kind of diet or anything else. It's a disease that's still not even fully understood. But yes, it's 100% better to try and feed them the right diet and no dry food at all to hopefully avoid any of those issues like IBD, diabetes, diarrhea, vomiting, etc. Absolutely.  nurse1

Lola have you read the page on my site called About IBD? Maybe that can help shed some light on how the disease tricks the system constantly.

Offline Lola

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Re: Inflammatory Bowel Disease - IBD
« Reply #7 on: July 30, 2011, 03:34:00 PM »
I TOTALLY understand that mannnnny diseases and/or medical issues can be caused by other factors.  
My comments were prettttty much geared towards the first post in this thread... IBD and the dry food "connection."
« Last Edit: July 30, 2011, 03:36:57 PM by Lola, Reason: left out a word »
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Offline Lola

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Re: Inflammatory Bowel Disease - IBD
« Reply #8 on: February 04, 2012, 08:37:10 AM »
Seems soooooooo many people have cats with IBD.  :(
I was just reading the following this morning.  Although Lynette is talking about discussing raw fed diets with vets, still goood info for IBD (and diabetic) kitties to know that there IS a solution!
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They know I credit my cats' health and "recovery" from IBD and diabetes to the diet. One of these two prefers that I'm feeding homemade, rather than a commercial raw diet; he thinks it's safer. There's a third I've seen a few times and she's voiced the typical concerns about bacteria like salmonella, warning me to wash their bowls each meal. I wonder if she warns caregivers feeding commercial dry food about salmonella? We know with certainty that dry food can contain pathogens like salmonella.¹ Do vets express the same concerns to their clients about the bags lining their own shelves? I tell caregivers, regardless of what they feed their pets, to handle food and bowls with care and wash their hands well after handling food, bowls, and scooping litter boxes.
 
http://feline-nutrition.org
Everything you NEED to know about caring for your feline. www.catinfo.org

Offline Lola

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Re: Inflammatory Bowel Disease - IBD
« Reply #9 on: February 25, 2012, 07:31:38 AM »
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After six years of escalating misery, all of my cat's inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) symptoms disappeared - quite literally - within 24 hours of making the complete transition to a raw, grainless diet. That was nearly seven years ago and the symptoms did not not return. I know, I know, many people aren't going to take the time and trouble to seek out a balanced homemade diet recipe, double-check the research behind it, and spend weekends grinding whole chickens and rabbits for their cats. But some will.

Ultimately, I came to the realization that I was putting my IBD cat at much greater risk by feeding species-inappropriate commercial foods than by feeding him a carefully-prepared, balanced, grain-free, raw meat-based diet. Interestingly, plenty of other folks I know with cats that have digestive troubles report this same experience. A grain-free diet "does the trick" for these IBD cats, but a raw diet with grains does not. Why is that? They're carnivores.

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I know of so very many success stories from this diet from people who had nearly given up all hope for relief for these sweet IBD animals. Their cats were wasting away and the ever-increasing doses of prednisone were no longer working or had led to other health problems like diabetes. Like me, they came to feeding this diet because nothing else was working. More than once, people who already scheduled an appointment to euthanize their desperately ill cat were persuaded to try the raw diet as a last resort and were astonished to see their cats improve dramatically or even achieve an apparent cure with no medication.

This is no joke. IBD most definitely is a curable disease in many, many cases. But it's never going to be cured if we keep putting the wrong fuel in a cat's digestive engine. If you're a veterinarian, please, please consider recommending this diet - with all the appropriate caveats about the wisdom of following a tested recipe to the letter - for your refractory IBD patients. What have you got to lose?

http://www.catnutrition.org/ibd.html
Everything you NEED to know about caring for your feline. www.catinfo.org