Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) in cats is no joke. Feline IBD is different from IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). With IBD, the intestines of your cat are actually inflamed. The disease is likely caused by diet, abnormal immunity function or environment. Sadly it’s the leading cause of gastrointestinal upset in felines. In this short article we discuss what to feed a cat with IBD.
How Best To Feed A Cat With IBD
The best thing you can do is speak with an integrative or holistic veterinarian and create a custom diet plan for your cat with IBD. IBD ‘flare ups’ require your cat to eat a bland diet. Cats on a bland diet of turkey and pure pumpkin is best. We don’t recommend beef and rice meals because rice can cause further damage to the intestines of a kitty and beef is often high in fat. Turkey seems to be the easiest on cats with digestive issues and pumpkin can sooth digestive upset.
Cats with inflammatory bowel disease should have supplements added to each feeding. Since the health of your kitty’s gut is key, probiotics are an important addition to support cats with IBD. There are many different probiotics available – including fermented veggies – but it’s a good idea to get a professional opinion on which type will work best for your kitty’s specific situation.
Once your cat is safe from the IBD flare up, a novel protein diet is recommended. Novel proteins are meats that your feline doesn’t normally eat and gives your cat’s digestive system a break, consequently slowing the progress of inflammation. This is important for cats with IBD because of the inflammatory nature of the disease.
We know first hand that supplemental care is very important for all cats – especially those with IBD. Probiotics, digestive enzymes and anti-inflammatory supplements are all helpful for a cat battling IBD. Addressing the inflammation and health of the GI tract of kitties with inflammatory bowel disease is key to giving them a long and healthy life.
IBS/IBD Kit for Cats
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