It's great to read Sebastian is finally starting to feel better. Nature's Variety was the food that helped my cat, too. They used to make a dry Lamb and Oatmeal and for whatever it did/didn't have my cat got better (same issues you had). The other flavors didn't work. They've since discontinued it but a couple of years had gone by and she can tolerate the Buffalo Blue brand now. I also gave her the canned Lamb. There's 2 kinds of canned Lamb and one worked better than the other. I really suspect my cat may have had TriTrich even though I treated her for it. I read a million message boards that said the symptoms go away after a couple of years. I know it's been a long battle for you and poor Sebastian. I felt so sorry for my cat having diarrhea like that. You must be very relieved!

I know that this is an old post, but sometimes those are very good. I also am dealing with a cat with IBS. He is 10 yrs and was doing ok on Blue Buffalo chicken and brown rice. We had all the bloodwork and tests the vet could think of and tried the very expensive vet limited ingredient Venison. (Can't believe I bought venison, when my husband is a hunter and I have a freezer of venison.) I just started trying any and all cat food until I got on Blue Buffalo chicken and brown rice. That worked for about 6 months. Then he started throwing up again and his stools got looser and looser, until it was diarrhea. I found this thread and bought the Nature's Variety dry Rabbit and 3 or 4 cans of wet (which he doesn't like). I got the new food on June 30th and he stopped throwing up right away, but still had diarrhea. Finally, July 4th he seemed a little better, and today he had a real stool! It was soft, but formed! That was at 10:15 AM and he hasn't gone since. He is eating and drinking well and the kidneys are working fine!

Thanks Jonereb and Kittens!

He has backslid today, but still no throwing up.

It's very frustrating Sherry. The disease cannot be cured-only managed. I've learned to be grateful for the "good" days.

Anyone that has any ideas is welcome to post. He is terrified of the vet since November when they tried for three or four time to get blood out of his neck to send to TX A & M.. The only thing I can get is that it came back OK. No problems.

Update. The Nature's Variety Rabbit did not work out. While he did not throw up, it gave him bad gas and diarrhea. We are back at the moment with the vet food, Royal Canin Limited Ingredient Venison, which he ate for about 3 or 4 weeks last December, before throwing up on it. FYI, I do not add any other food or treats to what he is eating. Today has been a fairly good day.

Although I have a dog, both species have similar symptoms. I'd tried every dog food (organic, grain free, hypo allergenic etc) and none agreed with my dog and the vets had given up. He was near starvation when I found a holistic herbalist who prescribed human grade food. It took a while but he gained weight and is full of energy. When he has a flare, we alternate proteins. Venison and lentils seem to work best.

I had a cat we got in 1981 and she died in 1998. She ate Friskies her whole life. I adopted two older cats in 1998, they were 10 and 12, and then got my Dad's cat a couple years later. They just ate whatever. Something has been changed in the pet food. We will never know, but it is NOT the same food

Same here. Never knew a dog that ate anything except dog food. This has been a steep learning curve for sure.