Petra, my cat was never diagnosed with IDB, but my vet treated her symptoms (diahrrea that did not respond to antibiotics) as if she was. We put her on Wellness canned chicken (5 oz per day) mixed with a bit of canned pumpkin and additional water to keep her hydrated. The Wellness 12.5 cans are rather economical for such high quality food...no soy, no grains, no crap. I chose Wellness over Royal Canin RX canned because I liked the ingredients better. She gets 7 meals (3 per day)out of one can.
For snacking, I give her Royal Canin Rx dried rabbit...but she only gets 1/2 oz a day. She had been eating 1oz, but started gaining too much weight. It only comes in an 8 lb bag and costs ~$34.00 here in NYC, but that lasts us almost a year.

In addition, I give her a slippery elm supplement(from the health food store)every day, and a soil based pro-biotic 1-2 times a week. I wrap them in 1/2 a Pill Pocket treat.

I can't be sure about cause and effect, but Odessa responded positively to this regimen almost immediately and has been fine ever since...no loose stool, no barfing, no vet visits for a year...although I'm taking her for her annual checkup next week.

The food and supplements are more expensive than super market food, but a bargain compared to meds and vet bills.

LF

Eukaneuba Low Residue worked well for my kitty. He didn't have a diahrrea problem though, sometimes soft stools. We're switching to an allergenic diet now for other reasons.

She is on Core dry and EVO Turkey/Chicken canned right now, and really likes it, but still has intermittent diarrhea. I've given her FortiFlora, didn't help much. I've tried pumpkin, she won't eat anything I've mixed it in. This diet is our last effort as none of the meds and antibios seems to work consistently and she is basically a fur-covered skeleton at this point. :(

Poor puss. How old is she? Since she is under a vets care, we have to assume that it is only the IBD and not something like thyroid that is causing her problems. I've seen others suggest psillium (sp?)husk or plain Metamucil. Could you sneak some of that into her food?
And ask your vet about the slippery elm...it supposedly acts as an internal anti-inflamatory. Speaking of anti-inflammatories, have you asked your vet about Prednisone as a last resort?

She is 10 years old. Her brother was hyperthyroid, but had the radioactive iodine treatment a couple years ago and is back to normal now. When her symptoms first started, we were hoping it was her thyroid, but we've done several panels and it's always been normal. I haven't tried Metamucil, I might try that. She's been on prednisolone, a compound med which combines prednisolone with metronidazole and something else, plus several antibios. All in different dosages, we've tried once daily, twice daily, higher doses, lower doses, etc. Seems to work for a couple of weeks, and then the diarrhea starts up again. That is why we had the biopsy done, the vet wanted to rule out cancer. She also has liver involvement, for which she took Milkthistle for a while. I'll check re. the slippery elm, it probably couldn't hurt. I really hope the new food works, she is wasting away. The vet says her intestines are likely so inflamed that she can't absorb nutrients very well any more.

The vet says her intestines are likely so inflamed that she can't absorb nutrients very well any more.

Petra, ask your vet about "sucralfate" sucralfate is helpful in inflammatory bowel disease as it helps coat the intestines giving it time to heal while your working on different diets and other meds for the IBD. I know so many people's animals this stuff has helped. It can bind to other meds so it's important your vet know about it's uses.
For your cats diet, if it we my cat I'd be doing a home cooking plan for cats with IBD. Have you tried any of the diets over at the feline IBD group a Yahoo? If not check it out.

Probably already been done, but there is more than one type of thyroid test as they don't always show a problem even when there is one. Is it the T4 test, I'm not sure. I'm not remembering clearly, but maybe it's T3 as the usual test and T4 is the other test if it's still suspicious but not showing on the regular test.

You might get a second opinion from a feline specialist if you're seeing a doc that does general practice. An internal medicine doc might be another opinion to seek, if you haven't already.

Cindy, thanks for the sucralfate suggestion. I'll check with the vet tomorrow. I tried a home cooked diet for her when this first started, but she did not want any part of it.
Squirrelheaven, she's had full thyroid panels, all normal, so the vet is convinced her thyroid is fine. She does have IBD, biopsies were taken and that was how she was diagnosed as the vet was not sure before.

yeah cats can be so finicky with food. Still though I'd keep trying.
A favorite resource of mine for all kinds of health issues and diet modifications is B-naturals. If you get a chance I would contact the owner lew@b-naturals.com I'm sure lew will have a way to entice the palate while serving a diet plan best for this condition.
another favorite of mine is nature's farmacy.( yes with an F) Both have tried and true diet plans for all kinds of health issues, and sell the needed minerals and supplements. One thing is they both prefer raw diets, but they also offer cooked plans as well. Anyway it's a free consultation and may be worth your time to make the calls just to see what can be offered.

Cindy, thanks, I'll keep the info in case the diet change does not work. I really believe she developed IBD because she was on antibiotics for a long time due to a chronic URI. I think that basically destroyed her intestinal flora and allowed inflammation to set in. Now, she still has the chronic URI AND IBD. :(

Interesting about the antibiotics and IBD.

Ok, this may sound dumb but what is URI?

Petra,I don't know how far you are willing to go AFA alternative med products are concerned...too bad that your Puss didn't seem to benefit from the probiotic. But I thought I would mention this to you: The last time I ordered the Pet Flora, they sent me a sample bottle of something called "Luxolite" which they describe as a solution of benonite clay which acts to "quickly bind to toxins, bacteria, etc....and remove moisture from the intestine, which will make the waste more solid as it moves through the colon." (from the info sheet they sent with the bottle. I never had to use it, so cannot give any opinions.

Perhaps someone else on this forum has had experience with this stuff. You never know.

lfnyc, I have a small bottle of that. Got it with my Feline Comfort order. The vet advised against using any of it, but I think I am going to go ahead and give it to her. Nothing the vet has prescribed has helped.

Cindy, it's an upper respiratory infection. She sneezes and sneezes and sneezes. Antibios helped for a while, then it recurred again, more antibios, recurrence, more antios, and so on.

My feline vet just prescribed some Enisyl-F for my sniffly/sneezy cat. It's a lysine supplement. I haven't tried it yet, as he was just put on an allergenic diet and it has flavoring. The sniffles kicked in as he was under such stress with some ear treatments. Think it's been affecting his appetite as well, as his nose isn't working right anymore. But, apparently, this is something they've found that helps.

I also recommend asking the vet for some sucralfate/carafate to give your pet. It worked wonders for my pet that had IBD and is the only thing that allowed her to keep her appetite and firm up her stools.
If given while she's on antibiotics you have to time when you give her the meds vs the sulcrafate.

PETRA, URI, Oh my I can't believe I even asked that! For whatever reason I was thinking "lower" dah!!

Anyway intestinal bacteria can prevent and promote IBD
(good/bad bacteria) so no doubt the antibiotics could have done that...but did you ever find out what's causing the respiratory problems? The only reason I ask is the cat still has that, could it be the bacteria type causing the URI is also causing the IBD?
I recently was reading a report about IBD patients are much more likey to also have respiratory problems, so I wonder if maybe this is what's going on with your cat. In other words did the IBD create the URI? If you get the IBD under control I wonder if the URI will subside?

My cat has been under a lot of stress recently due to some treatments. He developed a number of stress-related symptoms. The vet told me that his sniffly/sneezy thing is probably also brought on by the stress -- that their version of a cold is a herpes virus that can become active during times of stress. I've never known him to react this way, but this is what was explained to me.

Not awake yet -- he prescribed Enisyl-F for it, which is just a lysine dietary supplement.

Squirrel, the vet prescribed something called "Viralys Gel" for her quite a while ago. It's also a lysine supplement, but it didn't help.
Cindy, that's interesting, I read about the liver involvement with IBD, but not sneezing.
annz, I wasn't able to get hold of her yesterday, but sent her an email re. the sucralfate. I am glad Cindy and you mentioned it, maybe it will help. Thanks to both of you.

I guess they've ruled out anything stuck or growing in her nose, a possibility also.

Yes, they've looked in her nose and all looks okay. Plus, she responds to antibios, except they wear off after a few weeks and the cycle starts all over again. She's been off antibios for quite a while now because we are trying to get her IBD under control, and she is really snotty and sneezy.

Petra, sorry if this was already answered but was the type of URI identified?

Petra, I just thought about something have you ever heard of Wysong pet foods? Well they also have a Rx line of foods. They are on the expensive side but hey maybe worth trying if your not up to making your own. Check out the ingredients for different health issues. link below

Here is a link that might be useful: Wysong Rx pet foods

I really like the looks of their cat foods and company, Cindy, and for so many health conditions. Do you know how much a typical 6oz can of cat food costs? TIA

Cindy, the vet said it's herpes/calici.
The diet she has to be one has to have a protein source she hasn't been exposed to, so we are doing duck and green pea. The Wysong looks good, but the allergy and digestive formulas contain beef and/or chicken, which she can't have for at least a month.

Petra, both viruses? and IBD on top of that!!!
Geeesh that has been be tough! My heart goes out to you!
The way I understand it is illness or stress ( emotional or physical) can re activate these virus's. So possibly controlling the IBD may help keep the viruses at bay.
I checked out the NB duck and pea and think it's a good choice. No grains which is a really good start for IBD patients. I would also definetly start the sucralfate, which is very cheap..I think you can get a month's supply for around $10.00 probably less for a cat.
Best of luck Petra. ((((((((hugs)))))

Thanks, Cindy. I had to order the Natural Balance, they have the dry, but not the canned. So I am waiting to start her on it until I get the canned. I sure hope it works!!