How I stopped my cat's Irritable Bowel Sydrome (IBS), and saved his life. Please read if your cat has chronic bowel trouble!

[Belarathon]

It's been years since I've been on Usenet, but I feel a responsibility
to pass along some information that has literally saved my cat's life.
I say "saved" his life because I had run out of alternatives and felt
perhaps I owed "Munch" a peaceful ending - he'd had a happy and carefree
life up until then. Ultimately, I decided not to end it for him, as
beyond the discomfort of diarrhea and a bit of arthritis, it was clear
that he did (and still does) very much enjoy being alive.

My 17 year old "Munch" developed Irritable Bowel Syndrome rather
suddenly at around 12 years of age. He'd been eating canned Friskies
and dry food for his entire life. It started out with loose stools, but
quickly progressed to black, horrid smelling liquid. At this point, he
was pretty much going to the bathroom at will whenever and wherever he
felt the urge - he seemed to have little or no control.

I took him to the vet, who diagnosed either IBS, or he felt perhaps he
had developed food allergies. At any rate, the treatment was the same,
Predisone. He was also put on anti-allergenic Science Diet food, and I
discontinued store bought food. The steroid worked almost
immediately...however, within a month, he lost an astonishing amount of
weight, his hair fell out, he cowered in a corner, and no longer seemed
to enjoy my company. Being on steroids myslef to keep a transplanted
kidney, I knew the feeling.

I went back to the vet and told him that Munch would surely die if I
were to continue the Prednisone. We took him off of the steroid and
kept him on the Science Diet, but that wasn't enough. Before long, he
was back to square one, with liquidy black stools. At this point, the
vet said I should constantly change his diet, alternating exotic meats;
protein that Munch had never encountered before. This would keep his
immune system "guessing." I had mixed results using this formula - the
symptoms would wax and wane, but always returned once he was accustomed
to the new food. I can't even begin to list all of the different foods
that I've tried over the years, but just a few included Venison,Rabbit,
Pheasant, Buffalo, Lamb, and even baby food. I also tried numerous
"organic" foods, both canned and dried. No improvement. Eventually, I
stumbled upon *the* solution.

I want to preface this paragraph by saying that of course, your mileage
may vary. I'm sure there are countless reasons why IBS happens; genetic
dispositions, auto-immune disorders, etc. But this is what WORKED for
ME (and Munch). I finally bought some canned food from the company "By
Nature." They have quite a variety of flavors, including liver, chicken
& liver, turkey & liver, and chicken & turkey. One in particular did
the trick, the "chicken and turkey." According to the ingredients,the
can contains only organically raised chicken and turkey, and water for
packing. I have no clue why this one in particular did the trick, but it
seemed to add lots of fiber to his business. The varieties with liver
seemed to be too rich though. Within a week of starting the food, his
symptoms abated remarkably. Keep in mind, he'd not had a firm bowel
movement in years!

*Finally*, he has typical cat-like turds...somewhat longish and hard. I
have no affiliation with the company, nor any stake in promoting "By
Nature" foods. In fact, it's rather a pain to keep a steady supply
coming, but I've managed to keep a stock, as our pet store special
orders it. I also feed Munch organic chicken from the poultry section
of our grocery store, which contains no hormones or antibiotics. Between
the two food sources, Munch has made a complete recovery. He alternates
between firm to ever so slighly soft stools, but nothing that represents
a problem.

Well, there ya go. The simplest thing turned his life around - a
specific canned cat food, and some fresh chicken. He receives no dry
food whatsoever. I only hope this will save you and your respective
companion time, effort, and misery. If you've nearly given up hope,
perhaps this would be worth one more try. Of course, you'll want to
check with your vet before changing your pet's diet. I'll be happy to
field any questions you may have.

Best Wishes,

Cary
--
Replace "hmail" with "gmail" in order to reply. Thank you.

[joancc...@gmail.com]

Thanks, Cary! I am ordering a supply of this food right now. Will post back when I see how Mickey (aged 12) does on it. Thanks again. Joan

[phyl...@gmail.com]

Thank you Cary.

I'm at the point of putting my cat to sleep, my husband has had it with the smell and messes. I love this cat and will try anything, but we've exhausted all other options so before I try this food, can you tell me how long it worked?
Grateful cat lover,
D

[lacey....@gmail.com]

This is great news. The reason I found this thread is because I recently cured my 10 year old Persians IBS.

D, like you my husband was fed up with messes. I called the vevet to price my options of putting him down but couldn't go through with it.

I recently bought a natural product for myself called good grade diatomaceous earth. The funny thing is its recommended for animals but I always just took it for myself. I give Chili 1/2 tsp. Twice a day with his royal canine hard food and we've been incident free since! It took a good 2-3 days to stop vomiting and about a week for hard poo. I don't remember the last time it was a normal stool!

Good grade DE can be found at local feed stores or online. Definitely read up on it even for your own well being...the results are unbelievable! Good luck.

[lacey....@gmail.com]

Food grade Diatomaceos earth is the correct name, darn spell check.

[emm...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, April 3, 2013 3:02:56 PM UTC-7, lacey....@gmail.com wrote:
> Food grade Diatomaceos earth is the correct name, darn spell check.

Hi Lacey,

How much does your cat weigh? I'm trying to figure out how much to give my cat. Thank you!!

[lusit...@gmail.com]

Hi,

My cat right now weighs 11.9 lbs but he used to be 14 lbs. I am concern because he is not eating as much. Anyways, i want him to taste different can cat food but i am always afraid that he will get constipated. So i wanted to try the brand that worked for your cat, but i am not sure if i have the right name.

This is what i found:
http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products
is this correct. If not, could you please send me a link to the brand. i want to order it and see if it works.

One more thing, my cat seems to vomit if i keep changing his diet. How do i stop that?

thank you
lucy

[keving...@gmail.com]

I believe my cat may have IBS and I took him to the vet and after blood work, the Dr.said he believes that my cat has IBS And began a treatment with a steroid shot and 5 days of a medication called flagyl. That was yesterday. My cats condition has gotten worse he won't eat anything and won't drink any water today was the first day that I gave him a flagyl medication and he swallowed the medication and 20 min. Later he vomited again. He keeps vomiting and the vet is closed and I'm afraid my cat is going to die

[elcabal...@hotmail.com]

Thanks for the info. !

On Wednesday, September 24, 2008 9:04:59 PM UTC-4, Belarathon wrote:

[yel...@gmail.com]

I feel compelled to share a story about how mine and my cat's life has been changed for the best. My cat has been diagnosed with IBS a few year ago. My life was a nightmare. Zueser (my cat) would through up daily, sometimes a few times a day. He was lethargic and his fur was lackluster. He didn't move around much and had a lot of discharge out of his ears and eyes. His poop smelled awful (sorry for the gory details, but it's true).

My life consisted of cleaning up his puke off my couches, floors, kitchen cabinets, washing my and my roommate bedding, and trying to maintain a sexy spark in my relationship with my boyfriend, who was pretty discouraged in staying over at my place.

I tried changing my cat's diet and would buy the most expensive, organic can food. I tried feeding him grain free diet food that was only purchased through a vet. I took him to several different vets over the years. None of them had any good ideas for me: they told me he probably had food allergies and suggested putting him on daily medications.

Finally, I found a post on the internet, just like this one, and a story of another cat's transformation after switching to a full raw diet. And I did it. I don't have a lot of free time to prepare his food at home, so I buy my raw food from a specialty food store (that can also deliver (!) dehydrated raw food). My cat's vomiting slowly decreased and finally ceased completely! After a few months, he became more active: he runs around and plays like a kitten. He poops out tiny little rabbit pallets that barely smell. He barely has any discharge from his ears and eyes. We are so much happier and my relationship with my boyfriend is stronger and healthier ;) (just kidding!).

It costs me about $1-2$ per day to feed him ready-made frozen food. I know I saved my cats life by switching him to a correct diet for his specie, which is raw meat. Cats weren't made to eat kibble all day. I hope this helps and will help you and your kitty.

[vilas...@gmail.com]

Well my cat doesn't have diarrhea it is ONlY a chronic vomiting that I'm dealing with. And to say that I don't love this cat and shame on me because you don't want to deal with messes for years: let me explain to you what Dealing with messes is: first of all it is 2,000$ in vet bills that produced absolute Zero or result-- they have no clue what causing the cronic vomiting. Second of all after having great success with my other cat and this one years ago I switched to raw food and would spend money a lot of time even making big batches myself. Than that wasn't working, changing to vet prescribed $3.00 a can food and overall spending 200$ on this cat a month. Now tell me, is spending 200$ on a sick 9 y.o cat better than supporting a family if hungry people in the third world country? Is spending all this time with the cat's persistent problems for so long worth sacrificing time with your children and family. And allow your infants crawl on the highly unsanitary floor with so much puke deposited to the carpets they can never be truly clean?!
I did more for this cat than a lot if people did for people. So if you will be going passing judgement in people of "Thinking of putting their belowed cat to sleep to end his suffering" think again. BTW. I haven't put my cat down yet. I'm still waking up in the middle of the night pregnant with twins bending down to scrub the damned floors.

[nancyb...@yahoo.com]

On Friday, June 6, 2014 10:34:49 AM UTC-4, vilas...@gmail.com wrote:
> Well my cat doesn't have diarrhea it is ONlY a chronic vomiting that I'm dealing with. And to say that I don't love this cat and shame on me because you don't want to deal with messes for years: let me explain to you what Dealing with messes is: first of all it is 2,000$ in vet bills that produced absolute Zero or result-- they have no clue what causing the cronic vomiting. Second of all after having great success with my other cat and this one years ago I switched to raw food and would spend money a lot of time even making big batches myself. Than that wasn't working, changing to vet prescribed $3.00 a can food and overall spending 200$ on this cat a month. Now tell me, is spending 200$ on a sick 9 y.o cat better than supporting a family if hungry people in the third world country? Is spending all this time with the cat's persistent problems for so long worth sacrificing time with your children and family. And allow your infants crawl on the highly unsanitary floor with so much puke deposited to the carpets they can never be truly clean?!
>
> I did more for this cat than a lot if people did for people. So if you will be going passing judgement in people of "Thinking of putting their belowed cat to sleep to end his suffering" think again. BTW. I haven't put my cat down yet. I'm still waking up in the middle of the night pregnant with twins bending down to scrub the damned floors.

Amen! It's not about how much we love our cats...and there's no comparing animals to humans...it's reality! I would say spending thousands of dollars and hours of time on a pet in order to make him/her well...is more than most people would ever do! I support you 100%!!!

My cat is suffering from IBD..and no vet in the area seems to be able to help him. I still can't bring myself to put him to sleep...but I also can't afford to continue to do what all I'm doing. It's sad...but it's also life.

[ebde...@gmail.com]

[jlowe...@gmail.com]

I would like to offer the experience I had with my cat in the hopes that it will save some cats out there from being put to sleep. Several years ago my cat started throwing up regularly during the middle of the night--once or twice a week at first, then up to five or six nights a week. After a couple of vet visits, he was diagnosed with IBD or IBS--I can't remember which. Prednisone helped with the vomiting, but shortly after, he began having diarrhea. This diarrhea went on for years. Over the years I tried all different kinds of foods, both wet and dry. NONE of them helped at all. The diarrhea sounded like a faucet running when he went to the litterbox. It smelled horrible, and many times he came out with diarrhea on his back feet and/or legs--YUK! I had almost lost all hope of him ever getting any better. After doing a lot of research on raw feeding, I decided to try him on it. I took him off of dry completely and began to add some raw venison into his canned food. Over a period of several weeks, I transitioned him to raw completely. After YEARS of diarrhea, he is now having formed stools--and with very little odor! Also, if he ever throws up anymore, it is EXTREMELY rare. During the transition, I also used Vitality Science products, however, I can't say for certain that they contributed to his cure or not. All I know is that the raw diet has changed his life and mine, and no one can tell me that this isn't what is best for him. I hope those of you who are ready to have your cat put to sleep because of the messes will give them one more chance by trying the raw diet for them. Keep in mind, results may not appear overnight, and some cats may take some time to transition, but it will be worth it. There are several websites that give raw diet recipes, there are premixes that can be purchased to make things easier, and there are even frozen raw complete foods that can be purchased if you don't want to make your own. Taking them off of dry completely is your first step. Dry food dehydrates cats and that is terrible for their urinary tract, plus the carbs in dry food will make your cats less likely to be willing to try the raw diet. My cats weren't crazy about the chicken recipes at first but now that they have been off of all the commercial foods, they enjoy all of their raw meals. They have shiny coats, have lost the extra fat they were carrying around, and they play and seem to feel much better. I hope this gives some hope for those of you who are at your wits end!

[carolj...@gmail.com]

I'm very sorry that you are feeling judged by some of the people who are on this site. I know exactly how you feel. I have been dealing with my own lovely, beautiful, sweet and loving, but drive me up a freaking wall, make me want to tear all my hair out, throw his ass out the damn door, who I lovingly refer to as, "Pissy Poppy". He is the sweetest, most gorgeous, and I'm sure the most loving lavender point himalayan, ever to grace this earth. I had just has IVF done, it was April of 2002, and I was pregnant at last, after years of trying, and many different fertility treatments and surgeries, and of course, the big one, IVF, which had worked, on the first time, thank God, and we wouldn't know it for a few more weeks, but we were having twins! So, I saw an add selling himalayan kittens, and I had to have one. My husband, mother and I go to see them. The place stunk to high heaven. It was clean, but the smell, I was about to die. I knew I shouldn't have gotten the cat, but I was known for collecting helpless things, and I've been paying for that ever since. Poppy has always had trouble with pooping. Constipation, a little blood in his stool. He throws up his food all the time. He has ear problems. None of the vets I've ever taken him to seem to know what is wrong with him. I've figured out he probably has IBS, and I've put him on soft food, that's helped a lot. But he's very picky about what he'll eat, and what litter he'll use. He can be a big pain. But I love him.

[flori...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, September 24, 2008 9:04:59 PM UTC-4, Belarathon wrote:

I appreciate your info on your cat's IBD. I have a beautiful Golden MaineCoon Mix and it appears he has IBD. All the sypmtoms you mentioned so does Doppler.l I would like to know how you prepared the fresh organic chicken-turkey. I am going to check out "By Nature" products and hopefully I will find it on the internet. I live in North NH. It seems from other testimony that raw meet seems to work best.

Thank you for your input

Florence

[chucka...@gmail.com]

We've had a problem for a few years with one of our cats.tried b12 injections several meds and all diets.its been three weeks since we tried this and he is now using litterbox feeling good playing and totally perfect.a lady who watches outr cats and works at the vets said to try fluoxetin.it costs $12.00 at pharmacy.it is supposed to be like a treatment for nervousness.I never thought of him as skiddish at all or troubled.he was diagnosed as having ibs.it is truely a blessing.sure glad I didn't have him put down.try it.pas iit on.

[lz7...@aol.com]

hi just wanted to thank you for the advice back in april my sister's work cat age 11 started to have problems all over she works in a book selling business and the cat on a book and the owners wanted to put her down and my sister said no way and asked if i could take her..we are both animal lovers..and i said sure like you said she has issues of having accidents she got meds but that only worked for a while and i am still looking into the right food for her..thank you for saving your baby and giving me an idea for mine..Lela

[Catlover]

Well if the husband wants to put down the cat I say get rid of the husband and save the cat..

[pinksu...@gmail.com]

Stop changing your cats diet and your cat will stop vomiting. Simple as that. It is unhealthy for your cats diet to keep changing, it can cause extreme GI distress and diarrhea and vomiting. P.S for those of you who said they were thinking of having your cat put down simply because they were having diarrhea and you were "tired of the messes" SHAME ON YOU!!' You shouldn't of gotten a cat if you weren't ready for the responsibility of taking care of it. Your cat is obviously not feeling well and should be loved and taken to a vet!

[ado...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, January 1, 2014 10:37:50 PM UTC-8, pinksu...@gmail.com wrote:
> Stop changing your cats diet and your cat will stop vomiting. Simple as that. It is unhealthy for your cats diet to keep changing, it can cause extreme GI distress and diarrhea and vomiting. P.S for those of you who said they were thinking of having your cat put down simply because they were having diarrhea and you were "tired of the messes" SHAME ON YOU!!' You shouldn't of gotten a cat if you weren't ready for the responsibility of taking care of it. Your cat is obviously not feeling well and should be loved and taken to a vet!

Amen to that. Shame on these insensible people. How about being "put down" yourselves in old age when leaving "messes" around, huh? Simply too disgusting to read this kind of statements from so called cat lovers. SHAME ON YOU Phyllis and Lacey!

[Healed!]

I can't afford expensive massages so I go downtown to China town whenever I can and get the 15 min massages for 10 bucks and did it every week. When I get more "extra" money I am going for the 30 min massages or 60 minutes..

Both times I had frozen shoulder- I found a great Asian masseuse who understood the problem even though we barely spoke the same language- and through a very rough and painful massage -(I left with bruises) the little lady managed to get my shoulder back into cirulation

So I recommend massages by people who have an Asian bg- since a lot of the English or Swedish types didn't get to the root of my problem.

This is one of the best and safest ways and effective. You have to break up the scar tissue and massage can work wonders.. hopefully you can avoid surgery!!!

[jeff.bi...@gmail.com]

You are a horrible person

[pr59...@gmail.com]

Thank you for sharing. I'm having a hard time with my cat and have probably spent the same overall. I'm praying like crazy. Its bad. I feel you.

[marci...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 3:02:56 PM UTC-7, lacey....@gmail.com wrote:
> Food grade Diatomaceos earth is the correct name, darn spell check.

Thank you for this info. How did you give the DE? Did you dilute it with water and give by syringe?

[rspri...@gmail.com]

Thank you so much for posting. My baby, Puddin', is all out of sorts with IBS and the shots he has been getting only seem to solve the problem for a few weeks and then it's back to the vet's office for another expensive shot! We'll be trying this right away. Thank you!

[alvasni...@gmail.com]

Get rid of your husband.

[nmbe...@gmail.com]

I ABSOLUTELY 100% agree as well!! I have TWO cats that have loose stools CONSTANTLY, throw up on my furniture, they poop all over my home!! The smell is absolutely HORRIBLE!! In total I have 6 cats!! BUT I CANNOT afford the expensive cat foods, the vet at every single turn!! We spent a large amount two days after getting one from the local humane society because the humane society actually allowed us to adopt KNOWING she and her entire litter had URI!! She's now got allergies AND I believe IBS!!! I am searching and searching for ideas!! In no way do I want to get rid of either one or especially put them down!! But I am literally at my whits end!! These are my hubs FAVORITE cats!! I am actually highly allergic to acts, BUT my hubs was raised with cats, so I just take my allergy mess and deal with it!! I PRAY I can find something to HELP!! Right now they eat meow mix dry food and one can of friskies Pate (we call it kitty crack lol for a treat) they were out of the wet food for a month so I KNOW it's not that!! Another issue is, we keep the dry food down 24/7 and they all come and go and eat together, I don't know how on earth to feed them differently if I had to?? Any suggestions?? Thanks in advance!!

[sabrina...@gmail.com]

Cary,
Is your cat still doing well on this diet?

[bschu...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, October 20, 2016 at 9:18:13 AM UTC-7, sabrina...@gmail.com wrote:
> Cary,
> Is your cat still doing well on this diet?

By Nature has been discontinued. I have 2 cats who have been having issues for the last 6 months. My 4 year old female is throwing up and my 14 year old male has IBD after going to the vet and spending about a grand to find out he is completely healthy besides the constant diarrhea. They have been on Dave's brand wet food for the last 3 years only and we are now going to try working to a raw diet in conjunction with food grade diatomaceous. Boiled chicken and rice for now and transitioning to a raw diet in the next couple months. I'll try to update this post as we move along.

[mvilleg...@hotmail.com]

Thank you SO SO SO much <3

[mvilleg...@hotmail.com]

No it hasn't...Here http://www.bynaturepetfoods.com/ :)

[mvilleg...@hotmail.com]

I mix it wit water and then stir it into my cats wet food :) They eat it just fine

[Tammy...@yahoo.com]

can you please tell me ware i can by the nature can food

[sheri...@yahoo.ca]

I really don't think being judgemental is appropriate here - I would want to be put down rather then suffering! It is not a good quality of life when eating and eliminating become comprimised and I don't blame anyone at all if they decide to end their cats suffering. It is a very difficult decision to make so keep your shaming to yourself! I personally think it is cruel to make a cat go through medical procedures and chemo and side effects from meds. Let them cross over the rainbow bridge and leave the suffering assciated with having a body that is not working behind!

[john.h....@gmail.com]

Yes it has ! This is from the website you sited above:

By Nature is
Saying Goodbye
By Nature® will have limited availability as we discontinue the brand in the United States. A pioneer in natural pet foods, we appreciate your commitment to your pet’s health and your interest in our products.

[pric...@yahoo.com]

The same situation with my kitty Patch. Long story short I have also finally found a food that works for her along with organic chicken legs meat that has been boiled. The food comes from Canada and is called First Mate chicken flavor. Monday one vet said I should put her down and I am so happy that I got a 2nd opinion and found a excellent vet that has truly cared and helped her. The food along with the chicken I am hoping and praying will help to heal her.

[maricr...@gmail.com]

This is not the same company. This is dry food with by-products and grains and carbs. The ingredient list shows this.

[lfrazi...@gmail.com]

Well you are feeding meow mix for the diet and friskies. Seriouslt, educate yourself on cat food and the ingredients. In not being ride, just honest and blunt. Those are cheap food. It has nothing to do with the price but you are essentially feeding them s£*! And corn. Try switching to something like blue buffalo or even lower grade nutro max. And even lower grade but still bought at grocery and way better than meox mix is purina one. Your cats will all end up with IBS, diabetes and urinary issues of they already don't with that diet. I wouldn't be so straight toward but if you are at whits end try that first. A few extra bucks is worth it for them to be healthy and you to be happier and not cleaning up vomit and diarrhea and vet bills. Another things, switch the diet SLOWLY. And if you have 6 cats, try blue buffalo walnut cat litter. Doesn't stink,natural and last a longggg time. Easy to clean and no crappy gooey clay litter. You will save money in the long run so it's really not any difference in the budget.

[lfrazi...@gmail.com]

Or better yet maybe let them pass away naturally. And they are shaming them because they are complaining about cleaning up vomit and stool not because the cat is ultimately at deaths door.

[mand...@gmail.com]

Dear Vilas: I am dealing with the same thing and have decided to euthanize my 14 year old cat. I feel selfish but at the same time I am so tired of cleaning up puke. I don't blame you and others need to be in your shoes before they go off on you. I don't think the cat has IBS because she only pukes. . .Who knows what the answer is, but I am also just done.



On Friday, June 6, 2014 at 8:34:49 AM UTC-6, vilas...@gmail.com wrote:
> Well my cat doesn't have diarrhea it is ONlY a chronic vomiting that I'm dealing with. And to say that I don't love this cat and shame on me because you don't want to deal with messes for years: let me explain to you what Dealing with messes is: first of all it is 2,000$ in vet bills that produced absolute Zero or result-- they have no clue what causing the cronic vomiting. Second of all after having great success with my other cat and this one years ago I switched to raw food and would spend money a lot of time even making big batches myself. Than that wasn't working, changing to vet prescribed $3.00 a can food and overall spending 200$ on this cat a month. Now tell me, is spending 200$ on a sick 9 y.o cat better than supporting a family if hungry people in the third world country? Is spending all this time with the cat's persistent problems for so long worth sacrificing time with your children and family. And allow your infants crawl on the highly unsanitary floor with so much puke deposited to the carpets they can never be truly clean?!
> I did more for this cat than a lot if people did for people. So if you will be going passing judgement in people of "Thinking of putting their belowed cat to sleep to end his suffering" think again. BTW. I haven't put my cat down yet. I'm still waking up in the middle of the night pregnant with twins bending down to scrub the damned floors.

[sheat...@gmail.com]

My cat was the same way. Finally figured out he is allergic to fish. It's hard to find a commercial cat food without fish oil, but there are a few out there.

[joli...@ymail.com]

I don’t mean to be stupid! But when you say Raw foods, you mean totally uncooked? Isn’t there bacteria? Also any suggestions on how to substitute fish because he will only eat his wet food when I mix in a little of it and that’s when he started to have a flare up with loose soft stools.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

On Sun, 31 Dec 2017 16:52:22 -0000, <joli...@ymail.com> wrote:

> I don’t mean to be stupid! But when you say Raw foods, you mean totally uncooked? Isn’t there bacteria? Also any suggestions on how to substitute fish because he will only eat his wet food when I mix in a little of it and that’s when he started to have a flare up with loose soft stools.

Any cat will eat anything when he's hungry enough.

--
Heaven forbid that we allow men and women to become heroes.
Too many regulations exist to keep cowards from being embarrassed.
"Cowards die many times before their deaths. The valiant never taste of death but once." -- Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare.

[ann.robe...@gmail.com]

@James Wilkinson Sword; I have to disagree with you that any cat will eat anything when he's hungry enough. I had a siamese that I was trying to wean off kibble, which was all he would eat. I provided high quality wet food for three weeks and he never touched it. I too thought he would eat when he was hungry enough. Finally I provided the best kibble money could buy, which he ate, one time only. He then vomited and refused all food. He had hepatic lipidosis from which he died.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Then I'll change that to "any *healthy* cat will eat anything when he's hungry enough".

--
How do you turn the lights on after sex?
Open the car door.

[danam...@gmail.com]

Thank you Cary! Same story with my my kitty...steroids, flagyl, special food, diarrhea. I had just run out of canned 'Z/D' when I read this. I ordered By Nature cat food from Chewy.com. meanwhile I tried regular oil packed tuna. He was so happy to have something he liked! And his diarrhea stopped immediately! I couldn't believe it! Now he gets By Nature rabbit and duck, and occasionally tuna. We'll try other flavors next order.
One other thought - my cats don't go outside except on a screen porch. Too many sad losses with coyotes. Well Smokey tries to get out every chance he gets...he succeeded one day but we got him back in, but not before he'd had a chance to chew on some grass. The next day - regular poop with grass in it! So I'm also growing him some kitty grass!

[kellyste...@gmail.com]

We have had Gideon for almost 9 years. He's such a beautiful, cuddly boy. Best cat I've really ever known. He's been having this problem for around 6 years now. Lately it's really bad. He's lost so much weight and he's lethargic and seemingly starving. We took him to the vet. They wanted a lot more money and to put him on new vet food and steroids and antibiotics. So we did the steroids and antibiotics. He seemed to perk up a bit maybe even not be throwing up as much. Well now hes right back to square one and hes messing all over the stairs several times a day. I hope and pray this food works. I'll let you know!

[jennifer.jo...@gmail.com]

To the person that posted about First Mate. How has that brand worked out for you? I am desperately trying to find a good food that my cat will actually eat. He is so used to fillers in foods that I am having a hard time so far finding a nice clean food for him he will actually finish and eat. I tried Wervua he loved the first can and ate it all, but now won’t bother eating the chicken and just lick all the juices.

This cat just came to us on our doorstep, we decided to start feeding him and fed him for a month of just dry Nutro food and seemed fine. I then couldn’t find it in stores around here and started feeding him wet foods. Since then it’s been a struggle and had to spend thousands on him to find out nothing is wrong just inflammation and gas in his stomach. I have no idea when it all started. I am wondering if I should just go back to the original kibble even though he has turned his nose up at that too now. At the moment I got the vets advice and they had me bough hills digestive care but the ingredients seems so horrible and has an ingredient in it I’m sure bothers him. Blah. What do I do. I am thinking trying to get him to eat simple foods should be easier on his digestive system but not sure how it’s working out for him.

[jennifer.jo...@gmail.com]

Did any of you transition slowly to new foods? I’m not sure what to do. should continue get him food that upsets him and slowly transition? Or just get him right away on a bland clean food?

[jennifer.jo...@gmail.com]

How have your cats been doing?

[suzanne_...@yahoo.com]

Thank you for sharing your story. I am going through some of this with my cat now. I am recently transitioning him to Stella and chewies raw duck patties It is called duck duck goose from Stella and chewy. I am hoping this works. I have been mixing it in with his Merrick backcountry tender beef packets that he was originally eating . My vet wanted to put him on prescription blue G.I. veterinary diet but I am leery about the prescription diet of cat food . So I went against my vet and I'm just trying to introduce the raw food and I am hoping this will work from my cat If you have any updates or advice I would love to hear from you

[kelli...@gmail.com]

Hi, what exact By Nature food did you get for your cat?

Thanks

[sti...@gmail.com]

Where can you buy by nature cat food. I can't find it anywhere.

[elor...@gmail.com]

Thank you for sharing this... even if it was years ago.
I have the same situation with my cat except he has had this problem for years since he was maybe 1 year old. He has been my most miserable cat out of maybe 15 cats that I have ever had and coincidentally is the only cat who was purchased from a shelter and loaded with vaccines when he was only a few months old.
Im sorry for him, they ruined his life.

I have fed him home made chicken and very natural foods for the past few years, he's almost 10 yrs old. My other cat who grew up with him and was not exposed to any shelter and vaccines is a very healthy happy cat.
He CANNOT tolerate and kibble, as expensive and "natural" as it is. Kibble is trash. I don't see what people who wouldn't eat kibble for a living would think its okay to give it to their pets. Its a disgusting WWII invention and always leads to health issues that vets blame on old age or just unfortunate circumstances.

I do understand contemplating putting down an animal like that because unless you have lived it yourself you cant understand how haunting and disturbing it is to go out or come back home and realize that all your linens, personal clothing, sheets, everything smells like poop. When cats have IBS that foul smell get on EVERYTHING especially if you use the same washer to wash your cat bedding. Its the most disgusting thing and unclean thing you can go through. When there are children involved its worse and an unacceptable way to live.

Unfortunately in these cases you cant just try to find a home for a nasty poor cat like that because no one would take on such low way of life. This is not a cat with a disability who just needs medicine and love to be okay. Instead this means living among feces, smelling it, seeing it, its allover you unfortunately wether you like it or not. Even if you dont have the litterbox inside of your house. Its a very serious problem. It restricts you from even having a healthy social and family life. You cant invite anyone over. Its very unclean.

[nicole...@gmail.com]

Actually, Cat Anorexia is a real condition..... cats are very psychological and they associate food with pain/discomfort when they have IBD. A cat looks at the food as if it is “ poison”. A cat will starve itself to death.... that’s the frustration with IBD......

[flibi...@gmail.com]

Thank you Cary so very much. Isis has IBS also and I am going BACK to the vet on monday. a new vet this time. I will order this to see if it helps. I also tried 100000 of foods. I will try anything to help her. If you don't mind I would like to let you know how she does. You are going to go to heaven for helping everyone. Mia

[Sullymcg...@hotmail.com]

[Sullymcg...@hotmail.com]

Ry

[Sullymcg...@hotmail.com]

[Sullymcg...@hotmail.com]