BARF diet ?

[FlyingClog]

Hi Sphynx folks !

So am still struggling with Darth Sidious.
If you’ve not read my post in the health forum, Sid is a now 2 year old Sphynx who suffers from frequent (4-5 times a day), large, runny stools, that smell like dead animal and sometimes with mucus covered blood.

He went from Royal Canin Spynx to Royal Canin Hypo allergeic digestief dry food.

He has had multiple blood and stool samples taken - with no bacteria, parasites, infections show - just a low B12.
Multiple attempts with probiotics and antibiotics.

Next step is a biopsy of the thick intestine (dikke darm in Dutch) - but this seems dramatic for me.

My daughter is suggesting trying him on the BARF diet. Have other got their Sphynx on this ?? Do you have to buy fresh chicken of fish daily ?? How does it work exactly ??

Many thanks all
FC


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[Sheldon13]

Try feline nutrition.org for the basics.

@Condo commando
@Xandria


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need

 

[CathyO]

I don't see why u shouldn't try a BARF diet given all the above you've listed. I do know when my cats are on raw food I don't smell their poop unless I stick my face near the opening of their litter box right after they've gone. There's just a big difference. Also their poop frequency goes down by at least half...so they poop less like only once a day as opposed to at least 2x. I personally would buy commercial raw than make my own but this is the website I use for recipes: Home Yes, the meat has to be the fresh ones and not from frozen.

 

[Yoda mom]

@FlyingClog hugs n positive vibes for Darth Sidious. a search for Barf diet using the search box may find previous posts from members too. we have several raw feeders I am sure will chime in

just curious , I see many stool sample checks... did they rule out crypto or tritrichomonas that we have seen with some sphynx kitties?

 

[FlyingClog]

@FlyingClog hugs n positive vibes for Darth Sidious. a search for Barf diet using the search box may find previous posts from members too. we have several raw feeders I am sure will chime in

just curious , I see many stool sample checks... did they rule out crypto or tritrichomonas that we have seen with some sphynx kitties?

Hi Yoda Mom - yeah I used the search facility but its quite a minefield to me.

Yes they ruled out both Crypto and Tritrichomonas fortunately.

Before he has to go for a biopsy I’m thinking about changing his diet hence the research into BARF - or maybe a grain, corn and soya free dried food


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[Condo commando]

@FlyingClog - this is a good question that you ask. First, let me just summarize my understanding to make sure we are on the same page.

Your vet wants to do a biopsy. What this says to me is he or she suspects IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) or Lymphoma. Several years ago, I had a cat that had to have a biopsy. It turned out to be Lymphoma. My cat was older and Lymphoma is more common in older cats. For younger cats, my understanding is IBD is more common. But the only way to know for sure is to do a biopsy because with either disease there is inflammation, and they can't distinguish between inflammation caused by immune system cells (IBD) or inflammation caused by cancerous cells (Lymphoma). That is why they need a biopsy. So that is, I think, where your vet is at.

Now, depending on if the biopsy turns out to be Lymphoma or IBD, the treatments are different. For Lymphoma my cat received a lot of chemotherapy drugs; managing the diet was of limited value. However, managing the diet the #1 thing for IBD.

Most of the time, because the biopsy is an invasive and expensive procedure, I think vets recommend a diet change to see if the problem goes away. That could explain why your vet prescribed the hypoallergenic diet. I don't know a lot about those but OK, it's worth a try. But then - if it doesn't make a difference - what do you do next? Many vets don't want to even consider raw food. If that is how your vet thinks, then it makes sense he would recommend a biopsy at this point.

So let's assume you get Sid biopsied, and it turns out to be IBD. Then what? You already know that what you are feeding him now isn't working. Does your vet have any other food suggestions? I would suggest asking your vet what will he recommend if it's IBD. If there is another food that he has in mind, I would try it now. But most likely, he doesn't have another food. Traditional vets mostly prescribe drugs.

I'll stop here for now but does what I'm saying make sense? Should I keep going with raw food?

 

[Condo commando]

The way I would switch to a raw diet is by first going to an "Introduction Diet" which is basically bland, healthy food that gives the cat's gastrointestinal system a chance to eliminate toxins and start to heal itself.

This is a story of a cat that was treated for IBD using an Introduction Diet:
StackPath

This article is linked in the above one but I just wanted to make sure you saw it:
StackPath

By the way, the "Introduction Diet" can also be used to transition to cooked food. It doesn't have to be raw only. The idea again is to give the cat's gut a chance to recover. So, I would strongly recommend this diet regardless of what food you choose to feed afterwards.

The cat in the story, Alistair, was on the Introduction Diet for several weeks, but that was a severe case of IBD. I adopted a 5 year old Sphynx with soft stools, started feeding him cooked chicken broth, and his stool got firm in less than 1 week. Since the Introduction Diet is not a "balanced" diet, you don't want to keep Sid on it any longer than you have to.

Another thing about Alistair is that he took to raw food as soon as it was presented to him. My 5 year old did not. In case you have the same problem, what I did is I first got my Sphynx to stop eating kibble and only eat canned food. When he was OK with canned food, I started adding a tiny bit of ground raw food. After 2-3 days, I added a little more raw. It took me 3 weeks to get to 100% raw but we did it. That was only rabbit, so then I did the same kind of thing mixing a little bit of raw ground chicken with his rabbit. Another 2-3 weeks later, he was eating chicken.

The hard part feeding raw sometimes is just being able to find it. When I started, I purchased ground raw food for cats. I don't know if you can find that where you live. If possible, that is how I would start because then you don't need to know anything about food making.

Let's ask a friend for help.....
@Toa and Ross do you know if it's possible to buy raw cat food (already made) in Holland?

 

[Condo commando]

We have another member on this forum that has recommended the probiotic S Boulardii for cats with severe diarrhea. I have never used this but I saved a link in case I ever needed it. I will let you decide if you think you need it.

My Cat Has Diarrhea - What Do I Do?

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