C O L D R I V E R V E T E R I N A R Y C E N T E R
Inflammatory bowel disease in cats
CASE REPORTS
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Inflammatory bowel disease
Picture this childhood. You are adopted into a new home with new housemates at eight weeks of age. Your new parent provides a bowl of dry kibble and a bowl of water. This food will not change for the next three months. Within a week of moving in, you are taken to the doctor's office for a physical exam, and receive three vaccinations (by injection). It was very stressful being held down on a slippery stainless table top. Squirming only made the people tighten their grip. The doctor pricked a vein to draw a blood sample. Those itchy ear mites in your left ear were drowned with a pesticide, dripped into both ears. It was cold, sticky, and hard to shake out. The smell was like nail polish remover.
The doctor recommended eating pesticide tablets to stop flea development all summer. Three days after that office visit you felt feverish and experienced aches, pain and intestinal spasm. It felt better to skip a meal rather than fuel the illness. The bowl of dry food sat a little longer than usual. Even the water turned your stomach. At the site of one of the injections there is a lump, sore and tender. No one seems to understand how you feel.
Months later, those kitten crunchies are now the big adult kind. The balls feel greasy in your mouth, but they are the only food available. You've been living indoors for months. You chewed on the green house plants but they made you violently ill; the vomiting lasted all night. Oh yes, there were more trips to the doctor's office, for more shots. Lately you've had a series of colds, and feel tired all day. Worse, you're gaining weight. You skip past the mirror to avoid seeing the big fat pad under your waist.
Years later, that constant diet of dry pet food is causing a revolt. You'll vomit right after eating. But you eat because you are hungry. The salt is addictive. You are thirsty all the time. The ringing in your ears is constant. Your eyes and nose itch, and your skin is dry. It flakes. They say unpleasant things about you at the doctor's office. You get a steroid shot because you itch. Now there is diarrhea. The smell is awful. The doctor says the brown stuff in your ears is yeast. Yeast grow on dead things.
Signs of inflammatory bowel disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is one of the most common disorders of domestic cats. It is a disease of modern living, where over-vaccination, dysfunction of gut-associated lymph tissue, dietary intolerance, and nutritional imbalance combine to overwhelm the essential process of digestion.
Cats and dogs present with typical signs of IBD:
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intermittent diarrhea
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vomiting, soon after eating
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flatulence or gaseous abdominal distension
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dysbiosis or harmful bacteria and yeast overgrowth
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bacterial consumption of folate and vitamin B12 causing a deficiency in the host
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poor absorption of calcium and magnesium
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excessive retention of sodium and chloride, causing hypertension
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leak of enteric bacteria into the systemic circulation, causing toxemia ("leaky gut" syndrome)
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low-grade but constant fever
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degenerative changes to gastric and duodenal mucosa
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degenerative changes in the iris (seen as a dark concentric zone nearest the pupils)
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production of inflammatory, neuroactive, and vasoactive amines such as histamine, cadaverine, and putrescine
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body depletion of nutrients involved in histamine clearance: vitamin C, magnesium, sulfur-amino acids, copper
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body depletion of nutrients due to chronic stress: vitamin B-complex, zinc, calcium, magnesium, vitamin E
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hormonal insufficiency due to chronic inflammation or disease: weak adrenal and thyroid function, hypogonadism
Treating Inflammatory Bowel Disease
At Cold River Veterinary Center our approach to the treatment and cure of inflammatory bowel disease is to treat the individual, not the disease. We look at the social and physical environment, diet, water supply, vaccine and drug history. We request a routine chemistry profile, blood cell count, thyroid profile and urinalysis to prepare a nutritional analysis (BioMedical Profile). Practically every patient should also have an IgE food allergy test done, while showing signs of this disease. A hypoallergenic diet of fresh, whole foods is fed. Nutritional supplementation based on the BMP is prescribed. Helpful adjustments to the pet's lifestyle or environment are explained (such as type of exercise, fresh air and sunlight). The common denominator however, is a constant diet of commercial pet food. Pets literally get sick of their food.
A calico receives fluid therapy for chronic inflammatory bowel disease, diarrhea, and renal insufficiency. She has multiple food allergies.
For more information on nutritional medicine and natural pet care call us at Cold River Veterinary Center, (802) 747-4076, and we'll be glad to help.
References
Bland, J.S. et al. Intestinal permeability and gut ecology. Functional Medicine Research Center Update, Gig Harbor, WA. Summer, 1998
Bland, J.S. et al. Inflammatory bowel disease. Functional Medicine Research Center Update, Gig Harbor, WA. Spring, 1999
Guilford, G. Nutritional management of gastrointestinal tract diseases. Proceedings 18th Annual Veterinary Medical Forum, ACVIM. Seattle, WA. 2000. p. 555-556
Kimmel, S.E., L.S. Waddell, and K.E. Michel. Hypomagnesemia and hypocalcemia associated with protein-losing enteropathy in Yorkshire Terriers: five cases (1992-1998). J Am Vet Med Assoc 2000;217:703-706.
Martineau, B., D.P. Laflamme, W. Jones, R. Wilson, and J. Jones. Effect of feeding a canned or dry canine diet on fecal chemistry and selected microflora. Purina Nutrition Forum Proceedings, October 21-24, 1999. St. Louis, MO; 2000;22:98
Stechschulte, D.J. Adverse food reactions in people: diagnosis and management. Symposium on adverse food reactions, June 12-14, 2000. Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc., Kansas City, MO 2000;18-20.
Zentek, J., and T. Pietrzak. Effects of different dietary proteins on intestinal microbial metabolism and amine production in dogs. Purina Nutrition Forum Proceedings, October 21-24, 1999. St. Louis, MO; 2000;22:104
William K. Kruesi, M.S., D.V.M. /2000