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-   -   help with supplementing a homemade diet ! (http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=52351)

dodecaphonie May 15th, 2008 04:49 AM

help with supplementing a homemade diet !
 
Hello everyone !

My cat has been diagnosed with serious eosihophilic IBD in the small intestine. After trying almost every food possible, I decided to cook for her and would like to transfer her to raw eventually. Now I cook the meat, because the endoscopy revealed severe ulcerations and we want to let it becaume a more balanced environment bacteria wise before we introduce raw. My vet is very supportive of raw diet.

I have consulted someone who offers professional assistance in making a homemade balanced diet and she elaborated a menu especially for her and her condition. The thing is in order to make it balanced and help with her IBD I must of course supplement it. I should add at least enzymes and probiotics to her food. The thing is that if I add anything else than that ( like mineral powder, calcium etc ) she won't touch the food and litterally starve herself ! I know cats have very good noses, but she manages to even smell it in sardines ! Now I don't want to feed her something that is not balanced. Anyone has any experience with this or a trick to make her accept the supplement I must add to her food ? They are all in the form of a powder.

thank you !

sugarcatmom May 15th, 2008 07:13 AM

What are the supplements you're using? Stuff like calcium carbonate and taurine shouldn't be that detectable, but if there are B vitamins, those are pretty smelly and can put off most cats.

Are you able to use slippery elm bark at all for the ulcers?

Lukka'sma May 15th, 2008 08:59 AM

What if you supplement calcium in the form of powdered egg shells. That shouldn't be a smell that turns a cat off. Just wash your shells out, let dry and pop in the oven for 10 minutes, crush to powder.

dodecaphonie May 16th, 2008 04:22 AM

Here are the supplements that I must give her :

calcium
taurine ( I am not sure how much ? can I just srpinkle it on her food ? )
mineral powder ( torula yeast, kelp, lecithine, calcium, vit. C, taurine ( but not much in the powder)
canola and sunflower oil
whey powder
enzymes
probiotiques

I can split all of this in different meals, but it's still a lot or "powder" consdiring the quantities of food I feed her.

sugarcatmom May 16th, 2008 08:10 PM

[QUOTE=dodecaphonie;593623]Here are the supplements that I must give her :

calcium[/quote]
Do you know what form the calcium is in (eg. calcium carbonate/gluconate/lactate etc). Each type of calcium contains different amounts of [I]elemental[/I] calcium and therefore you would require different measurements to balance the phosphorus depending on which calcium salt you're using (the calcium-phosphorus ratio should be 1.2-1.4:1). Calcium carbonate has the most elemental calcium (40%) so you would be able to use the least amount, if that makes sense. Here's a table showing the differences: [url]http://www.serve.com/BatonRouge/nutrition/calciumproducts.htm[/url]
And if I didn't explain it very well, perhaps this will help: [url]http://www.serve.com/BatonRouge/nutrition/calcium_suppl.htm[/url]

[QUOTE=dodecaphonie;593623]taurine ( I am not sure how much ? can I just srpinkle it on her food ? )[/quote]

Since you're cooking the meat, I would add about 200mg per day (split between the number of meals). And yes, you can mix the powder in her food.

[QUOTE=dodecaphonie;593623]mineral powder ( torula yeast, kelp, lecithine, calcium, vit. C, taurine ( but not much in the powder)[/quote]

Hmmm, this sounds like it's based on Anitra Frazer's recipes from her book "The New Natural Cat". While she is a wonderful advocate for natural cat care, her diets are rather outdated. For starters, yeast has a high allergy potential and considering your kitty has IBD, you want to eliminate as many sources of inflammation as possible. I'd really advise against using any form of yeast. The reason it's in the recipe is for a palatable form of B vitamins, but you might be better off finding a low-odor B supplement instead. There is also injectable Vit B, which is actually the best option for IBD cats because they have trouble absorbing oral Vit B through their thickened and inflamed intestines. I gave you a link to more info on this in your other thread, but here it is again if you missed it: [url]http://www.cvm.tamu.edu/gilab/research/cobalamin.shtml[/url]

You also want to be cautious with the amount of kelp, which is high in iodine and could be a factor in the development of hyperthyroidism. And unless the extra calcium in the mineral mix has been accounted for in the total calcium content of this recipe, it could throw off the calcium-phosphorus ratio. Lecithin, usually derived from soy, really isn't necessary for cats. So all in all, I'd skip the mineral mix and instead find a good cat multi-vitamin like [url=http://www.vetriscience.com/nucat.php]Nu-Cat[/url] (not the soft-chews though, which contain brewer's yeast) or [url=http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Only-Natural-Pet-Super-Daily-Feline-Vitamins/999011.aspx]Only Natural Pet Super Daily Vitamin[/url].

[QUOTE=dodecaphonie;593623]canola and sunflower oil[/quote]

I'd be more inclined to add salmon oil instead, because of the anti-inflammatory potential of Omega 3 fatty acid. Not all cats accept it though, as it can have quite a strong fishy smell.

Hope some of this helps and doesn't make you more confused. I just think it's really important to minimize any ingredients that could exacerbate the intestinal inflammation.


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