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| Feline Inflammatory Bowel Disease is a very serious condition that affects thousands of cats every year. There is no known or specific cause, and no cure. The mission of this site is to have as much accessible information on IBD and the conditions and diseases that can occur with it, in one place. |
| Welcome to IBD Kitties |
| Dedicated to my Alex August 1996 - July 2008 IBD, Hepatic Lipidosis, Pancreatitis |
| Alex came a very long way to find me. She was in a Texas shelter when my nephew adopted her and three other cats while in the Army in 1996. He brought them all home to New Hampshire with him and all four cats lived with my sister when my nephew went overseas. She never did like to be with other cats and was always very nervous. My sister decided to give her to my tenant, an older woman, who was looking for a lap cat. My tenant ruined Alex as far as I'm concerned. She not only fed her junk for food, but literally junk food like ice cream. She was very overweight when I took her in. |
| Her Story |
| My tenant was dying of cancer at the same time as I was losing my cat Patches, who was 20 years old. Patches lived a long happy life with us but had renal failure and was fading quickly. We decided to let her go peacefully at the vets and it tore me apart. I didn't want another cat. I was too full of grief. I tried for two weeks to find Alex a good home and I couldn't believe no one wanted her as she was the sweetest cat I'd ever seen. In the end, I couldn't see her going to a shelter, I didn't think she'd survive. So I reluctantly took her in. We fell in love with each other right away. She melted my heart and healed every part of my soul. Patches had been my child for 20 years but was never a loving animal. She was very temperamental and moody. I loved her very much regardless and I accepted her for who she was. But Alex was my soul mate, the love of my life. I immediately put her on a diet where she lost weight and looked good for awhile. Her digestive problems started about six months later. She would vomit for an entire day and I'd have to give her some Pepcid AC to get her system calmed down. The episodes would last only about a day. She became overweight again even though I tried to feed her what I thought was good food and the right amount. I quickly found out what I thought was good food was the worst possible thing to feed her. In May of 2007 her vomiting became pretty bad. It lasted for days instead of just one day so I took her to the vet to be checked out. The vet reprimanded me for Alex's weight which was 17 lbs. I didn't like it either but didn't know what else to do. So I bought a baby scale and learned how to control her portions. Again, I bought her what I thought was better food. The pet food recall happened in February of that year and I didn't have any of the recalled cans, but different foods just kept getting recalled and poisoning more pets. So there's no way for me to know if that was a cause or even added to the problem. Then in February of 2008 everything went downhill. She started vomiting and couldn't stop. I took her in to the vet and scheduled an ultrasound. Tests showed she had thickening of the small intestines and her liver was bright red. She was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and an inflamed liver. That turned into hepatic lipidosis in March of 2008 and then pancreatitis in June of 2008. After many months of severe ups and downs, I finally lost her quite suddenly on July 10th. During the time she was sick I dedicated my every waking moment to doing everything I could to help her. Now my mission is to help others learn how to care for their cats and how to better arm themselves with knowledge about this disease. I feel it's important to tell her story because the condition of IBD rarely stays the only condition. Whether it's the disease itself or the medications, there are many things that factor in and will have to be treated for the rest of your cat's life. But you have the advantage of finding this site. Because with trial and error, everyone contributing to this site will be helping other cats live a longer and healthier life. Maybe someday we can even find a way to avoid this disease altogether. One Stop Shopping: When you buy a product through the links or advertisements on this website, you help cover costs of research and maintenance, in addition to my full time hours of keeping the information current and correct. I will only recommend certain products that I feel are safe, effective and worthwhile. I will never recommend something that could be potentially harmful to your pet in any way. The merchants I recommend are trusted and the goal is for you to find as many products in one place as you can. If you see a product that isn't currently listed on site, feel free to contact me with the information and I'll be happy to look at it. Our mission is first and foremost to help pet parents and their furry little loved ones. You'll find the products listed on the pages that coincide with that need. Disclaimer: Although IBD Kitties and its contributors share our personal experiences, recommendations of foods, medications, products, etc., these recommendations are not meant to take the place of veterinary advice, as we are NOT veterinary professionals. This site is available to help you ask better questions and offer additional knowledge to your veterinarian, as they oftentimes turn to us for more up to date and accurate reporting on these issues. Much of the information on this site has not been written by veterinary professionals and should not be considered a replacement for a veterinarian consultation. This site is for informative purposes only and you should always seek the advice and treatment of a vet above all else. Occasionally a cat may have an underlying health problem such as, but not limited to, kidney or liver disease, that may be affected by some treatments and/or diet changes. Before trying any options that are suggested on this website, it is the sole responsibility of the pet parent/guardian to seek proper veterinarian diagnostic work- up, care and treatments and to have your cat evaluated and treated for these conditions. Not every treatment or diet works for every cat and it is your responsibility to monitor any changes that may occur during this process. If you notice any negative reactions or changes, stop the treatment and/or food change and seek veterinary advice immediately. All pictures and information regarding individual cats on IBD kitties are the property of the pet parent and may not be used without their permission. Occasionally a search engine will use a photograph from a website in their search link. IBD Kitties has no control over this and if you find they’ve used your cat’s picture without your consent, it is your responsibility to contact the search engine and have it removed if you so choose. All written materials and research information is copyrighted and is the property of IBD Kitties or the author who provided and/or authored the information and may not be used without the permission of that author. All information and materials on this site belongs to IBD Kitties unless otherwise stated. Copyrighted© IBD Kitties 2008-2013, all rights reserved. Please contact us for permission if you wish to use any of the material for any purpose. Web sites refusing to remove links or materials when asked to do so may be subject to legal action. |
| For Alex's complete medical history www.ibdkitties.net/Alexmedicalhistory.html |
| Copyright © IBD Kitties 2008-2013, all rights reserved |
| The information and recommendations on this website are NOT meant to take the place of veterinary advice, as we are NOT veterinarians. It's here to help you ask better questions and offer additional knowledge to your veterinarian as they often times rely on us for more up to date and accurate reporting on these issues. Some of the information on this site has not been written by a veterinarian and should not be considered a replacement for a veterinarian visit. This site is for informative purposes only, and you should always seek the advice and treatment of a vet above all else. This site is dedicated to my beautiful girl who lost her battle on July 10, 2008 and will now serve, as well as so many others, as an example and my angel guiding me to help others. Check back frequently as we're adding new information constantly. |
| We are looking for new case studies for both the Living with IBD & pancreatitis sections. If you're interested in putting your cat's case history with these conditions on the site, please see Case Instructions. We're also looking for more articles for the Parent's Speak section. If your kitty has a story to tell that you think might help others and we haven't already covered it, please let us know. We'd love to talk with you. contact@ibdkitties.net. If you need to translate any part of this website, please click here to translate sections: http://translate.google.com/ |
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