IBDkitties Group Guidelines

Refusing to follow any of these guidelines are grounds for, removal and/or blocking. Depending on the number of rules broken and/or the offense you may be suspended for up to 30 days, whereas you won’t be able to participate but you’ll still be in the group. Extended explanation for guidelines follows at the end of these rules (Please read all).

We are NOT veterinarians. We cannot and WILL NOT diagnose your cat! We understand it’s not always feasible to get your kitty to a vet for various reasons. But we cannot take the place of proper veterinary care and proper diagnostics. Always check with your vet before making changes to medications and/or treatment.
NO posting about unknown cats. If it’s not your cat, a cat in your care (including ferals), or a cat belonging to your extended family, it will be removed. Only questions and concerns about cats. Not dogs, no other animals.
NO messaging admins unless it’s an emergency about GROUP ISSUES ONLY. Ask all other questions in the group. If you have an issue with a post please flag it.
NO messaging admins to complain about being suspended, that’s now an immediate removal and block. NO blocking admins and NO posting to complain about admins and how the group is run.
NO bullying, please state your point on a subject and move on, don’t badger.
NO commenting on posts older than 6 months, You’re bringing up painful memories for people that could have lost their kitties.
NO food shaming, NO vegan or vegetarian diets.
NO politics, no trashing anyone, no trashing anyone’s beliefs.
NO stating IBD can be cured (it can’t as of now) and NO mention of holistic, homeopathic, essential oils, colloidal silver, coconut oil, etc. PERIOD. (Chinese medicine, CBD oil and all these other alternative treatments should be discussed with a holistic vet and we don’t want it promoted in every thread). NO Recommending THC, ever.
NO giving away or selling prescription medications or medical supplies; it’s illegal and we can get shut down for it. Facebook is STRICT.
NO selling products of any kind. If you’d like to give food and supplements away, that’s fine but we’ve become too much of a marketplace.
NO private messaging members; discuss items in the group. Exceptions are giving away supplements, food & supplies which are allowed.
NO poop, vomit, bloody or anus pictures
NO re-homing animals, animal abuse stuff, petitions, no posts looking for homes for pets, etc.
NO fundraising, selling or posting pages of your businesses, products, etc.,
NO pictures of your kitty’s passing or after passing; NO describing in detail how they passed. This is triggering and too difficult for many.
NO posts or pictures of or about your kitties without questions, concerns or updates, (too many flood the forum) NO graphics, cartoons, pictures of unknown pets that have nothing to do with your kitty etc.
NO sending people to other groups if it’s something we can help here; Links for specialty groups such as CKD, cancer, FGESF, etc. will be allowed.
NO hijacking other people’s threads or posting question after question all day. Post as many things in one post as you can.
NO posting and saying “if not allowed then delete”. CHECK THE RULES FIRST!
KEEP POSTS ABOUT IBD and it’s relevant conditions (anything to do with the GI system). All other questions should be asked in groups for those conditions (kidneys, thyroid, arthritis, heart, etc.) unless it directly relates to your cat’s IBD.
DO PLEASE post links from my website first, IBDKITTIES.NET and check the website for information before posting questions.

Extended Explanations for Guidelines (optional to read)

BE ADVISED: The group admins are asking that you DON’T message us unless there is a REAL EMERGENCY that for some reason only we can help. If you have a problem in the group or with another member, flag the post, it’s easy. Go to the top right where the three dots are and click on flag post. We will see it and decide how to deal with it, please respect whatever decision we come to. If you have a health question, again, ask in the group. Messaging an admin to complain about the rules & guidelines will also be grounds for removal. When you join this group you clearly state you’ve read them and agree to follow the rules. If you don’t like them you’re welcome to leave the group at any point, it’s not up for negotiation. Thank you for your cooperation.

This group is for people that have or have had kitties with IBD, fatty liver disease, pancreatitis or any other GI disorder. Anyone is welcome to join our group as long as you abide by the rules we welcome everyone who wants to learn, help others, or needs help.

We are NOT veterinarians. Always check with your vet before making changes to medications and/or treatment. Any suggestions made in the group regarding medications, supplements, treatments, diet, etc. are only that…suggestions, and should not be regarded as medical advice.
Research material, theories, experience, etc. are all welcome. However, we are not here to persuade, confuse, argue, intimidate or scare others into our views or opinions. Please refrain from arguing an issue to the point of exhaustion. Be respectful of each other’s opinions and feelings, state your point and move on. Bullying will not in any way be tolerated and that includes towards the admins.
NO food shaming. We are here to offer support and education, but not pressure. Every cat is different and there are no “one size fits all” treatments or answers. What works for one or several others may not work for another and it is ultimately the pet parent’s decision to make regarding what kind of diet, treatment, medication, supplements, etc. that they are willing to give their pet.
We do not in any way advocate vegan or vegetarian diets for cats. Cats are obligate carnivores and if not fed meat they are in serious danger of anemia, B12 deficiency, etc. We will not advocate vegan/vegetarian diets here and any posts regarding these diets will be removed and possibly the member as well if they push it. Sorry but that’s life threatening. All homecooked or raw fed diets must be supplemented and/or balanced, it can be life threatening otherwise.
There is presently NO cure for IBD. There are many great treatments and there is “remission” but there is currently NO CURE. We ask that you refrain from this statement as it gives false hope.
- We are NOT a holistic group and will not allow the discussion of such. We see A LOT of pages, groups and posts, etc. on holistic treatments that are unsafe, have no proven science behind them, and are not researched and proven safe. There are many gray areas concerning holistic treatments and we just don’t have the time or resources to debate the issue constantly. If you are interested in alternative or holistic treatments for your cat you should consult with a registered holistic vet. Because such treatments are tailored to a specific cat or complaint we ask you not to share such remedies with the rest of the group as they may not be suitable for their cat.
- Any discussions on essential oils is prohibited as we feel it’s unsafe (regardless of the amount of attention and/or selling of these items by vets etc.). Please see this link for further information on why it’s unsafe: https://www.ibdkitties.net/supplements/toxicunsafe-natural/.
- Coconut oil should not be taken internally by cats; Cats cannot filter MCTs (medium chain triglycerides). https://www.ibdkitties.net/supplements/toxicunsafe-natural/
- Alcohol of any kind in products is not safe. Cats cannot process it. https://www.ibdkitties.net/toxicunsafe-foods/.
- Homeopathics and Chinese medicine are extremely individual to each cat and like other things should be discussed with your holistic vet. We state again that these should not be brought up or shared in the group in any way.
- CBD oil is very popular and while we respect this and allow the discussion of it, we cannot recommend it due to the problems with counterfeit products, lack of testing in cats and/or science behind it. CBD oil can interfere with some medications and like anything else can have side effects to it. While we are fine with it, we’d prefer it not become the lead discussion in the group. https://www.ibdkitties.net/using-cbd-products-information-and-resources/
- Allowed discussions include slippery elm bark (it’s pure fiber, nothing else), George’s fractionally distilled aloe vera liquid (not latex so safe for cats), milk thistle (which is prescribed by vets as it’s an ingredient of Denosyl and Denamarin, collagen to build muscle and help weight gain, probiotics/prebiotics etc. Anything along these lines.
Try to use resources within the group and within the IBDKitties website first, before referring members outside the group unnecessarily. We see A LOT of people posting links to other groups when there really isn’t a need. If a kitty has been diagnosed with cancer or kidney disease, etc., we absolutely have no problems with recommending specialty groups. Always check the IBDKitties website first if you have a question, especially if you are new to IBD. Answers to many common questions are there. In fact it would be helpful if people would post links to my site for referneceas we’ve worked hard on it. https://www.ibdkitties.net/. Please also do a search in the group for certain subjects before posting if at all possible. There are THOUSANDS of posts on many subjects.
Please try and include as much information as you can in one post. Posting each question you have separately every few minutes takes up the forum and gets very confusing. We have THOUSANDS of members and won’t be able to remember what you posted days ago or your cat’s history.
There are many people who very generously want to donate medications, which can be expensive, to members of the group. Unfortunately due to strict laws, we cannot allow donation or selling of medications within the group. Doing so is against the law and we could be reported which would hurt everyone in the group. For this reason only food, supplies and non prescription supplement posts will be allowed. We apologize as we need to think about the safety of everyone involved.
NO private PMs to other members. It has led to harrassment, misinformation & disrespect for the members, admins and the group. We will allow it when giving away supplements, food & supplies but for no other reason. Those posts will be immediately removed without explanation. If it continues that’s grounds to be removed and blocked.
Do not hijack other people’s posts in order to discuss your kitty. We appreciate you answering the questions asked or giving your experience when it applies but if you need help, we want you to start your own thread. The person who originally posted has the right to have the attention focused on their needs at the time.
In order to keep things easy to find and flowing for all members, refrain from posting off-topic material and keep to the subject matter. This includes random articles not associated with the subject matter, photos of unknown pets and graphics. Random graphics (funny, cartoons, etc) are not allowed as it easily gets out of hand and causes questions from members to get pushed down out of sight so they don’t get answered. Also, it’s fine to post occasional pictures of your kitty without questions or advice, but please don’t flood the forum with pictures only. We want to keep the forum clean and flowing for people to find subject matters easily. If these things are posted they will be immediately removed and you will be contacted with a reminder to read the guidelines again.
Vomit, poop, bloody or anus pictures of any kind are not allowed as some of us are very squeamish, these pictures will be removed. Pictures like this should be sent to your vet for them to determine if a vet visit is in order.
No posts about rehoming, posts about abused animals, petitions, etc. Respect that this is a group solely for feline IBD and related conditions and anything posted to the contrary will be immediately removed.
Fundraising links will not be allowed nor selling products, promoting your pages, etc. And especially, if you start another group with similiar feline issues, I’m sorry but it’s rude to post a link in MY group sending people to yours’. Just not cool.
IBDKitties members are welcome to join our bereavement group if you’ve experienced loss of a pet or a human. https://www.facebook.com/groups/IBDKittiesGriefSupport/ We’re better equipped to help you through your extreme grief and can concentrate on that particular subject matter. We hope you understand that the pet parents here in the regular group are in a delicate state with their own pets and it can become too much sometimes to see the extreme grief you are going through every day. Be aware that the bereavement group is restricted to members of IBDKitties and we will not accept outside members. If you’re in the regular IBD group and want to leave but join the grief group, please join the group first as you won’t be allowed in once you leave IBDkitties.
Do not to post pictures or video of your kitty’s body after it’s passed or getting ready to pass. Many people here are on the edge with anxiety and some have PTSD after watching their kitties pass away or being so sick. We aren’t trying to be insensitive, quite the opposite. We know that many different cultures and places around the world handle death differently but not everyone can handle it.
All health- related questions should be asked in the group only. We ask that you refrain from PMing admins for personal opinions and one-on-one help. There are many more members in the group itself that can offer you help and in fact probably know more about certain conditions than we sometimes do. We are not here 24/7 and cannot keep up with these requests. If you’re reporting a post for any reason then please flag it.
You may not block any of the admins. If we see that you have, you will promptly be removed and blocked from the group. We cannot have people blocking us because you don’t like the rules or anything we’ve said in the group; we need to be able to converse with you for many different reasons. Simple as that.

IBDKitties reserves the right to remove any member without warning for not following these guidelines and to change or add to the guidelines in the future. Thank you for understanding and following these guidelines! Anyone who feels someone is violating the guidelines should feel free to report the post and we will determine what happens next.

This group is a sister page to the website https://www.ibdkitties.net/. Please refer to this site for information, case studies, research, etc.

Thank you for your cooperation.