Ulcerative colitis, sometimes called "UC," is a chronic disease affecting the colon's lining. It can cause ulcers and sores on the colon walls and lead to diarrhea, abdominal pain, fatigue, and weight loss. In many cases, it can be successfully managed with medications, dietary changes, and stress reduction techniques.
Maintain A Healthy Weight
Maintaining a healthy weight is important for the health of your cat. Most cats should weigh between 6 and 10 pounds, although their ideal weight will vary based on age and breed. If you haven’t weighed your kitty in a while, it is time to get into the habit of weighing them regularly (once every two months).
To calculate your cat's ideal weight:
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Subtract your cat's current age from 7 by months (e.g., if they are 4 years old, subtract 7-4 = 3). This gives you their “years as a kitten” number.
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Multiply this number by 2-3% (.02-.03) to get an approximate range for their ideal body weight (e.g., if they are 4 years old and have been at 8 pounds since having kittens at about 1 year old, their ideal body weight would be somewhere between 10-13 pounds).
Provide Adequate Hydration
You'll be happy to know that cats can drink water just fine. In fact, it's the best thing for them. But how much should you give your cat?
As a general rule of thumb, cats should have about 1 ounce (30 mL) of fluid for each pound (454 g) of body weight per day, so if your kitty weighs 10 pounds (4.5 kg), then he or she needs 10 ounces (296 mL) of water per day.
If you're worried about giving them too much water and causing dilutional hyponatremia, which can occur when there's too much water in their blood, then err on the side of caution by letting him/her get used to increase his/her intake over time gradually. You could also try diluting the amount with some unflavored Pedialyte if he/she doesn't like plain old H2O, or maybe add some lemon juice or a bit of salt if it tastes too bland. You can get your hands on these pet supplies and pet meds online.
Just don't let him sit around drinking straight from the faucet all day. He will probably get thirsty again soon and want another glassful before bedtime rolls around at 9 pm every night.
Dietary Management And Nutrition
To help protect your kitty from ulcerative colitis, you can try the following:
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Avoid foods that may irritate or inflame the colon. These include fatty, spicy, and acidic foods, raw fish, alcohol, caffeine-containing drinks like coffee and tea, citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, and limes), chocolate, and refined sugar products such as cakes, biscuits, and chocolate bars. If a particular food seems to trigger symptoms in your cat, then avoid it at all costs.
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Cat's digestive systems are very sensitive to changes in their diet, so you must be prepared for a few days off of their regular food when they visit the vet for treatment. If your cat’s gut is not healthy, your vet may prescribe a Royal Canin gastrointestinal diet.
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High-fiber diets may also cause problems, but some low-fiber foods are good choices if your cat reacts badly to high-fiber ones, e.g., canned pumpkin (0% fiber), canned tuna with water (4% fiber), etc.
Provide A Good Quality Of Life
Provide a good quality of life by supporting your cat with a good quality of life. This means ensuring your cat is comfortable and happy, providing good nutrition with Nulo cat food, hydration, and medical care. You also need to make sure you have the help of a veterinarian who can provide excellent care for your kitty. Achieving this will help ensure that they have a good quality of life while they are suffering from colitis in the long run.
Keep Hands Clean
Maintaining hygiene is one of the trickiest and also the most important things in a pet parent’s life.
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Wash hands with soap and water after handling the cat or touching its litter box.
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Wash your hands if you've touched anything besides the pet food, such as raw meat or eggs, to prevent spreading bacteria from those items onto their food bowl. This will help prevent passing any germs from your food to your kitty.
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Wash hands before and after administering medications for ulcerative colitis (like antibiotics) to avoid exposing your kitty's gut to pathogens that may be present on your hands and could potentially cause a flare-up of symptoms.
Vaccinate Your Kitty Against Common Viruses
Panleukopenia is a highly contagious disease that can be transmitted to people. Feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus are linked to the development of lymphoma in cats, so it’s important to get your kitty vaccinated against these infections as well. A vaccination program should begin at six weeks old and be completed by 16 weeks old when kittens are fully protected against infections with these viruses.
Stress Reduction
Stress is a very real trigger for ulcerative colitis. If you haven't considered this before, it's important to look into how your cat's environment can cause stress and how you can mitigate it. Some potential causes of stress include:
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Changes in the environment—a new home or pet
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Changes in routine—a change of diet
Treating Inflammation Of The Colon
Ulcerative colitis, or inflammatory bowel disease, is a form of colitis or inflammation of the colon. The condition causes ulcers and sores that can affect any part of your body's large intestine (colon).
There are two types of ulcerative colitis:
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Ulcerative proctitis affects only the rectum (the end portion of the large intestine). It may occur with Crohn's disease (a type of inflammatory bowel disease) but is most often found on its own. It is typically accompanied by diarrhea, which can be treated with Panacur or Metronidazole for cats. Cats might also suffer from acid reflux, which leads to vomiting. The same can be dealt with Metoclopramide for quick relief.
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In proctosigmoiditis, inflammation occurs in the rectum and sigmoid colon, that is, the lower end of the colon. Sucralfate for cats is a standard treatment for treating the disease.
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Histiocytic ulcerative colitis is a rare occurrence in felines as it falls in the autoimmune category, with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) positive histiocytes. Vets may prescribe a course of Famotidine for cats to cure the condition.
Conclusion
The best way to protect your kitty from ulcerative colitis is by keeping him at a healthy weight and providing adequate hydration and good quality nutrition. Stress reduction techniques like pheromone therapy from Feliway Optimum may also be helpful.