Gelatin and IBD, gut health (it's helping my cat!)

[Mary]

I was reading about gelatin and skin health recently, and then read that it can be very good for gut health, helping with IBD and leaky gut. My 16-1/2 year old cat has had IBD for close to 4 years, has been on prednisolone for 3-1/2. Without it she would have very frequent diarrhea and vomiting, hard on both of us! I know prednisolone is not good long term but the alternative was worse. And, fwiw, her recent blood work was all good. Also I went through a period where I tried a ton of different types of food, and nothing really helped, except giving her salmon oil which I think reduced inflammation, which I still give her.

Recently she started getting worse again and I was getting a bit frantic. Then I read about how gelatin can be so good for the gut, so I made some using chicken wings - she ate a little one day, and quite a bit the next day and the day after she was much improved - her appetite was better, no vomiting, etc. And overall she has been better since starting the gelatin - it feels too good to be true!

The only problem is she's a cat, which means she's very picky! She'll gobble something up one day and then turn her nose up at it the next! Anyways, I'm doing whatever I can to get her to eat gelatin - if only she were a dog, so much easier to treat!

Anyways, I was very surprised at how quickly gelatin made a difference for her. I wish I had known about it 4 years ago, I might have been able to avoid the prenisolone.

So I wanted to pass this on in case it might help some of you. I actually bought an insta-pot type pressure cooker (Yedi brand) to make the gelatin. The first time I cooked the wings for 8 hours I think but 4 hours will do it with the pressure cooker.

Here's one article with links about benefits of gelatin: What Is Gelatin Good For? Benefits, Uses and More (healthline.com)

Tagging @ljimbo423 here - I know you've done a lot of work on gut health and might have some comments --

 

[ljimbo423]

Tagging @ljimbo423 here - I know you've done a lot of work on gut health and might have some comments --

I've read a lot about gelatin being good for the leaky gut and the gut in general. I tried 10-12 grams a day of hydrolyzed bovine gelatin for about 3 months.

I noticed an increase in energy and it seemed to help with my allergies to for some reason. But it didn't make any noticeable changes in my gut.

A lot of functional medical doctors swear this helps their patients with leaky gut. I don't know why it didn't help me. Although I'm thinking chronic stress is playing a big role in my gut issues. If that's true, most or all diets and supplements are going to have their limits.

I'm happy to hear it's helping your cat.

The only problem is she's a cat, which means she's very picky! She'll gobble something up one day and then turn her nose up at it the next!

Maybe mix it with some caviar.

 

[Judee]

Can you mix it with broth or chicken baby food? I'm so glad you're helping your cat. We tried so many things for my IBD cat before finally having to put him to sleep.

One thing I used to make him was ground up boneless chicken mixed with eggs and then I would cook it like meat loaf. He liked that. It doesn't have all the nutrients a cat needs so we didn't use it all the time but he always gobbled that up if I remember correctly. You could mix the gelatin with that before baking perhaps.

 

[Mary]

@Judee - thank you for the suggestions - definitely worth a try! I'm so sorry to hear about your cat - that's rough! I've considered that, and then she'll bounce back, and then down hill again, but with the gelatin she's been better now for maybe 10 days, just acting more like her old self which I have not seen for quite awhile.

The gelatin itself is a broth when I melt it, but she's just so darn picky! It's maddening, because it helps her so much. But we're getting by, so far -- I may have to get some caviar as @ljimbo423 suggested!

She has eaten the gelatin when melted with cream, and with tuna juice, but today she didn't want any . . . So may get some chicken baby food as you suggested, that never occurred to me!

So often I read about various supplements or nutrients being good for this or that, but I've never seen such a major improvement in such a short time - so I think the gelatin really might help members here with gut issues.

 

[Judee]

So often I read about various supplements or nutrients being good for this or that, but I've never seen such a major improvement in such a short time - so I think the gelatin really might help members here with gut issues.

Yeah we tried so many things. I wish I would have thought of gelatin. We even tried steroid injections which gave us a few days without any problems but he pretty much went downhill after that.

Hope your little girl gets better. Is she a long haired cat by chance? The Nebelung kitties seem prone to this disease. This is similar to what our little guy looked like:

 

[Mary]

@Judee , no she's a black short-haired, looks just like my avatar! What a beautiful cat you had! It's heart breaking, I know. If I hadn't stumbled across the gelatin, I don't know what I would have done, keeping fingers crossed --

My vet is very good, but he had nothing to offer apart from the prednisolone and we tried a special Hill"s diet food (which she wouldn't eat) and a few other things. But overall vets seem to be like our MDs - trained in pharmaceuticals with not that much knowledge about diet etc.

 

[Judee]

Some of the pet stores will let you have dry samples of different foods. Pets Supply Plus did that for us. They had little sample packets so we could try to find something he would be able to eat. He did the best I think on the Castor and Pollux Organix cat but towards the end of his life to get him to eat I was feeding him the Tiki Cat canned meals which are grain free.

Yeah, with vets they always offer Hills Science diet products but I don't really think those are the best foods for kitties. At least, from the research I did with my cat.

One thing I forgot to mention is early on in his life we learned he had a wheat allergy. We figured that out after his paws swelled up and the pet food company we called said that people aren't usually aware but cats can develop wheat allergies. We switched to another of their formulas that was wheat free and he did okay on that one for years. That was the Nutro hairball formula.

Anyway, I'll leave you alone but ask any questions if you have them.

 

[Mary]

Thanks @Judee - yeah, I learned several years ago that she did better on grain-free food - I had not had a clue that (1) so many cat foods had grains and (2) that so many cats did not do well with! I think if I had been aware of this from when she was young, she might not have developed IBD. I think vets should tell cat owners about this!

 

[Rufous McKinney]

so I think the gelatin really might help members here with gut issues.

That was basically what my going on the Tibetan wind diet accomplished- I have IBS-d and the d is "wind". An imbalance. And making bone broths...reduced wind substantially, most of my joint issues went away when I went on this type of diet for- a few months. Stopped eating raw foods and salads. I had wind- blowing into joints, blowing out of joints, cold parked in the pits of bones... so the IBS-d got alot better on this diet. I was required to use heavy bones however, as chicken bones don't generate sufficient grounding. Ate alot of roasted root vegetables on that diet. I had stopped eating potatoes- viewed as carbs, as not good for blood sugar. Now I almost live on potatoes. Potatoes seem to create a happier gut. Somewhere in PR is a thread discussing potato starch helping the gut.

 

[Mary]

I was required to use heavy bones however, as chicken bones don't generate sufficient grounding.

Interesting @Rufous McKinney - I plan to make some beef bone broth too, but the bones are so expensive, and hard to find! And I plan to start eating gelatin myself, supposed to very good for one's skin!

 

[Rufous McKinney]

supposed to very good for one's skin!

My skin is just crawling................plus its not rained so its real dry out- turning into a prune here!

Bones were once- free. My how our lives change.