Feline inflammatory bowel disease causes chronic nausea, abdominal pain, and weight loss that significantly reduces quality of life and requires careful long-term management.
IBD causes the feline equivalent of a persistent gastrointestinal illness — constant low-grade nausea with intermittent vomiting and the discomfort of intestinal inflammation. Cats with IBD experience a reduced quality of life that they cannot communicate directly, masking their chronic discomfort as prey animals instinctively do. Weight loss from malabsorption progresses insidiously. The challenge of distinguishing IBD from intestinal lymphoma requires biopsy — a procedure that imposes its own welfare cost but is essential for appropriate treatment. With accurate diagnosis and consistent management, many IBD cats achieve comfortable lives, making the investment in diagnosis worthwhile from a welfare perspective.