How chronic inflammatory bowel disease affects feline welfare and the evidence for dietary, pharmacological and specialist treatment approaches.
Feline IBD causes chronic gastrointestinal discomfort — nausea, cramping and the exhausting depletion of repeated vomiting — that profoundly reduces quality of life. Because cats suppress overt signs of abdominal discomfort, owners may observe only the end results (vomit on the floor, weight loss) without recognising the ongoing suffering their cat experiences. Accurate diagnosis is welfare-critical: treating lymphoma with IBD-only protocols delays effective chemotherapy, while treating IBD aggressively with chemotherapy causes unnecessary side effects. The welfare investment in achieving a histological diagnosis pays dividends in targeted treatment and better long-term outcomes.