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Cat with chronic di...
 

Cat with chronic diarrhea - nothing has helped!

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Joined: 1 year ago
Posts: 1
20/10/2022 6:20 pm
Topic starter
Hello,
I have had my cat for 10 years (she was adopted so likely around age 13-15 based on paperwork) - over the years her digestion seemed to go downhill a lot though it was never perfect. She's always been small but ended up very quickly getting skinnier and skinnier so that, of course, led to a vet visit, multiple tests were done and a prescription for daily prednisolone was given along with a short 1 month prescription of a probiotic. The result of the tests was that she either had feline IBS/IBD or gastrointestinal lymphoma but the vet didn't urge me to pursue further testing and said it wasn't really urgent because the prednisolone would treat both problems. She tested negative for parasites and all that.
 
She was on prednisolone for a few years, and I noticed that nothing it was supposed to help actually went away, she was still occasionally throwing up, and she pretty much always had diarrhea, so after some more vet visits and some more tests, I ended up asking my vet what even was the point of her being on the medication if it wasn't actually removing symptoms. This led to us deciding to taper her off of the prednisolone, she has been fine since coming off of it, pretty much the same actually.. I should add that her stool isn't actually straight liquid like diarrhea, but it is almost always very soft and in the middle of solid and liquid, definitely not normal healthy cat poop consistency. 
 
During her time on and off of prednisolone I have experimented with her diet. At times it would seem like I finally found what worked for her, but then it was only a matter of time until she would be back to her usual diarrhea and occasional vomiting. I've tried a very plain boiled chicken diet, mixing boiled chicken with beef baby food, a very simple canned cat food that had no additives just vitamins and meat in a pate (to try to see if it could be a food allergy), I've changed her dry food, canned pumpkin, tried giving her just dry food and not any wet food, and so on.. I will also note these changes aren't made rapidly I try to make the changes slowly so as to not upset her stomach too much more than it already is***
 
Currently, she is eating wet food with some psyllium husk mixed into it, but as of today, it seems like it is making her stomach upset again. She vomited immediately after eating her breakfast.
 
I just don't know what to do or try anymore, nothing has helped and I am really tired because I always am feeling sad for her and her discomfort (plus I have IBS too so I know the struggle). She has long fur too so having diarrhea is especially taxing on her and it's always a gamble whether she may have diarrhea stuck on her butt or fur and I know it must be uncomfortable for her, and then I have to wash her somewhat often and I know that's also uncomfortable for her. 
 
 
 
 
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Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 61
24/10/2022 1:40 pm

Hi Jay, this post got stuck in moderation for a week—apologies! I just approved it and have passed your question along to our veterinary moderator as a top priority. I know you're really feeling for your cat and want to find ways to help her feel better, so I'm sorry about the slow reply and hope you can get this figured out soon.

 

All the best,

 

Mallory

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Joined: 3 years ago
Posts: 48
25/10/2022 9:02 pm

Hi Jay,

I’m sorry to hear about your cat has been unwell and that it’s been going on for a few years. That must be difficult for both of you. It sounds like she’s had a complicated illness.

IBD does present quite similarly to lymphoma in terms of symptoms and ultrasound findings in the beginning. Usually cats with lymphoma would progressively deteriorate and lose weight. Did she ever have a biopsy of her intestine taken? An intestinal biopsy would tell the difference between these two but unfortunately it’s more invasive.

IBD is very common in cats and some cats might respond to diet alone but others need medication along with this. I can see from your message above that you’ve tried a lot of diets already, have you tried a gastrointestinal diet before? If not I would recommend this for at least 6 weeks (provided it doesn’t make her worse). If you have tried this, then I would recommend a hypoallergenic diet or novel protein diet (e.g. a diet with a single protein such as rabbit, venison, or turkey). It’s important to only feed one diet at a time with no other food or treats at all as these might aggravate an allergy and prevent her from responding to the new diet.

Cats with IBD can often benefit from probiotics as they often have a bacterial imbalance in their gut. I note that your cat was given this initially. They can be given for long periods but I’d discuss this with your vet first. I’d recommend the probiotic ‘Fortiflora’ which comes in sachet form and I’ve had good success with this in cats that I’ve treated in the past.

Other medications such as steroids or antibiotics (metronidazole) are sometimes needed to control the IBD symptoms too. Some cats with IBD are deficient in B12 and may need supplementation which can help the gastro signs; your vet can check this with a blood test. It’s also important to rule out any issue with the pancreas as this secretes digestive enzymes which sometimes need supplementation too.

If your cat isn’t losing weight and has a good appetite with no blood in her faeces, I would focus on diet and probiotics initially for at least 6 weeks provided she’s doing well. I’d check this with your vet also as they know your cat’s case best.

These links might be helpful;

https://cats.com/ibd-in-cats

https://cats.com/best-cat-food-for-ibd

https://cats.com/digestive-enzymes-for-cats

https://cats.com/?s=fortiflora

https://cats.com/reviews/best-probiotics-cats

https://cats.com/vitamin-b12-for-cats

I hope this helps,

 

Aisling

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Joined: 1 year ago
Posts: 1
26/10/2022 3:18 pm
Posted by: @jay
Hello,
I have had my cat for 10 years (she was adopted so likely around age 13-15 based on paperwork) - over the years her digestion seemed to go downhill a lot though it was never perfect. She's always been small but ended up very quickly getting skinnier and skinnier so that, of course, led to a vet visit, multiple tests were done and a prescription for daily prednisolone was given along with a short 1 month prescription of a probiotic. The result of the tests was that she either had feline IBS/IBD or gastrointestinal lymphoma but the vet didn't urge me to pursue further testing and said it wasn't really urgent because the prednisolone would treat both problems. She tested negative for parasites and all that.
 
She was on prednisolone for a few years, and I noticed that nothing it was supposed to help actually went away, she was still occasionally throwing up, and she pretty much always had diarrhea, so after some more vet visits and some more tests, I ended up asking my vet what even was the point of her being on the medication if it wasn't actually removing symptoms. This led to us deciding to taper her off of the prednisolone, she has been fine since coming off of it, pretty much the same actually.. I should add that her stool isn't actually straight liquid like diarrhea, but it is almost always very soft and in the middle of solid and liquid, definitely not normal healthy cat poop consistency. 
 
During her time on and off of prednisolone I have experimented with her diet. At times it would seem like I finally found what worked for her, but then it was only a matter of time until she would be back to her usual diarrhea and occasional vomiting. I've tried a very plain boiled chicken diet, mixing boiled chicken with beef baby food, a very simple canned cat food that had no additives just vitamins and meat in a pate (to try to see if it could be a food allergy), I've changed her dry food, canned pumpkin, tried giving her just dry food and not any wet food, and so on.. I will also note these changes aren't made rapidly I try to make the changes slowly so as to not upset her stomach too much more than it already is***
 
Currently, she is eating wet food with some psyllium husk mixed into it, but as of today, it seems like it is making her stomach upset again. She vomited immediately after eating her breakfast.
 
I just don't know what to do or try anymore, nothing has helped and I am really tired because I always am feeling sad for her and her discomfort (plus I have IBS too so I know the struggle). She has long fur too so having diarrhea is especially taxing on her and it's always a gamble whether she may have diarrhea stuck on her butt or fur and I know it must be uncomfortable for her, and then I have to wash her somewhat often and I know that's also uncomfortable for her. 
 
 
 
 

Hi Jay,

I feel your pain. I have a cat that has runny poops and goes to the litter box often but only a small amount of runny poops came out. However, I would like to share with you a treatment that I've been using. I've used GI Support by Dr. Mercola for the digestive tract. You can also find a vlog with Dr. Karen Becker at https://youtu.be/c2JpJSLJug0.  

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