Bugsy needs vibes.... Long

Originally Posted by darlili

Lots of good wishes going your way - my boy has a 'sensitive' tummy - not nearly in Bugsy's league, but enough that I'm always thrilled when I see 'good poo'. A couple of years ago he had a few weeks of very soft poo outside the box - looking back, I think his tummy didn't care for Hills CD wet in the fish flavor - anyhow, I also used Tylan powder (a mild antibiotic, as I understand it, often used for digestive issues in animals). Not sure if it was a combination of things, but since then, so far so good - every now and agan poo is a little softer, but no major issues.

But I know the feeling - you'd rather be sick yourself than see them hurting.

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Thanks Darlili... Yes, it is Tylan... Last week he took it for three days, and threw up for two of them... The vet thinks it is not due to Tylan, but I know it is... Bugsy doesn't throw up with anything... He is now on day 43 of diarrhea
Luckily he goes to the bathroom only once a day, so it is not too bad... He is completely normal otherwise, his appetite and behavior are in check, no fever, nothing out of the ordinary.
I called the vet, who told me to suspend Tylan for a few days and resume giving it after he felt better - so now he has been back on it for the past 3 days. I did not check his poop today, yesterday it was as liquid as a soft cream - like shampoo or something like that (sorry for the visual).
I am just praying to God that he holds on and doesn't throw up... Doing my best to give the meds with food too...
I was reading on Tylan's site, and it says in there that some cats do throw up in the beginning of the treatment, so my hope is that this side effect phases out - this seems to be a great antibiotic for it, and better than metronidazole, as I only need to give it once a day...
I see that there are many IBD parents that don't treat the cats and just deal with the diarrhea, but I really don't want to do that... It is not comfortable for him, and for some reason it just doesn't sound like a good option...
Well... I guess I will take one step at a time...
Please, if you can spare a vibe or two...

Bugsy

OMG poor Bugsy, he's such a beautiful cat! I hope he's feeling better!

So, today was his 5th consecutive day on Tylan, so far no throwing up... The vet said he should be much better in one or two weeks - God, I hope so... I see no significant improvement yet - I guess some, but not too much... don't know if it is wishful thinking... His poop went from completely liquid, explosive diarrhea (once a day) to soft pudding, also once a day. No where close to be formed yet... I guess I'll wait to day 10 and call the vet again for his thoughts depending on how he is.
His belly feels a little softer, so I guess it is good news...
His appetite was low for a little while and he lost some weight, but then I can also attribute the weight loss to removing the high calorie food from his diet (EVO/Origen, removed since his UTI).
I hope this works... It sure is slower than Metronidazole....

prayers and vibes to you and Bugsy! You're a good mama and many hugs are coming your way, sweetie!! :hu gs:

that the stuff works and his problem with loose bowels resolves. I've been checking out the various "urinary" foods we have here, and there're none without chicken, either.

I just caught this thread, Carolina. Poor Bugsy! I can't imagine having diarrhea that long, and with all his other problems too.

I hope you see improvement soon with the Tylan. At least he hasn't thrown up, so maybe it's a good sign that he's on the right track.

Sending good thoughts and vibes for poor Bugsy. And, you too.

Sending mega vibes for your sweet Bugsy. You are such a good cat mom, he could not be in better care.

Thanks for the update on Bugsy. I'm glad he's doing a little better. Improvement may be slow, but at least it's improvement.

Bugsy

and some for you too, to help you hold up!
Carolina

PS I just did some reading on Tylan. Apparently the results ARE slower, two weeks seems to be the duration before real improvement is seen, so Bugsy is improving as might be expected on this med.

And Tylan is often used long term to control IBD symptoms.

Originally Posted by Bellaandme

prayers and vibes to you and Bugsy! You're a good mama and many hugs are coming your way, sweetie!!

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Thank you

Originally Posted by jcat

that the stuff works and his problem with loose bowels resolves. I've been checking out the various "urinary" foods we have here, and there're none without chicken, either.

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Thank you Yes, there is only one here, C/D fish, and he didn't do well at all on it... His new vet told me to not worry about a urinary diet for now unless he has another episode... Once his diarrhea gets better he told me to go ahead and start giving him the cranberry supplement again, so I will do that...

Originally Posted by Sherry526

I just caught this thread, Carolina. Poor Bugsy! I can't imagine having diarrhea that long, and with all his other problems too.

I hope you see improvement soon with the Tylan. At least he hasn't thrown up, so maybe it's a good sign that he's on the right track.

Sending good thoughts and vibes for poor Bugsy. And, you too.

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Yeah, it is now 45 days... Long long time really.... Luckily he eats plenty of wet food and drinks a lot of water too. But it sure worries me, as this is completely out of the ordinary... I am praying that Tylan works...

Originally Posted by farleyv

Sending mega vibes for your sweet Bugsy. You are such a good cat mom, he could not be in better care.

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Thank you ....

Originally Posted by otto

Thanks for the update on Bugsy. I'm glad he's doing a little better. Improvement may be slow, but at least it's improvement.

Bugsy

and some for you too, to help you hold up!
Carolina

PS I just did some reading on Tylan. Apparently the results ARE slower, two weeks seems to be the duration before real improvement is seen, so Bugsy is improving as might be expected on this med.

And Tylan is often used long term to control IBD symptoms.

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Thank you otto... It makes me feel better... I am so used to Metronidazol' speed... But then this last time as soon as he went off of it, the symptoms were right back...
What I like about Tylan is that there is pretty much no side effects as far as his kidney and liver goes when used long term, which is not the case for metro (even though it has low side effects), and certainly not for prednisolone. If it works, it is considered really a wonder drug for IBD, especially on his case, who already takes daily meds for stomatitis.
He does seem to be more alert and have more spunk to him, yesterday and today he has been getting into everything around the house, probably a sign that he feels better... He has had diarrhea for so long, that it is hard to see the little changes on behavior - his behavior had sort of become "normal" to me. He was not lethargic or anything, but this last two days he has had extra energy, and It has definitely been noticeable...

I am just taking it day by day... I have a calendar on my fridge that I mark off the days he takes the meds and how he is doing - I do this every month so I can keep track of him for vet visit's purposes... Every check mark that he doesn't throw up is a victory... That is how I am taking it right now... One check mark at a time...

I look in on this everyday, hoping Bugsy is still improving. The Tylan has been great for Kody--today is the 19th day for him. The vet put his dose in small capsules and I try to catch him fairly soon after he eats. Like you, I just hope it is not like with the metronidazole and a couple of days ater he stops taking the Tylan his problem comes back. With Kody though, we started in right after the metronidazole so he never got the "runny poops", the Tylan worked to keep them away.

Originally Posted by Kody's Mom

I look in on this everyday, hoping Bugsy is still improving. The Tylan has been great for Kody--today is the 19th day for him. The vet put his dose in small capsules and I try to catch him fairly soon after he eats. Like you, I just hope it is not like with the metronidazole and a couple of days ater he stops taking the Tylan his problem comes back. With Kody though, we started in right after the metronidazole so he never got the "runny poops", the Tylan worked to keep them away.

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Kody's mom, thank you for your reply... yesterday was day 7 for Bugsy, no throwing up so far... I am giving it right after his pm wet meal, I think it is making a difference.... How long is your vet planning on treating Kody with it? It sounds to me that it will be months for Bugsy... I wish I had started right after metro, but we had no idea he would get the runs so quickly when we finished the treatment with metro... this is the first time this happened... I just hope to see formed poop in the two weeks mark... that's all I hope...

Oh my gosh, how did I miss this? Huge vibes sweetie and I hope Bugsy continues to improve.xx

Originally Posted by Carolina

Kody's mom, thank you for your reply... yesterday was day 7 for Bugsy, no throwing up so far... I am giving it right after his pm wet meal, I think it is making a difference.... How long is your vet planning on treating Kody with it? It sounds to me that it will be months for Bugsy... I wish I had started right after metro, but we had no idea he would get the runs so quickly when we finished the treatment with metro... this is the first time this happened... I just hope to see formed poop in the two weeks mark... that's all I hope...

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No vomiting is good. Will be watching for updates.
Bugsy

I really don't know how long the vet intends to keep Kody on the Tylan. He has been diagnosed with Colitis (had an endoscopy and biopsy), and for 2 years we have dealt with soft, bloody, mucousy poop (very seldom diarrhea though), intermintally.

He would take metronidazole, and two or three times prednisolone also, only to have it come back. This time it got really bad and he was "leaking" clear mucous. the vet prescribed the Metronidazole and told me even though he gave me a 20 day supply, he would just give it to him for 7-10 days (he thought that was probably enough to clear it up). After 7 days I quit and 2 days later there was blood and mucous again, so I tried 3 more days of the metronidazole, and then quit and the next day it was back.

I called the vet and he told me to come in and pick up the Tylan (a 30 day supply) and said it was safe for long-term. At the end of the 30 days he said to call and we will decide. Personally, I hope that we can keep him on a 2 to 3 times a week dosing (not everyday). The vet will probably want to see about just discontinuing it, but it is so nice not to get that awful sick feeling in my stomach when I see blood--if it is safe, I would rather keep him on some sort of spaced out low dose. If this is the case, I wish we had tried the Tylan long ago!

Thinking of you and Bugsy, sending lots of vibes!

Yesterday was day 8 with no throwing up... On that level, things are definitely looking up for sure.
I decided not to wait and went ahead and left a message to his vet, I want to see what his thoughts are about how Bugsy is doing, not having major improvements this far along. He is probably going to want blood tests and an x-ray, which is ok... I guess that's what I have insurance for... I am hoping though we can wait a little longer, to the end of the 2 weeks mark. Once I hear from him I will update this thread. He is in surgery now.
Thanks for all the vibes you guys! :vi bes:

I hope Bugsy starts to feel better soon, Carolina!

Oh, poor Bugsy, such a sweet boy. I do hope this tylan does the trick and gets his insides back on track! Vibes for both of you..

So I received a call from the vet, and he says we are on track. He said that since Metronidazole worked in firming up the poop, but when we stopped it went back to diarrhea, that is a big indication of inflamed intestinal track. He also said Tylan takes much longer to work, full results are often only seen after 14 days of treatment in case of severe inflammation like this.

He said if he doesn't get better, bring him for a blood test; he said this could be a lack of B12, or another nutrient as well. I brought up the fact that he never had a bioppsy done to diagnose his IBD and he said with his history, everything indicates he really has it, especially his history with stomatitis (IBD is highly common in LPS stomatitis cats), BUT in any case, there is a new blood test in an outside lab that can also diagnose IBD with results pretty much as good as a biopsy, for much cheaper, and much less invasive..... so..... IF push comes to shove, we will do the blood test next, and depending of what it shows (or not), we might opt for this specific blood test for IBD.
What he thinks it happened is that his bowels got inflamed with Clavamox and his immunesystem on the top of IBD makes it hard to heal and bring it back to normal.
If this medication doesn't work, he might need to go on prednisolone for a while, and I soooo don't want him to go into it...
Anyways, He IS improving a little - he has more energy, he has been playing chase back and forth with Lucky and being very very mischievous, his belly feels very soft, he no longer has gas...
I keep reminding myself... one day at a time... one day at a time.... I hope this works! I SO hope this works!