Please help cat with IBD

Hello,

I am hoping someone on this forum can help me. I've had my male cat Rusty for 14 years. For the past two months he had very running diarrhea so I took him to the vet a month ago. They run blood tests, examined him and everything came back normal. The vet suspects IBD and since then he has been taking 5mg of Prednisolone daily but this hasn't helped very much.

I have completely stopped feeding him dry food per the vets orders and have tried all different types of wet cat food but nothing is really helping him. I'd say 6 or 7 out of 10 times he still has diarrhea

3 days ago I started giving him 1 capsule of Align Probiotic and ever since then he has had TERRIBLE watery/running diarrhea that has been happening 4 or 5 times a day. Is this normal?? I had read one post from a member on here that had success with using Align so that's why I decided to try it but I'm now worried that this is making him worse? Is that even possible or is body trying to adjust to the Align and this is causing the watery diarrhea?

Tonight, I rushed out and got him some yogurt which he ate about half of the container and I also gave him 2 teaspoons of canned pumpkin...so far he is doing ok...sleeping at the moment.

I love this cat like my own child and sadly I'm broke and unemployed like all of the other millions of people in America. I've already also spent $500 in vet bills

Can anyone on this site help me with what else (suggestions) on what to do?

My first cat had really bad IBD. If she got stressed in any way or if her routine changed or if she ate different food- basically anything different that happened to her- it would trigger the IBD. This is the kind of condition where, when it flares up, it can take a while to subside. Think of it as an inflammation, kind of like dry heaves except it is the bowel and it stays irritated for a while. I just want to ask if anything happened that might have been a trigger, in which case it may help you for managing his IBD in the future. 

For now, I can only share that my cat had luck with lamb and rice wet food. At the time it was Waltham brand, I don't know if they make that anymore. As a matter of fact, when they stopped making it, I had a terrible time bc I had to convert her to another food and it was a horrible ordeal.

If I were you, I would try natural balance venison and green pea (available at PetCo), or a lamb and rice wet food that is easily digestible. 

Also, whatever you feed him, if he isn't eating it because of taste or whatever, if I were you I would mix it with whatever food you used to feed him- something that is familiar to him so that he can slowly adjust, notwithstanding the vet's advice, what is important is to stabilize him. Another wet food that seems to have a good consistency and good ingredients is the BG wet brand, and you might try turkey because it is easy on the stomach too, and also BG stands for before grain- just better overall for your boy. 

If he continues with the diarrhea, you can tell if he is overly dehydrated by pinching the fur on the back of his neck- if it is rigid and does not go back down easily, he is dehydrated from his runs and should see the vet. 

I really feel for you, I know how hard it is to have a cat with this condition. Just remember, a lot also depends on keeping him calm and observing a routine, and making any changes slowly and allowing time to adjust. The pumpkin sounds like a good additive and just look for quality wet foods that are known for digestibility. Also keep posting on this site, there are a LOT of knowledgeable people who have dealt with this and will have more advice for you!

I am assuming your boy never goes outside and there is no chance that it is anything else. Very old or very young cats can be susceptible to other things but they would have to come into contact with that stuff. If he goes outside, you might want to look at other causes for his diarrhea. 

I read the message boards.of vets and some have used EVO canned food for cats.with IBD with success. I think it's the ones that are 95% of whatever meat it is.

Probiotics are good for IBD - it may be a matter finding one that works.for your cat. Purina makes Fortiflora which is a powder that you add.to the food. You could ask your vet about it.

I think usually vets prescribe low residue foods for IBD - I could be wrong on this. IAMS makes an rx food that is low residue - I think it's lamb and barley....Medi-cal makes Sensitivity VR which is made with venison and is for IBD I believe. Again check with your vet to make sure of this. Im not a big fan of either companies but if it works, then it's worth your cat feeling better.

IBD from what I've seen, is a frustrating condition which requires a lot of trial and error to see what works. How long has your cat been on the prednisone?

Another thing to ask your vet would be about omega 3 fatty acids. They help ease inflammation as.well as boost immunity. Vitamin E may be good too as it is antioxidant. I am of the opinion that any condition that affects the digestive system needs something to support immunity as the digestive system is the source of most of one's immunity. Even if food has it, omega 3 fatty acids are destroyed by heat so adding some to your cat's diet may be helpful.

Again, I would ask your vet first. Or get a second opinion. Has your vet told you the next step in case the prednisone doesn't work?

Hi BarbB,

Thanks for your advice. It has been a real challenge trying to find him something to eat that he likes. Right now he is eating the IAMS Proactive.

In regards to your question, he goes outside once a day for no more than 10 minutes and I watch him the entire time. He likes to eat a little bit of grass and just lay there.

I'm surprised because this morning but he has not had any diarrhea or a bowel movement whatsoever so either the yogurt or pumpkin I gave him last night helped.

SweetPea24,

Thanks for your advice as well. I've had him on 5mg of Prednisilone for 4 weeks now and I don't know if I should continue to give it to him or just reduce the dosage because honestly I can't afford another vet visit so as of now I guess I'm on my own on what to do and will take the advice of people on this forum who have experience with this.

My greatest fear is that it's not IBD and instead something serious like cancer because the vet has not done any type of biopsy but instead examined him several times to feel for lumps. His blood test also was completely normal so she is suspecting that it's IBD since it's common. He still acts perfectly fine other than having diarrhea every day.

I had trouble getting my IBD cat to eat when her diarrhea flared up. I think maybe it is because they associate the food and eating with their upset stomach and diarrhea. 

I know it is a long shot but maybe buy him some store- bought grass and have him eat that instead. It could be something on the grass outside that is irritating his stomach. I know cats usually eat grass in order to feel better. Like I said, it's a long shot. 

I'm glad he is eating the IAMS proactive, maybe you can continue giving him the pumpkin and yogurt with it and see if that helps to bulk up his stool. As SweetPea said this is trial and error. 

I can't really give you any advice on the Prednisone.  If you decide to take him off of it he needs to be weaned off it.  Suddenly stopping it can have a rebound effect.  One of my cats has IBD in the upper part of his digestive system.  He will quit eating and have dry heaves when he has a flare.  The Prednisolone is working well for him but it can have side effects with long term use.  I was never able to figure out what triggered his flares except that I know it wasn't food related because he would have flares without a food change.

I just wanted to post an update to this.

I took my cat to a different vet. He suggested adding fiber (Metamucil) to his food. I am suppose to give him 1/4 of a tablespoon a day. He also prescribed Sulfasalazine and I'm suppose to give him 1/4 of a 500mg tablet daily.

The vet also said that it could be intestinal cancer but it would cost me between $1500 - $2000 to have a biopsy run to confirm this.

Has anyone on this forum had their vet prescribe anything similar to this? I'm worried sick about my cat because he's not getting any better. He only weighs 6 pounds.

chris31419 said:

Right now he is eating the IAMS Proactive.

Click to expand...

That might be part of the problem. IAMS ingredients really aren't great quality, containing corn and by-products. All the flavours also have chicken, which can be a strong trigger for many IBD cats because it's so commonly used in cat food. Does he have any inclination to eat raw meat? A novel protein would be ideal, like venison or rabbit. If not raw, there are some decent simple ingredient canned foods like the Evo 95% duck or venison mentioned previously. There's some good info on how diet and IBD are related at this link: http://www.catnutrition.org/ibd.html

chris31419 said:

He suggested adding fiber (Metamucil) to his food. I am suppose to give him 1/4 of a tablespoon a day. 

Click to expand...

Metamucil is psyllium husk, an insoluble fibre which can actually be quite irritating to the intestinal tract of some cats. If it doesn't work in a day or 2, I'd stop it. I personally think a better choice is slippery elm bark powder, a soluble fibre which is much more soothing to the mucus membranes of the digestive system. 1/4 tsp twice a day in wet food, gradually increasing to 4x a day if necessary. I had a cat with IBD and out of the smorgasbord of meds he was on, the only thing that helped him was SEB. http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/slippery-elm/

Sugarcatmom,

Thanks for your input. I stopped feeding him the IAMS Proactive last week and he is now eating wet canned food (Natural Choice by Nutro) along with Nutro MaxCat. I also bought him some cat food made by Authority.

He's had one 5MG Prednisilone along with a quarter of a 500MG tablet of Sulfasalazine yesterday and today along with 1/4 tsp of Metamucil added to his food and I was very pleased this morning when he had his first somewhat of a solid stool. It was still somewhat loose but nothing like the terrible watery diarrhea he has been having daily for over 2 months so this was a HUGE improvement for him.

From my reading on the internet there are countless articles online that suggest giving cat's fiber, specifically Metamucil however I will look into the Slippery Elm Bark powder if he doesn't show any improvement.

don't see the post , not that Ive joined....

to the one who mentioned sulfasalazine....that med can be dangerous, can cause a "bleed out" if taken too long..discuss with vet..

but my advice is to get another vet, that one didn't inform you and the tests cost seems quite excessive to me,.