Chronic diarrhea - Vet says surgery...

I'm looking for a little input. 

Quick background - Previous family cat had to be put to sleep.  Ended up adopting a 5 year old cat from a shelter a month later.  New cat (Gabby) is playing, active, eats well, no problems except for diarrhea. Took her to vet for a new cat check, vet said she felt bloated, possibly concerned over FIP, ran stool samples - no problems. Prescribed Metronidazole and a gel (which I don't have the name of) to balance out the bacteria in hopes of eliminating the problem.  Medicine works great.  We use a grain free sensitive system cat food (Which of course I also can't remember the name of) because of my other cat has a sensitive stomach. We eased her in to the food.  

Meds ended, diarrhea kept going.  Took back to vet, vet said belly felt better - it was probably bloat and gas.  However, now the vet says she feels a mass in the belly, and would like to do a biopsy. She said it could be cancer and that would cause the diarrhea. We just got this cat, and I'm certainly not going to ship her back to the shelter, but I'm still paying off the medical bills from the last cat's surgery, treatments,  etc.  I need time to catch up and am hoping to buy myself another month so I can afford the biopsy (around $800 for everything she estimated).  

I am going to call to see about getting more of the medicine, but is there something non Rx you guys would suggest in the mean time? 

Makes you wonder if this is the reason why the shelter had the cat to begin with. 

Honestely I would ask the Vet for his/her opinion on life exp IF it was cancer.  Then you could run the cost/benefit analysis. (Cost = Financial costs for you, and the physical costs to the cat by putting he/she through surgery/chemo).

The cat could have ibs. You should check out the raw food threads as many people have been able to treat it with by just feeding raw foods. On a side note it really irks me that some shelters adopt out sick cats, same thing happened to me. You should really call them if they are a good organization they might have their vet look at the cat and help you.

I called my vet today to discuss the options. She said because the medicine IS working, it very well might not be a cancer situation. She first suggested the biopsy when the medicine hadn't worked in the beginning, but after doing a few more days (like a week and a half), it worked.  However, when we stop, we get about a week of OK stool and then after that it turns back to diarrhea.

We're going to try rotating the pill 2x a day for a week, then 1x a day for a week and looking into different food options. 

I immediately assumed that the previous owners either got tired of the diarrhea or knew there was a further issue and that's how she ended up at the local pet shelter.  The place I adopted her from is a rescue shelter that takes in cats once they're ready to expire at other nearby shelters.  

Well, here is the thing - if there is a mass in the belly, nothing is going to take that mass, but surgery - have you done an ultrasound? I find it strange that your vet wants to do such an invasive surgery before an ultrasound :dk:

Now....... I also have a cat like that - no mass...... BUT everything else the same - NOTHING, nothing worked - he had surgery scheduled too...... we tried everything for a long, long time. And I mean everything. So many meds that his liver started to shoot down. Every diet on the book.

Until that I put him on a raw diet. I transitioned him very slowly - took 8 days to transition him..... But on the FIRST day he ate 100% raw he had a 100% solid stool. We never looked back. He has been completely healthy ever since.

I have no doubt raw has saved his life.

So, I strongly advise you, if you are on surgery's door, please give raw a try.... It just might save your little baby.

BUT - if there is a mass on the kitty's belly, please get an ultra sound to rule that out - Cancer is nothing you want to play with. And if it is cancer, you do want to know ASAP.

Carolina said:

Well, here is the thing - if there is a mass in the belly, nothing is going to take that mass, but surgery - have you done an ultrasound? I find it strange that your vet wants to do such an invasive surgery before an ultrasound

Now....... I also have a cat like that - no mass...... BUT everything else the same - NOTHING, nothing worked - he had surgery scheduled too...... we tried everything for a long, long time. And I mean everything. So many meds that his liver started to shoot down. Every diet on the book.

Until that I put him on a raw diet. I transitioned him very slowly - took 8 days to transition him..... But on the FIRST day he ate 100% raw he had a 100% solid stool. We never looked back. He has been completely healthy ever since.

I have no doubt raw has saved his life.

So, I strongly advise you, if you are on surgery's door, please give raw a try.... It just might save your little baby.

BUT - if there is a mass on the kitty's belly, please get an ultra sound to rule that out - Cancer is nothing you want to play with. And if it is cancer, you do want to know ASAP.

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 I agree with an ultrasound. I just had one done for one of our cats and the bill shows it was only $125 (might vary some) plus they can tell you some more information right away. Ask them if you can watch and see the mass on the screen. If something shows up on the ultrasound then schedule a biopsy. My vet eliminated the cost of some of the tests that were performed to help us out. Maybe yours would be willing to do the same if this is your regular vet. I feel your pain on the surgery costs, it can be so expensive. Talk to them about payment options or care credit (my vet does this plan at his office). We were able to use it to pay for Calvin's surgery and will pay 0% interest if we pay the balance in 6 months.