chronic loose stools - ideas? LONG

My 14 year old spayed female (that's her pic above!) has had very loose stools (got worse as time went on) for about 4 months. Her 14 year old neutered brother doesn't have any problems like this.  A serious human family medical problem blew up at the time that I decided her problem wouldn't clear up on its own, so it was about 2 1/2 weeks ago that I took her to the vet.  Her bloodwork was good (I didn't get a copy of the blood panel, dang it's irritating to have to call to get these things that should routinely be mailed!! But she was checked for hyperthyroid and kidney disease for SURE). 

I gave her some probiotics for a few days, and when the test came back with no problems, the vet had me give my kiity metronidazole for 14 days, and put her on bland diet (prescription science diet).  Well, I carefully measured and gave her the metronidazole twice a day, but ran out early (was I shorted? Or do I not understand how to measure into a syringe? The stuff is THICK and I'd suck an air bubble every time, and I would then have to read by viewing the meniscus, like in a graduated cylinder). 

Spitty (that's her strange name!) was feeling MUCH better, within 2 days, and put back on water weight and stopped vomiting and her stools became entirely normal. So for about 8 days on the medication, she was well.

When I ran out of medication, I called the vet (nearest vet is almost 40 miles away) and she said it was probably ok I only gave the stuff 10 days, just keep with the bland diet and gradually mix with her normal food when it was running out. 

3 days off the metronidazole, she became sick again - liquid stool, vomited at least a couple of times. Now, there is a chance that she's sick because she and her brother tipped over the kitchen garbage and licked up potato salad residue, so I'm holding off till Monday to get more stuff from the vet.

If it were a bacterial infection, she should have stayed better if she was clear of symptoms for more than a week, right? And that drug is used to kill single celled parasites too, I think, but her brother isn't sick.

She might have sneaked some of the Blue Buffalo senior diet, too, so I am monitoring carefully to make sure the problem isn't a too quick change off bland diet.  The terrible human family medical problem continues to absorb vast amounts of my time and energy, so I am very disheartened that my previous efforts with little Spitty failed.  I forgot to say that Spitty is an indoor cat, but goes outside for an hour or two once in awhile, supervised. We live in an old farmhouse and she does catch mice sometimes (as does her brother). 

Thx! 

It sounds like IBD to me. The vomiting and loose stools/diarrhea are very common symptoms. The fact that metro (which is often prescribed for IBD) worked temporarily is a clue as well. IBD does not show up on regular blood tests and is hard to diagnose, even with a biopsy.

What was her normal diet before the symptoms developed?

I agree with vball91. :nod: IBD can be difficult to manage with food options available, but depending on what you're willing to do, there are options. The best place to start is discussing diet!

Here is a site you may find helpful: http://www.ibdkitties.net

She has been eating Blue Buffalo dry food for about 8 months, and Merrick'a chicken before that - I switched to Blue because kitties suddenly didn't like Merrick anymore. The first Blue Buffalo was the Finicky Feast, I think it's called, then Blue Buffalo's senior diet. I had been giving her more wet food about a month before the loose stools and extra vomiting (she's a cat with occasional hairball blockages, so I mean when it got to be a big problem).  The wet food was Friskies, mostly, but some Science Diet turkey.

I checked the litter box tonight, and either she's doing much better with her stools only a little soft now, or else she didn't go to the bathroom tonight (and that stool belongs to her brother), which in itself is probably an improvement since she was pooping twice a day with the runs.  She is somewhat dehydrated, although not severely. When she improved those 10 days, the dehydration was gone.  I have my fingers crossed that the nighttime potato salad marauding made her so bad off again. . . I left the garbage can out from under the sink that night.

I do hope the potato salad is the culprit and temporary in nature, but it does really sound like IBD is a possibility. The GI systems of healthy cats pass the hair through and out in feces. Hairball vomiting, even occasional is a sign of motility issues. The species-inappropriate ingredients in dry foods with the high carbs that cats have nutritional need for can cause bowel inflammation and vomiting in many cats. And before you ask, I have no idea why some cats (like her brother) don't develop the same problems when on the same diet. I think some cats are more sensitive or prone to GI issues, just like people.

I do hope it's a temporary problem for Spitty, but if not, I would consider IBD a likely culprit and diet change the first thing I would look at.

Many vibes for Spitty to feel better soon.