Hello!
First time poster - I have 2 male neutured black cats. Both are indoors only. Anyway, my oldest cat, Bo, is 14 years old. He was diagnosed with diabetes back in 2007. He's been on insulin since then. Almost 2 years ago, he started having mild seizures. The seizures were very mild lasting only 3-5 seconds. But, the concern was, he was having cluster seizures....several seizures back to back to back. At the worst, he was having 20-25 seizures a day. The vets did all sorts of tests, ultra sounds, mri's, blood work and found nothing....and I'm still paying off the $17,000 in vet bills I racked up.
After a couple months, we finally found the right meds to help control his seizures. He would have seizures every now and then...but not the cluster seizures. The last seizure I witnessed was back in September of 2013....so its been 6 months since I've witnessed any seizures! (Knock on wood!)
One of the meds he takes for seizures is Keppra. Unfortunately, Keppra causes constipation. Bo became constipated and would strain so much he would have a seizure in the cat box. We tried Laxatone, Miralax, and nothing really seemed to work on a consistent basis. I did some research online and called the neurologist who gave Bo his MRI and asked him about possibly prescribing Cisapride for Bo. He thought that would be an excellent idea and he gave me a prescription. The cisapride worked and Bo had no side effects.
Then, in early September 2013, Bo started having problems urinating. He just wouldn't go. When he did go, he would urinate a LOT. Normally, Bo would go multiple times a day....now, for some reason, he would only go 1 time a day. I took him to the vet and the vet was very concerned. He said Bo's bladder was bigger than a softball! Bo didn't appear to be in any pain or discomfort though. The vet expressed his bladder, kept him for the weekend to monitor him, and put him on another medicine Prazosin. Bo did fine until November 2013...then he developed diarrhea.
I took Bo back to the vet and we reduced the cisapride dosage from twice a day down to once a day. That did not help with the diarrhea. I tried Purina Fortiflora Probiotics. Bo wouldn't touch his food with that mixed in with it. The ONLY way he would even attempt eating food with the probiotic is if I mixed it with canned tuna...and then, he would only eat a few bites and then walk away from it. The vet tried a steroid shot to possibly help with the inflammation in his stomach that might be causing diarrhea. That didn't help.
I took Bo in a couple weeks ago for his annual exam and shots and told the vet about the ongoing problem with diarrhea. The vet said he really can't think of anything else to try....and as long as Bo wasn't appearing to be uncomfortable, we should just leave it alone. I asked the vet about possibly changing his food (my cats eat Fancy Feast canned food and I open feed them Purina Indoor Formula) The vet said I could try food with another protein besides chicken such as duck, venison, turkey, etc. I've tried numerous brands/flavors of wet food (Wellness, Natural Balance, Purina Pro Plan, etc) He wasn't too fond of the natural food....only eating a few bites then walking away.
I just wanted to ask if anyone has any other suggestions/advice for this chronic diarrhea. One option would be to eliminate the cisapride but I don't want him to become constipated and start having seizures in his cat box again.
Thanks for any help!
First time poster - I have 2 male neutured black cats. Both are indoors only. Anyway, my oldest cat, Bo, is 14 years old. He was diagnosed with diabetes back in 2007. He's been on insulin since then. Almost 2 years ago, he started having mild seizures. The seizures were very mild lasting only 3-5 seconds. But, the concern was, he was having cluster seizures....several seizures back to back to back. At the worst, he was having 20-25 seizures a day. The vets did all sorts of tests, ultra sounds, mri's, blood work and found nothing....and I'm still paying off the $17,000 in vet bills I racked up.
After a couple months, we finally found the right meds to help control his seizures. He would have seizures every now and then...but not the cluster seizures. The last seizure I witnessed was back in September of 2013....so its been 6 months since I've witnessed any seizures! (Knock on wood!)
One of the meds he takes for seizures is Keppra. Unfortunately, Keppra causes constipation. Bo became constipated and would strain so much he would have a seizure in the cat box. We tried Laxatone, Miralax, and nothing really seemed to work on a consistent basis. I did some research online and called the neurologist who gave Bo his MRI and asked him about possibly prescribing Cisapride for Bo. He thought that would be an excellent idea and he gave me a prescription. The cisapride worked and Bo had no side effects.
Then, in early September 2013, Bo started having problems urinating. He just wouldn't go. When he did go, he would urinate a LOT. Normally, Bo would go multiple times a day....now, for some reason, he would only go 1 time a day. I took him to the vet and the vet was very concerned. He said Bo's bladder was bigger than a softball! Bo didn't appear to be in any pain or discomfort though. The vet expressed his bladder, kept him for the weekend to monitor him, and put him on another medicine Prazosin. Bo did fine until November 2013...then he developed diarrhea.
I took Bo back to the vet and we reduced the cisapride dosage from twice a day down to once a day. That did not help with the diarrhea. I tried Purina Fortiflora Probiotics. Bo wouldn't touch his food with that mixed in with it. The ONLY way he would even attempt eating food with the probiotic is if I mixed it with canned tuna...and then, he would only eat a few bites and then walk away from it. The vet tried a steroid shot to possibly help with the inflammation in his stomach that might be causing diarrhea. That didn't help.
I took Bo in a couple weeks ago for his annual exam and shots and told the vet about the ongoing problem with diarrhea. The vet said he really can't think of anything else to try....and as long as Bo wasn't appearing to be uncomfortable, we should just leave it alone. I asked the vet about possibly changing his food (my cats eat Fancy Feast canned food and I open feed them Purina Indoor Formula) The vet said I could try food with another protein besides chicken such as duck, venison, turkey, etc. I've tried numerous brands/flavors of wet food (Wellness, Natural Balance, Purina Pro Plan, etc) He wasn't too fond of the natural food....only eating a few bites then walking away.
I just wanted to ask if anyone has any other suggestions/advice for this chronic diarrhea. One option would be to eliminate the cisapride but I don't want him to become constipated and start having seizures in his cat box again.
Thanks for any help!
