So first off, this is for my friends cat and not mine but she doesn't use this site and I really want some good advice to give her. Her cat Oliver has had chronic diarrhea since last October, it isn't watery but it is loose and you can tell from the sounds he makes when going that it is diarrhea (not vocalizations...but unpleasant bowel movement sounds). She took him to the vet multiple times and fecal tests were done, first a basic test for parasites which showed nothing but she decided to put him on Metronidazole. He didn't get better, so she gave him fluids and another prescription for more Metronidazole. Then she ordered a way more expensive in depth fecal test which showed that he had a Clostridium perfringens overgrowth, and she prescribed Tylan powder to be put in his food. No WAY was that happening, that stuff is insanely bitter and frankly I was appalled the vet even thought that would work for a cat since Vetinfo actually says outright that it isn't tolerated orally in cats due to its bitter taste. We called the vet, told her this and she refused to refund the money and wanted her to come in for another exam to figure out another medication. At this point my friend had already spent over 700 dollars at this vet and had no money left to spend. A couple months after this my friend was able to fundraise enough money to take Oliver to a different vet for a second opinion. This vet ordered blood tests which came back normal and put Oliver on Royal Canin HF dry food and fortiflora saying that a higher fiber food would help (this pissed me off as the food Oliver was already on actually had a higher fiber count than the expensive RC junk). This vet seems very insistent he should only have the prescription RC food and ONLY fortiflora probiotics and NOTHING else (convenient how he is telling us to only use products he sells in office). Now all my other friends cats have been feeling ill, lots of vomit since switching to the Royal Canin junk and Oliver's stools are a little more formed (they have shape but are still the consistency of pudding) but it doesn't seem worth the illness this food is causing in the other cats. Since Oliver wasn't miraculously cured by this food the vet wants him to come back in for a malabsorption test and if that shows nothing do an ultrasound. My friend is again out of money for this and is saving up again.
So I need advice. I worked at a vet for a very long time and honestly I am confused and suspicious about what has been going on. Oliver honestly seems like he has IBD, but the vet refuses to put him on steroids without "definitive" proof he has IBD...which correct me if I am wrong isn't possible without a biopsy. That seems overboard, all this seems overboard. The test for Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency they want to do is insanely expensive and that disorder is incredibly rare compared to IBD. We have tried several different foods with Oliver (started with Earthborn Primitive Feline, then first vet switched him to Science Diet w/d and when that didn't work we switched to Blue Buffalo Wilderness Weight Control/Hairball Control before recently switching to Blue Basics Grain Free right before the second vet who switched him to the Royal Canin) and have done probiotics several times, both fortiflora and another brand that got great reviews. I didn't end up going to the vet with my friend the first time she saw this new vet, and I wish I had because I am suspicious that he doesn't need to be doing all these tests but is doing them to satiate his own curiosity and get money. I guess I am just of the school of thought of "if you hear hoofbeats think horses not zebras" so with a cat that has all the symptoms of IBD that likely means he indeed has IBD. The absolute refusal to even try a short trial of Prednisolone boggles the mind. Am I just being paranoid or does anyone else agree?
So I need advice. I worked at a vet for a very long time and honestly I am confused and suspicious about what has been going on. Oliver honestly seems like he has IBD, but the vet refuses to put him on steroids without "definitive" proof he has IBD...which correct me if I am wrong isn't possible without a biopsy. That seems overboard, all this seems overboard. The test for Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency they want to do is insanely expensive and that disorder is incredibly rare compared to IBD. We have tried several different foods with Oliver (started with Earthborn Primitive Feline, then first vet switched him to Science Diet w/d and when that didn't work we switched to Blue Buffalo Wilderness Weight Control/Hairball Control before recently switching to Blue Basics Grain Free right before the second vet who switched him to the Royal Canin) and have done probiotics several times, both fortiflora and another brand that got great reviews. I didn't end up going to the vet with my friend the first time she saw this new vet, and I wish I had because I am suspicious that he doesn't need to be doing all these tests but is doing them to satiate his own curiosity and get money. I guess I am just of the school of thought of "if you hear hoofbeats think horses not zebras" so with a cat that has all the symptoms of IBD that likely means he indeed has IBD. The absolute refusal to even try a short trial of Prednisolone boggles the mind. Am I just being paranoid or does anyone else agree?
