Kitty IBS - what is normal?

winston1589

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Hi everyone,

I've browsed some older threads but I have some questions for other with IBS or IBD kitties.

A little about Winston: He is about 8 years old. I adopted him two years ago from his previous human, who adopted him as a kitten. I was told Winston never had any health issues. About a month after I adopted Winston, he started vomiting and generally developed a lot of allergies to different foods (like, ripping his hair out of his legs from itchiness and vomiting up every food we gave him). After a series of vet visits, we did urinalysis, stool sample, blood sample, x-rays, and ultrasound. The vet said he has bad kidneys (though not bad enough to cause nausea yet) and "a thinning of the intestinal lining," which she diagnosed as likely inflammatory bowel syndrome. She prescribed Hills d/d foods, some Cerenia, recommended a little Miralax in his food to soften his stool, laxatone for hairballs, a furminator, and weekly B12 shots for 1.5 months.

After some adjusting, Winston got into a routine in which he has an okay appetite and throws up about once a week. We moved cities and I've lost contact with his first vet, but haven't taken him into a new vet yet. 

About a month ago he stopped being interested in his Hills d/d food and I purchased him Petcurean Sensitivity + Shine duck pate canned food. He LOVED it at first--was eating almost two cans a day, was begging for food, and I was really excited. I would love it if he gained a little weight! It didn't seem to upset his belly any more than normal (1 vomitty day per week), but after a few weeks he lost interest in that food as well. I tried another Petcurean food, this one with salmon, and I think it upset his stomach. After sampling a little of the salmon food for a day, his bowel movement was a little softer the next day. Not diarrhea, but Winston has a habit of being weird about even remotely soft poops. His bowel movements have always been a little hard, and everything we've tried--Miralax, pumpkin, etc--that softens his stool even slightly makes him abandon the litterbox mid poop and resort to dragging his behind on the floor. He has longer hair, so the poop ends up matted into the hair on his haunches. When I'm home and he does this I'll clean it off for him (neither of us enjoys this experience). But this time it happened when I wasn't home, and I noticed he must have licked himself clean. That was yesterday afternoon and he had a terrible appetite for the rest of the day and all last night.

I've got him completely back on the Petcurean duck food today and I'm watching him closely in the hope that he's eating enough to avoid emergency-level concern. He's had about 1/3 can so far, which isn't great :(

After this recent stomach upset and interruption to Winston's routine, I started wondering, what is normal for a cat with IBS? I never discussed this fully with his last vet. Is one sick day per week (meaning 1-2 instances of vomitted food in that day) normal? Sometimes he eats food, vomits, then drinks water, and then vomits the water. Is that normal? Could I be managing his illness better? The last vet never mentioned additional medications so I don't know what my options are besides changing his diet until we find something that works well. I'm hoping to find 2-3 foods that don't hurt his belly to rotate when he gets sick of them.

Does anyone have advice for his pooping problem? Could the softer bowel movements cause him some discomfort? I've peaked at his behind area and it's not red or inflamed or swollen.

I should also add that he's always a generally happy cat. He loves love and attention, sleeps on my feet, is playful etc. He never hides under the bed anymore like he did when he first got sick.

Thanks for any advice! 
 

stephenq

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Hi everyone,

I've browsed some older threads but I have some questions for other with IBS or IBD kitties.

A little about Winston: He is about 8 years old. I adopted him two years ago from his previous human, who adopted him as a kitten. I was told Winston never had any health issues. About a month after I adopted Winston, he started vomiting and generally developed a lot of allergies to different foods (like, ripping his hair out of his legs from itchiness and vomiting up every food we gave him). After a series of vet visits, we did urinalysis, stool sample, blood sample, x-rays, and ultrasound. The vet said he has bad kidneys (though not bad enough to cause nausea yet) and "a thinning of the intestinal lining," which she diagnosed as likely inflammatory bowel syndrome. She prescribed Hills d/d foods, some Cerenia, recommended a little Miralax in his food to soften his stool, laxatone for hairballs, a furminator, and weekly B12 shots for 1.5 months.

After some adjusting, Winston got into a routine in which he has an okay appetite and throws up about once a week. We moved cities and I've lost contact with his first vet, but haven't taken him into a new vet yet. 

About a month ago he stopped being interested in his Hills d/d food and I purchased him Petcurean Sensitivity + Shine duck pate canned food. He LOVED it at first--was eating almost two cans a day, was begging for food, and I was really excited. I would love it if he gained a little weight! It didn't seem to upset his belly any more than normal (1 vomitty day per week), but after a few weeks he lost interest in that food as well. I tried another Petcurean food, this one with salmon, and I think it upset his stomach. After sampling a little of the salmon food for a day, his bowel movement was a little softer the next day. Not diarrhea, but Winston has a habit of being weird about even remotely soft poops. His bowel movements have always been a little hard, and everything we've tried--Miralax, pumpkin, etc--that softens his stool even slightly makes him abandon the litterbox mid poop and resort to dragging his behind on the floor. He has longer hair, so the poop ends up matted into the hair on his haunches. When I'm home and he does this I'll clean it off for him (neither of us enjoys this experience). But this time it happened when I wasn't home, and I noticed he must have licked himself clean. That was yesterday afternoon and he had a terrible appetite for the rest of the day and all last night.

I've got him completely back on the Petcurean duck food today and I'm watching him closely in the hope that he's eating enough to avoid emergency-level concern. He's had about 1/3 can so far, which isn't great :(

After this recent stomach upset and interruption to Winston's routine, I started wondering, what is normal for a cat with IBS? I never discussed this fully with his last vet. Is one sick day per week (meaning 1-2 instances of vomitted food in that day) normal? Sometimes he eats food, vomits, then drinks water, and then vomits the water. Is that normal? Could I be managing his illness better? The last vet never mentioned additional medications so I don't know what my options are besides changing his diet until we find something that works well. I'm hoping to find 2-3 foods that don't hurt his belly to rotate when he gets sick of them.

Does anyone have advice for his pooping problem? Could the softer bowel movements cause him some discomfort? I've peaked at his behind area and it's not red or inflamed or swollen.

I should also add that he's always a generally happy cat. He loves love and attention, sleeps on my feet, is playful etc. He never hides under the bed anymore like he did when he first got sick.

Thanks for any advice! 
IBD can present so many different ways that on the one hand everything is normal and on the other, nothing is normal.  You could also try some prescription novel protein foods.  Tylosin is a specific antibiotic that can help control IBD, pepcid can be added to the diet to help control vomiting and if that doesn't work then Cerenia is an amazing anti-nausea medication.

Most importantly he must not loose weight, and i feel that anyone with an IBD cat should own a baby scale and keep a weekly weight log.  If he starts loosing weight he's in trouble, and then you have to consider giving him prednisilone.

Please consult your vet before adding or changing any medications including OTC med like Pepcid.
 

wagster

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My cat also has IBD and pancreatitis... these diseases are very common together and can cause similar symptoms. I went through two wasted months with my regular vet, trying different foods, FortiFlora, Cerenia, etc. my cat "crashed" a few weeks ago, prompting an ER visit and then a consult with Internal Medicine specialist/ultrasound/xray.

She is now two weeks into Presnisolone and doing better than ever. Her appetite is back, she has not thrown up a single time, and she is able to go several days without a Cerenia.

The decision to start Prednisolone is a personal one - but in our case (and also for my aunt's IBD cat), it has worked miracles.

I would also recommend finding a new vet where you live, and taking your cat in. Best of luck - IBD is very frustrating, scary and expensive in cats!!
 
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winston1589

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Thank you both for your replies! I ended up taking Winston into a new vet on Monday and I think we got some good news. He has gained two pounds in the last year and now weighs over 12 lbs, which I'm happy to hear! The vet said as long as he is eating and maintaining weight, she sees no reason to start presnisolone at this point. She prescribed more Cerenia but isn't bothered if Winston vomits 1x/week and maintains weight.

As for his recent lack of appetite, the vet checked his teeth and apparently they are really bad. I managed to peek and saw that his gums were bloody. I felt terrible! Over the last few days I've mixed his wet food with water to make it easier for him to eat, and he ate a lot more. I just dropped the kitty off this morning with the vet to have four (or maybe more) teeth removed. We're hoping that his recent appetite loss was caused by tooth pain and this will make him feel so much better.

Thanks again for your advice!
 

stephenq

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Thank you both for your replies! I ended up taking Winston into a new vet on Monday and I think we got some good news. He has gained two pounds in the last year and now weighs over 12 lbs, which I'm happy to hear! The vet said as long as he is eating and maintaining weight, she sees no reason to start presnisolone at this point. She prescribed more Cerenia but isn't bothered if Winston vomits 1x/week and maintains weight.

As for his recent lack of appetite, the vet checked his teeth and apparently they are really bad. I managed to peek and saw that his gums were bloody. I felt terrible! Over the last few days I've mixed his wet food with water to make it easier for him to eat, and he ate a lot more. I just dropped the kitty off this morning with the vet to have four (or maybe more) teeth removed. We're hoping that his recent appetite loss was caused by tooth pain and this will make him feel so much better.

Thanks again for your advice!
Agreed, with weight gain no need to start the Pred.  Good luck with the dental, i bet that will help! Keep us updated. :)
 
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