Need help with IBS for my cat

Wondering if anyone can help me with my 5 yr old cat that has IBS quite badly. My vet put her on Prednisone and wants to bump her to 2 tablets a day, or put her down. Each tablet is 5 mg

This is the first cat I have had that had had this, I really would like to try everything to prolong her life.

Thank you in advance for any thoughts on this.

I think 2 tablets or put the pet down is a bit extreme myself.

I have some Prednisone for Mabel, but alas, struggling to get her to take the tablets outdoes any good on taking them since she works herself up so much in resisting she still gets sick.

My vet suggested giving her pepcid (1/2 tablet) and I think I'm going to have to get her some today since she's been sick now the past two days and can't keep food down.

Take your cat to another vet if possible, just to get a second opinion.

Originally posted by Dolphin
Wondering if anyone can help me with my 5 yr old cat that has IBS quite badly. My vet put her on Prednisone and wants to bump her to 2 tablets a day, or put her down. Each tablet is 5 mg

This is the first cat I have had that had had this, I really would like to try everything to prolong her life.

Thank you in advance for any thoughts on this.

Click to expand...

I hope you don't mind if I ask what else has been done so far to treat this? My cat Joshua has this pretty severely, and we first attempted to treat it with both prednisone and flagyl and diet change. After that initial round of meds, he's been treated with diet change alone for almost 2 years. He was unable to settle down on any of the IVD canned foods (a line of prescription foods where each flavor has just one protein and one carb source), but has done extremely well on Hills Z/D - a dry food that is very special, relatively new and horribly expensive but he's worh it. You can find more information on this food on the Hills Science Diet website (try a google search).

I most certainly would not put the cat down without 1) further testing to be sure this is what it is (has an u/s and fine needle aspirate biopsy been done?) 2) a dietary change approach.

There is more to it than this, but I'm not a vet tech...however there is one who responds to a lot of health questions on the forum, and I hope will see your note as well.

best wishes - I'd def. go for a second vet opinion before pts!

Pred is a standby drug for IBS but there are some other options. Has the IBS been confirmed with a biopsy? Has Giardia (this is an intestinal parasite that can be tricky to diagnose)been ruled out? Metronidazole & azathioprine are medications that are used for IBS as well as the pred.
More expensive & sort of last line medications are cyclosporine & cyclophosphamide. These are $$ & have the possibility of serious side effects but can be very useful.
Definitely try some more options before you resort to euthanasia. A second opinion might be helpful here.
Deb E

Thanks for the feedback, I greatly appreciate it.

We have ran every test under the sun and I have had at
least 2 vets confirm Sneakers has IBS. The 2nd vet
has since left town and after my vet found the problem
he really hasn't done anything other than the Prednisone.

And for the record, he is now history and in the
process of looking for a new vet. He just wants to
up the dosage or put her down which is not an option
to me.

And yes Giardia has been ruled out as well.

I will also look at the food suggested.

Anything she eats just comes right back out so she
is always hungry and begging for food.

I rescued her 5 years ago from a horrible situation and
4 years ago we had to pull all of her teeth they were so
bad. She tolerates the dry food but begs me for soft
nonstop.

Thanks again everyone.

Bless your heart for rescuing this poor thing. I hope that you will be able to find a good vet in your area. Please visit our sister site www.meowhoo.com and look under health care and then Veterinary. We do try and only list the vets that specialize in cat care there.

best of luck with your sick one.

Pat & Alix, Mabel is on Hills I/d which has helped her immensely. She's never tried the Z/d. I'll have to check that out. For the past two weeks she's been on the new M/d, a diet food because she's gotten quite fat. I'm suspecting that the new food has contributed to the new bout of upset tummy, but alas, she does need to lose some weight and had been doing okay until now. I think it's great that Z/d has helped your cat.

Dolphin, does you cat get sick more on the wet food? I'm just thinking that if she's got no teeth left, soft food would be better for her and her stomach since she can't chew the dry anyways. I'd also ask about the Z/d Pat and Alix mentioned, as well as the I/d too. I still can't believe that vet said to put her down if you don't want to give her medicine

Good luck, I hope your kitty feels better soon!

Hi Woodsygirl.

She is worse on soft food because her bowels are now so
bad that it literally is like water and runs right through her.
Because of this she is constantly hungry and she feels like
she is starving. And she really has no control and is always
trying to go to the bathroom and has basically stopped using
the boxes. All of my animals have been rescued including my
ferals. The ferals were trapped and s/n but because of where
they were trapped, they didn't have a chance for a TNR/ there
fore living with me. They are fine by the way.

I was trying to give her soft food twice a day but like I said
it literally runs through her like water.

Yes the vet said other than the steriods, the only other thing
to do for IBS was to put her down.

Hissy I will check the sister site out as well, thank you so much.

All of my animals are my kids and I will go to what lengths I have
to, to prolong a life and give them a shot at one.

Thanks again.

Well, the constant hunger can be a side effect of the medicine she's on. I'd talk to the vet about other side effects and to see if maybe a diet change or other medicine would help her as well. I know some people use fiber as a stool firmer (the soluable kind, not the insoluable kind) so maybe the vet can talk about that too.

It sounds like your kitty has a wonderful home, I'm glad you've opened up your home to her and the others.

I'd get a second opinion as well. It seems harsh to put the cat down for IBS.

Sphinx is on Meds (Pepcid a/c 1/4 tablet and Sucralfate) for his IBS and alternates between Hill's r/d (He's also borderline CRF) and IVD Rabbit and Green Peas.

Greycat2 how long has Sphinx been on the meds? Sneakers is quite young, and I know there must be something else to try.

Thanks so much

Dolphin - I'm not sure what else is available out there since I'm still learning myself.

As far as Sphinx being on meds - He's been on them for over 1 year now, going on a 1 1/2 years now (I adopted him 1 1/2 years ago from a local shelter with the problem).

The meds seem to help somewhat but he still has bouts of the 'runs' on occasion. As long as Sneakers is comfortable as one can be with the problem then its good to keep trying for a treatment that will help her deal with the problem (Its unlikely to be cured but it can be treated).

There are web sites out there with info on the problem (such as AVMA, Merck and Cornell which are Vet based sites as well as other sites such as the sister site Meowhoo). So do some research on IBS and take your finding with you to the next vet visit and discuss it with him/her.

Good luck with Sneakers.

Not an expert- but my 10 year old Himmi has been diagnosed with IBD- but her problem was vomiting.
During flareups she is put on 5mg Prednisone twice daily for a week- then I halve the dose every week. It always helps but I hate the side effects- weight gain, behaviour change and peeing a lot She's now on a tiny dose 2nd daily.
I started her on a raw diet (whcih she loves) as well as Hills ZD.
She was well for months before her first relapse.
From what I've read- raw diets help a lot of cats with this problem- whether it be diarrhoae or vomiting.
My cat is now on raw- mixed with other ingredients as well as Royal canin Sensitive stomach- Great food- but maybe not an option for your cat because of her lack of teeth.
There is a Yahoo message Board for cats with IBD/IBS- have you found it yet?
Every cat with this problem seems to be a bit different- hope you find help for your cat
Best wishes
Catherine

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Feline...guid=129924488

This is the address for the Yahoo site.
I don't always agree with everything they say- but you may find it helpful to read about what worked for other people's cats
Catherine

I know this is old but i felt i better say something incase in the future somebody else reads this or goes through this.. I have severe IBS.  Ive been living with it for over a year now, never had tummy troubles my whole life, then got a virus and boom.  My life is spent in bed.  in *excrutiating* pain.  10/10, all i can do is try to stay calm, cry, pray, and wait..for days..on end.  weeks.  nonstop 10/10 pain.  It starts to drive you crazy.  Its gotten to the point where i want to die just to make the pain stop.. and often i think, i bet there are animals otu there in this much pain from this, who cant speak and say i dont want to live anymore.  Dont keep your kitty alive just to make you happy.  I dont know your kitty, but if the animal seems in pain..you better believe, its like a hot knife slicing open your bowels, repetatively nonstop.  its horrible.  its hell.  its not right that humans cant be euthanized for this.  im glad animals have that option.  So i guess, what im saying is, please, please consider the amount of excrutiating pain your little friend might be in.  research ibs, not just for animals.  its nerve and muscle pain, and for me, its worse than giving birth was.