Ongoing issues with Mimi "IBD?"

Hey Everyone I have a female cat named Mimi, I have owned her for a little more then a year now. she is 6 years old. Since the first day we got Mimi she had very wet stool. We tried to switch her food around and seemed to help for a little then got worse. We had her on Purina One Chicken/rice, Purina One Seafood, Royal Canin Sensitive stomach, Science Diet hairball formula and now on Science Diet Z/d. Every time we switch over her food he stool looks great for a few days then back to sludge. She also seems to cry as if she is in pain and then runs to the litter and has explosive diaheria. Lately she has but having diaheria on the carpet. So this seems to be getting worse. When we got her last year we had a stool test and the vet said no worms but a week later she threw up a worm, we used a dewormer and everything seemed to be ok "stool still wet but not bad", Since she has gotten worse we got her tested again and still nothing showing up for her stool. The vet checked her and said she seems like she is in good health. The vet gave us some Tylan powder to try on her food "she also gave us the new Z/d". The first day we switched her she seemed to have gotten worse, pooped 4 times on the rug in 1 day. She refused to eat any food with the Tylan on it till 1 day ago. Now her eyes or all watery and the vet is telling me its not a side effect of the Tylan! Said she must have a cold now. Im going back and forth here! I really need some help. I even bought her a Comfort Zone plugin" thinking maybe she was stressed because me and my wife work all day and she seems to get the diahera in the morning. I want to try a dewormer again but the vet is refusing it to me since she isnt showing any worms. I need some help please!

Anyone?

Part of the problem could be all the different foods you have been trying in a fairly short time period. Catsâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] digestive systems are very delicate and switching diets should be done gradually (mixing the new and old foods together, slowly increasing the ratio of new to old food over several weeks). With all the food changes sheâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s had, her digestive tract is probably very irritated at this point. Our vet has told us that you should stick with a new food for at least 4 full months to see if it helps whatever issue it is you are addressing, be that skin itchies or digestive issues. Perhaps give her a little time and see if her system settles down to this new food.

Another thing to consider is a food allergy. Check out the ingredient list of the foods she has been eating; many cats are allergic to things such as corn, wheat, and soy. Food allergies can present themselves as digestive issues as well as skin issues. So researching food allergies is another good thing to check out.

~Amy

I had the same problem with one of my cats... Talk to your vet and try clindamycin it was the cure all for me. They tried everything for my baby, and then thought maybe he has toxo. Still unsure but it did the trick and I am so happy!!! Talk to your vet or get an second opinion!!!

Get your poor kittie to another vet (consider a feline specialist) for a second opinion.

IBD can be difficult to diagnose, but just on palpation, the vet should be able to feel if the intestines are thickend and ropey, and could do an ultra sound to see what is visible. I've had IBD diagnosed as other things were ruled out, on one of my kitties, we were able to do so w/out going through a biopsy (which would however, give a definitive answer).

Hills Z/D was a godsend for my Joshua (RB) and absolutely saved his life, extending it for several years. I'm not convinced your kitty has been completely diagnosed re what is causing the diarhea. Besides "worms" there are other conditions to test for and rule out - one of which can be difficult to diagnose if the cat is not actively shedding oocytes, which is giardia.

Please, get a referral to specialist and take the time, spend the money to get further diagnostics done. Just changing foods isn't really addressing what the problem may be.

When I did get that initial diagnosis of IBD, Joshua was treated with flagyl (metronidazole) and prednisolone (a tapering dose) as well as being put on Z/D...I don't believe diet change is enough.

click here for Cornell's Brochure on IBD in cats

I agree that the cat does not need to keep eating different foods. Also, I had a cat with that problem and the dr. gave him some kind of med for the runs. I don't remember the name of it. Ask the dr. for some med. specifically for that problem

Thanks for the feedback everyone I will take note of some of the things you guys said and bring it up to the vet. This is also the 2nd vet I went to and is supposed to be one of the top cat vets in the area. Also when I gave her the new food I did mix the new with the old in a 7 day process, thanks!

Update on this, she seems to be getting worse since we switched her to Z/D and Tylon, I took her off Tylon Today "been on it for about 12 days now". She is having accidents all over the house, rear is very erratated, and she has some leakage. Im not sure if she just cant hold this food in or what. I went from her having accidents once a week to now 1-2 times a day. We called the vet and today we are putting her on Flagyl.

sending a prayer.... for what it is worth I have human IBs akd ibd ... I eat alot of soluble fiber ...

Did the vet do a fecal exam for all parasites, not just worms? Flagyl kills most mono organisms like those that cause traveller's tummy in humans and can also cause diarrhoea in cats.

To be honest I dont know what the test consisted of, they just said they test the stool for parasites. Anymore feedback/info is appreciated thanks guys!

You might also ask the vet about adding a fiber source, like plain canned pumpkin or benefiber, to your kitty's food. The metronidazole worked wonders for Spot, so I hope that helps Mimi as well.

When Teddy was initially diagnosed with IBD, he was given a course of Flagyl, and that really helped. Additionally, we had to put him on IVD food. It's the only food he can eat -and even with that, he has 1 day flare ups where he vomits and has diarrhea every 4-6 weeks.

As we were working out the food and while he was on medication, it took about 2 months to get everything right - so it was a long, tiring, and expensive process. However, a year later, he is doing wonderfully except for the flare-up problem.

Update: I stopped giving her Tylon on Friday, and decided to slowly switch her food back to hairball formula because the Z/D just goes threw her like water "could have been from Tylon to though". She has been fine all day "still wet stool though" but at night she poops herself in the bed at night only "our BED! Ugh!". We locked her out of the bedroom the other night and she didnt lay us any gifts this morning. So thats good. I put her back on the hairball since you guys mentioned if she has IBD she should be on high fiber. So lets see how this goes. She is on Flagyl at the moment also with so far no improvements "Then again this could be from Tylon/food"