Hi. If anyone can offer any advice, I'd be tremendously grateful. I've been dealing with vets for a few weeks, but I'm hoping maybe I can find something new or some kind of "home remedy" that could be helpful. I'm going to give a lot of background to try to give you as clear a picture as possible.
My cat, B, is a female, age 9, spayed, not a purebreed. I've had her since age 1 1/2. She's been an entirely indoor cat all of this time. She's been mostly healthy overall. About 2-3 months ago, she began having diarrhea. First, just loose, then it became looser and looser. I had not changed food and there were no major changes in our lives or in my home. No changes. She was behaving normally other than the diarrhea, and eating normally. Then, maybe 3 weeks ago, she started to decline slightly. I went to the vet. They did blood tests and tested her stool. No problems noted. They gave me prescription food, the I/D variety. I gave that to her, but it didn't seem to make any difference. Maybe a week or so later, I went back to the vet. They gave me metronidazole liquid. I gave it to her, after a few days, no change. Still diarrhea. But her behavior overall was still normal. (Stay with me - sorry for the long story!!)
Last week, Wed. or Thurs., the diarrhea worsened and there was a decent amount of blood in it. THAT had never happened before. Also, my cat seemed that she was not able to control when or where she "went." It would come out, anywhere. Of course, stool always smells, but this smelled REALLY bad. I was very worried - back to the vet. Also, she was lethargic and not eating at that time. The vet weighed her, and I was even more seriously SCARED to learn that she weighed only 5.7 lbs. She is a normal, regular-sized cat. Her regular weight is probably about 9-10 lbs. More tests - another blood test.. They hydrated her, which seemed to help. They recommended that I follow up with a specialist.
The next day, I went to the specialist. This was July 3, so obviously, I knew the only access I would have to a vet's office on July 4 would be the emergency vet office (open 24 hours and also where the specialist is). There was no way I was going to wait 2 whole days before having my cat tested further, so when I went to the emergency vet and they reviewed my regular vet's report, they admitted her. They did a bunch of tests: an ultrasound, a B12 something, and another test to see if the intestine was producing some kind of enzyme. Her WBC is high, so they know something is definitely up, but these methods produced NO definite diagnosis. I couldn't believe it. I brought her home the night of July 4. She was doing much better, in some ways. She had a great appetite, and she even took her medications! Now, we are doing metronidazole (again), Zanequin and Tylisol powder. It has been about 5-6 full days that she's been on these meds. The diarrhea is possibly less frequent, but it is still there.
Last discussion with the vet: the next step would be an intestinal biopsy to see if there is some type of cancer. It will be very expensive, of course. I'm not sure what to do, although I want my cat to be BETTER, no matter what. If they do this biopsy and can't control the diarrhea anyway, I will be very upset.
I am asking if anyone has experienced anything similar, or have you had a cat that had an intestinal biopsy?
PLEASE share any and all advice you can. Also, if your cat had diarrhea and you found a particular food very helpful, let me know.
Thank you!!!!!
My cat, B, is a female, age 9, spayed, not a purebreed. I've had her since age 1 1/2. She's been an entirely indoor cat all of this time. She's been mostly healthy overall. About 2-3 months ago, she began having diarrhea. First, just loose, then it became looser and looser. I had not changed food and there were no major changes in our lives or in my home. No changes. She was behaving normally other than the diarrhea, and eating normally. Then, maybe 3 weeks ago, she started to decline slightly. I went to the vet. They did blood tests and tested her stool. No problems noted. They gave me prescription food, the I/D variety. I gave that to her, but it didn't seem to make any difference. Maybe a week or so later, I went back to the vet. They gave me metronidazole liquid. I gave it to her, after a few days, no change. Still diarrhea. But her behavior overall was still normal. (Stay with me - sorry for the long story!!)
Last week, Wed. or Thurs., the diarrhea worsened and there was a decent amount of blood in it. THAT had never happened before. Also, my cat seemed that she was not able to control when or where she "went." It would come out, anywhere. Of course, stool always smells, but this smelled REALLY bad. I was very worried - back to the vet. Also, she was lethargic and not eating at that time. The vet weighed her, and I was even more seriously SCARED to learn that she weighed only 5.7 lbs. She is a normal, regular-sized cat. Her regular weight is probably about 9-10 lbs. More tests - another blood test.. They hydrated her, which seemed to help. They recommended that I follow up with a specialist.
The next day, I went to the specialist. This was July 3, so obviously, I knew the only access I would have to a vet's office on July 4 would be the emergency vet office (open 24 hours and also where the specialist is). There was no way I was going to wait 2 whole days before having my cat tested further, so when I went to the emergency vet and they reviewed my regular vet's report, they admitted her. They did a bunch of tests: an ultrasound, a B12 something, and another test to see if the intestine was producing some kind of enzyme. Her WBC is high, so they know something is definitely up, but these methods produced NO definite diagnosis. I couldn't believe it. I brought her home the night of July 4. She was doing much better, in some ways. She had a great appetite, and she even took her medications! Now, we are doing metronidazole (again), Zanequin and Tylisol powder. It has been about 5-6 full days that she's been on these meds. The diarrhea is possibly less frequent, but it is still there.
Last discussion with the vet: the next step would be an intestinal biopsy to see if there is some type of cancer. It will be very expensive, of course. I'm not sure what to do, although I want my cat to be BETTER, no matter what. If they do this biopsy and can't control the diarrhea anyway, I will be very upset.
I am asking if anyone has experienced anything similar, or have you had a cat that had an intestinal biopsy?
PLEASE share any and all advice you can. Also, if your cat had diarrhea and you found a particular food very helpful, let me know.
Thank you!!!!!