IBD/nausea/no appetite

[scarlett71177]

Sigh. This seems to be a common problem lately.
16 yo cat has had IBD for a few years and has been stable. He eats Duck and Pea daily and seems to enjoy it. All of a sudden this week he seems to be nauseated and has no appetite.
Vet gave him fluids, cerenia, and did bloodwork (good). He’s sitting in the hunched position despite having cerenia several hours ago.
I’ve offered him other foods to tempt him, but he isn’t interested in them either. I’ll take any ideas to get some nutrition in him and keep him with me as long as I can.

 

[jayna]

Same issue with mine, IBD --17years old --no appetite this week at all.
Cerenia takes some hours to work for my kitty. He's probably still a bit nauseated. When mine is nauseated,even if tempted she eats and vomits so I don't push it. Hopefully he will be back to his bowl soon. They do have appetite stimulants that are topical for the ears. Mirataz is the one my vet has prescribed.

 

[IndyJones]

Ibd is a wastebasket diagnosis of exclusion in the veterinary world, it technicly means inflamation of the intestine not caused by a virus or infection. So it is irritation of the gut when everything else is ruled out. Kind of like ibs in people.

 

[scarlett71177]

Same issue with mine, IBD --17years old --no appetite this week at all.
Cerenia takes some hours to work for my kitty. He's probably still a bit nauseated. When mine is nauseated,even if tempted she eats and vomits so I don't push it. Hopefully he will be back to his bowl soon. They do have appetite stimulants that are topical for the ears. Mirataz is the one my vet has prescribed.

Thanks, friend, this makes me feel a little better. Let’s hope tomorrow is better for all of us.

 

[Tummytrouble]

I use nutritional yeast flakes sprinkled on her food when she's bad. She will take some bites with those on top. However sometimes she just licks the flakes off. Hang in there everyone, it is rough this week.

 

[jayna]

Thanks, friend, this makes me feel a little better. Let’s hope tomorrow is better for all of us.

Same issue with mine, IBD --17years old --no appetite this week at all.
Cerenia takes some hours to work for my kitty. He's probably still a bit nauseated. When mine is nauseated,even if tempted she eats and vomits so I don't push it. Hopefully he will be back to his bowl soon. They do have appetite stimulants that are topical for the ears. Mirataz is the one my vet has prescribed.

just an update--I was able to get a dose of cerenia in Ginger this morning and some Mirataz in her ears. As of this evening she is back at her bowl and so far food is stayin down. thank goodness

 

[jayna]

Sigh. This seems to be a common problem lately.
16 yo cat has had IBD for a few years and has been stable. He eats Duck and Pea daily and seems to enjoy it. All of a sudden this week he seems to be nauseated and has no appetite.
Vet gave him fluids, cerenia, and did bloodwork (good). He’s sitting in the hunched position despite having cerenia several hours ago.
I’ve offered him other foods to tempt him, but he isn’t interested in them either. I’ll take any ideas to get some nutrition in him and keep him with me as long as I can.

I hope your kitty is doing better today!! hang in there

I use nutritional yeast flakes sprinkled on her food when she's bad. She will take some bites with those on top. However sometimes she just licks the flakes off. Hang in there everyone, it is rough this week.

Mine likes Fortiflora but she also licks and leaves.

 

[scarlett71177]

Thanks, all. We’re using Mirataz and he’s eating 1-2 tsps several times a day. He still seems nauseated, however. Those who use cerenia at home, do you do injections?

 

[Tummytrouble]

I do cerenia at home and I do it before bed as a pill bc she has steroids in the am and it is too much then. I also am giving her zofran aka ondansetron 3x a day starting at 8am then 4pm then 12am. I have to say I just started being rigorous about this routine regardless of whether she displays nausea or not. And it really seems to be helping (knock on wood). I just read enough about getting ahead of the nausea rather than trying to chase it and I do think it's true that staying in front of it really helps. Needless to say it's a lot of pilling and not a viable long term solution but hopefully a bridge over a pretty ugly hump.

 

[Tummytrouble]

Sigh. This seems to be a common problem lately.
16 yo cat has had IBD for a few years and has been stable. He eats Duck and Pea daily and seems to enjoy it. All of a sudden this week he seems to be nauseated and has no appetite.
Vet gave him fluids, cerenia, and did bloodwork (good). He’s sitting in the hunched position despite having cerenia several hours ago.
I’ve offered him other foods to tempt him, but he isn’t interested in them either. I’ll take any ideas to get some nutrition in him and keep him with me as long as I can.

Maybe you can ask to try zofran along with the Cerenia, it really helps my girl and seems pretty low in side effects.

 

[silent meowlook]

I use the Cerenia injectable. It is a subcutaneous injection and stings badly even when refrigerated. I give it with suncutaneous fluids and when I am almost done with the fluids I inject the Cerenia into the port on the fluid line. It still stings but maybe not as bad.

Injectable Cerenia is expensive. I’ve seen prices online from$250 to $499 for a bottle of 10 mls. A typical 10 lb cat will usually get 0.4or 0.5 mls. So approximately 20 injections per bottle. Roughly $15.00 per injection which sounds so much better than $300 a bottle.

 

[silent meowlook]

Forgot to ask. Do you give your cat vitamin B12 injections?

 

[mxw1214]

I just went through a similar issue with my cat who ended up putting to sleep earlier this week after almost two weeks of eating hardly anything. Two things I wish I would have looked into 1) feeding tube earlier on...I didn't realize her normal vet could not give her a feeding tube, so when she was "hospitalized" there she received no nutrition. If doing this again I would take her to the proper ER and ask them to do it. 2) syringe feeding is something the oncologist said she assumed I had been doing, but no one had told me to do that and I had read online not to force feed a cat. She didn't say this until two days before we put her down and I had a hard time getting her to take her medications via syringe so I'm not sure it would have worked anyway, but I do wish I had tried it after the first couple days of not eating.
Good luck to you and your cat, I hope he feels better soon.

 

[silent meowlook]

I just went through a similar issue with my cat who ended up putting to sleep earlier this week after almost two weeks of eating hardly anything. Two things I wish I would have looked into 1) feeding tube earlier on...I didn't realize her normal vet could not give her a feeding tube, so when she was "hospitalized" there she received no nutrition. If doing this again I would take her to the proper ER and ask them to do it. 2) syringe feeding is something the oncologist said she assumed I had been doing, but no one had told me to do that and I had read online not to force feed a cat. She didn't say this until two days before we put her down and I had a hard time getting her to take her medications via syringe so I'm not sure it would have worked anyway, but I do wish I had tried it after the first couple days of not eating.
Good luck to you and your cat, I hope he feels better soon.

Syringe feeding a cat is so hard and you can’t give them enough to meet their nutritional requirements. Also you risk aspiration pneumonia and damage your relationship and cause stress for the cat.
I am sorry for your loss.

 

[stephanietx]

We find that Ondansetron (Zofran) works better for our kitty. It's a 12 hour pill, but sometimes we do a short acting plain Pepcid (generic) to get things settled quickly, then later give the Ondansetron. It can take about an hour to see any calming of the tummy with Ondansetron.

Did the vet check for pancreatitis or gastroenteritis? Both cause inappetence, uncomfortable tummies, and generally can cause them to hunch in the loafing position.

 

[lisahe]

Even in very small doses, Cerenia works very well for our cat with IBDish issues -- I hope it helps yours. I think of Cerenia as being primarily a vomit preventer. And a "resetter" after Edwina regurgitates or vomits.

IndyJones put it well about IBD being a "wastebasket" diagnosis. It's different for every cat. One thing that I tried last year when the vet couldn't take us and I was desperate to get Edwina eating is slippery elm bark. I made a syrup with it and put freeze-dried chicken treats on it. She lapped it up and then ate small meals. Of course not all cats like slippery elm. She now gets an herbal/probiotic blend, Feline Gut Soothe, from Adored Beast. The herbs include slippery elm and marshmallow root, which are the soothing part, good for easing inflammation. (I tried slippery elm myself when my stomach was off recently and it really did settle it. I don't love the taste but it was worth it.) The probiotics in FGS help restore good bacteria to the gut. Since the herbs can inhibit absorption, any oral pharma drugs need to be given an hour or two before or after the FGS. That, among other reasons, is why it's best to check with a vet before using either FGS or slippery elm. FGS has done wonders for Edwina, who has had digestive issues since we adopted her almost ten years ago, at ten months old. She had inflamed patches of her stomach removed last summer and has a long history of vomiting.

What T Tummytrouble says about getting ahead of the nausea is very true. Figuring out what in the diet is causing symptoms can be a big part of that. And, in our experience, so can the anti-inflammatory supplements. Reducing stress (particularly noise, in Edwina's case) can also make a huge difference. Her food insecurity has likely also been a factor. The more you can ease any of those things, the better. The nastiness of IBD is that it's so different for every cat so what works for one may do absolutely nothing (or, even worse, harm since food sensitivities and allergies are usually part of it) for another. And, unfortunately, many vets have no idea whatsoever of how to treat it, something we found out with our previous cat ten years ago. I feel lucky that we've found that certain holistic options work so well for Edwina. It took a lot of trial and error to get her here and it's still very imperfect but the improvements are wonderful to see.

 

[Tummytrouble]

lisahe I use slippery elm as well, a syrup I make ( I adhere to that same 2 hour window away from any meds) I asked my vet what he thought about it and he basically said bc it wasn't FDA regulated it was hard to say, but didn't tell me not to. I syringe it to her and she doesn't seem to mind it at all which is a huge relief. The Cerenia I give is a quarter of the 16mg tablet-I have done 1/2 but it really seemed to konk her out so I go easy on it. I'm interested in the FGS as I'm shopping around for a good probiotic, having only tried the Forti Flora and Proviable (which upon reading up on it seemed to be considered just a temporary option?). Chatchka will be able to do some other foods beyond her strict HP elimination diet soon, so I'm all ears to hear what works for others.

 

[lisahe]

lisahe I use slippery elm as well, a syrup I make ( I adhere to that same 2 hour window away from any meds) I asked my vet what he thought about it and he basically said bc it wasn't FDA regulated it was hard to say, but didn't tell me not to. I syringe it to her and she doesn't seem to mind it at all which is a huge relief. The Cerenia I give is a quarter of the 16mg tablet-I have done 1/2 but it really seemed to konk her out so I go easy on it. I'm interested in the FGS as I'm shopping around for a good probiotic, having only tried the Forti Flora and Proviable (which upon reading up on it seemed to be considered just a temporary option?). Chatchka will be able to do some other foods beyond her strict HP elimination diet soon, so I'm all ears to hear what works for others.

Interesting that you say your cat gets sleepy on the 1/2 Cerenia... Edwina (who's no small cat at 14ish pounds) gets a little lethargic, blah, on just 1/4 pill! She seems to respond pretty well even to about 1/8 pill. I've been known to microdose her with it after incidents. It seems to work well: she gets the good result without the blahness. Our vet told me they lowered the "standard" recommended Cerenia dose because 1/4 pill seems to work fine for cats. And thank goodness, given the cost!

As for probiotics, I bought Proviable last year after Edwina's surgery but then just never quite got around to starting her on it. Which may be a good thing, given that it has maltodextrin in it and maltodextrin landed on our "suspect" list earlier this year. FGS doesn't have anything extra, which is a huge plus! As for "temporary" it sounds like Adored Beast considers it best to alternate between various products for best overall results, though they also mention on the FGS page that some cats are so much more comfortable on FGS that it's good/best to just keep them on it. That's Edwina!

Fingers crossed for Chatchka (great name!) and her diet results!

 

[Tummytrouble]

lisahe I appreciate the info that really helps! We really love her name, I do feel bad for ( and get a bit of a chuckle from) the poor vet techs/vets trying to pronounce it at first though. I will definitely check out the FGS. Also, my internal med vet seems to struggle a bit with the idea that she is super sensitive to meds. I think they did note how long her anesthesia took to wear off after the endoscopy and have adjusted her other meds given since then with that in mind. But even so, he wanted me to have her on 8mg Cerenia daily and I just can't do it. My primary vet recommended me giving her Cerenia at bedtime to cushion the side effects a bit and well, sleeping at night isn't terrible. I still long for the days of little to no meds though.

 

[Terri Moore]

All of a sudden this week he seems to be nauseated and has no appetite.
Vet gave him fluids, cerenia, and did bloodwork (good). He’s sitting in the hunched position despite having cerenia several hours ago.
I’ve offered him other foods to tempt him, but he isn’t interested in them either. I’ll take any ideas to get some nutrition in him and keep him with me as long as I can.
/QUOTE]
My cat isn't eating either. We syringe fed her some baby food tonight. She acts hungry but won't eat. She seems to be losing more and more weight too. I don't know what else to do as we've tried so many foods. Is your cat drooling a lot?