Probiotic at the same time as prednisolone?

olliepurrington

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I'm reading some conflicting information and I'm not sure what to make of it.

My cat has been through a lot the past three months. I won't list everything here for the sake of brevity but he was on different antibiotics twice since mid July. He has had diarrhea for probably about a month.

He went to the emergency vet last Thursday for lack of appetite and they suspect he might have either IBD or Gi lymphoma. It seems like his last round of prednisolone may have had a good effect, so he is back on that so we can find the lowest effective dose to help him.

His appetite is slowly improving but his diarrhea is bad. I'm seeing drips both in the litterbox and also sometimes wherever he's sitting. I see it just leak out of his butt sometimes.

For what it's worth, I think the diarrhea started around late July.
He was on an antibiotic around July 20-26.
prednisolone around July 20-Aug 16.
methimazole around July 21-Aug 25.
another antibiotic around Aug 22-27.
started prednisolone again Aug 25.

I read that probiotics could help with diarrhea/GI issues, but I've read conflicting things about whether it is okay to use with a steroid or not. I have Proviable DC and Pet Honesty Digestive probiotic powder. I left a message for the vet but I thought I would ask you all too, any thoughts?
 

Furballsmom

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Hi
I do know that antibiotics are very hard on the gut bacteria, and a probiotic with a prebiotic to support the probiotics can help that, however it's suggested to start very slowly, however I'm not sure about a probiotic interacting with a steroid.
 
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olliepurrington

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Thanks furballsmom. Got a text back saying it would be okay to use probiotics so I'm going to give it a shot and cross my fingers.
 
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olliepurrington

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UGH. I gave him half a capsule of Proviable DC yesterday and today he is doing awful. He wouldn't eat at all this morning. Had diarrhea all over in and out of the litterbox. Now he's curled up in a tiny ball with lots of gas and diarrhea leaking out of his butt. I feel so bad for him. If anyone has a good suggestion for a probiotic or anything else to stop diarrhea in a probably-IBD extremely sensitive gut kitty, please let me know. I've been trying to research this for a while but it seems my efforts just don't get anywhere and I'm beyond frustrated.

edited because I made zero sense on my first try
 
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Furballsmom

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A vet trip? Or maybe take in a fecal sample? This really sounds like he needs specialized help to try and get things to settle down plus he's going to get dehydrated and probably needs fluids - (oh, I just thought of this although can he eat chicken? If so, try unseasoned boiled chicken with unseasoned cooked white rice. Vets will use this to help settle unhappy digestive systems).

I apologize if I mentioned this before, but in addition to a vet visit get some Hydra Care, and also try some baby food soup - it's a teaspoon or so of meat baby food (beechnut doesn't have cornstarch) and about a teaspoon or so of warm water.
 
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olliepurrington

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Thanks so much. I'll try the chicken and rice, he's had it before and it's worth a shot. Would hydra care be the same as pedialyte? I have some of that at home. I will try to talk to the vet again, poor guy has been there so much lately. He's never seemed to care for baby food but maybe putting water in it would help. thanks again
 

AbbysMom

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I’m sorry you are dealing with this. My cat does get probiotics with prednisolone at times. I give her Fortiflora. One of the vets at my practice has told me in the past to wait a few hours between giving antibiotics and probiotics. You shouldn’t give them at the same time.
 

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I’m sorry your going through this. I have also recently been dealing with a kitten with chronic diarrhea and it’s been tough and I’ve tried multiple things too.

I was recommended by users here to try the probiotic S. Boulardi as it seems to have helped many kitties suffering from diarrhea. I am currently giving my cat Nexabiotic which contains all the good probiotic strains as well as S. Boulardi. It’s been a game changer for me (so far fingers crossed). Her stool is so much better now. My cat was on 2 weeks of Metronidazole before I started her on the Nexabiotic. Since she’s had diarrhea since I adopted her, her gut will likely take months to grow the good bacteria.

I suggest you search this site for other threads where they recommend S. boulardi in cats with diarrhea, these threads have helped me so much. Here is a photo of the two products I’ve bought. Good luck and hang in there!
 

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LTS3

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Start with a low dose or a probitotic with a low CFU count and gradually increase. Starting too high can upset the tummy and make things worse. Sometimes a certain brand doesn't agree with the tummy. Try a different brand. I posted two links above with probiotic suggestions. The second link has info on how to use S. boulardii for diarrhea.
 
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olliepurrington

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He seems to be doing relatively better today, he's eating more but is still doing his "I don't feel well" things like hiding under my bed. He also pooped outside the litterbox twice but it was sort of in between diarrhea and formed stools, which is better than just liquid I guess? His butt is still dirty though. Also he willingly drank unflavored Pedialyte, which I didn't expect his picky self to do at all. I'm going to try to order some s. boulardii.
 
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olliepurrington

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Thanks for that link. I've been trying to wipe off his butt here and there (which he hates so I haven't been able to do a thorough job). I did try to trim a little hair away and he's been trying to clean his own butt too-it's just that the diarrhea dripping seems to be constant and hard to keep up with. I even tried aloe Vera gel to see if it would be soothing, but it seemed to slightly alarm him so maybe not. For now I've been chasing him around with wet towels and trying to place a wet paper towel under him every time he sits anywhere, which is sort of amusing.

Since he is at least trying to do it himself, I'm hoping that if I can get his diarrhea more under control, it will solve the problem!
 
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olliepurrington

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I didn't think of that. I don't have any here but I should probably get some since it seems to have so many uses.
 
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