*Reposting* help! IBD/lymphoma questions!

[sos2484]

Hi Everyone.. I’m confused all over again. Hoping someone can help! Sebastian and Oliver are brothers. I lost Sebastian two years ago to IBD/lymphoma. I wish his regular vet would have been more aggressive for me to get an ultrasound done because I would’ve caught it much earlier. His main symptom was diarrhea and it was never controlled. he was 12.
Now Oliver is 14, no health issues, perfect bloodwork and only sick one because he ate something outside. Was vomiting for a few days, wouldn’t eat and started eating after two days. That was about 6 years ago.
He vomits every few months,could be six months.. but not much at all.
Two weeks ago he vomited. He wouldn’t eat for two days but slowly started eating and back to normal. He’s also a very good drinker.
a week ago, Wednesday night, he vomits again. I took him to the ER On Friday night. Side note, both times he vomited, I noted he was digging in a plant I recently reported, nothing poisonous but the potting soil was opened for a year, sitting in a hallway before I used it. That’s why I thought he threw up.
the ER advised me of the bloodwork and X-rays but I saidcerenia and I’ll monitor him. He was acting completely normal except he refused to eat.
He lost a little over a pound but I take him to my boyfriends house every weekend and he may be more active or eat less, just a possibility.
by Sunday he was barely eating so back to the ER, bloodwork, urine, X-RAY, US. Bloodwork still perfect. He’s acting normal. X-ray shows gas in his intestines.( I have the report but don’t understand it)US shows suspected IBD/Lymphoma.
so I start prednisolone 3mgs/ml- liquid 2 mgs a day. Started on Monday. Both nights he’s thrown up and now his poop is soft and a little watery. He didn’t have these symptoms before the prednisolone. Could the dose be too high? I also have an appointment with an oncologist on Tuesday. I tried togive as much background as I could. Sorry for the long post.. can any help guide me? ‍

 

[__caitlin]

It's really tough to say. It could be a side effect of the prednisolone, or it could be the same flareup from earlier still working through his system.

As you probably know from your last cat, the only way to really address IBD sustainably is to do a diet trial to help determine his trigger foods. The meds will only be a bandaid solution.

This probably means restricting his outdoor activity (or harness walking him) so you can keep close tabs on what he eats -- as well as eliminating dry food and putting him on a strict diet trial with a novel protein. RAWZ was recommended to me for my IBD cat and is typically considered the standard as it doesn't contain any potential allergens outside of the protein in question.

However, if it does seem like a reaction to the prednisolone, you can ask your vet about budesonide; it's a more locally acting steroid that targets the intestines, rather than the whole system, and can be a little easier on them. My cat is on it right now.

There have been a number of IBD threads lately with a lot more helpful information (including mine) -- might be worth a read through!

 

[sos2484]

Thank you for your reply. Oliver is an indoor cat. He only goes out in a confined area but he hasn’t been outside for years. He only eats wet food and treats. My first cat had diabetes so I started Oliver and Sebastian on wet when they were kittens. I’m just having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that he barely has any symptoms. I feel like he’s gotten worse since I put him on the steroids. They did see thickening on the US and I know you can’t argue with medicine and science and I’m probably being naive and in denial but I feel like there’s something missing.

 

[__caitlin]

I feel you -- I get nervous about steroids too, and for what it's worth, I'm not sure how much your cat weighs, but that pred dose did seem a bit high to me (in relation to what you were describing). I think you could talk to your vet about lowering the dose to see if he responds to that; if he does, then yeah, it was probably a side effect of the pred.

Loss of appetite is also a symptom of IBD, though. And unless his wet food + treats are all the same protein (with no additional triggers, like assorted vegetables or gumming agents -- and the treats are freeze dried versions of the same protein) -- you can't really know for sure if something is triggering him or not.

A clean diet trial -- i.e., RAWZ food with a novel protein and no treats unless they're freeze dried versions of the same protein -- is probably the best way for you to see if it is IBD and if so, what his triggers are. It might be a good idea to start this while he's still mostly asymptomatic.

 

[sos2484]

Right now he weighs 13.5 pounds. He was 15 awhile back. This is where I’m confused. He doesn’t eat and throw up. He never did. He rarely throws up. These last two times he threw up, he had gotten into the soil in a plant. I initially thought he got into bad soil because both times he threw up, he was digging in the soil. It was so coincidental and I can’t remember the last time he threw up.
I started raw when his brother got sick and I feed him a combination of raw and wet. I also just got the raw goats milk and bone broth.
He didn’t lose his appetite and just stop eating, he threw up and then lost his appetite. I’m just trying to make sense of this because he was so much better a week ago before the meds, even when he wasn’t eating.

 

[sos2484]

I did call the ER earlier and asked about lowering the dose because he threw up last night and the night before, hours and hours after eating. She said she’ll give him cerenia. I don’t think he’s nauseous, his appetite is back. He just doesn’t look right since he’s been on the prednisolone. I’m so sorry if I’m not making sense. He hadn’t thrown up in a week and then Sunday morning he gets a shot of Pred, Monday liquid, throws up that night, Tuesday liquid, throws up again that night..

 

[__caitlin]

I did call the ER earlier and asked about lowering the dose because he threw up last night and the night before, hours and hours after eating. She said she’ll give him cerenia. I don’t think he’s nauseous, his appetite is back. He just doesn’t look right since he’s been on the prednisolone. I’m so sorry if I’m not making sense. He hadn’t thrown up in a week and then Sunday morning he gets a shot of Pred, Monday liquid, throws up that night, Tuesday liquid, throws up again that night..

What did the vet say about lowering the dose?

 

[sos2484]

It wasn’t the same vet that saw him on Sunday, but I explained it the best I could and said I just don’t want to undo what’s been done, that he’s eating again and she said she would say cerenia first but it probably wouldn’t hurt to lower the dose by 1/4 to 1/2 and see how he does tonight. The last two nights he’s thrown up between 11 pm and 5 am. He doesn’t get sick any other time of day.
im just unsure of everything. I did give him mirtazapine on Monday at 5 pm and by 7, he was trying to eat everything in sight.

 

[__caitlin]

That sounds like a good plan -- to lower the dose for a little bit and see if he does better. If he does, then you can feel more confident that it was a side effect.

If you're reluctant to give medication (like Cerenia) -- and I don't blame you for that at all -- you could try slippery elm syrup instead? It's a holistic option for nausea and stomach upset that I've used for my cat when I didn't want to load him up with more meds. Slippery elm will settle his stomach, if he is having any stomach upset -- and if he isn't, then there really aren't any negative effects to giving it to him. The only consideration is that you'll want a 2-hour window before giving him any other oral medications (as slippery elm coats the GI tract so some believe it can interfere with absorption of meds).

 

[sos2484]

I honestly don’t think he’s nauseous. He’s eating like he used to with no issues. But I have read about slippery elm and will keep it in mind. Do cats needs to adjust to the Pred and start acting normal again? He’s doing some normal things but he’s still moving slowly and acting slightly aloof at times. He’s definitely not himself like he was before the prednisolone.

 

[Catmom1234567890]

I don't know much about prednisolone but my IBD kitty is on budesonide. It is milder and only affects locally rather than systemic. I hear you, I'm frustrated with my vet too. Did the labwork include a complete GI panel?

 

[sos2484]

What would be the tests run in a complete GI panel?

 

[sos2484]

They also took a sample of fluid from his abdomen but that came back inconclusive.

 

[Catmom1234567890]

IBD or Cancer? – IBDKitties

 

[sos2484]

Thank you for that information! It’s really good information that I needed to understand. No, they didn’t do the GI PANEL.