My kitty, Tumbles is a 13 yo neutered male. (You can read his rescue story here: OMG! Just did a dramatic rescue...was almost a "bridge report" ) He currently eats Purina EN (wet) and Royal Canin Gastrointestinal (dry). He also gets twice daily s. boulardii and Adored Beast Gut Soothe.
In May of this year, he started getting picky with his food, not eating well, losing a little weight, and loose bowels. He has a history of loose bowels and gastroenteritis. Took him to the vet and there was nothing obviously wrong with him when he was examined. She gave us some prednisolone, metronidazole, and told us to continue with the antacid (Pepcid). He improved for awhile. We chalked it up to my return to work outside the home after about 6 months of being off work.
In late June, the symptoms returned, but with raging diarrhea. Called the vet and she gave us another round of metro, which helped. Took him in and they drew blood. Again, nothing out of whack on his bloodwork. Tried all the things for inappropriate elimination (new litter, new boxes, Cat Attract, Feliway plug ins, which we use regularly anyway), but the litter changes made things worse.
In July, he again had raging diarrhea, was not using the box to poop or pee, not eating, looked bloated, and generally wasn't comfortable. We took him to a different vet clinic that specializes in cats only. They ran the test for pancreatitis which came back very high. Sent us home with an antibiotic (Amoxicillin), metro, prednisolone, and Ondansetron. This worked wonderfully and he improved. He was peeing in the litterbox, but still not pooping in the box. We went back to the vet, she didn't find anything on examination, but recommended Prozac and continuing on the steroid. We did Prozac for 3 months. Still not pooping in the box, but his is pooping faithfully on a piece of packing paper on the floor, so we'll take it.
In Aug-October we tried weaning off of the pred, but each time we tried, the diarrhea and loose stools returned, so the vet said to keep him on it, which we did. Poop looked good, peeing faithfully in the box, still pooping on the paper.
Thanksgiving Day--raging, raging diarrhea, uncontrolled peeing everywhere, and lack of appetite. Started giving him metro, continued with the prednisolone, things improved, but not great. This past Saturday, he was seen by the vet again for all the things. She did a blood draw for the GI Panel to send to Texas A&M and she gave us a stool specimen tube to bring back for the diarrhea PCR test, also sent to Texas A&M vet school and lab. Hopefully, results will be in by Friday of this week or very early next week. (They only run the GI panels on Tues & Thurs)
Today, he is still peeing inappropriately. We picked up another round of antibiotics and she told us to up his prednisolone to 10 mg (currently on 5mg) for 3 days to get him over this hump. She didn't do a UA because this coincides with the flare up of the diarrhea and right now, the thought is that inflammation in the pancreas and GI area is causing everything to be out of whack. He's doing better this evening and has even used the litterbox to pee TWICE this evening!! (YAY!) He has finally eaten well, not normal, but better than all day, but he's starting to look bloated again.
If you've read this far, has anyone experienced anything like this? He's never been diagnosed with IBD, but treated like he has it. I just don't know what to think or how to prepare myself for what the tests might show.
In May of this year, he started getting picky with his food, not eating well, losing a little weight, and loose bowels. He has a history of loose bowels and gastroenteritis. Took him to the vet and there was nothing obviously wrong with him when he was examined. She gave us some prednisolone, metronidazole, and told us to continue with the antacid (Pepcid). He improved for awhile. We chalked it up to my return to work outside the home after about 6 months of being off work.
In late June, the symptoms returned, but with raging diarrhea. Called the vet and she gave us another round of metro, which helped. Took him in and they drew blood. Again, nothing out of whack on his bloodwork. Tried all the things for inappropriate elimination (new litter, new boxes, Cat Attract, Feliway plug ins, which we use regularly anyway), but the litter changes made things worse.
In July, he again had raging diarrhea, was not using the box to poop or pee, not eating, looked bloated, and generally wasn't comfortable. We took him to a different vet clinic that specializes in cats only. They ran the test for pancreatitis which came back very high. Sent us home with an antibiotic (Amoxicillin), metro, prednisolone, and Ondansetron. This worked wonderfully and he improved. He was peeing in the litterbox, but still not pooping in the box. We went back to the vet, she didn't find anything on examination, but recommended Prozac and continuing on the steroid. We did Prozac for 3 months. Still not pooping in the box, but his is pooping faithfully on a piece of packing paper on the floor, so we'll take it.
In Aug-October we tried weaning off of the pred, but each time we tried, the diarrhea and loose stools returned, so the vet said to keep him on it, which we did. Poop looked good, peeing faithfully in the box, still pooping on the paper.
Thanksgiving Day--raging, raging diarrhea, uncontrolled peeing everywhere, and lack of appetite. Started giving him metro, continued with the prednisolone, things improved, but not great. This past Saturday, he was seen by the vet again for all the things. She did a blood draw for the GI Panel to send to Texas A&M and she gave us a stool specimen tube to bring back for the diarrhea PCR test, also sent to Texas A&M vet school and lab. Hopefully, results will be in by Friday of this week or very early next week. (They only run the GI panels on Tues & Thurs)
Today, he is still peeing inappropriately. We picked up another round of antibiotics and she told us to up his prednisolone to 10 mg (currently on 5mg) for 3 days to get him over this hump. She didn't do a UA because this coincides with the flare up of the diarrhea and right now, the thought is that inflammation in the pancreas and GI area is causing everything to be out of whack. He's doing better this evening and has even used the litterbox to pee TWICE this evening!! (YAY!) He has finally eaten well, not normal, but better than all day, but he's starting to look bloated again.
If you've read this far, has anyone experienced anything like this? He's never been diagnosed with IBD, but treated like he has it. I just don't know what to think or how to prepare myself for what the tests might show.
