Feline IBS?

[Lauren Nicole]

So, about a month ago I asked for some help with my male F4 Savannah. We adopted him November 19, and since has had terrible diarrhea. I've bought purina hard food for sensitive stomach, he's been to the vet twice. Once he tested positive for Coccydia (spell?) and received a weeks worth of liquid antibiotics. No use, so he went back and this time the vet thought it could be feline IBS so he prescribed a broad spectrum pill antibiotic to get rid of any possible remaining parasites and a weeks worth of steroid pills. It helped Simba (the 5 year old male F4) to use his litter box more (he always uses it to urinate, but has several severe diarrhea accidents throughout the day) but it did not clear up the diarrhea, just seemed to allow him to better control his bowels. He is drinking water fine and playing fine, he just keeps having severe diarrhea and accidents all day every day. Does anyone have any experience with this? He will be going BACK to the vet this week to see what the vet recommends but for now, any suggestions?

 

[WitchyWoman]

Does anyone have any experience with this? He will be going BACK to the vet this week to see what the vet recommends but for now, any suggestions?

One of my cats has it due to an allergy to his favorite food which he can no longer eat.

First thing to do is slowly wean your cat off of the Purina which is full of grain, in particular corn, and get him on a good quality grain-free canned food consisting of primarily meat/meat-by products. The first three ingredients of the canned food should list meat or meat by-products.

Before that, I suggest that for one week you feed him cooked boneless chicken thighs and legs along with white rice. Poach the chicken in water and add some of that stock to the cooked chicken and rice. This is not a balanced diet and should not be fed for longer than a week but often helps to settle down bowels/stomach.

It's possible that your cat's IBS is caused from the Purina. If that's the case, it may resolve once you get him on a decent diet. IBS can be difficult to get under control and sometimes it's a lifetime thing. My cat didn't have diarrhea but vomiting and he lost weight quickly. Prednisone and anti-nausea meds got the vomiting under control and then it took a while to wean him on to a food he would accept.

The key is patience because it could take months to see a resolution. Be sure to read literature about the condition so you can assess your vet's ability to provide appropriate treatment and so you know what questions to ask.
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/Health_Information/brochure_ibd.cfm
http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/digestive/c_ct_inflammatory_bowel_disease
http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pe...health/inflammatory-bowel-disease-in-cats/291

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

As I said on the other thread that you posted about this very same thing, until you have properly tested for infectious causes of the diarrhea and treated those, assuming it is IBS is hasty. I asked there what the antibiotics used were, as not all are that effective. I also advised doing a fecal PCR panel before deciding it was IBS.

As Witchy says, IF it is IBS diet change is the best route to try. But if the coccidia remains (because it was not treated correctly, was the cat retested for this?) or if there is another pathogen involved such as tritrich, the diarrhea will not resolve. but certainly, the longer the kitten has diarrhea and inflammation of its gastrointestinal tract, the more chance that he will develop IBS even if he didn't have it in the beginning.

 

[Eugena]

Best place I found to do PCR testing is through Zoologix. Dry cat food I use is Natural Balance green pea and duck formula. There is no corn in it. The diet listed above is wonderful advice.