Update On Me & My Furkids

[lvpets2002]

OMG Tracey I knew something was wrong.. Hey as they say when it rains it pours.. I feel for you bad.. I had water prob about 5 yrs ago & clean & blowing fans all over to dry stuff out.. It can all be so mental trying & just a mess.. Well glad to hear from you & that things are mending to the positive side now..

[Emeraldgreen]

You have sure been through alot in the past few months! What an ordeal!!
It's good to see you back on PT!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks again everyone. I know that things can only get better at this point but now my Starr is having diarrhea problems again. I just don't know what more I can do for him except to try putting him back on a higher doseage of pred. I've even considered possibly rehoming him but I don't even know if he'd be able to survive without me. He's not the most social cat and he will bite when scared. I've contacted my holistic vet but I haven't heard back from her yet. Does anyone have any suggestions about this?

[rg_girlca]

Oh Tracey, I am so sorry to hear that Starr is having bowel problems again.

When any of my boys or rescues had problems with diarrhea, my vet gave me an oral paste called "Diarsanyl". It's a Nutritional supplement as an Aid in coating the intestinal Mucosa. You administer it morning and evening for 3 days only. It has always worked very well with them. Ask your vet about it and see what he thinks.

I still have quite a bit of it left and if you want, I can send it to you in a heartbeat.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks Lorraine. I've never heard of this. I think that Starr most likely needs something more regularly. I just e-mailed my regular vet since I still haven't heard back from my holistic vet yet. I got very emotional when I read about Rutherford's passing and now I can't stop crying thinking about my Starr and how I've tried everything under the sun to try help him and nothing has ever seemed to help him for very long.

I just feel so frustrated and helpless right now. I worked so hard to try to get him off his pred and now that he's finally off of it, he's having yet another diarrhea episode. I feel like I'm back at square one. I know that I shouldn't be so materialistic but since I'm going to be getting new carpet throughout my condo soon, I really need a solution to this problems asap.

I can't have regular accidents like this and my parents co-own the condo with me and they won't put up with it. I know that their solution will be to either have him put to sleep or to be rehomed. They've been trying to get me to down size my cat numbers for quite some time now. I also can't confine him to a cage because I feel that this is cruel and not a good quality of life. Putting diapers on him I think would make things worse.

I hope to hear back from both of my vets soon. Any other suggestions are also welcome. Thanks again.

[Emeraldgreen]

I'm so sorry to hear that Starr is having diarrhea problems again. I know you and I have been dealing with this with our two cats for quite some time and have shared information to try and help each other. I was so happy to learn of the Taste of the Wild grain free food from you and while it wasn't right for Jimmy and his IBD issues, it was just the ticket for George, who also had diarrhea but not to the extent that Jim had it. George is still on the Taste of the Wild and doing well, so thank you so much for that tip!

It sounds like you need to find some solutions and soon!
I can't remember if I have read in any of your past posts if you had tried Metronidazole with Starr. Jimmy was put on it 6 years ago when he was found by someone wandering the streets and near death. The SPCA took him in and then he was placed in a clinic for a month. They treated him with Metronidazole the whole time and he got better and better and then I later adopted him. Since then, I had always had him on Prednisilone, sometimes by pill and sometimes by transdermal ear gel. His diarrhea never cleared up but he still seemed happy and it was supposed to help his asthma. I didn't realize that Metronidazole can be used on and off to help cats who suffer from IBD so it didn't occur to me and for whatever reason, wasn't suggested to me that I try Jimmy on it again.

When Jimmy fell seriously ill last month and was rushed to the vet, that's the first thing they put him on. He was on it for 2 weeks and was doing so well and then when it ran out, he started to get a bit lethargic and his diarrhea was back and was like water and then worse! I did some Googling and found that most cats are on this for 4 weeks to get them back on track so I asked for some more and the vet gave me two more weeks of it. Within 2 days, he was so much better and as I posted in his thread, he actually pooped a 'real' poop the other day. It hasn't been consistent but I know if I only fed him the dry HypoGastro food, he would have regular bowel movements. I keep giving him a little of the wet Hypo because he looks so forward to it but I'm going to eventually switch him over to just dry.

Maybe you could ask for a two week trial of Metronidazole. It's fairly bitter so they usually compound it into a chicken suspension. Jimmy hates it so I just draw it up in the syringe (less than a ml) and quickly squirt it in his mouth. He forgives me a few minutes later once the taste is gone. lol
I think you can order them in flavoured chews as well but if Starr is finicky and might not want to eat the chew one day, then the liquid would be the better way to go. It's an antibiotic but I believe it helps with the issue of inflammation in the intestines.
I'm hoping to only have him on it for a few more days and then hopefully the diet will be enough.

Here are some links on IBD and Metronidazole:

IBD/Metronidazole

another link

Unfortunately alot of the sites don't go into great detail about Metronidazole (Flagyl) but the do mention it as a treatment for inflammation and IBD.


Also, I can't remember if you tried Starr on a Hypo diet or not. I think I remember reading at one point that you had tried Z/D.

Prayers that Starr will get better soon.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Yes, Starr was on the Z/D diet even before he was on the pred. He didn't do well on it until after he also started taking the pred. Then after his system became adjusted to the Z/D diet, he didn't do well at all. This is when my vet told me to try a grain free diet like Innova Evo. He did extemely well on this until his system adjusted to this and then he wasn't doing well again. This is why I also started taking him to a holistic vet. The Primal Defense powder and GI Encaps that she prescibed for him have really made the difference. Maybe they're not working now either.

Yes, he's been on Metronidazole many times but I don't remember how long. I think it was about 2 weeks or so. It never really seemed to help him though. Both he and Pearl were on it as kittens because they both had runny stools. He also had a severe case of coccidia which took quite a while to clear up. He's been sickly ever since he was a kitten. It's so unfair. I still haven't heard back from either vet yet. Hopefully I'll hear something tomorrow.

I fed Starr a little less food tonight and he's acting normal and is quite active and frisky. I just hope that he won't have problems tomorrow morning again. Please send some positive vibes his way. Thanks in advance.