Great news about Simon

[Catty1]

HUGS and I am glad to hear that this latest treatment is working for Simon!

Prayers that he stays well and healthy!

er....any pics available of this handsome boy?

[krazyaboutkatz]

I missed this thread that last time but I'm glad to hear that Simon is doing well again. I've heard of cats having to take pepcid to avoid vomiting as well so the prilosec probably does the same thing. Did your vet ever say anything about him possibly having IBD? Some cats with this disease will vomit, some will have severe diarrhea, and some will have both symptoms.

My cat Starr has IBD and colitis and he had severe diarrhea. Now he has to take prednisolone for the rest of his life. This has stopped his diarrhea but has caused him to gain weight. I hope that Simon will continue to do well. Please continue to keep us updated about him.

[janelle]

Well, sad to say but Simon's stomach condition is chronic. He still throws up and now he is licking the back of his front legs until the fur is gone.

He has to take Prilosec and Metoclopramide each day. He takes it 3 times a day if bad but I try to limit it to once a day. His last cortisone shot didn't last very long.

Right now he is very skinny and I wonder if he is getting enough vitamins. I have him on the vet's A/D food but he still has the sensitivity to it. He drinks a lot of water but he always did that. I think most days he lives on water.

I am now reading up on some natural solutions to correct it. I sure do not want him to go through an operation and by now if it was a tumor or something serious he would be having other symptoms. I just fear his not eating much will lead to liver problems.

Does anyone else have this problem with their furbaby and what helped? TIA

[Catty1]

Try grain-free food. It has helped many kitties. Even vet food has grain in it.

See if your pet store has some samples of Innova Evo or another grain-free food. Some cats are allergic to grains!

Good luck and prayers for dear Simon! Bless you for not giving up on him.

[columbine]

I think Catty1 is probably right. That sounds like it could be an allergy. Please keep us posted!

Love, Columbine

[janelle]

I'll never give up on him but I fear his liver will give out with not eating and going into fasts like he does. He did eat a little canned tuna today. I know it's not good for him but at this point whatever he wants to eat is ok with me.

I wish he liked more human food so he will at least eat something.

[Catty1]

Did you read the last two posts, Janelle? Go to a pet store and get some grain-free food and try that on him.

[krazyaboutkatz]

If you can afford it, you may want to have some more specific blood tests done on him. I did this with my Storm and he was finally diagnosed today with small intestinal disease. He's low in folate so I'm starting him on 400 mcg of Folic Acid each day for 6 weeks and continuing his 5mg of pred for 4 weeks. Hopefully this will do the trick. Vitamin B12 is also supposed to help increase a cats appetite. You may want to ask your vet about this.

[janelle]

Well have been dealing with his nausea for about 2 years. He always had a sensitive stomach but it got worse as time went by.

I have taken him to the vet a lot of times. At first the shot did some good and he went back to eating. It has just gotten gradually worse over time.

They did want to operate on him to see if he had a tumor but I didn't want to put him through that trauma. I chose to go the non-envasive route to see if it helped him. The A/D food helped and he kept it down. Now he doesn't even want to eat. We are force feeding the canned A/D twice a day.

I guess he needs to go back to the vet again. He said they could do more blood tests. I hope it shows something that is treatable.

[janelle]

Simon goes back to the vet today. Not sure what they will try next. We have been force feeding him all week. He still does not want to eat and I read cats can completely stop eating. Then they die of starvation or liver damage.

I got info online on how to force feed and how much. The vet said something about a feeding tube but it would be inserted into his stomach---not a good thing. Others online have suggested having the vet do a endoscope exam to look at his digestive system. I'll have to see what the vet suggests now.

So far Simon has been in pretty good spirits and wanting to go out. He is an indoor cat but he likes to go out. I supervise him and it is cold here and that makes it worse.

[Catty1]

I hope something simple is found, that can be treated. The three of you have been through a LOT, little Simon not the least.

I hope it might be something as simple as a sore tooth...


Hugs and prayers for you and hubby and Simon.

[janelle]

The vet didn't give me much hope today. He said they can do a biopsy. They can't do the endoscope here in town, we would need to go to another city since they do not have the small one here for cats. The biopsy involves opening him about 4 or 5 inches to see inside his stomach. If it is a tumor they can do chemo and it would cost around 1500 plus surgery. If he indeed has IBD we will be back to square one treating symptoms since there is not a cure.

He suspects the treatment with the steroids may have caused stomach ulcers but he needs the shots---it's a vicious circle. He could have inserted a feeding tube but it can cause problems as well. It helps him with the feeding and he won't fight us so much but the tube is on his neck and it will bother him.

He said some cats get anorexic when they are sick and refuse to eat. They get liver disease though and die of that. They gave him a steroid shot again so we don't need to give him the pill, one less thing to make him take. they also injected some fluid since he is dehydrated.

For now I will force feed him and try to encourage him to eat but it may not help. He lost a whole pound this week from not eating except for what we gave him. No water either. His food has water but he doesn't drink from his bowl anymore.

I don't know how long we can do this but we are willing to give it a try and see what happens. Thank you all for your concern and prayers. It's helping us all.