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louie is my 14 year old tuxedo cat. he and i are completely miserable. hes had chronic diarrhea for years. whats worse is he wont go in the box!! i have tried everything over the years, but its gotten worse. his thryoid is high, but hes on meds for that. he has no parasites. he recently had an ultra-sound which showed IBS. i had high hopes when he was put on predesone 5mg. well, its been over a week, and hes the same, if not worse. does anybody know how long it will take before it will work?? i have switched him to better quality wet food. (iams, newmans own) no change. forget any strict diet, he wont eat. plus, its impossible with 4 other cats. can i give him kaopectate or immodium? if so, whats the correct dosage? i really am at the end of my rope.[/b]

IBD is a food allergy gone nuts. You HAVE to get him on a restrickted ingrient diet.
I know, I have it. Every morning I go in my nice big cage and get my breakfast while the other cats eat their regular food.

You need ot find a food that does not contain any chicken or fish, not even by products of them.

it is going to take awhile for his gut to settle down, and if his thyroid is still high then he isn't on the right meds.

Cats can learn to eat in meals, and you can seperate Louie in a large crate for his special food.

prednisone sometimes helps, but you have to get him off the food he is reacting to.

bendy

Bendy, I am facing the same issues with Possum. One thing doc did say which anyone can do right now is to go with a LOW fat and LOW protein food. X to dairy and as Dianne will tell you rice is a serious irritant, while it is found in a LOT of foods. Years ago I had a little Allix who had food allergies and everything else. Doc told me NO lamb and NO rice for her.

i was hoping it WASNT a food allergy. oh boy, so i should be looking for a food with only turkey and beef ?? any brands i should be looking at??
his last blood test showed his thryoid level was normal on his meds.
in the meantime is kaopectate ok in small doses?

Kaopectate used to be clay based, it is now bismuth based, as is every single OTC prod. I have checked, and it is everything on the wallyworld shelves.
Do you have a pet shop nearby? Petsmart or Petco or something, because I tell you PETPECTILLIN WORKS! I told Doc Smith I had it, he was very excited and someone from their office (or somewheres hmmm....) went and cleaned off the shelves at Petsmart.

wow thank you karen, you can bet i will be heading for my nearest petco in search of this product!!
what about a brand of food?

My wild kitty eats anything I feed her, but check your crude analysis on the bag:
I am looking at the 9LivesDaily Essentials I am holding. Crude protein is over 30%! That is VERY high! In a dog food, the lowest I have been able to find is 18%. The fat content is 9%, hang on, let me check the empty bag outside... hummm.... it is generic, the fat content is 8% and protein in the high 20s.

Check your bag,, and look for SENSITIVE STOMACH, although that had no effect on Possum, despite feeding it for a couple of months.

You will want to find something and stick with it for a time to see if it helps.

Incidently, it is the bismuth you want to avoid... check with your vet as well.

be careful with low protein food in cats, they need a lot more protein than dogs.
Lamb, duck, venison, and rabbit are most often used as alternative diets for cats with IBD. rice is easier to digest than corn. Most CAT allergies are to the protein source - the meat -rather than the grain. I know a lot of dogs have trouble with corn allergies, but again with cats it is most likely the meat. If you stick with canned food, it will have much less grain.

Nature's recipie brand has many of these. Mom actually cooks me ground venison every morning, but not everyone has a freezerfull of it to cook.

I think I remember that PetCo does carry Nature's Recipe. I am fond of the julian lamb. Recently I have discovered I can eat Merrick brand CowBoyCookout, which is only beef.

Sensitive stomach formula is more for kitties who puke a lot, it doesn't do diddly for real food allergies.

you can get Pet-Pectate or Kaolin syrup in farm supply stores (again, I don't know if any are in your area). You can also order it, and many other good things at places like www.jefferspet.com or www.revivalanimal.com

I"m a very busy Bendy today, but hopefully will have time to stop by again!

oh,happy fourth! shrimpies all around!!!!

bendy

Have you done the diarrhea workup? The SNAP for Giardia? etc.

ok , so let me get this straight.... i should head to petco and get "petpectillin" and natures recipe food?? i will continue on the predesone. should i get canned or dry? hes used to canned. low protein? no chicken or fish?
at least i feel there is some hope.
please keep the suggestions coming!!

well, louie had an ultra sound, which showed thickening of the intestines, linked to IBS. how would he be tested for Giardia?
i know he had blood tests.

I mercked inflammatory bowel just recently.
Here's a link:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index ... %2cdisease

Giardia is an intestinal parasite, if he goes outside and espsecially if he hunts. he could have picked it up.

I would get canned, no fish or chicken.
thickening of the intestines is pretty classic IBD, keep him on the pred, you can't just stop pred like you do most medicines. It causes rebound symptoms, if you ever want to get him off the pred you have to wean him off, but don't worry about that now!
It also helps to let their gut rest when it has been irritated for so long. This is done by short term fasting, usually 24 hours (certainly not more). I know it sounds hard and mean, but it is effective. Or, just feed him small meals for a couple days.

another thing I just rememberd is canned pumpkin, mix a teaspoon of it into his food at each meal. Strangely, most cats like it (including me!).


Bendy

i really am at the end of my rope with him.

he doesnt go out, so it wouldnt be giardia.

i will try to fast him, but hes always so hungry. maybe i could crate or cage him for a day?

i will definately get canned pumpkin and give it a try. its so hard with 4 other cats, keeping things separate.

i will also get "petpectillin" and "natures recipe" canned, no chicken or fish.

hes on one predesone per day now.

i dont know what else to do at this point. i am losing my patience with him, and hes becoming afraid of me. i didnt want that to happen. its just been going on for so long.

steriods is one of the treatmetns for IBD, so talk to doc if that has no effect. Ask about endosorb, which is a bulking tablet. Worked for Possum. Costs a bit though.