4/23 Hugo, upset tummy and reduced dose to 1.50u after three times under 50

[Tiina and Hugo]

Hi everyone! Hugo has been having quite nice numbers recently, but he has another bout of diarrhea again. It started last night. It hasn't been that long since the previous time when all my cats had it, so this time I decided to take a stool sample and take it to the vet. I just can't help but wonder if it's possible for indoor cats to get something like giardia out of the blue or does Hugo have IBD...All I know I'm cleaning up after loose poo far too often and it's really getting stressful to worry all the time. The vet said though, that antibiotics shouldn't help with giardia or other parasites and every time I have given Tylosin to Hugo, it has stopped the diarrhea. It has been a long time since I have given any deworming medicines to them, since they are indoor cats. Of course, in the summer Hugo goes out in a harness and eats a bit of grass. But I see no signs of actual worms in the poos.

I had to give him Saccharomyces Boulardii again and I hope it doesn't affect the outcome of the stool test. At the moment he is going twice in an hour and it's just really runny. Poor Hugo

He is also starting be picky about the LC foods and when he is running in such low numbers, it has been hard to get him to eat enough. He has gone three times under 50 with 1.75, so I reduced his dose three cycles ago. Maybe it's the lower numbers making him want to eat less or then the tummy issues. I have given honey to bring him up from under the 50s, as anything MC upset his tummy even more. Luckily he seems active and alert and is running around with my other cats and is as talkative as ever.

He could use some tummy vines if you can spare any

 

[Tiina and Hugo]

But one thing I'm happy about is that his preshot numbers are trending down. Now almost are all yellow, when if you look at the start of the year he was having pinks.

 

[carfurby (GA)]

I'm sorry the diarrhea is back again. I hope the vet can help you figure out what is going on and how to treat it. I don't know if they have it in Finland, but I've read baby food squash can help with diarrhea. When I tried it with Furball, she wouldn't eat her food with it mixed in.

Hugo's SS looks good. It's great to hear his PS numbers are coming down.

How is Elvis doing?

 

[Tiina and Hugo]

I'm sorry the diarrhea is back again. I hope the vet can help you figure out what is going on and how to treat it. I don't know if they have it in Finland, but I've read baby food squash can help with diarrhea. When I tried it with Furball, she wouldn't eat her food with it mixed in.

Hugo's SS looks good. It's great to hear his PS numbers are coming down.

How is Elvis doing?

Thank you, I'm really upset about Hugo's continuing tummy problems. I haven't found pumpkin or baby food squash here. I gave him another dose of S Boulardii now and feel so tempted to start the antibiotics again as I still have them. But I know it's not good for the intestinal flora to keep giving antibiotics and the vet said not to give any meds now when collecting the samples.

Elvis is feeling okay, I should be taking him to a check-up soon to see if we can reduce the Pred. I really hope to get these health issues under control, all I want is the cats to be well.

 

[carfurby (GA)]

Sending prayers.

 

[GinnyBarr]

Hi everyone! Hugo has been having quite nice numbers recently, but he has another bout of diarrhea again. It started last night. It hasn't been that long since the previous time when all my cats had it, so this time I decided to take a stool sample and take it to the vet. I just can't help but wonder if it's possible for indoor cats to get something like giardia out of the blue or does Hugo have IBD...All I know I'm cleaning up after loose poo far too often and it's really getting stressful to worry all the time. The vet said though, that antibiotics shouldn't help with giardia or other parasites and every time I have given Tylosin to Hugo, it has stopped the diarrhea. It has been a long time since I have given any deworming medicines to them, since they are indoor cats. Of course, in the summer Hugo goes out in a harness and eats a bit of grass. But I see no signs of actual worms in the poos.

I had to give him Saccharomyces Boulardii again and I hope it doesn't affect the outcome of the stool test. At the moment he is going twice in an hour and it's just really runny. Poor Hugo

He is also starting be picky about the LC foods and when he is running in such low numbers, it has been hard to get him to eat enough. He has gone three times under 50 with 1.75, so I reduced his dose three cycles ago. Maybe it's the lower numbers making him want to eat less or then the tummy issues. I have given honey to bring him up from under the 50s, as anything MC upset his tummy even more. Luckily he seems active and alert and is running around with my other cats and is as talkative as ever.

He could use some tummy vines if you can spare any

Someone in the forum recommends a 1/4 teaspoon of pure 100% pumpkin mixed to help diarrhea. My cat gets diarrhea every so often and the Purina Fortiflora probiotics have helped and she loves the taste. Good luck. I've dealt with loose poo all.over the house. It stinks, literally.

 

[Bobbie And Bubba]

Hey Tiina! Believe it or not, I was just thinking about you and Sara today. Good to hear from you but, so sorry Hugo is having tummy issues again. Good idea to have the stool sample looked at by the vet. Even if your cats are indoor cats, if a mouse got into the house and he ate it, it could be possible he could get worms.

If I remember correctly, the S. Boulardii worked nicely for him. It is advised to give for at least 3 days after the diarrhea stops but, maybe a maintenance dose all the time after the diarrhea stops would be helpful for Hugo.

His numbers really do look good! And he could be eating less now because he is in lower numbers and doesn't feel as hungry as he was in higher numbers. Today he looks flat yellow so maybe he is planning to come on down again or he could be running a bit higher due his tummy not feeling great.

Hope you get some answers from the vet and if nothing shows in sample, it could very well be IBD and you would have to just treat the symptoms. But, I think I would try a smaller maintenance dose after the diarrhea stops.

And congrats on the reduction!

 

[Tiina and Hugo]

Someone in the forum recommends a 1/4 teaspoon of pure 100% pumpkin mixed to help diarrhea. My cat gets diarrhea every so often and the Purina Fortiflora probiotics have helped and she loves the taste. Good luck. I've dealt with loose poo all.over the house. It stinks, literally.

I live in Finland and pumpkin is not that well available this time of the year. Also I haven't found Fortiflora here, but I will keep looking. Thank you for the suggestions

I don't remember my Hugo having this horrible diarrhea in a long time although he is very prone to these issues. Today has been a horrible day.

 

[Tiina and Hugo]

Hey Tiina! Believe it or not, I was just thinking about you and Sara today. Good to hear from you but, so sorry Hugo is having tummy issues again. Good idea to have the stool sample looked at by the vet. Even if your cats are indoor cats, if a mouse got into the house and he ate it, it could be possible he could get worms.

If I remember correctly, the S. Boulardii worked nicely for him. It is advised to give for at least 3 days after the diarrhea stops but, maybe a maintenance dose all the time after the diarrhea stops would be helpful for Hugo.

His numbers really do look good! And he could be eating less now because he is in lower numbers and doesn't feel as hungry as he was in higher numbers. Today he looks flat yellow so maybe he is planning to come on down again or he could be running a bit higher due his tummy not feeling great.

Hope you get some answers from the vet and if nothing shows in sample, it could very well be IBD and you would have to just treat the symptoms. But, I think I would try a smaller maintenance dose after the diarrhea stops.

And congrats on the reduction!

Hi Bobbie! I miss Sara and Tacka too and all the fun discussions we all had on the forum when starting all this. Fly free sweet Tacka

Yes S Boulardii seems to work well for Hugo, but this time just it didn't do anything for him. I guess it was having to wait to get the stool samples and it got really bad. I must admit that now I just gave him Tylosin after seeing a bit of blood in the poo. I hope the samples I have are enough and will take them to the vet first thing in the morning. It takes a week to get the results. I think we mostly think it could be giardia and if so then it means a huge work trying to clean this apartment as we have wooden floorboards.

I don't think it's possible to have a mice inside and my cats would be totally clueless if they saw one (they never have), but we do have silverfish in the bathroom every now and then and the cats chase them and I have seen one of my cats eat them too. It's quite impossible to get rid of them, because the poison that should be used is poisoneus also for the cats (permetrine). I hate those tiny little silverfish.

How is IBD treated? I won't want to start any steroids...

How about Slippery Elm Bark then? I tried looking up on Amazon.co.uk and saw they had many and not too expensive either. Which one is the best for cats?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2/257-0251273-4682237?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=slippery elm bark

Good to know Hugo could take S Boulardii every day if he had to.

 

[GinnyBarr]

I live in Finland and pumpkin is not that well available this time of the year. Also I haven't found Fortiflora here, but I will keep looking. Thank you for the suggestions

I don't remember my Hugo having this horrible diarrhea in a long time although he is very prone to these issues. Today has been a horrible day.

Canned pumpkin? You can definitely get either of them on Amazon. It's where I got my Fortiflora

 

[Bobbie And Bubba]

I get my SEB at a health food store and it is organic. I have asked Jayla and Drevon to look at your thread as she knows a lot about supplements for kitties.

I would not want him on steroids either; it would have to be the last resort and only if the diarrhea was so bad that he was losing weight.

 

[jayla-n-Drevon]

Hi Tina,
You can use S. Boulardi daily and there is a "emergency diarrhea " protocol for it as well I believe it may even be in Tanyas info-
SEB can be used daily as well but it may block any other meds so be sure to separate them by a few hours.

My Rico was having started as loose stool and ended up as shooting water poo with increasing frequency.
We first used pred which put him in heart failure so I completely agree about not using a steroid if possible. I have Rico on budesonide 1mg. He was on it every day and I am now trying it every other day but today he was mushy again so back to daily. Budesonide has much less negative effects than pred-many diabetic/IBD cats use it.

sending prayers...

 

[Tiina and Hugo]

Hi Tina,
You can use S. Boulardi daily and there is a "emergency diarrhea " protocol for it as well I believe it may even be in Tanyas info-
SEB can be used daily as well but it may block any other meds so be sure to separate them by a few hours.

My Rico was having started as loose stool and ended up as shooting water poo with increasing frequency.
We first used pred which put him in heart failure so I completely agree about not using a steroid if possible. I have Rico on budesonide 1mg. He was on it every day and I am now trying it every other day but today he was mushy again so back to daily. Budesonide has much less negative effects than pred-many diabetic/IBD cats use it.

sending prayers...

Hi! Thank you for your message. Sorry to hear about your Rico going into heart failure from Pred. My other cats has been taking it daily for two years now for an autoimmune illness. I had no idea Pred could cause heart failure. I haven't heard of budenisone before, but I'm going to ask about it next time. I just dropped off the poo samples at the vet. Hugo's tummy is a lot better now with Tylosin, it seems to be the only thing that helps.

 

[jayla-n-Drevon]

Hi Tina
Happy to hear Hugo is doing better !
Rico was getting fluids which increased his risk of fluid on his heart.
He is doing very good now on a small dose of lasix as well as budesonide and vetmedin.
He is a senior but you would never know it