8/20 Update Aurora IBS question about steroids

Nicole Z

Nicole Z

Member Since 2017
Hi Everyone!

Poor Aurora - we finally got her back to using the litter box after having to get her 2 injections of convenia. The vet suspected IBS awhile ago but we put her on 1/2 tablet of Cerenia 16mg every third day and that helped to control the puking of bile. I finally got her poops formed and normal so things have been OK. The past week she's been throwing up bile quite a bit - yesterday it was about 7x. I called the vet and they suggested taking her to the emergency specialty center and have an ultra sound done under the emergency department. I took her early this morning and we had that completed. No findings of urgent concern - they said it showed her insides looked like IBS. They said her lymph nodes were also slightly enlarged but they said that could be due to a flare. For now, I declined her staying there hospitalized to have an endoscopy - she had a big day today and I wasn't sure what to do on investigating further. The only benefit would be to rule out lymphoma - not really educated on feline lymphoma from Ibs so I'll have to read up on this. For now we are going to treat her with cerenia daily for a week to get the puking under control and then go from there. The vet said there are some steroids that are gut specific that shouldn't affect her remission. She is also scheduled for a dental next week Tuesday. Wondering what other members might have an IBS cat that they are using whatever this gut specific steroid is ( sorry didn't write down name of it )

Hope everyone is going good!
 
Tagging some people that have been through both IBS and SCL.
@Wendy&Neko
@JeffJ

I am thinking they mentioned budesonide - it is for the gut and doesn't seem to affect the BG's as bad as prednisolone. Pred is what made Jones diabetic.

I never did the endoscopy either. There is no way to confirm 100% if is IBD or SCL without the biopsy. It may change treatment.

Getting a novel protein may help. Looks like she is already on raw which is said to help.

ibdkitty.net has a lot of information as well.
 
Cats don’t get IBS, but IBD is a possibility. Only an endoscopy or surgical biopsy can differentiate IBD from small cell lymphoma. Lymphoma is treatable. On the right chemo protocol, a large percentage of cats go into remission. But don’t give steroids (I presume it is budesonide) before getting a proper diagnosis. Steroids can invalidate a biopsy or endoscopy result. A proper diagnosis WILL change treatment. Neko could not undergo biopsy or endoscopy because it requires anesthesia and her heart could not handle it. So we treated for SCL and I always wondered if we were giving chemo to a cat that didn’t need it. Neko was also on budesonide, as pred is not good for heart kitties. It did not impact her BG, but at least one cat here became diabetic because of it. ECID.
 
Macka is using Budesonide for his presumed IBD (thickened intestines seen on ultra sounds), but I don't even know if he needs it or not.
I haven't seen any huge improvement in his overall health, as he did not have any IBD symptoms, apart maybe from a loss of appetite and weird poops.
But they could also come from the high numbers and the change of food, since it all happened when he was first diagnosed with diabetes, anyway...
According to my internist, it's certain he has IBD or SCL. I don't know if the Budesonide has an effect on his BG. It's true that we haven't managed to regulate him yet, and his numbers were higher and flatter the last 2 weeks, but it could also not be related. I was indeed told that these steroids go directly to the intestines without passing through the liver (if I am not mistaken). Good luck!
 
small cell lymphoma
Leo had small cell lymphoma (SCL) and it contributed to his demise. However, SCL is often slow growing, as was the case with Leo. And it is a "lesser" cancer than Large Cell Lymphoma. SCL is more treatable. Anyhow, Leo's life was extended after his SCL diagnosis - prednisolone and chlorambucil.

Pred
Leo received prednisolone pills for his last 2.5 years. That helps with the inflammation and swelling. Many people treat their kittehs with pred - for SCL and IBD, and it helps substantially. Many kittehs do not have bad side effects from pred. You can read about it on the internet. With Leo, it may have caused some prednisolone-induced diabetes over time. He didn't like the pills, most cats don't. But the pred helped him.

Chemo
Leo was also dosed with Chlorambucil (leukeran), in liquid form for 2 of his last 2.5 years. He never liked it. We gave him cerenia (pills) for anti-nausea. He received it orally every 4 days until he had major appetite issues (not eating) in December 2018. I stopped the chemo. He lived until July 5, 2019.

The chemo is the same used for humans, just a weaker dose. And like humans, it causes nausea. Near the end of the chemo (december 2018), the chemo was contributing significantly to the loss of appetite. And it was not resolving his issues found in his Complete Blood Count (CBC) white blood cells. That's why I stopped it. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease.
 
Don’t let the possibility of chemo scare you. With proper anti nausea medications (ondansetron is usually better) and the newer dosing method of once every two weeks, you seldom have to deal with nausea. Been there done that with three cats now. Giving chemo more frequently leads to more nausea because of the cumulative nature of the drug. There is a good small cell lymphoma online group on groups.io, that has a IM vet consulting. They suggest budesonide for heart and diabetic kitties. You might want to think about seeing an IM vet if you have one locally. They are good at handling multiple conditions together.
 
Gizmo was diagnosed with IBS via surgical biopsy. He gets novel proteins and I switched him to a mostly raw diet (pork and lamb) with FoodFurLife supplement plus some ZiwiPeak venison. He also gets a probiotic on a daily basis -- he got a couple of probiotics, one of which was specific for diarrhea -- when he was first diagnosed. He also gets a tiny bit or prednisolone. (He's not diabetic.) He's done great.

This website, Raw Feeding for IBD Cats, was very helpful on general issues such as supplements, what do do if your kitty is having a flare, etc. even if you don't go the raw food route. They also have a Facebook page.

 
ha ha, yes, IBD not IBS - sorry, my mind is like a well done mashed potato the past few days worrying and caring for her as she's been throwing up. The biopsy was super expensive, almost $2000 so we're not sure. She will be 12 this week. I was giving her corn silk liquid by mouth non alcohol and the vet said if she has an allergy to corn that could have triggered this flare up. I threw it out. I was just using it to help soothe her bladder if there was anything bothering her from her peeing incidents. Not really sure what we will do, hopefully the cerenia calms things down and we can move forward as is. Thank you for the vines and great ideas!
 
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