IBD Help

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Cindy & Pets

Cindy & Pets

Member Since 2012
Went to clean the litterbox tonight only to find some bloody diarrhea. It looked like it happened in the evening. But I'm thinking it's Christmas since she also vomited around 3pmish. But I can't get her in to the vet until Monday, and can't afford an emergency vet. Is there anything I can do to help? Or should I scrounge up the money and try and get her in to the emergency vet asap?

As background, she is on Flagyl for IBS, .4ml every other day, in the evening.

Update 1
Wanted to give an update on Christmas, there has been no blood in her stool for 24hrs. :) It's still runny, and I will still call the vet first thing in the morning. I will also be asking if she has IBS or IBD, be bringing in the catinfo recipe and asking about making the food at home, as well as discussing any other treatment options that would work. If there's anything else I should discuss with the vet tomorrow, let me know, thanks.

Update 2
We're currently treating it as a flare-up. I asked for specification, it is IBD, not IBS. Her Flagyl has been increased to .4ml 2x per day, and we'll be slowly lowering it, just like when she was first diagnosed. They also gave her some fluids via i.v. She's to come back in on Wednesday or Thursday until she's better, and was suggested a diet higher in fiber. I showed them the catinfo recipe and I was told they'd have to do a bit of research and I will be getting an email about if any changes should be made to the recipe to add more fiber, or if it's good to go. If she isn't better, they'll be doing blood workup to see if her thyroid or liver is causing issues.
 
Re: Civvy cat with bloody stool, not sure what to do

Is the volume of bloody stool teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, or more?

- if small amount - teaspoon or a couple of tablespoons, I might wait. Make her comfortable, keep her quiet. Offer clean, cool water. Vets may suggest to rest GI tract with no food for up to 24 hours when vomiting. If you feed, give small amouts of known safe food at a time.

- if cups of blood in stool,go to ER - could be rupture of intestinal tract or opportunistic infection causing major bleed. There is a risk of anemia, shock due to low blood volume, and possible death if excessive hemorrhage.

FYI: budesonide, a steroid, comes as an oral forumula which is poorly absorbed in the GI tract, so it acts locally on the GI tract, rather than systemically (less risk of raising glucose and triggering diabetes in your civvy). It could help.

Have you joined the IBD Yahoo group?
 
Re: Civvy cat with bloody stool, not sure what to do

It's teaspoons. I have not joined the group yet, I had meant to, but forgot. Just found it and joined though.

I didn't get this until after I fed them and she vomited again, so I'll try breaking the food in to smaller amounts at a time for her this evening.

I'll have to talk to the vet about using that, since it's almost as if Flagyl has just stopped working completely.
 
Re: Civvy cat with bloody stool, not sure what to do

If you change your subject to IBD help, you'll get more ideas.

Slippery elm bark helps upset tummies in renal cats. Info may be found at Tanya's Feline CRF site

I have heard that plain aloe juice may calm an upset GI tract, too.

Some folks with IBD cats find that a raw diet helps immensely.

Some find that avoiding gluten helps. There are some Fancy Feast which are gluten free.

Some find that making their own food - cooked or raw - may help limit ingredients which set off flares. Cat Info has a recipe for raw; Ohio State's Veterinary service offers consultation to construct a recipe specific to your cat's needs; there is a fee.

Some find that rotating through different protein sources each day helps by preventing an unknown offending ingredient from being used too often. (Rabbit, poultry, venison, beef, fish, lamp, pork
 
Changed the subject line.

I guess I could try raw, it's something I'll bring up to the vet on monday. Not rotating the protein sources might've caused some problems. I've only been rotating between beef and turkey&chicken EVO since we haven't been able to afford enough variety from wag.com. I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to make a switch to raw.
 
Since you're near Columbus, OH, there is a butcher shop in the North Market, just north on downtown, which has buffalo and rabbit if you decide to try raw and need some novel proteins. They are there Tuesday - Saturday.

You might check Pet People and Pet Supplies Plus which carry some of the novel protein brands.

And I work downtown, so if you came in during the week we could grab lunch together, if you were so inclined. ;-)
 
That's the exact butcher shop I'd go to, love the place.

Besides switching up the protein more, is there any meat in specific I should try to avoid? Or does that depend on the cat?

Sounds like it'd be nice. :) Would also give me an opportunity to stop by the main library branch to pick up some books.

To Karen: I'm not sure, sorry. The vet has mainly seen using IBD, but has also used the term IBS.
 
BJM said:
Karen & Angus(GA) said:
...Is it IBS or IBD? There is a huge difference.
Click to expand...

Would you describe some of them, please?
Click to expand...

Sure. Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is inflammation of the bowel. It causes destructive changes to the bowel tissue.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) has similar symptoms, but does NOT cause inflammation or destructive bowel changes. This article, Differences Between IBD and IBS, is for humans, but the basics are the same. The main reason I asked is because you suggested budesonide which would be appropriate for IBD but not for IBS.

My civie, Minou, has lymphocytic-plasmacytic gastroenteritis (IBD) with cholangiohepatitis (liver involvement) confirmed by biopsies. Because of the liver involvement, we have to use prednisolone rather then budesonide.
 
Wanted to give an update on Christmas, there has been no blood in her stool for 24hrs. :) It's still runny, and I will still call the vet first thing in the morning. I will also be asking if she has IBS or IBD, be bringing in the catinfo recipe and asking about making the food at home, as well as discussing any other treatment options that would work. If there's anything else I should discuss with the vet tomorrow, let me know, thanks.
 
Unless there is an infection or parasites (does he get outside?), the blood suggests the IBD.
 
Got another update, and in the first post I'll date and add these.

We're currently treating it as a flare-up. I asked for specification, it is IBD, not IBS. Her Flagyl has been increased to .4ml 2x per day, and we'll be slowly lowering it, just like when she was first diagnosed. They also gave her some fluids via i.v. She's to come back in on Wednesday or Thursday until she's better, and was suggested a diet higher in fiber. I showed them the catinfo recipe and I was told they'd have to do a bit of research and I will be getting an email about if any changes should be made to the recipe to add more fiber, or if it's good to go. If she isn't better, they'll be doing blood workup to see if her thyroid or liver is causing issues.
 
How was it diagnosed? Symptoms only? I ask because I have gone through this twice with cats and the only way to be certain it is IBD is with biopsies. Angus, my diabetic, had intestinal lymphoma. Minou has IBD. You might want to join the yahoo feline IBD group. I belonged to the old group when Minou was first diagnosed. She has been very stable on prednisolone, cisapride, Miralax, and Fortiflora for more than two years, so I let my membership lapse. The group has some very good information on treatments, diet, etc. The link is here: http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/felineibd1/info.

Best of luck to you and Christmas!
 
She was diagnosed based on symptoms, using blood tests to rule out other conditions, and an ultrasound. I've joined the group already, but I haven't had a chance to do the questionnaire yet.
 
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