Cat with Hyperthyroidism and SIBO
 

My male 12 year-old cat, Teddy, was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism last October after losing quite a bit of weight and having difficulty with diarrhea. He was put on tapazole and has gained back about 2 pounds. Then Teddy was diagnosed with SIBO about a month ago. He is taking tapazole, metronidazole, prednisone, a probiotic, and having monthly B-12 injections. He was having watery diarrhea 9 - 10 times a day at the beginning of January and has improved to the point where he has 4 very small pudding-like bowel movements only 4 times a day. He has also been on Science Diet z/d food for the last 4 weeks. Is it reasonable to expect that over time his stools will become formed again? Also, would it be a bad idea to start introducing some different food back into his diet? He was put on Science Diet w/d last fall when he was having difficulty with diarrhea and it seemed to help his stools to form. Then in January he started having difficulty again and bloodwork was performed where he was diagnosed with SIBO. Would the w/d food be worth a shot again to try to get the stools to form or should he stay exclusively on the z/d? Should I give the z/d more time? This cat really has improved a great deal in the last month, but I just wonder if there is something more that I can do to help his stools return to normal.

I'm not sure how small intestine bacterial overgrowth can be diagnosed via blood test. Are the vets sure it isn't inflammatory bowel disease?

My opinion would be to ditch all Hill's products (extremely poor quality ingredients not fit for an obligate carnivore) and find a better quality *meat-based* wet food. Raw would be ideal, but it takes much more effort and vets don't tend to be very supportive. Here is more info on how diet is so crucial to GI issues: [url]http://www.catnutrition.org/ibd.html[/url]

The vet has said that Teddy could also have IBD in addition to SIBO. She said that if he does have IBD that it would be treated with the same medications he is taking now (metronidazole and prednisone). The blood work showed that his folate levels were high and B12 levels were low, which is what they use to diagnose SIBO. He has improved very much over the last few weeks, but I just wondered if anyone had any suggestions as to how to make the last of the pudding-like diarrhea go away (right now it's down to 2-3 times a day and the amounts are much less than they have been). Thank you so much for your previous response and for the link to the info on cat nutrition.

cat had sibo.
 

i wish i took my 18 yr cat to your vet.she had same symptoms as your cat.thyroid and watery diarrhea six times -a day. bad big puddles too..i took her two different vets, they,found thyroid problem ,gave her diarrhea medicine.but none of them gave her right medicine for sibo..she died on my couch two loud cries all four legs stretch out..pissed me off.people say save pets.well then why don't vets care about pets not damn money!!!!!!!!!!

cat had sibo.
 

i ment those two vets didn't give her any medicine for thyroid or s.i.b.o .just stop the diarrhea,,probiotics and she still had bad puddle diarrhea six times a day everday...so she died..here if i had good vet gave her right treatment,she might be alive today...there is doctors that are like that too. ----called i know what it is,,i rather make a lot money off cat before i tell you whats wrong..