worried and rushing to the vet

[MOOSEDRY]

great to hear lychee is eating and feeling better. also, sounds like you have a wonderful vet there! keep us updated on little lychee's progress.

tracy

[dodecaphonie]

LYCHEE IS BACK HOME !!!!!!

She had a "normal" stool at the clinic this morning. A little soft, but still no blood ! But that may be the food. She ate the Z/D in the past and she always had soft stool with it. I was not there today, my husband took her home. I am still keeping her on this food until I can discuss a precise treatment and food approach with the vet. He was not working today. She ate everything with appetite tonight !

You have been all so supportive and I thank you.

I will keep updating when I receive the results of the biopsy.They also gave me prednisone, but they said I wait the results before starting anything. She is completely off medication until then. Does someone know about this medication ? Does it have serious long term side effects ? I also will discuss with him the possibility to try a raw diet when she is stable.

so many quesitons !!! I hope the results will show something treatable.
I will let you know...

Kisses
( sorry for the bad quality, I don't own a digital camera so I am afflicted to photograph my cat with my cell phone ! )

[luckypenny]

Woohoo, glad Lychee is back home with her family and feeling better. She's beautiful! I love her ears and her gorgeous eyes .

[ancientgirl]

Oh she's beautiful!!!!! I adore her face

I hope she continues to improve!

[hazelrunpack]

She's very pretty! And so nice to hear she's home!

Prednisone does have some rather major side effects if used long term, but can be very effective in the short term. Likely the vet will get her stable on it if the biopsy results dictate its use, then slowly wean her off it. It's a long process, but you should never just discontinue steroids--at least not in dogs or people...I've never had any direct experience with steroids in cats.

Short term side effects in dogs include voracious appetite, stomach upset, and increased drinking and urination (and I'm talking every few hours...we had some sleepless nights when Evan was on the initial high dose ).

Long term use can result in diabetes or disruption of normal steroid production and metabolism, among other things. (Again, this is true in dogs and humans...so I'm assuming it's true for cats).

Talk to the vet before starting the pills and ask lots of questions about what to watch for. Steroids are scary meds, but used short-term they are life-savers. We saw immediate improvement in Evan and, once the inflammation was knocked back, we were able to wean him off the pred and control his IBD with diet alone.

I hope whatever Lychee has will respond quickly!

[chico2]

Lychee is beautiful and very happy to be back home I'm sure
Hopefully the testresults will be show no problems
The pics look great to me,those eyes,are they really that green,beautiful

[dodecaphonie]

Thank you Chico2 !

She is also very sweet and affectionate

Yes, the colour is right in pictures. It's a kind of pale yellowish green. Sometimes it looks more yellow, it depends on the lighting !

[skooterlee]

Beautiful Kitty!!! How is she doing now? Did you find a food that she can tolerate? I sure hope she is back to normal and doing fine.

[Love4himies]

Oh your cat is gorgeous!

Yes Pred does have long term affects and should only be used until the IBD under control, then must be tapered. Never stop this drug abruptly.

Along with what Hazel has mentioned, it can also cause osteoperosis, cataracts, glaucoma, mood swings and I do believe it is very hard on the kidneys and liver.

Good luck!

[Love4himies]

If it is a true IBD, then food doesn't cause it, but can make some symptoms worse depending on your cat's digestive system. Probably the best diet for your cat is a raw diet with ground bones (bone pieces going through the colon can irritate the ulcers in the colon lining) as this is what your cat's digestive system is made to digest.

Definitely grain free food and no kibble. Your kitty needs all the water she can get.

[dodecaphonie]

I can't wait to get the results. I am in favor of a more "natural" approach, but for the moment I think the focus will be to stabilize her so if she needs prednisone, or anything else to be healed, I will trust my vet on that...I know we are not talking about prevention in her case as the ulcers are already there. Still I want to do anything I can to help her and if I need to cook her food I will

I have been reading on IBD in cats ( even though I am not sure that is what she has) and found this site where they discuss raw diet in relation with different health problem and particularly IBD. It is very informative. ( catnutrition.org ) I hope I am allowed to post this link. If not I will remove it.

She has been doing very well since she is home. She has a voracious appetite, but that may be caused by malabsorption since she has ulcers in the intestine. She has a good energy. She still poops "pudding" like stools, but at least there is no blood.

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by dodecaphonie

found this site where they discuss raw diet in relation with different health problem and particularly IBD. It is very informative. ( catnutrition.org ) I hope I am allowed to post this link. If not I will remove it.

You absolutely are allowed to post a link to http://www.catnutrition.org/index.php, I've certainly done it lots! You might also want to check out this Yahoo Feline IBD group: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/F...&sec=dir&slk=1
And this link: http://www.felineoutreach.org/Educat...il.asp?cat=IBD

[Love4himies]

No blood means the ulcers are healing, good news. How about mucous? That will indicate that there is still some irritation in the colon. If she starts getting better on her own, then I would not start her on Pred.

[loopoo]

best of luck with your test result outcome.. i hope all is good there.. your kitty is just gorgeous

[rainbow]

Lychee is beautiful.

I hope she continues to improve and good luck with the biopsy results.

[dodecaphonie]

quick update :

Lychee is still doing ok. She still has loose stool. The only change is that her energy level seems to have decreased. Also she is always hungry, like every 2-3 hours she begs for food. Also, she seems to be a little swolen in the belly area. I don't know if it is the food or what ? Of course she is still sick, but I was wondering if maybe that was not helping.

Anyway, still waiting on the results.

[ancientgirl]

How many more days until you get the results?

[dodecaphonie]

probably I will get the result by thursday. She had the endoscopy on last thursday and it is supposed to be 4-5 days before you get the results. I called today and told them about this, but I was not able to talk to the vet and the tech did not really want to hear what I had to say about the food. So I will keep her like this until I can discuss in detail with my vet.

[ancientgirl]

Maybe you can get a hold of the vet tomorrow. At least the week is nearly to the mid point so Thursday is just a couple of days away.

[Dogastrophe]

Missed this thread totally. Sorry to hear what you've gone through with your kitty and glad to hear that she's home and doing well. Hope all works out well.

[chico2]

Sorry to hear,there are still problems:sad:
Often when we worry and don't know,we see things we might not otherwise notice,but Lychee is sick ,so I guess you have a valid reason to worry...
When my Rocky seemed to be starving of hunger all the time,he was diagnosed with HyperT.
the testresult shows something that can be easily treated

[dodecaphonie]

so today I got the results of the biobsy : severe IBD in the small intestine. It says "severe eosinophilic inflammatory bowel disease"

The cause might be a food allergy, but there is no way to be sure.

She tried all of these food in the past : Hill's I/D ( at the shelter ), Orijen, Nature's variety prairie lamb dry, Natural balance duck and peas canned, Innova Evo venison canned and Nature's variety.

The vet suggested that I try a raw diet. I was more than willing to do that and frankly I was happy he was the wone suggesting it. I contacted a clinic where they specialize in nutrition and I have an appointment on friday. They will help me build a balanced raw diet specific to her. They can also help with different herbs and supplements. I really hope this time is going to be good !

I will start the prednisone treatment tomorrow ( 2,5mg per day) and we will see how it goes. He will eventually lower the dose to see if she can be maintened on as a low a dose as possible. He does take side effects of this drug very seriously and want to give the smallest amount possible if any. He also suggested that I continue with a homeopathic treatment. Basically, he is in favor of any treatment parallel to the medication that can reinforce her system and help her heal.


I will give updates as we progress with the treatment...I really hope she is not allergic to the raw diet. Is it possible for animals to have a reaction let's say to canned chicken and not to raw ?

thank you all for your presence here

[BMDLuver]

With the raw, you can have a variety of meats. For cats with difficulties, things like rabbit are used instead. The nutritionist will help you to work on a balanced diet for her. Sometimes it's in how the food is processed not in the type of food, so yes, perhaps she could eat raw chicken but not processed chicken.

She's very beautiful and you are doing all the right things for her. She's lucky to have you!

[ancientgirl]

While I'm sure it's not going to be easy for your girl, I think considering all the things she could have this looks like the best scenario. This is something you can actually help to control and with the right diet she should be able to live a long and very good quality of life.

Kudos to you and especially your vet! I'm happy he's open to different treatment options. Thank you for keeping us updated. And good luck!

[growler~GateKeeper]

When starting a raw diet it is important to give probiotics usually about two weeks prior to starting, in order to help replenish the good flora in the gut. Now I don't know much about IBD and how well the flora works in an animal w/IBD so you should definately ask the nutritionist about it first.

on the raw diet, yes a variety of meats is important incl @ least 1 red meat (beef, elk, bison) since it is higher in iron & taurine, though they do get that from organ meat as well.

[dodecaphonie]

Hello again !

I forgot to ask one question ! The nutritionist asked me if she was tested for giardia. I don't think so, but she had biopsies in the stomach, small intestine and colon. I know usually the do a fecal analysis for giardia, but in this case do you know if it would be a good idea ? Would they be able to see it with the biopsy ? I would think that if they can detect it in the feces, the lining of the GI tract would be even more precise, but I don't know ?

thanks again !

[growler~GateKeeper]

I don't think it can be seen w/biopsy. All the info states fecal sample tests, sometimes it can be difficult to detect so if it doesn't show w/the first test, usually 3 tests are done in a 7-10 day time period.

[hazelrunpack]

I think giardia is detected by a fecal float test--may not be apparent from the gut lining at all.

Our Evan also had severe eosinophilic IBD. Once the pred knocked the inflammation down, we were able to control it pretty well by diet alone. Back then (this was in the very early 90s), raw was just getting started, but I wish we'd tried it (he was eating an unappetizing mixture of Purina HA and Hills Z/D). Since then, I've met a fair number of people whose dogs and cats have had IBD that responded well with a raw diet!

for you and Lychee!

[chico2]

I really know nothing of IBD,but it souds like it's a managable problem,which is great.
I was told by my vet,the fastest more accurate test for Giardia is a DNA test,but with Rocky we'll do 3 pooptests first.
Good luck with the raw-feeding,hopefully Lychee will like it

[Love4himies]

IBD in the small intestine is similar to Crohnes in humans. I know somebody that has a cat with this and their cat can only eat a raw diet. They do, however go through periods of flares that do require pred to get it under control.

They do not use pred as a maintenance drug in humans (unless they become steriod dependent) and I would suggest not to use it on your cat either. Hopefully a raw diet will help