Uncontrollable bowel!

[BeTheBuddha]

Ok, I have a cat named Obi. She's about 14 years old. She's been having uncontrollable bowels for maybe a year or so now.

Took her to the vet, had blood tests done. Thought she had a hyper thyroid, put her on meds - didn't help. Gave her antidiarrheal meds - didn't help. More blood tests a year later showed her thyroid to be normal.

I stopped giving her the meds as her thyroid is normal now and the anti-diarrheal was as needed and didn't help.

She basically can't make it to the litter box and poops (watery) everywhere.

Anyone else ever had this problem? And any ideas of what to do?

I've changed her diet to dry food only (wet food makes her throw up now even though she loves it) per vet's instructions. Vet is just as perplexed as me as what is wrong with her.

[tiffers]

...is she eating Senior Dry food? She needs more fiber, for sure. Have you also looked into Ultrasounds and Xrays to see what's causing the diarrhea? Could certainly be Colon Cancer or some other GI Cancer especially with her age.

[lindsayanng]

i know this MIGHT sound silly, but was a fecal done? My cats had giardia and they were leaking EVERYWHERE.. i know this has been going on for a while and i would ASSUME that would be the first thing to rule out, but i wouldnt feel right if i didnt just ASK

I agree about the senior cat food too.. a good quality cat food would be perfect.. Innova brand has probiotics that help promote a healthy digestive tract and found it to be GREAT for my cats with the giardia.

[special]

Welcome to PetLovers, though I am sorry it's this problem with your Obi that has brought you here.

I agree a fecal should be done, if it hasn't been,

Or perhaps IBS, food allergy?Switching her to a food made with venison or rabbit instead of the standard chicken or turkey has been known to work miracles for kitties with IBS.

However I strongly urge you to ask for xray at the very least and an utlrasound to rule out, or diagnose cancer. It may be time for a second opinion from a diffferent vet.

Meaning no disrespect to your vet but a condioton that has not improved over a year with the same vet, needs another view point IMO.

Do please come back and let us know how Obi is doing.

[BeTheBuddha]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your comments. The vet has done fecal, blood, urine tests as well as ultrasound and x-ray. Nothing showed up negatively.

I did change her food to a formula I buy at the vets. I forget the name, it's made from Purina. I have a friend who works for Purina in their labs and recommended this particular one also. I switched from a Royal Canin brand that wasn't doing much for her.

It's a condition I must suffer through. It's frustrating to say the least, but I know it's not her fault.

Picture attached. Obi is the black one. Max was my other cat, I had to euthanise him in Sept. 2007 because he was in liver failure :(

[katiem]

If it wasn't for those yellow eyes she would blend right into the pillow! She's beautiful, and Max looks like he was a handsome dude too!

[lindsayanng]

I am glad you have chosen NOT to blame your cat for this mess. I am so sorry she and you are going through this.. both the cats in your picture are beautiful. The grey one looks JUST like my mom's kitty Cosmo.

But with the uncontrollable bowel movements, i strongly feel there is a reason. It is very unhealthy to not be able to control their bowels from a sanitation standpoint as well as a digestive one. ESPECIALLY if it is liquidy. Soft bowel can be very bad for a cat's intestines.

Since you have ruled out all the obvious and even some of the less obvious causes, if you can, i would try another vet. You can get all of your records from the existing vet and do some research and find someone who is good with cats. Around where i live, there are vets for CATS ONLY which is great for issues like this. They aren't my regular vet (even though they could be) but it is good to know they are there incase of a problem that can not be solved.

I am sure you have dumped more money into the vet's pocket than you would like to admit, but there has to be an answer.. I forget, did you try an allergy test? There could be a common ingredient that your kitty is allergic to

[special]

Does the prescription purina contains turkey? that may be your culprit. I recommend trying a special food that does not contain poutry or seafood, such as one with venison or rabbit.

however I agree with the other poster who said a second opinon is now the way to go. Do you have a teaching veterinary hospital near you? (and by near I mean within a 3 hour drive) Often a referal to an internal medicine specialist is the next step, when nothing has helped so far.

I'd be worried about dehydration. And she must feel terrible about it all.

[BeTheBuddha]

I'll have to take a look at the ingredients for turkey or seafood. Obi loves her dairy (cheese, cheese, cheese) so that may also be the culprit.

Unfortunately, my budget will not allow for any more expensive vet's visits right now and I don't have pet insurance. Those tests/visits put me over $1000 in the hole that I was not expecting. I am also not a proponent of excessive testing or extreme measures. I had a vet that wanted to do exploratory surgery and I was against that. My cat is almost 14 - does she need to have "exploratory" surgery and deal with the recovery afterward? I think not. She's pretty happy for the most part and even with the uncontrollable bowel, she seems to be otherwise ok. She drinks lots of water so I'm not worried about dehydration.

I adopted both cats from shelters. Max was the only adult cat in the shelter at the time of his adoption. I was there to adopt a kitten. Every time I went by there was Max all by his lonesome. He would rub his face against my fingers when I put them by his cage. I visited several times and went back the day the kittens were available for adoption, but before I got back to the kittens, Max was still there and there on his cage were orders for him to be euthanised the next day. Needless to say, I did not get a kitten that day!

Thanks for all your advice, everyone. When I collect some more funds (maybe tax return) I will consider getting a second opinion.

[lindsayanng]

i totally agree with you about the exploratory surgery. With a cat that age, it seems silly.. if it had a REAL REASON for the sugery and they had a real outcome, it would make sense. But exploratory is A LOT of stress for an older cat.

I might get an xray when you can though just incase some tumors are showing themselves. It would help you atleast understand all this better.

Cheese is also a BIG TIME culprit. Cows milk is not good for a cats stomach. I would COMPLETELY cut out the dairy.. If you want to spoil her with treats, there are some cheese flavored soft treat out there.. my cats LOVE the POUNCE brand which has beena round for ever. they are soft treats and ok for them to eat.

[lindsayanng]

oh yea!!

If you cat likes DAIRY.. get some unflavored yogurt. my cats LOVE yogurt and it is GREAT for their digestive tract. If you can even mix in some old fashioned oats and boiled chicken, that would be a good dinner every once in a while.

When my cats had giardia, instead of regular canned food, i fed the following

3 table spoons of finely chopped or shedded chick that has been boiled (NO SEASONING)
1 tablespoon of plain yogurt
1 tablespoon old fashioned oats
and some tuna or tuna juice to make it more palatable

they ate it all every night and their diarrhea was not NEARLY as bad.

You can also feed all of the components separately or mix them however you want. This was suggested to me by the vet, so it is safe.

[BeTheBuddha]

Thanks Lin - that's a good idea. She does love yogurt. I try not to give her cheese, but when she looks at me with those eyes and meows, I'm too much of a sucker to say no :D

C.

[lindsayanng]

Hah.. well i know about being a sucker for a cute face.. but just think to yourself.. ITS FOR HER OWN GOOD.. just TRY to cut out cheese for a while. NO CHEESE AT ALL.. instead, keep a cup of yogurt readily available. If she likes it just as much, she will think of it as a treat anyways.

There is also something called BENE-BAC which is something that has all the benefits of yogurt and then some. It comes HIGHLY recommended from my vet.

BeneNac (http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751735&cp=2767033.2768979)