IBS enquiry

[James]

Hi
Just posting to ask if anyone out there has any advice as regards
looking after a cat with possible irritable bowel syndrome/food
allergy problems. Over the past 12-14 months Herbie( a male, grey,
long-haired 11 year-old former stray)has been suffering from chronic
diarrhoea and chestiness. At his worst he has been coughing and having
diarrhoea simultaneously - which, needless to say, is obviously
extremely distressing for him.

He has had various blood and faecal tests (which showed no
abnormalities), and until the results of another gut biopsy come
through, the vet is working under the assumption that it is some form
of allergy. To this end he is currently on a hypo-allergenic diet
(originally Hills, but now James Wellbeloved)and is receiving steroid
injections on a monthly basis. However, although the spontaneous
episodes of coughing/diarrhoea seem to have got slightly better, he
still has the diarrhoea by itself. Any advice on how to make his life
more comfortable would be appreciated
Thanks
James

[Cheryl]

"James" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi
> Just posting to ask if anyone out there has any advice as regards
> looking after a cat with possible irritable bowel syndrome/food
> allergy problems. Over the past 12-14 months Herbie( a male, grey,
> long-haired 11 year-old former stray)has been suffering from chronic
> diarrhoea and chestiness. At his worst he has been coughing and
having
> diarrhoea simultaneously - which, needless to say, is obviously
> extremely distressing for him.
>
I'm assuming the coughing was maybe caused by acid reflux? You'll
find that digestive problems are very common in cats. My cat has IBD
(inflammatory bowel disease) which isn't curable but I think IBS can
be corrected? The key is diet. Everyone tells me an all canned food
diet (or even raw but I'm not willing to go that route with my cat)
and cutting out all dry food (my cat is a dryfoodaholic) because they
contain grains which are harder to digest. You might want to check
the yahoo group Feline IBD but a warning -- there are ~900 members so
it is a very busy forum, you may have to post multiple times to get
your message read and when you join, send in the questionaire that you
get via email with very detailed questions that you have, detailed
information about your cat; the questionaires always seem to get read.
Good luck!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FelineIBD

[Cheryl]

"James" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi
> Just posting to ask if anyone out there has any advice as regards
> looking after a cat with possible irritable bowel syndrome/food
> allergy problems. Over the past 12-14 months Herbie( a male, grey,
> long-haired 11 year-old former stray)has been suffering from chronic
> diarrhoea and chestiness. At his worst he has been coughing and
having
> diarrhoea simultaneously - which, needless to say, is obviously
> extremely distressing for him.
>
I'm assuming the coughing was maybe caused by acid reflux? You'll
find that digestive problems are very common in cats. My cat has IBD
(inflammatory bowel disease) which isn't curable but I think IBS can
be corrected? The key is diet. Everyone tells me an all canned food
diet (or even raw but I'm not willing to go that route with my cat)
and cutting out all dry food (my cat is a dryfoodaholic) because they
contain grains which are harder to digest. You might want to check
the yahoo group Feline IBD but a warning -- there are ~900 members so
it is a very busy forum, you may have to post multiple times to get
your message read and when you join, send in the questionaire that you
get via email with very detailed questions that you have, detailed
information about your cat; the questionaires always seem to get read.
Good luck!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FelineIBD