My cat has diarrhea and won't eat. Blood work normal, what's next?

That is a very difficult situation. You may talk to your vet about treating for giardia (even if the test was negative), IBD, food allergies, an aggressive dewormer, running a GI panel, or referral to a specialist in internal medicine. The next step may be biopsies through exploratory surgery or endoscopy. Many cats with diarrhea of unknown cause will respond to a prescription hypoallergenic diet.

The stool test is a great idea, and may provide some answers for you. Intestinal parasites are a common cause of GI signs like diarrhea and decreased appetite, and routine deworming products are usually very effective at treating parasites. Low BUN and ALT likely don't mean much - BUN can be low in animals that aren't eating, because BUN measures nitrogen waste in the blood, and when they aren't eating, there is no protein to metabolize, so there's less BUN in the blood. It's critical to find the exact cause of Chloe's issues, and get her eating asap.

Diarrhea and a decrease in appetite could be a sign of a number of different problems. Intestinal parasites are possible, even for indoor cats, as are some infections or diseases like colitis or inflammatory bowel disease. If the diarrhea continues for more than 24 hours or seems to be getting worse, or if her appetite does not improve during that time I'd recommend seeing your veterinarian. They may treat her symptoms or recommend some testing like blood work or a fecal analysis depending on what they find during a physical examination.

I recommend that your contact your vet's office to schedule a follow-up appointment. Your dog may need further diagnostics to determine the cause of the vomiting and diarrhea. While blood work is an excellent and worthwhile diagnostic tool (and I commend you on having it done), it does have limitations. Blood tests are extremely useful for looking at the overall health of your pet. From the tests, a vet can learn if your pet's vomiting is caused by an underlying medical condtion like diabetes, kidney or liver disease, or an infection. Blood work can also reveal if your pet is dehydrated from the vomiting. Many of these problems may not be obvious on a simple physical exam, but if caught early can be successfully treated or controlled, giving your pet a longer and better quality of life. Sometimes blood work can lead to a definitive diagnosis, but oftentimes blood work results guide us as to what the next diagnostic steps should be (radiographs, ultrasound or more specific blood testing).

I would recommend blood work and an abdominal ultrasound. The ultrasound will be able to evaluate the gastrointestinal tract much better and can sometimes find foreign bodies that the x-rays can't. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. The next steps for me would be a deworming and switching to a prescription GI diet to see if that helps. If no improvement, abdominal ultrasound and full bloodwork are indicated. Best wishes to you and Sven!

It sounds as though you and Schumacher have been through a lot over the past 2 years! Given his weight loss, chronic diarrhea, normal blood work and initial response to depomedrol, chronic pancreatitis or primary intestinal issues, such as inflammatory bowel disease or lymphoma would be my main concerns. In this situation, further diagnostic testing is often needed to try to get to the bottom of this issue. Some tests include vitamin absorption and pancreatic blood tests (B12, folate, TLI, fPL) and an abdominal ultrasound to look at his internal organs, intestinal thickness, lymph nodes, etc. In some cases, biopsies are needed to differentiate between different conditions so that the most appropriate treatment can be started. Cats with inflammatory bowel disease or lymphoma often benefit from long-term steroids, antibiotics and prescription diets to control their clinical signs. I hope that all goes well for Schumacher!