My cat has IBD symptoms like pain, but no diarrhea. Is it peritonitis?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This probably just means that her IBD is no longer being controlled on the current medications and she just needs further management of her condition. I highly recommend that you have reevaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment. At the very least they can make sure to treat her symptoms so that you can get her to feel better. They can also add medications to try to get her condition under control again. Good luck!

Hello, and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear about Portifoy's diarrhea troubles! It's not clear from the history what sort of duration we're talking about, but it can take time (sometimes weeks) to get IBD symptoms under control. Many cats improve much faster if put on a tapering dose of steroids (often prednisolone is used), so you could talk to your vet about this. Depending on what diagnostics were performed that led to the IBD diagnosis, those symptoms could indicate IBD, but could also be consistent with a food sensitivity/allergy, or GI lymphoma, among other things. An abdominal ultrasound helps with a diagnosis, if that hasn't been done, with a GI biopsy being the ideal diagnostic (although that's also quite invasive, and your vet can help you decide if it's worth the risk). At this point, I'd recommend communicating with your vet and letting them know how Port's doing, as they may have been hoping his symptoms would improve with the medications you mentioned - but they may want to change things (such as adding a steroid, or discussing the next diagnostic step) once they know he's still having diarrhea. Feel free to request a consultation if you'd like to discuss Port's case in more detail. I hope this helps!

I'm sorry to hear your cat is having GI issues. How was your cat diagnosed with pancreatitis? If the remainder of bloodwork was normal and the fPLI was positive, I would consider X-rays and possibly an abdominal ultrasound for more information. Pancreatitis can be a chronic condition that requires diet changes, B12 supplementation and long-term medications. Pancreatitis can be concurrent with another underlying GI issue, such as IBD or lymphoma. Ultrasound can give more information, but these conditions can only be definitively diagnosed with intestinal biopsies. As the issue isn't resolving, I would recommend your cat be re-evaluated and further diagnostics potentially fine, either by your regular veterinarian or an internal medicine specialist. Good luck!

I'm sorry to hear that Mercedes is sick. If IBD or GI lymphoma is suspected the next steps may be ultrasound or even biopsy. Biopsy is needed to confirm the diagnosis of IBD. However, I will frequently treat if it is strongly suspected on ultrasound. If IBD is confirmed it's worth doing a trial of a prescription GI diet. Although a/d is a good recovery diet it is probably not the best one to use as a maintenance diet if IBD is suspected. It would also be worth giving your veterinarian a call to see if they can give a Cerenia injection. This will help to resolve the vomiting and can be continued if necessary. Vitamin B12 injections can also be helpful when a cat is experiencing GI distress and will be needed if IBD is confirmed. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and best wishes to Mercedes!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Watson. The ultrasound should be able to give you valuable information as will the pancreatic test. He could have inflammatory bowel disease or even intestinal cancer. Another test I perform in cases of chronic gastrointestinal disease is testing cobalamin, folate and TLI levels. This tests for pancreatic exocrine insufficiency as well as vitamin deficiencies. I hope you get some answers soon!

High white cell counts indicate inflammation or infection and yes, IBD can contribute. IF she seems back to herself you could continue with the new diet and retest in 3-4weeks to see if the white count is returning to normal. Intestinal biopsies are not without risk and if she has stabilised on the new diet I would be include to continue and monitor

Yes, I really am a veterinarian! It certainly is possible that Meow Moo is suffering from IBS if he has tummy pain that comes and goes. If he did have it, you would also be seeing chronic diarrhea. Given that the vet has examined him and he's in good health, then the vet may not be worried about IBS especially if he's not having chronic diarrhea. If he was a stray before, his stomach pain could be due to the diet he is on. Some diets don't agree with a cat's system, and I would recommend feeding him a high quality food such as Royal Canin, Hill's Science diet, Purina ProPlan, or Iams. Make the food switch over to avoid any further GI problems. If he's having stomach pain now, try feeding him a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken (no bones) in small amounts several times a day for a couple of days. Then slowly add back in a high quality diet like the one I mentioned above. Should the stomach pain continue, then I'd recommend bringing Meow Moo back into the vet for further testing such as blood tests, urinalysis, and possibly x-rays and ultrasound. I hope this helps!