My senior cat has diarrhea from Chlorambucil. What can I give?

Couple of concerns here. Were you given an option of referral to obtain a definitive diagnosis? Differentiation of these diseases requires biopsy. Did your pet have an ultrasound? Also having a chemotherapy medication made in to a liquid is a big safety concern unless a pet has a feeding tube. Were you counseled about safe drug and urine/fecal handling with this drug? Also has your kitty had blood monitoring with this drug for safety? There are typically some other things we do with cats with GI disease but this is case dependent. Also the dosing for chlorambucil is different for different cats. What would really be best, if you feel that you need more help beyond your vet, you could request referral to a specialist (either an internist or an oncologist). I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

It could be that the diarrhea worsening is independent of the metronidazole as this drug does not help all cases of diarrhea, dependent on the cause. But since it is new it would be best to stop until you can speak with your vet. Has your kitty had a work up for these symptoms? Chronic vomiting and diarrhea are common symptoms of several things, but most notably GI disease. It would be abnormal for a cat to need chronic medication for vomiting unless there is a disease process there. Just to help a little, a work up for an older kitty with these signs could include bloodwork with thyroid testing, an abdominal ultrasound, and sampling if needed (dependent on ultrasound). If there is an underlying disease that can be treated your kitty may feel better and need less medications eventually. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hi and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Diarrhea can be a common occurrence with pancreatitis patients. Metronidazole can help but there are also other medications and supplements that can be of benefit as well. The addition of probiotics are very helpful at reestablishing the good gut bacteria- usually this is given as a powder or capsule you can break open and place on the food daily. A couple great ones are Fortiflora and Proviable. Changing the diet to one that is more easily digestible can help to prevent diarrhea and firm up the stool. Foods I'd recommend would be Hill's I/D or Royal Canin's Low Fat Gastrointestinal diet. A B-vitamin complex is usually essential as this vitamin is typically deficient in patients that have problems with their pancreas. Medications such as Famotidine or Omeprazole which are gastric acid reducers an also help. You may want to ask your veterinarian about the above medications and supplements to see if any of these would be of benefit for Ricky.

From my understanding of your post, you have been giving Proviable to Misty for many months now, and while it seems like it initially worked, she is still having diarrhea. I hope I have that correct! Because she has been having diarrhea for such a long time and the Proviable has been given to her for many months, I would say it's not working for her, and I recommend taking her into the vet again as soon as possible. A year is a very long time for a senior cat to have diarrhea, and she may need further tests to diagnose the cause of her diarrhea such as a geriatric blood panel, urinalysis, and possibly x-rays of her abdomen. The cause of the diarrhea needs to be diagnosed so she can be treated correctly. I recommend bringing her into a vet tomorrow. Good luck!

Hi and thank you for using PetCoach. I am sorry to hear that Beau is having diarrhea. Since, Beau has only been on metronidazole for one day, I would continue it as it may not have started to work yet. It typically takes 24-48 hours to see any changes. However, if Beau stops eating, is lethargic or has blood in his stool, I would reach out to your veterinarian again and let them know. Beau may need another physical exam or other medications. Here is an article on diarrhea in cats that may be helpful for you and Beau: https://www.petcoach.co/article/diarrhea-in-cats/ Good luck and I hope he feels better soon!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. My favorite go to's for chronic diarrhea are diet change-hills science diet ID feline is probably my favorite-probiotics like proviable-a good routine deworming-and then occasionally a low dose of prednisilone just to keep chronic inflammation down at its very worst. I hope this helps!

Typically cats get really bad vomiting episodes with IBD and occasional diarrhea. The prednisone likely is treating for inflammation or an immune mediated condition of the gut, which can include lymphoma, IBD, or a condition called lymphocytic plasmocytic colitis. At any rate, if the prednisone is helping, then I would continue with therapy as indicated. A lot of the times you can only get a final diagnosis with gut diseases by having a surgical biopsy taken of the intesines. As you can imagine this is a very invasive procedure, so response to therapy is typically the route we taken when making suspected diagnoses. I would also highly consider getting Beau on a hypoallergenic diet to help make it easy for her gut to digest food. My top picks here are Royal Canin hypoallergeic hydrolyzed protein, Hill's Z/D, OR Royal Canin Selected protein (rabbit/potato). Ask your vet for a prescription if interested! I hope this helps and best wishes with your pet Beau and her chronic loose stools. Take care.