My senior cat has had diarrhea for a year. Is Proviable helping?

Hi. Poor Misty. Many times plder kitties can have diarrhea from 2 of the most common causes. Irritable bowel syndrome, or GI lymphoma (gastrointestinal cancer). Unfortunately that is on the list due to age. Of course parasites or overgrowth of bacteria should be ruled out by a fecal float and culture. As far as IBS, the signs can be just like your kitties. It is treated via a diet change to a prescription bland food, and steroids. Lymphoma looks exactly alike, except it doesn't respond to treatment as long as IBS. The only way to definitively diagnose is a GI biopsy. That is onvioulsy intense. So many choose to do the diet and steroids and hope for the best. Others do the biopsy and if cancer, may consult w an oncologist. I would recommend starting with an exam, fecal float, fecal culture, xrays of abdomen, and if all normal, diet change and steroids.

Poor Lucky! I'm glad to hear that he still seems to be acting and eating normally despite this ongoing diarrhea. Some possible causes of persistent diarrhea include parasites, inflammatory bowel disease, gastrointestinal cancers, liver disease, food allergies, among others. You can try transitioning his diet to a novel protein diet ( http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=34182 ) with one protein source and one carbohydrate source to limit the ingredients that he is exposed to. Mix his old and new foods together over 5-7 days, then exclusively feed a new diet for at least 8-12 weeks to determine if the change has been effective. Also adding a probiotic ( http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=21478 ) may be beneficial. However, if his diarrhea continues or worsens, Lucky will need to go to his vet for further evaluation and testing. I hope that all goes well!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would get a probiotic like Purina Fortiflora. If the metronidazole isn't working I would ask for tylan and Hill's i/d to help control the diarrhea. The drug can cause GI upset seen as vomiting and diarrhea. You can discuss trying a lower dose with your Vet when they call you back. Lowering the dose will make it less effective against the lymphoma. I wish you the best!

The syrup you are giving is an antibiotic - not a probiotic. It may be making the diarrhea worse. The cat needs a general dewormer (like pyrantel pamoate) and an antiprotozoal (like sulfadimethoxine). Those are the two medications I would be giving. An antibiotic like Cefpodoxomine is not a treatment for diarrhea.

If these cats have not been on long-term medication like probiotics and metronidazole, I would start these. Also, all cats might benefit from a food-allergy diet trial like Hills z/d fed exclusively for 8-10 weeks. This helps to rule out food allergies as a cause for chronic diarrhea. If these things don't work, you may have to actually send out fecal tests for culture and sensitivity to have done at an outside laboratory as most vet clinics are only equipped to do basic parasite fecal floats and smears in-house. Your female who is having behavior issues may benefit from anti-anxiety medications like Zylkene or Lorazepam, or even an anti-depressant. Since all three are young cats, it's most likely that they are sharing a parasitic or other intestinal infection that is causing chronic diarrhea, so I think you are on the right tract to continue to monitor for coccidiosis and giardiasis. They may need much longer-term treatment to clear these kinds of infection. Hope that helps!

I'm so sorry that Shady is having problems with diarrhea. No, diarrhea is never normal, so we should continue to look for a cause and figure out how to resolve it. You did not mention if the diarrhea started before the Denamarin or after. While we like to continue Denamarin even after the liver enzymes are normal, I would certainly discuss that with your veterinarian if the diarrhea started after the Dermarin was started. If the diarrhea started before you added the Denamarin, then I would discuss with your veterinarian other options for diagnostics (such as sending a fecal sample to the lab) and treatment (such as anti-diarrheal medications). Good luck! I hope that was helpful and that Shady feels better soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I would recommend to try switching them to just a plain boiled chicken diet for a few days to see if this settles their stomach and add in some probiotics. I believe you can buy proviable paste online and give as directed. My concern though is that they may have a parasite or bacteria that they aren't finding in their fecal samples. If they aren't improving, contact your vet to see if you can either bring in just a fecal sample or deworm both of the prophylactically. I hope this helps!