Hello,
I’m looking for experiences from people who have been through a similar situation with their cat, as I’m feeling a bit lost and emotionally drained.
My cat, June, has had digestive issues for a while. He has been on a tailored diet for a long time and has had bouts of diarrhoea in the past, but they were usually manageable and ended up clearing up with the treatment from my vet (specifically loperamide). He is on a food specifically for digestive disorders.
For over a week now, he’s been going through a flare-up that is much more severe than usual. The diarrhoea has become very frequent, sometimes every 1 to 2 hours during certain periods. What worries me most is that this time he seems really uncomfortable: restlessness, unusual meowing even though he isn’t a vocal cat, struggling to find a comfortable position, and refusing to let me touch his tummy… I got the impression he was in real pain.
Yet, he still has reassuring moments: he’s eating, drinking, going out in the garden, grooming himself, and even brought home a mouse… But I can tell he isn't himself and this episode is really scaring me. I’m terrified I won’t be able to give him any relief, and that it will become permanent.
My vet is monitoring June and adjusting his treatment. After a very bad night, she advised me to stop the loperamide as an intolerance is possible, and to continue with the steroids, probiotics, and a digestive binder with psyllium. We’re keeping an eye on his progress.
I should mention that June is extremely stressed at the vet’s, with very strong panic reactions, so major procedures (hospitalisation, anaesthesia, specialist tests…) are things that I’m really having to think hard about.
I would love to chat with people who have had a cat with:
chronic diarrhoea or major flare-ups;
suspected IBD / digestive inflammation / colitis;
periods where nothing seemed to work;
treatments that took a long time to find a balance.
Have any of you managed to stabilise your cat in the long term? Have you experienced major flare-ups with apparent pain followed by an improvement? Can it take several weeks before bowel movements get back to normal?
What tests have you had done?
Thank you so much to those who take the time to share their experience. Right now I am very worried and I really need to know that other cats live with this kind of problem and can regain a good quality of life.
