Colitis and heart issue.

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Catfan5
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Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Catfan5 »

Alfie is a 10 year old bsh who is really worrying me at the moment. His weight has been dropping since the start of the year. In April I saw that he was pooping little blobs of clear ‘jelly’ in the litter tray and around the house. He would stop anywhere and strain. Then he stopped eating, so he went to the vet where he stayed for 3 days while he was rehydrated, scanned and had blood tests. His temperature was up a little. All tests were negative and diagnosis was colitis. So he came home with antibiotics and also was told he had a grade 3 heart murmur. A cardio vet said he had thickening of the heart wall, high blood pressure and raised troponin in a blood test so started him on atenolol. Since then he still isn’t right. His appetite is better but still small, he passes tiny poos. He wouldn’t eat gastrointestinal wet food but liked the RC digest until this week. Yesterday I saw that he had done a jelly blob in the litter tray and my heart sank :( His weight is still down. What else can I do to persuade him to eat? He used to eat hilife before the range was discontinued, then jwb wet and some dry. I add water and he seems to drink plenty of water too. He’s not interested in play, often see him crouching or flat out resting.
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Antonio »

Hi, I'm sorry for your Alfie.
I know your depression because right now my cat is going through a period of poor appetite due to a cholangiohepatitis.

It is important that your cat eat the minimum amount of food required by his weight.
The calories intake can be determined with the following formula:
Cal = 70 + (kg x 30)

As far as I know, a colitis is also given by a type of food that might give trouble to the bowel, so I wonder if Alfie is eating something he can't tolerate. Try to investigate on the ingredients of what you feed him.

In order to have him to eat, ask your vet if some cyproheptadine pills or tablets may help him.
It seems that they don't work on all cats, but most of cats respond fine. My cat was prescribed with 1/4 pill of cypro in case of poor or lack of appetite. Once given the pill, a cat should eat like a wolf within the next hour and the effects could last a day long. Though the appetite is artificial, at least Alfie will be able to get the proper food intake.

Hope it helps!
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Catfan5 »

Thank you for your reply and sorry your cat is not well, one of my other cats has cholongitis and is on meds but is slowly getting better. With Alfie I’m wondering if it might be the treat he takes his crushed pill in. He’s impossible to pill in the normal way but will eat this, some on his food too, just a little. As a kitten he had colitis but he’s been ok for years keeping to the same foods until now. His weight used to be a steady 4kg but is now 3.4 . I will ask the vet about cypro. Do you know if a probiotic would be helpful at the moment or better not, I have fortiflora in the cupboard. Don’t want to make things worse if it’s not suitable
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Antonio »

I am reading a lot about IBD (my cat, Pallina*, has it too) and cholangitis, and I found out that colitis falls in the same category of issues.

Probiotics, prebiotics and digestive enzymes look like a good approach to ease these troubles, at least their symptoms.
I also found that slippery elm powder is good in cases like these.

I have just read that feeding a cat always the same food is bad, and changing every three or four months could be ideal.
You might the following articles useful.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/slippery-elm/
http://www.ibdkitties.net/about-ibd/guidelines/

The first ones mentions colitis too, treatable with slippery elm.
Have a look, hope you can find what can help your Alfie!

* I'm Italian, so my cat's name is Italian too. Pallina means "little ball", a very typical cat name over here ;)


EDIT: Yes, I think that the treaties you use for the pills might have a poor quality ingredients, practically junk food, and this does not help at all, in my opinion!
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Catfan5 »

Thanks for the links, very useful. Anyone else on the forum used slippery elm for their cats ibs? Alfie is very difficult to pill and gets stressed, not good for hcm.ive tried various ways/ tricks but this treat so far is the only one he will tolerate. It’s not great I know. Your cats name is cute btw.
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by booktigger »

I've used slippery elm bark powder, and just mixed it in their food - it is very smelly so doesn't work with all cats.
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Catfan5 »

Hi booktigger, did you find it helped and how much did you put in their food?
Thanks.
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by booktigger »

I just used a pinch, I think it did help, have also used it for cats with kidney issues
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Catfan5 »

Thanks :) Having read the link Antonio sent it sounds promising, hope the smell doesn’t put Alfie off if it’s that strong. I’ll have to check if it interacts with his meds too. The vet seems very anti using any supplements ie probiotics, not sure why. So slippery elm would probably be a no no too. I’ve read it’s harmless to cats?
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Catfan5 »

I assume I can buy it from a shop like Holland and Barrett or is there a pet grade version of it?
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by booktigger »

Catfan5 wrote:Thanks :) Having read the link Antonio sent it sounds promising, hope the smell doesn’t put Alfie off if it’s that strong. I’ll have to check if it interacts with his meds too. The vet seems very anti using any supplements ie probiotics, not sure why. So slippery elm would probably be a no no too. I’ve read it’s harmless to cats?
Not sure why your vet would be against using supplements. I got my last lot from a local health food shop that sold it loose, but sure H & B would sell it.
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Catfan5 »

Update: feeling very worried and frustrated. Alfie hasn’t really picked up much since I first posted. The vet suggested a course of vitamin b injections as his levels were low, which seemed to perk him up a little and his appetite improved a little but the diarrhoea continued. Giving pills (antibiotics and atenolol) in tablet form or liquid have been a complete failure, just like our ginger cat PG. I’ve tried every trick but no luck. This last week the vet said to bring him in for pilling twice a day so starting Tuesday I took him in. The vet was great and pilled him in two seconds! In the evening a vn did it but it was a disaster which left Alfie drooling and foaming and traumatised. The nurse was covered in scratches but persevered until the pill was swallowed. Same thing happened the next day so I asked for the vet to do it on Thursday by which time Alfie had stopped eating and the diarrhoea was worse. He has now become tired and flopping around with little energy. On Friday a different vet did it and made a hash of it but mentioned the dose was strong for a small cat and reduced it. This morning Alfie still isn’t eating and is so tired. He was booked into see the vet but it had been crossed to a vn instead. I said I wanted to see the vet who Alfie had been booked in with but was told there was no appointment until later. The vn tried to pill him but gave up and I walked out and took Alfie home. Poor cat is thoroughly stressed out. He hasn’t even taken the pill for his heart for two days as he’s off his food and even lickelix won’t tempt him. I’m so worried.
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by booktigger »

What a tricky one - daily visits might be good if it were just the ab's, but the antenol will be for life, and is this fair on him? I've had to stop courses of treatment because of how much it was affecting the cats quality of life before.
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Catfan5 »

Hi, yes it is tricky. It’s been very distressing for both Alfie and us. I won’t be taking him back so the course (abs) won’t be finished. He actually managed to eat a little this morning including some crushed atenolol in lickelix mixed in so that was good to see. He is a stressy cat at the best of times and feel I’ve got to earn his trust again after last weeks fiasco. His weight has dropped again which is worrying. The vet we saw on Friday was reluctant to give an appetite stimulant as it’s only a short term solution. So how can I encourage him to eat without stressing him more.
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Lilith »

Hi this is awful - vet surgery, apart from that one efficient vet, sounds a bit - a lot - hopeless ...

I used to know a vet who chucked the pill into the cat's mouth and flicked it down with the butt of a ballpoint :o Sounds appalling written down but believe me he did it so fast that the cat scarcely knew what was happening until the pill was down its gullet ... a truly marvellous vet.

I agree with Booktigger, sometimes the conventional course of treatment can stress the cat out so much that it's better to follow the wishes of the cat.

About eating, I've found this stuff invaluable on occasion, it gives the basics, and calories, and seems to stimulate appetite in many cases. You just squeeze out a bit and wipe it round the cat's lips so that the cat washes it off -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nurish-UM-Past ... =nurish+um

You can get it from Holland and Barrett and I believe Pets at Home too.

All the very very best with him - all paws and tails crossed here.
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by booktigger »

My vet does that Lil, I was horrified initially but it works really well! I ended up having to alternative all 4 flavours of lik-e-lix to get a course of meds into Lucy last year. Have you tried some of the other brands of sensitive food?
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Catfan5 »

Thanks Lilith, I’ve just ordered some on amazon as pah don’t have it. I have to agree the vets on the whole are useless. About five years ago all the original good vets left and younger locums were brought in and a lot of money spent on converting the place into a 24hr practice to take emergencies too. All great but the level of care there is less than satisfactory and from tomorrow will be looking to change to a different practice, further away unfortunately. My cats deserve better. Alfie is clearly unwell and the only other option given by the vet via the vn (!) was to keep him in and insert a nasal tube to feed him. Well in his present state of distress that was a big no-no. He’s been hiding in the wardrobe on and off since yesterday. :(
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by booktigger »

That unfortunately may be the way to go, I'm assuming as he hates being tableted that syringe feeding isn't an option? Hills a/d is good for that
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Catfan5 »

I’ve got all the flavours of lickelix and Alfie will only eat a tiny bit of the salmon. He won’t touch the putty which PG now has his pill in. Yesterday I bought some pilchards to see if that would tempt him, warmed a little, but no. The nose was twitching but he wouldn’t try it, his brother polished it off instead. I’ve tried him with RC digest wet, purine one sensitive, and have ordered some hills z/d cans to try. He’s turned his nose up at most of it so I’ve I’ve just gone back to his old favs like JWB wet and Sheba domes to try and get him interested in eating again.
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Catfan5 »

He wouldn’t tolerate syringe feeding although it seems an obvious way to get food into him. I tried once yesterday by blending some of his food adding a pinch of protexin and water but he was having none of it. :(
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by fjm »

Have you tried raw chicken? Mine have never been difficult to feed, thank heavens, but that is the one thing they are absolutely guaranteed to eat. They even prefer it to cooked chicken, which is pretty high up the list of preferences.
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Catfan5 »

Hi, no I haven’t tried giving him raw chicken, might be worth a try.
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Janey »

Have you tried Gourmet pates or tinned salmon? they’re good to try if all else fails.
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Re: Colitis and heart issue. Pilling

Post by Seeker »

Hi Read your post about pilling your cat. I found a treat that my friend's cat loves. It is very soft and large treat. I put the pill inside of it, smash it up and mold it into a ball and the cat woofs it down with no coaxing at all. We bought these treats from the vet (a bag for like $6) called "Lean Treats" by Nutrisentials. The funny thing is these are DOG treats. The kitty loves them. She even ate one in the vet office .....her first time ever at a vet office that's how tasty these thing must be. Unbelievable, I know. Good luck and GBY
:D
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Catfan5 »

Thanks Seeker. Looks like you can get those on amazon.com for cats too.
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Re: Colitis and heart issue.

Post by Seeker »

Thanks Catfan5. That's great there are more options. I just know there was no way I was going to get a pill into my friend's cat after her dental surgery. I know her mouth had to be so sore and she kind of held me responsible for her hostage ordeal. Needless to say she was actively dodging me so just leaving some "treats" on the floor really took the pressure off both of us. We are buddies again :)

PS: These treats have a strong smell so they may even cover up the odor of bitter pills.
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