My cat has just be dx'd with feline IBD. Yes, the cat in the picture.

I feel like I somehow jixed her... :/

Aww so sorry for your kitty. I have an elderly cat that is having issues right now holding her #2 but the vet is thinking it's just old age getting the best of her. I may have to put her down. She has had a good 14 years of life.

Hope your kitty is OK.

sooo sad. Can they treat it?

Yes, the good news is that it's potentially manageable with diet. She's actually on the cat equivalent of flagyl right now. The vet was saying that cat IBD can be caused by an overgrowth of "bad bacteria" which causes inflammation. It actually sounds a lot like the pouchitis process to me, of course without the pouch. So hopefully the antibiotics take care of the acute flare. Further down the road, we can try probiotics. Prednisone was mentioned if she gets really bad, but the vet says that's rare, and hopefully it doesn't get to that point. I got the impression that IBD in felines it's not as bad as UC in humans, but more of a nuissance issue. There are of course varying degrees. However, it can affect her absorption, so we have to really watch her weight.

mgmt, sorry to hear about your kitty. I hope she will be ok. I have 3 right now. My oldest is 16. The one with IBD is 9.

Best of wishes. I had a cat (I loved this cat a lot too) who got feline leukemia. He had always had weird BMs--like not really formed and extra stinky--when he got the leukemia I had to put him down. It was very hard. He couldn't control when he went. Now I know how he felt. (UC days of course--now I control things just fine...)

My brother's cat has had Crohn's (cat IBD) for about 10 years now. He is mostly controlled with diet, but needs the occasionally medicine at times. I'm not sure about it being easier to manage in cats, but he has definately fared better than me.

Your poor kitty. Good thing she has you to love and take care of you.

There is a cat that lives in the nursing home that goes to the residents' rooms to comfort them right before they die.

This made me think of your cat somehow! (Not the dying part the comforting part.)

Just had to have my kitty put to sleep today. SHe was just too old and everything was going on her at once. When I saw blood in her poop this morning, that was the last straw. I know how much I suffered with all that...no way was I going to see her suffer. Sad day.

mgmt, I'm sorry to hear about your cat. But you did the best thing for her and she appreciates you for it. May she RIP.

So sorry, I know that was very hard to do.

Well, Mandy was doing well on her course of flagyl--formed stools and no blood--but she finished her prescription on Friday and already the unpleasant BMs are back. I've got her on a new diet, too. It's probably too soon to tell, but if there's no improvement by mid-week I'll probably call her vet again see if she can get an extension on the flagyl at least for a few more days as she adjusts to the new food.

Otherwise, she's doing well. She's playing and her appetite is fine. If not for the BMs you wouldn't know anything was wrong with her.

Do you know that they do pull thru's on young cats that have what is know as Mega Colon ( the colon stops working) Apparently they do quite well but I don't know how I would feel about putting a cat thru it.

FYI
Our soon to be daughter-in-law and son just went through 2 x's a day IV fluid infusions for her 16 yr old cat, they did it together. The cat was a trooper but he really didn't act like he felt too well. They just had a hard time letting him go. He did pass away after 3 months of the treatment.

I think it's a case by case call. My friend paid over $1,000 for an operation for her cat and he's doing great 3 years later. It wasn't for IBD problems.

My persian and I both had UC at the same time....we were both on prednisone.

Yikes, I didn't even know they could do a pull through on a cat! Mandy is not that severe yet. At the moment, the vet is hopeful that she can be managed with diet. Prednisone is also an option but she doesn't think it's severe enough for that type of treatment, and she would reserve that for a severe flare, if it gets to that point. Right now we're taking a wait and see approach. She's just come off the flagyl and diet can sometimes take time to kick in. Obviously if her symptoms get worse we'll try something else.