How long can my cat stay on Tylan for IBD? What other meds help?

Hello, and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear about Portifoy's diarrhea troubles! It's not clear from the history what sort of duration we're talking about, but it can take time (sometimes weeks) to get IBD symptoms under control. Many cats improve much faster if put on a tapering dose of steroids (often prednisolone is used), so you could talk to your vet about this. Depending on what diagnostics were performed that led to the IBD diagnosis, those symptoms could indicate IBD, but could also be consistent with a food sensitivity/allergy, or GI lymphoma, among other things. An abdominal ultrasound helps with a diagnosis, if that hasn't been done, with a GI biopsy being the ideal diagnostic (although that's also quite invasive, and your vet can help you decide if it's worth the risk). At this point, I'd recommend communicating with your vet and letting them know how Port's doing, as they may have been hoping his symptoms would improve with the medications you mentioned - but they may want to change things (such as adding a steroid, or discussing the next diagnostic step) once they know he's still having diarrhea. Feel free to request a consultation if you'd like to discuss Port's case in more detail. I hope this helps!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. With IBD, I would also recommend using B12 supplementation such as Cobalequin. Cobalequin is available online and is easy to get. This is basically a B12 supplement and is extremely bioavailable even in the presence of GI disease such as IBD. A different diet such as a hydrolyzed protein diet (a prescription diet) may also be helpful. You will need a prescription for a hydrolyzed diet and your veterinarian can provide this for you. I would try these things and see if they help at all with the soft stool / diarrhea / poor appetite. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be happy to help you further.

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!

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.

Hello. If the diarrhea is slowing down, then it may just resolve on its own. It sounds like your cat received the long acting antibiotic called Covenia, & the most common side effect is diarrhea. I would start Ella on a probiotic such as Proviable or FortiFlora, both available at major pet retailers like Petco. I am less inclined to think this is IBD because IBD diarrhea is often accompanied by vomiting, too. I would be careful about using this drug in Ella again, but give things some time to see if the diarrhea quits with the addition of a probiotic. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I'm sorry to hear that Mercedes is sick. If IBD or GI lymphoma is suspected the next steps may be ultrasound or even biopsy. Biopsy is needed to confirm the diagnosis of IBD. However, I will frequently treat if it is strongly suspected on ultrasound. If IBD is confirmed it's worth doing a trial of a prescription GI diet. Although a/d is a good recovery diet it is probably not the best one to use as a maintenance diet if IBD is suspected. It would also be worth giving your veterinarian a call to see if they can give a Cerenia injection. This will help to resolve the vomiting and can be continued if necessary. Vitamin B12 injections can also be helpful when a cat is experiencing GI distress and will be needed if IBD is confirmed. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and best wishes to Mercedes!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This probably just means that her IBD is no longer being controlled on the current medications and she just needs further management of her condition. I highly recommend that you have reevaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment. At the very least they can make sure to treat her symptoms so that you can get her to feel better. They can also add medications to try to get her condition under control again. Good luck!