COLITIS - Short term use of steroids, Homeopathy, Etc.

Hello!
I'm looking for any suggestion, sharing of experience, idea, etc. etc.

My cat, Cashmere, has a sensitive tummy issue, which I've been trying to fix the past year since I adopted her.
She's not diabetic, and she's not on a particularly good diet, not due to lack of trying.
She eats Acana kibbles, Rayne kibbles, i/d wet, and a little bit of Rayne cooked food, which according to her are all "Meh".
I've tried various brands of probiotics, but I don't see it doing much.
Anyway... her symptoms are:
* Part soft poo, start firm and ends squishy.
* Bloody mucus at the end of soft poo, usually found around her bum.
* Eats enough, just not loving it, and NOT losing weight.

I brought her poo sample with bloody mucus to the vet last Friday, and they found bacteria "1+ sporulated clostridium", which the vet thinks that the condition isn't horrible but may be over-populated, and causing the inflammation in the colon.
He suspects colitis, which is what I suspect too.
I've suspected inflammation is in the colon rather than in the small intestine, but I don't know how to make her colon healthy....
The vet put her on metronidazole, and she's had the 5th dose this evening, but her poo is still part soft, although the bloody mucus seemed to have stopped (anti-jinx).
This concerns me because metronidazole worked after 1 or 2 pills for my other cat in the past.
We don't know if the clostridium is solely responsible for her issue... more likely it isn't.
Maybe allergy, maybe IBD.

The vet and I talked about other things we can try.
He said if the intestine is already inflamed, diet change won't work well sometimes, so suggested we could try a short term use of steroids (maybe prednisolone) to clear it up, if metronidazole doesn't work.
We talked about colonoscopy, but he really doesn't want to do it since she's still so young.
I though if I have to do it, I'd rather do it while she's still young than when she's old and frail, so asked around a couple of people who are vet tech/nurse, and they both said "No!", so I probably won't go there at least yet.

Here are my questions.

1) Could a short term use of steroids cause diabetes? Have we had a member who's cat became diabetic after being given steroids for a short period of time? (Not sure how long but I am guessing a week on low dose or something similar)

2) In addition to consulting our regular vet, I made another appointment with a holistic vet. I've never gone to this clinic before, but I think it is mainly going to be a homeopathic consultation. To be honest, even after reading quite a bit about homeopathy, I don't get it, but I'm open minded as well as desperate.
This appointment is not until mid-January.
Does anyone have any experience with homeopathy for cats?

Sorry it's long......
Thank you for any insights!

 

Another thing to consider would be insufficient pancreatic enzymes - with IBD or pancreatitis, the production of enzymes may reduce, contributing to lack of proper digestion which will feed bacteria. If the feces are foul-smelling, and/or lighter colored, that could be a factor in what is happening. Something to discuss with the vet. There are both prescription and over the counter digestive enzymes, but you want to be sure you're treating the right thing, or at least not making it worse.

 

Thank you, BJM.
I meant to but forgot to mention that her poop doesn't have that horrible smell of diarrhea.
It just only has the normal poo smell.
I will definitely put digestive enzymes in my list of things to try, and will bring it up during my next appointments with vets, one with our regular vet after Christmas another with the new holistic vet in mid-January.

I also forgot to mention that I actually did try homeopathy in the past for my GA cat Lucy, who became diabetic after a long term use of steroids.
I was seeing a different holistic vet for acupuncture, and she wanted to use homeopathy too, so I said OK.
I was mainly trying to help her chronic issues other than diabetes, chronic pancreatitis, poor appetite, CKD, IBD, etc.
At that time I didn't think it was doing anything to be honest, but Lucy was a much sicker cat with multiple issues.
I am hoping that it will be different this time since Cashmere is a younger and healthier cat who has a lot of her own life force in her still.....
If this kind of holistic treatment works by "waking up" or "enhancing" their self-healing power, then I thought more energy a patient has, more effective the treatment will be.
Anyway this is my logic and reason for trying it again.
Just hoping to hear of other's experience.

 

Hi Mariko, I've been wondering how you and the kitties have been getting along- but I am so sorry to hear Cashmere is still having bowel issues You may remember my little Buster had/has all kinds of problems with runny stinky poop, so I can truly empathize with what you might be going through.

Did your vet run a PCR? I'm obviously no scientist or doctor, but it sounds like this toxin is found in so many healthy cats and dogs that there is question as to the actual diagnosis.
http://vetmed.tamu.edu/gilab/service/assays/fecal-elisa-for-c-perfringens-enterotoxin

This was something else I can across (yes, here is Dr.Google again) but skip to the part about metronidiazole, and other treatments, such as soluable fiber such as psyillium, and clay as a supportive type treatment.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1939-1676.2011.00821.x/pdf

I don't know about the pred- but that is always a course of treatment according to my vet. But we aren't ready for that yet but at some point I'll have to go there too. And I will be curious what your holistic vet has to say if you don't mind sharing. I'm pretty sure we don't have access to one down here, you and Wendy are very lucky to have the choices.

 

Squeaker became diabetic after having 3 injections of steroids over the course of one year. That is 1 injection every 4 months!!!!! Steroids are a blanket and are very overused. There really are situations where steroids need to be used. "If" you opt for steroids, I would do a one dose and only as a last resort.

My younger cat as well as my dog has colitis. Lots of mucus and sometimes a little blood. What I found works best for both of them is plain, unflavored psyllium husk. As I have been told, the key is fiber. So you would add just a pinch of the psyllium husk to every meal, maybe an 1/8 tsp.

Here is another route to try: slippery elm bark. This link will give you some information about it: http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/slippery-elm/ You can buy the powder at local health food stores reasonably priced. Try 1/8 to 1/4 tsp.

 

Thank you, Ruth.
The links are helpful. I will discuss more tests with the vet.

Thank you, Anita.
Your experience is the 2nd case I've heard of a cat becoming diabetes after a few shots of steroids.
I wonder if it will be different for oral steroids.
Either way, I'll stay away from it for now.....
Thank you for sharing.

 

Mariko, our cat Max developed diabetes after a month on oral prednisolone tablets. Since her dx she's been weaned off the pred and has responded quickly to Lantus. Our vet said that if cats are predisposed to diabetes, the pred can trigger it. Max's litter mate Milly (also dx IBS) has been on a lower dose of pred for several months and is not diabetic, although she has regular BG tests.

The pred did help Max's IBS and now we are dealing with a cat that wants to eat but is having digestive issues, which makes the Lantus dosing more complicated.

 

Sarah, thank you very much for sharing your experience.
It helps.
I'm sorry you are dealing with the IBD/FD difficulties.
I can fully understand that.

I haven't seen bloody mucus on Cashmere's poop or on her bum since I started metronidazole, but her poop is still partially soft.
I spoke with the vet yesterday, a short course of sterods treatment was mentioned again, but opted to extend the metronidazole treatment from the original 10 days to 20 days.
We have an appointment in about a week, and I'm going to discuss what tests are available to pinpoint or at least narrow down the cause of her GI issue, without being overly invasive.
And in about a month, we'll see a holistic vet. I'm excited about it, but trying not to raise my hopes too high... no treatments are magic, holistic or not.
It seems nobody here has much to say about homeopathy.

Cashmere is still so young. She has many more years ahead of her.
My goal is for her to have a healthy gut so she can enjoy foods and I can transition her diet to something healthier she'll thrive on, not just be OK on.
I hope this is achievable...

 

No problem, and as we know, ECID so your mileage may vary, but I thought it might help to know that although the pred appeared to trigger Max's diabetes, she is now on a very reduced Lantus dose, and things are looking promising.

We did 10 days of antibiotics, then an ultrasound of her pancreas, liver and digestive tract to check for inflammation. The next option was a biopsy of the gut wall, but given the expense and the likelyhood that it wouldn't be conclusive, we went with the pred.

I do know how you feel. That's our goal for Max, too. Paws crossed for you and Cashmere