Living With IBD
| OZZY McELWEE Rochester, New York Born Approximately May, 1, 2005 Diagnosed with IBD in March of 2009 |
March 2006: When Ozzy was almost one year old, he began vomiting after he ate his meals. It did not matter
whether it was soft or hard food. He would vomit about once a day. We went to the vet and had blood and urine
tests, x-rays, and an ultrasound. All came back normal, but the ultrasound showed that his pancreas might have
been slightly swollen. The vet recommended a diet change from Fancy Feast soft and hard food (all flavors) to
Royal Canin soft Duck or Lamb, and hard Royal Canin Duck or Lamb. For a period of time after, he also had Hill’s
T/D Dental Diet as a treat. This change to Royal Canin eliminated any vomiting due to food allergies.
2006, 2007, 2008: Ozzy was well, vomiting only occasionally (2 times a month) during this time period. Ozzy
loves food and has a tendency to eat quickly; inhaling his food, so the vomiting we thought might be attributed to
his devouring his food. Ozzy would eat Royal Canin soft food for breakfast and dinner. He ate Royal Canin hard
food for lunch and snacks. What worked well was feeding Ozzy smaller, more frequent meals. We purchased an
automatic, pop up feeder in which we put his hard food and set the timer. We could never leave hard food out for
Ozzy as he would devour all the food in one sitting and vomit afterward. The smaller, timed meals worked much
better. In September 2008, Ozzy was weighed at the vet and he was 10 lbs and 3 oz.
January 2009: Ozzy started to vomit very soon after he ate and it did not seem to matter whether he ate soft
or hard food. We took Ozzy to the vet due to the vomiting, increased thirst, and possible weight loss. He weighed
9 lbs and 8 oz when weighed at the vet. Blood tests, urine tests, and x-rays were normal. When we asked the vet
about a diet change, the vet did not want to change the diet at this point in time. The vet told us to see how he
does and that we could do further testing.
February 2009: Ozzy only vomited a few times the entire month and was doing well.
March 2009: On March 17th, Ozzy began vomiting every time he ate (soft and hard food). We immediately
went to the vet and in 3 days had numerous tests run. Blood tests, urine tests, and x-rays were normal.
Another specialized blood test was sent away to Texas to check for pancreatitis, low B12, and liver enzymes.
That test came back normal. An ultrasound was given and the results showed 2 enlarged lymph nodes in the
stomach. Ozzy weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces.
The vet thought Ozzy might have IBD or a motility problem with his stomach not emptying in a proper fashion.
We were told to try Natural Balance venison soft food and stop feeding him the Royal Canin soft and hard food.
Ozzy ate this food for 2 days and then refused to eat it. Even though Ozzy couldn’t keep food down, he was
constantly sitting by his food bowl wanting food, as he was still hungry. He continued to vomit each meal and
became dehydrated and needed an enema. Ozzy began taking metoclopramide to help with the vomiting. (It did
help with the vomiting, but he was very restless on the medicine.) Our vet suggested we receive a second
opinion from an internal medicine specialist. At the March 25th specialist appointment Ozzy weighed 8 pounds 8
ounces.
The specialist recommended a change to Hills prescription Z/D soft food. No hard food now. Both the vet and the
specialist believe Ozzy could have IBD (especially due to food allergies when he was so young) and that any
motility problem is being caused by IBD. Further testing could be conducted (endoscopic to get biopsies or more
invasive surgery), but since Ozzy was losing so much weight and vomiting each meal any surgeries were put on
hold, and medicine was prescribed. Ozzy weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces.
Ozzy began 5mg of prednisolone tab each day and 2.5 mg tab of Pepcid AC each day. He began suffering from
constipation, having bowel movements only every other day. He began Kristalose (a powder to put in his food for
constipation). With the diet change to Z/D soft food, with the prednisolone, Pepcid, and Kristalose, Ozzy is doing
better. He has not vomited and likes the food. He has only gained 4 ounces back, so we are concerned about him
gaining more weight. He just finished 30 days of the prednisolone and will be tapering to every other day. If he
doesn’t do well with the tapering of the prednisolone, I am not sure what will be the next step.
Update: July 24, 2009
May 2009 - We went to the vet after Ozzy tapered to 5 mg of prednisolone every other day for a month. The
vet said he was not doing well at all! He weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces, which was the lowest weight he had been
since he had been ill. He was also diagnosed for the first time with thickening of the intestines. The vet explained
that she didn’t think the dosage of the prednisolone had been aggressive enough at 5 mg. I was stressed about
this because 2 vets and 1 specialist had determined that 5 mg was the right dosage at the time.
So in June 2009 Ozzy immediately started 10 mg of prednisolone daily. We gave him a 5 mg pill in the morning
and a 5 mg pill in the evening. He was also given his 2.5 mg tab of Pepcid AC each day. The vet changed his food
from prescription soft Hills Z/D food to Royal Canin soft venison. We also began Royal Canin hard rabbit food
that we crush and put on top of his venison like sprinkles. After talking to Lisa (Alex's mom), I told the vet that I
wanted to give Ozzy vitamin B-12 injections. The vet thought this was a great idea on Lisa's part, even though
Ozzy’s previous test results showed he was fine for B-12. Oz received B-12 shots once a week for one month and
now we are going to try monthly shots. After 4 weeks on the 10 mg of prednisolone with the Pepcid AC daily,
Ozzy’s intestines did not feel thickened any longer and he had gained weight to 8 pounds 15 ounces. (13 ounces
in 4 weeks was the weight gain). He looked so much better. The vet kept him on the 10 mg dosage for 4 weeks. I
did notice with the 10 mg amount that he urinated more and sometimes seemed to breathe faster.
In July 2009 Ozzy’s prednisolone was tapered to 7.5 mg daily for 2 weeks. We gave him a 5 mg pill in the
morning and 2.5 mg in the evening. He still takes the Pepcid AC. The tapering is now at 5 mg daily for 2 weeks.
At this point in time, he has maintained his weight and not vomited at all.
Update: September 28, 2009
Oz tapered the prednisolone to every other day at 5 mg. He vomited a few times at the start of the every other
day tapering and our vet wanted him to go back on prednisolone every day at 5 mg.
At the beginning of August 2009, at times when Oz went into the litter box he began vocalizing as if in
distress/pain. Initially, we were not sure if his vocalization related to inability to urinate or defecate. After
vocalizing, he would then urinate so we surmised the distress was related to an inability to urinate. A urine
sample, urine culture, and x-ray showed appeared negative.
We were also concerned because Ozzy was breathing rapidly. When checked at the vet his heart rate was 130
when he was nervous, which is not fast. The rapid breathing is a serious concern. Our vet suggested an upper
chest x-ray be taken. The x-ray was done and our vet noted that Ozzy’s heart looked normal (not enlarged), an
x-ray would not show any thickening of the artery walls. She also did not note any issues in the lungs from what
she could see in the x-ray.
Separately from the issues above Oz began taking Entocort (budesonide) at 1.5 mg daily and stopped taking
prednisolone. This is a steroid that has fewer long-term side effects than prednisolone. The capsules were the
3mg size (too big for him to swallow), so we bought number 4 gel caps and took the beads from the 3 mg capsule
and put 1.5 mg in each gel cap. Please note he does not take the budensonide that has the powder in the
capsules, but takes Entocort, which is beaded. Oz began to have bowel movements a few times a day with some
diarrhea. He has never had diarrhea with IBD, but battled with constipation in the past. My vet did not know
what dosage Oz should take and was not aware of the difference between the powder and the beaded Entocort.
I contacted Dr. Louis J. Camuti Memorial Feline Consultation Service at Cornell University, to speak to a Cornell
Feline Health Center’s consulting veterinarian. The number is 1-800-548-8937. After discussing Oz’s specific
history, we changed the dosage to 3 mg of Entocort for 2 weeks to assess whether that would work. The diarrhea
went away and Oz was eating well. Our vet did not feel any thickening of the intestines at his visit and he has
had no vomiting issues.
The consultation service was contacted again after Oz had been on the Entocort for 2 weeks. Based on the
consultation with Cornell, we are reducing his dosage to 2 mg daily. The desire with this approach is to
determine the lowest dose for him that will control his disease. I also asked about the rapid breathing and
straining/pain when urinating or defecating. Since he has had constipation problems in the past, I was advised
to try Kristalose for the constipation, which we have used in the past. This way we can try to tell if the
straining/pain is due to urinating or defecating.
In regard to the rapid breathing, Cornell also recommended visiting a cardiologist to check his heart due to the
rapid breathing. We are in the process of scheduling this appointment.
Update: February 15, 2010
In October of 2009, Ozzy went to Cornell to have his heart checked out due to rapid breathing. Everything was
fine with his heart. We then went back to our regular vet and checked his blood and his white blood cell count
was extremely, extremely low. Our vet had us immediately change his Entocort dose of 3 mg to every other day
at 3mg with the plan to test his blood again in one month. The white blood cell count did improve some after one
month. Also, his breathing was less rapid with the Entocort change to every other day. Therefore, it appears that
the rapid breathing was due to steroids. Ozzy receives vitamin B-12 shots every 2 weeks and they really help
him.
Oz started to lose weight in the middle of December 2009 (I weighed him on the baby scale daily and he had lost
about 5 ounces) and was vomiting some, so we took him to the vet, because we recognize the signs of IBD
problems. The vet recommended that we do nothing and continue to watch him, since he appeared healthy.
Please note that I know my cat and I should have pushed for a medicine change.
Within three days of going to the vet, we had to rush Ozzy to an emergency animal hospital in the middle of the
night for severe vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration. They had to stabilize him and he was the most ill he has
ever been. Blood work indicated that his liver numbers were a touch high, but they attributed that to his
vomiting. We changed our regular vet. His weight at the hospital was 7 pounds 14 ounces, which is the lowest he
has ever weighed. The emergency animal hospital was excellent. They gave us anti-vomiting medication
(metoclopramide), anti-diarrhea medication (metronidazole) and a change from Entocort to prednisolone. The
dosage we are trying for the prednosolone is 5 mg in the morning and 2.5 mg at night. He stopped vomiting and
the diarrhea stopped within 2 days of changing to prednisolone.
He has had one bad episode within the last three weeks so we gave Oz a dose of the Metoclopramide and the
Metronidazole and he improved. The use of these two medicines is only on an as needed basis when he is having
a bad bout. We visit our vet again in a few weeks. An ultrasound was done at the emergency hospital and an
enlarged spleen was found. We have not had any further tests done on the spleen at this point in time. We are
also giving him L-lysine every other day for his immune system and B12 injections weekly instead of every two
weeks because of malabsorption.
whether it was soft or hard food. He would vomit about once a day. We went to the vet and had blood and urine
tests, x-rays, and an ultrasound. All came back normal, but the ultrasound showed that his pancreas might have
been slightly swollen. The vet recommended a diet change from Fancy Feast soft and hard food (all flavors) to
Royal Canin soft Duck or Lamb, and hard Royal Canin Duck or Lamb. For a period of time after, he also had Hill’s
T/D Dental Diet as a treat. This change to Royal Canin eliminated any vomiting due to food allergies.
2006, 2007, 2008: Ozzy was well, vomiting only occasionally (2 times a month) during this time period. Ozzy
loves food and has a tendency to eat quickly; inhaling his food, so the vomiting we thought might be attributed to
his devouring his food. Ozzy would eat Royal Canin soft food for breakfast and dinner. He ate Royal Canin hard
food for lunch and snacks. What worked well was feeding Ozzy smaller, more frequent meals. We purchased an
automatic, pop up feeder in which we put his hard food and set the timer. We could never leave hard food out for
Ozzy as he would devour all the food in one sitting and vomit afterward. The smaller, timed meals worked much
better. In September 2008, Ozzy was weighed at the vet and he was 10 lbs and 3 oz.
January 2009: Ozzy started to vomit very soon after he ate and it did not seem to matter whether he ate soft
or hard food. We took Ozzy to the vet due to the vomiting, increased thirst, and possible weight loss. He weighed
9 lbs and 8 oz when weighed at the vet. Blood tests, urine tests, and x-rays were normal. When we asked the vet
about a diet change, the vet did not want to change the diet at this point in time. The vet told us to see how he
does and that we could do further testing.
February 2009: Ozzy only vomited a few times the entire month and was doing well.
March 2009: On March 17th, Ozzy began vomiting every time he ate (soft and hard food). We immediately
went to the vet and in 3 days had numerous tests run. Blood tests, urine tests, and x-rays were normal.
Another specialized blood test was sent away to Texas to check for pancreatitis, low B12, and liver enzymes.
That test came back normal. An ultrasound was given and the results showed 2 enlarged lymph nodes in the
stomach. Ozzy weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces.
The vet thought Ozzy might have IBD or a motility problem with his stomach not emptying in a proper fashion.
We were told to try Natural Balance venison soft food and stop feeding him the Royal Canin soft and hard food.
Ozzy ate this food for 2 days and then refused to eat it. Even though Ozzy couldn’t keep food down, he was
constantly sitting by his food bowl wanting food, as he was still hungry. He continued to vomit each meal and
became dehydrated and needed an enema. Ozzy began taking metoclopramide to help with the vomiting. (It did
help with the vomiting, but he was very restless on the medicine.) Our vet suggested we receive a second
opinion from an internal medicine specialist. At the March 25th specialist appointment Ozzy weighed 8 pounds 8
ounces.
The specialist recommended a change to Hills prescription Z/D soft food. No hard food now. Both the vet and the
specialist believe Ozzy could have IBD (especially due to food allergies when he was so young) and that any
motility problem is being caused by IBD. Further testing could be conducted (endoscopic to get biopsies or more
invasive surgery), but since Ozzy was losing so much weight and vomiting each meal any surgeries were put on
hold, and medicine was prescribed. Ozzy weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces.
Ozzy began 5mg of prednisolone tab each day and 2.5 mg tab of Pepcid AC each day. He began suffering from
constipation, having bowel movements only every other day. He began Kristalose (a powder to put in his food for
constipation). With the diet change to Z/D soft food, with the prednisolone, Pepcid, and Kristalose, Ozzy is doing
better. He has not vomited and likes the food. He has only gained 4 ounces back, so we are concerned about him
gaining more weight. He just finished 30 days of the prednisolone and will be tapering to every other day. If he
doesn’t do well with the tapering of the prednisolone, I am not sure what will be the next step.
Update: July 24, 2009
May 2009 - We went to the vet after Ozzy tapered to 5 mg of prednisolone every other day for a month. The
vet said he was not doing well at all! He weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces, which was the lowest weight he had been
since he had been ill. He was also diagnosed for the first time with thickening of the intestines. The vet explained
that she didn’t think the dosage of the prednisolone had been aggressive enough at 5 mg. I was stressed about
this because 2 vets and 1 specialist had determined that 5 mg was the right dosage at the time.
So in June 2009 Ozzy immediately started 10 mg of prednisolone daily. We gave him a 5 mg pill in the morning
and a 5 mg pill in the evening. He was also given his 2.5 mg tab of Pepcid AC each day. The vet changed his food
from prescription soft Hills Z/D food to Royal Canin soft venison. We also began Royal Canin hard rabbit food
that we crush and put on top of his venison like sprinkles. After talking to Lisa (Alex's mom), I told the vet that I
wanted to give Ozzy vitamin B-12 injections. The vet thought this was a great idea on Lisa's part, even though
Ozzy’s previous test results showed he was fine for B-12. Oz received B-12 shots once a week for one month and
now we are going to try monthly shots. After 4 weeks on the 10 mg of prednisolone with the Pepcid AC daily,
Ozzy’s intestines did not feel thickened any longer and he had gained weight to 8 pounds 15 ounces. (13 ounces
in 4 weeks was the weight gain). He looked so much better. The vet kept him on the 10 mg dosage for 4 weeks. I
did notice with the 10 mg amount that he urinated more and sometimes seemed to breathe faster.
In July 2009 Ozzy’s prednisolone was tapered to 7.5 mg daily for 2 weeks. We gave him a 5 mg pill in the
morning and 2.5 mg in the evening. He still takes the Pepcid AC. The tapering is now at 5 mg daily for 2 weeks.
At this point in time, he has maintained his weight and not vomited at all.
Update: September 28, 2009
Oz tapered the prednisolone to every other day at 5 mg. He vomited a few times at the start of the every other
day tapering and our vet wanted him to go back on prednisolone every day at 5 mg.
At the beginning of August 2009, at times when Oz went into the litter box he began vocalizing as if in
distress/pain. Initially, we were not sure if his vocalization related to inability to urinate or defecate. After
vocalizing, he would then urinate so we surmised the distress was related to an inability to urinate. A urine
sample, urine culture, and x-ray showed appeared negative.
We were also concerned because Ozzy was breathing rapidly. When checked at the vet his heart rate was 130
when he was nervous, which is not fast. The rapid breathing is a serious concern. Our vet suggested an upper
chest x-ray be taken. The x-ray was done and our vet noted that Ozzy’s heart looked normal (not enlarged), an
x-ray would not show any thickening of the artery walls. She also did not note any issues in the lungs from what
she could see in the x-ray.
Separately from the issues above Oz began taking Entocort (budesonide) at 1.5 mg daily and stopped taking
prednisolone. This is a steroid that has fewer long-term side effects than prednisolone. The capsules were the
3mg size (too big for him to swallow), so we bought number 4 gel caps and took the beads from the 3 mg capsule
and put 1.5 mg in each gel cap. Please note he does not take the budensonide that has the powder in the
capsules, but takes Entocort, which is beaded. Oz began to have bowel movements a few times a day with some
diarrhea. He has never had diarrhea with IBD, but battled with constipation in the past. My vet did not know
what dosage Oz should take and was not aware of the difference between the powder and the beaded Entocort.
I contacted Dr. Louis J. Camuti Memorial Feline Consultation Service at Cornell University, to speak to a Cornell
Feline Health Center’s consulting veterinarian. The number is 1-800-548-8937. After discussing Oz’s specific
history, we changed the dosage to 3 mg of Entocort for 2 weeks to assess whether that would work. The diarrhea
went away and Oz was eating well. Our vet did not feel any thickening of the intestines at his visit and he has
had no vomiting issues.
The consultation service was contacted again after Oz had been on the Entocort for 2 weeks. Based on the
consultation with Cornell, we are reducing his dosage to 2 mg daily. The desire with this approach is to
determine the lowest dose for him that will control his disease. I also asked about the rapid breathing and
straining/pain when urinating or defecating. Since he has had constipation problems in the past, I was advised
to try Kristalose for the constipation, which we have used in the past. This way we can try to tell if the
straining/pain is due to urinating or defecating.
In regard to the rapid breathing, Cornell also recommended visiting a cardiologist to check his heart due to the
rapid breathing. We are in the process of scheduling this appointment.
Update: February 15, 2010
In October of 2009, Ozzy went to Cornell to have his heart checked out due to rapid breathing. Everything was
fine with his heart. We then went back to our regular vet and checked his blood and his white blood cell count
was extremely, extremely low. Our vet had us immediately change his Entocort dose of 3 mg to every other day
at 3mg with the plan to test his blood again in one month. The white blood cell count did improve some after one
month. Also, his breathing was less rapid with the Entocort change to every other day. Therefore, it appears that
the rapid breathing was due to steroids. Ozzy receives vitamin B-12 shots every 2 weeks and they really help
him.
Oz started to lose weight in the middle of December 2009 (I weighed him on the baby scale daily and he had lost
about 5 ounces) and was vomiting some, so we took him to the vet, because we recognize the signs of IBD
problems. The vet recommended that we do nothing and continue to watch him, since he appeared healthy.
Please note that I know my cat and I should have pushed for a medicine change.
Within three days of going to the vet, we had to rush Ozzy to an emergency animal hospital in the middle of the
night for severe vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration. They had to stabilize him and he was the most ill he has
ever been. Blood work indicated that his liver numbers were a touch high, but they attributed that to his
vomiting. We changed our regular vet. His weight at the hospital was 7 pounds 14 ounces, which is the lowest he
has ever weighed. The emergency animal hospital was excellent. They gave us anti-vomiting medication
(metoclopramide), anti-diarrhea medication (metronidazole) and a change from Entocort to prednisolone. The
dosage we are trying for the prednosolone is 5 mg in the morning and 2.5 mg at night. He stopped vomiting and
the diarrhea stopped within 2 days of changing to prednisolone.
He has had one bad episode within the last three weeks so we gave Oz a dose of the Metoclopramide and the
Metronidazole and he improved. The use of these two medicines is only on an as needed basis when he is having
a bad bout. We visit our vet again in a few weeks. An ultrasound was done at the emergency hospital and an
enlarged spleen was found. We have not had any further tests done on the spleen at this point in time. We are
also giving him L-lysine every other day for his immune system and B12 injections weekly instead of every two
weeks because of malabsorption.
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| First Entry: May 1, 2009 |
Copyright © IBD Kitties 2008-2010, all rights reserved. Contact us at info@ibdkitties.net
Ozzy M.
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