SmokinDVM

[mauied1101]

IBD can be a pain in the ass.

Seriously, sometimes IBD can't be controlled with diet alone. Sometimes it takes a combo of prescription diets and medication. For cats with severe IBD, I use a pharmacy that compounds meds for us into a suspension that can be flavored. Most cats prefer the seafood or chicken flavors, but they have many others.

You have noooo idea (well, you probably have a very good idea) - $3k, a biopsy, and shaved belly later, that's as good as they can come up with. Any time she starts getting it (last bout with canned tuna) she gets metronidazole(sp?) and Pepcid. She's had more Pepcid in her two years than I've had in my lifetime.

[SmokinDVM]

You have noooo idea (well, you probably have a very good idea) - $3k, a biopsy, and shaved belly later, that's as good as they can come up with. Any time she starts getting it (last bout with canned tuna) she gets metronidazole(sp?) and Pepcid. She's had more Pepcid in her two years than I've had in my lifetime.

Wow, $3k.
I used to try to talk people into spending the cash to do the biopsy thing, just to see if we could get a definitive diagnosis. After being disappointed 95% of the time, I quit doing them, for the most part. What I do now is use a med trial. I've found that IBD almost always responds to Metronidazole, maybe not completely but it at least improves a little. If I get some response with the meds, it's 99.95% sure to be IBD. If it doesn't completely clear with Metronidazole alone, I may add a special diet or even a steroid for a short while.
If they get worse during the med trial, or don't clear at all, I will suggest the other tests.
Since I do all the Ultrasound exams in the Clinic, I should probably push those a little more