u/Ill_Reply_9909

My cat Albert is 10 years old and has had IBD since 2019. Over the past several months his condition has significantly worsened and I'm running out of options. I'm posting because I want to know if there's anything I've missed before I have to make a harder decision.

What we've tried:

-Novel protein and hydrolyzed protein diet
-Budesonide alone
-Switched to prednisolone (caused significant side effects, didn't improve symptoms)
-Back to budesonide
-Added chlorambucil to budesonide
-Switched to daily injectable dexamethasone (Dex SP) + chlorambucil, currently on day 8

For nausea:

-Zofran: no noticeable effect
-Cerenia: takes edge off but doesn't resolve it
-Mirtazapine: caused severe side effects (agitation, vocalization, exhaustion, doesn't really work)
-Elura: no effect on appetite

Current picture:

He's been essentially the same since May. Chronically nauseous. He goes to the kitchen and meows for food, I put out his rotation, he sniffs everything and walks away. Will only eat Churus and Greenies. He's hungry but too nauseous to eat. His bloodwork is good- tolerating medications well. Not getting worse, but not getting better despite everything.

His internist at Blue Pearl has been managing this. The injectable dexamethasone was suggested because of possible malabsorption through an inflamed gut. We're at roughly the 2-3 week mark she suggested for assessment.

What I'm wondering:
-Is there anything I've missed?
-Has anyone had a cat who didn't respond to this full a protocol and found something that worked?
-Has anyone been in this situation and had to make the harder decision, and how did you know it was time?

I love him more than I can say. I just don't know what's left. Thanks, everyone.

Hey everyone. I wanted to post about my early experience with Elura since there isn't much out there about it specifically for IBD cats, most posts seem to be about CKD.

My cat is 10 years old and has IBD. His appetite has been very weak, so his internist prescribed Mirtazapine. It caused distressing side effects (agitation, restlessness, fatigue, what I can only describe as dissociation) and eventually the appetite stimulation stopped working while the side effects continued.

I asked his internist for an alternative and she prescribed Elura. I gave him his first dose about three hours ago. He's eaten a ton, which is a win. However his belly is a bit distended, he's been restless, meowing more than usual and in a way that seems slightly off, and he's not doing his usual velcro behavior with me.

I called the emergency line and they said nothing sounds alarming, just monitor him. I'll update as things progress, but mostly I wanted to create a thread for people dealing with Elura specifically in IBD cats since that information seems hard to find.

Update: he was pretty much back to normal behavior-wise this morning, which was a relief, especially compared to the Miritaz. The effects of that went on for days.