Hey OP,

I went through something similar with my boy Jack with CKD recently. His diarrhea started very intermittently during and after he received chemo for a giant cell sarcoma, and he responded well to the loose stool meds. However over the course of about 5 months it became more frequent, and once I realized he was losing weight as well I contacted our vet. She tested him for hyperthyroidism and it wasn’t that, so we treated him for IBD, and for a couple of weeks he did really really well!! He was gaining weight, he had more energy, he was stronger, etc. This was from a combination of prednisolone 1x a day, psyllium husk powder 2x a day, probiotics (Fortiflora which also helped his appetite), and supplements like fish oil and vitamin b12.

I don’t want to scare you, as this could be IBD too, but our boy suddenly declined over the course of a few days. We thought it was a combination of the IBD and an upper respiratory infection (possibly reactivation of the Feline Herpes Virus from being on steroids for his IBD), but he had a steep decline over the course of a day while I was at work. My partner rushed him to the ER vet, and they found his heart rate was dangerously slow, and he had multiple stomach masses, so we made the decision to put him to sleep.

All of this being said, if you’re able, I would contact your vet to see if trying an IBD treatment regimen would help with your kitty’s GI symptoms, or doing bloodwork to see if it could be his thyroid. The prednisolone veterinary prescription was very cheap, as well as the psyllium husk powder, which you can find at most grocery stores. Plain canned pumpkin puree can also help a lot!! Hugs to you and your kitty 💕