Considering putting cat to sleep with IBS- medication does not work

Question
My parents adopted a cat from a shelter and he just turned a year old this month. The cat had been doing fine, but within the past couple of months he was pooping outside the litter box and there was blood in the stool. They have taken the cat to the vet and they diagnosed him with IBS. They have tried several medications, sprinkling on his food daily and a pill they give him orally every day. He is still pooping quite frequently on beds in the house and my parents do not know what to do now. They are considering putting him to sleep and I just wondered if there were any other options? Please help!!!

Answer
Amy,

I am not a vet, and vets often do not like this answer, but, in my opinion, IBS is a catch all for gastrointestinal problems the vet cannot nail down.  Often it is a nasty intestinal parasite called tritrichamonas foetus.  Fortunately, this is testable anmd treatable.

Here is a link to an excellent lay discussion of this problem:

http://cvm.ncsu.edu/docs/documents/ownersguide_tfoetus_revised_120909.pdf


I ahve spoken to a number of vets that did not know this organism even existed and were able to successfully treat some baffling cases of "IBS".

Good luck and best regards... Norm.