Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Single enema fecal transplant helps cats with chronic gut disease
By Karra, Dimitra A et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2025·Clinic of Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Single Enema Fecal Microbiota Transplantation in Cats With Chronic Enteropathy.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 28 cats with chronic intestinal issues, including chronic inflammatory enteropathy and small cell gastrointestinal lymphoma, underwent a treatment called fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) using a single enema. While the treatment did not significantly improve the overall gut bacteria balance or clinical scores compared to a control group, there was a notable decrease in clinical activity scores for the cats that received the FMT. This suggests that while the gut bacteria didn't change much, the cats may have felt better after the treatment.
People also search for: cat chronic diarrhea treatment · cat intestinal problems · fecal transplant for cats · cat inflammatory bowel disease treatment
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Chronic enteropathies (CE) are common in cats, and alterations of the intestinal microbiota might be involved in the pathogenesis. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy of a single enema fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in improving intestinal dysbiosis and clinical scores in cats with CE. ANIMALS: Twenty-eight cats with either chronic inflammatory enteropathy (CIE; n = 19) or small cell gastrointestinal lymphoma (SCGL; n = 9) were prospectively enrolled. METHODS: Eleven cats were randomly selected to receive a single enema FMT (FMT-group), and 17 cats were used as controls. Clinical activity was determined using the Feline Chronic Enteropathy Activity Index (FCEAI), and intestinal dysbiosis was determined using the feline dysbiosis index (DI) on the day of FMT (T0) and 30 days after FMT (T1). RESULTS: At T0, 14/28 cats had an abnormal DI > 0. No significant difference was found in the DI from T0 to T1 in the FMT group (mean[SD]: 0.01[2.5] vs. 0.7[2.1]; p = 0.47). No significant difference was found in the DI between the FMT group and the control group at T1 (mean[SD]: -0.7[2.1] vs. 0.8[1.8]; p = 0.92). FCEAI significantly decreased at T1 compared to T0 in the FMT group (median[IQR] 10.0[7.7-11.3] vs. 4.5[4-5]; p = 0.002). No significant difference was found in the FCEAI between the FMT group and the control group at T1 (median[IQR] 4.5[4-5] vs. 4[3-5.75]; p = 0.64). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, single enema FMT did not lead to a significant improvement in DI or FCEAI in cats with CE compared to controls.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40207935/