Advice for Simon! Past Pancreatitis, diarrhea

[kim and simon]

Hello LL! I hope you are all well. We are at the falls but currently experiencing the runs...
Simon had one incident in December that I posted about that turned out to be low potassium. We have been supplementing him but he remains on the low side. He then had an acute pancreatitis episode in January which may or may not have been triggered by switching to a gel form of potassium, Renal K. The vet had another cat with the same symptoms and bad pancreas values the next week on that gel, but nothing is sure. I think Simon had another mild incident last month with one day of lethargy and not wanting to eat. Since that final episode, he has had terrible diarrhea.
Can you direct me to some ideas about chronic pancreatitis (digestive enzymes? Brand?) Vet feels it could be flaring pancreas or IBD but truly all of his systems seem to be tiring out. Simon is still happy with normal bg. We have been to the vet so much but I kind of feel like we don't really know the root cause of all this. I hoped that maybe you guys would have suggestions.
Of course he needs another dental but with potassium so low vet is reluctant to put him under.

Thanks for any input!

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

When was the last time his potassium was checked? Higher than desirable levels of potassium can cause diarrhea. That this started after switching to the gel is suspicious. Are you sure that Simon is absorbing the gel properly? Have you thought to going back to the original form of potassium and see if the diarrhea stops?

You shouldn't need digestive enzymes for pancreatitis unless it's an exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. You might ask your vet about a course of metronidazole (Flagyl) to see if that would help. Or, maybe before drugs, trying a probiotic. ReNew Ultimate is a pretty heavy duty probiotic that is carried in the refrigerated supplement section at many Whole Foods stores. You add 1/3 of a capsule to food twice a day. If this is IBD, you're going to probably need more tests (e.g., ultrasound) to diagnose the condition.

 

[kim and simon]

He is back on the tablets--we quit the gel after that incident.
He was tested 2 weeks ago and his K was even lower than it had been two weeks before. He is now on 5mEq/day of Tumil-K. I guess the K could cause diarrhea( but somehow he isn't absorbing or utilizing it so his levels stay low?)
The stools stink but aren't white or particularly pale(have read about that with pancreatitis I think).