Advice on pancreatitis please

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Tonya & Lexie

Tonya & Lexie

Member Since 2010
Lexie was diagnosed w/pancreatitis today, and I'm not sure what to be doing at home for he. The vet says it's a mild case, but her bg is running in the 300's and she has some vomiting. This is a new vet to me, and he doesn't like my diet choice for Lexie or how I've been dealing w/Lexie's diabetes. I didn't choose this vet, when I went into the vet office they informed me the he previous vet (LOVE her) moved out of the area and Lexie would be seeing this new vet. Vet wants me to come in for Sub-Q fluid this afternoon to prevent thing from getting worse over the weekend and to try to speed up her recovery. He also said it was ok to use the pepcid, but didn't seem happy about it. This is our first experience w/pancreatitis. Any thoughts on what to do to stimulate her appetite?

Lexie is currently eat friskie classic pate and has been OTJ for several years now.
 
Hi. I see you haven't gotten an answer back yet. My kitty, Tootoo was diagnosed with pancreatitis today too. So I'll be looking for answers in your post as well as mine. You might watch mine too. I just posted.

Good luck. I hope both our kitties come through this well!!!
 
Thanks I'll looking for your post. Everything I've been reading also seem to suggest that they need pain meds as well as fluids. I'm would like to know what other board members think.
 
I've always eventually gotten replies. There's a way to "bump" our posts up to the top again, but I can't remember how to do it. If I remember, I'll bump them both up. It's been recommended to me to do that when I didn't hear back.
 
I posted over in Tootoo's thread all about pancreatitis.

The vet said it was a mild case.... what does that mean?
Pancreatitis is confirmed with a test, for the fPLI test, under 3.5 is negative, over 5.0 is positve, and in between is the iffy area.

Yes, you will see much higher BG numbers with pancreatitis but no problem, you just adjust your insulin dose until the flare has passed. When the cat starts to feel better, the BG numbers will come down, and you can decrease the dose again.

If your cat is already vomiting, the vet can give you cerenia; a shot of famotidine would be best to settle the stomach first, then you can give 1/4 tab of Pepcid AC (2.5mg) twice a day.... the daily max for cats is 5mg, so get the regular strength Pepcid or the generic famotidine pills.

Pancreatitis is very painful; do not let a vet tell you it's not..... humans who have suffered with pancreatitis will confirm it is extremely painful. Many cats will hide and also sit in a meatloaf position, all hunched over. Buprenex is the best for this type of pain. Get pain meds for your cat for sure.

SubQ fluids are needed to flush toxins from the body..... get a fluids kit from the vet, and if you have not given fluids before, the vet can show you or many people here can help you with it. I forgot to mention the needles to get from the vet for the fluids..... none of my cats like the 18ga needles - too big and the fluids went in too fast, so they were squirmy. I prefer a smaller needle size; tell your vet you want 20ga needles.

Last thing that helps with pancreas inflammation is B12 shots. Talk to your vet about getting a bottle of B12 and you can give weekly shots to prevent more CP attacks.

So you want nausea meds, pain meds, and subQ fluids. You can treat at home very easily.

Gayle
 
Thanks for the info Gayle. After reading several articles about cats needing pain med I did ask the vet for them and he gave it to me, but said she really didn't need it, but I'm giving to he any way. Even though I'm not really happy w/this new vet at least if I ask for something he gives it to me.
 
Tonya & Lexie said:
Thanks for the info Gayle. After reading several articles about cats needing pain med I did ask the vet for them and he gave it to me, but said she really didn't need it, but I'm giving to he any way. Even though I'm not really happy w/this new vet at least if I ask for something he gives it to me.
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cat not in pain with pancreatitis? That's funny; humans with pancreatitis say they have horrible pains, and my own cat reacted badly just being touched in her midsection during her CP flares.

It's good that you have a vet who will go along with what you say.... did you get buprenex? It's the best for this type of sharp pains.
Pancreatitis is pretty common with diabetic cats, so you can also talk to your vet about giving your cat B12 injections if the CP flares become more frequent.

Be sure you are giving fluids because they are needed to flush the system.... it speeds up the flare passing.

Gayle
 
Yes he gave buprenex for the pain and sub-q fluids were given in the office. I'll have to talk w/vet on mon about B-12. Vet seems to think that she won't need any more than 1 tx w/sub-q fluids at this point, but want to make that decision on mon. By the way Lexie isn't on any insulin at the moment, and vet want to clear up pancreatitis before putting her back on any insulin. I think once this clears up her BG's will go back to normal. Thank for your response.
 
Tonya, how's it going? If you change the subject line slightly, your post will bump up. Just thought I'd let you know that in case you need to do it another time.

I brought Tootoo home, thanks to the advice given here, and I'm set up to give him fluids, Pepcin, and pain meds. He's doing better I think. How's your kitty now?

Debbie
 
Tooloo said:
Tonya, how's it going? If you change the subject line slightly, your post will bump up. Just thought I'd let you know that in case you need to do it another time.

I brought Tootoo home, thanks to the advice given here, and I'm set up to give him fluids, Pepcin, and pain meds. He's doing better I think. How's your kitty now?

Debbie
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She doing great tonight! Her bg is back to normal at the moment, and she is starting to eat better. I think the sub-q fluids and pain meds made a big difference for her.
 
There is a Yahoo group you can join that is really helpful. I would link it but I am on my tablet and I have issues doing that stuff on it. But everyone there is so helpful. Pancreatitis can be so frustrating so having a group dedicated just to that disease helps so much. It's pretty common for vets to dismiss the pain and nausea from the pancreatitis. Vets usually give Cerenia for nausea but most people in the group find it ineffective against nausea. It didn't help either of my cats nausea. Ondansetron is the drug most people find works best for nausea. Then there are 2 appetite stimulants to try. Mirtazapine and Cyproheptadine. Most people prefer the Cyproheptadine. But I personally used the Mirtazapine so you have to find out what works for your cat.

I bought #4 sized gel capsules since Milo needed so many pills. That way you can just give all the pills at once and no chance of tasting them. He was in remission also but it was bringing his numbers up close to 150. I relied on the group more than my vet even though my vet was a lot better than some others I have read about. Unfortunately I can't say how he recovered because he developed several other problems after the pancreatitis and I had to let him go :( But it had nothing to do with the pancreatitis.
 
Hi Tonya and Debbie,

My cat was recently diagnosed with pancreatitis also. I'm glad to see you got the pain meds your kitty needs. I made sure I went home with a handfull of prefilled bupe syringes, to have on hand for any future occasions. Best wishes to you both with your kitties.

Tonya, when you wrote, "He also said it was ok to use the pepcid, but didn't seem happy about it." did he give any reason? This makes me laugh, not in a good way. This new vet sounds like he's of the "The Great Oz Has Spoken" school of veterinary medicine ;-)

Lara
 
Re: Advice on pancreatitis please?

Lexie is doing amazing. Her BG has is still in the normal range today, and I'm wonder how long it takes for her to recover from pancreatitis? She's eating great and seem to be happy. I'm not sure how long to keep giving her pain meds for,any ideas? I'm defiantly going to give them to he for the next day or so. I also bought her some freeze dried chicken and she's in heaven. Thanks everyone for all the advice. :dizcat
 
This is the group if anyone wants to join. Yahoo Pancreatitis Group
It's really helpful. The people there are honestly more helpful then your vet at least on this disease. It's hard to say how long the disease lasts. Milo had it for about 4 months before he died. But every cat is different.
 
My kitty Ozy has pancreatitis and is newly diagnosed with diabetes. The pancreatitis comes and goes. When I first got the buprenorphine, I gave it to him every day because I wanted to give him some pain relief. He seems so much better now, I think from the B12 injections, that I don't think he needs as much bupe as he did. Some days he gets none.

Sometimes when I gave him bupe, I would be unsure if he needed it... but now that he is better, I am sure he DID need it. Pain free seems so obvious.

So I say, Bupe 'em Danno!

donaleen
 
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