Advise needed for Chronic Pancreatitis kitty

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Chandler-Holly -Gizmo

Chandler-Holly -Gizmo

Member Since 2017
I'm not sure what else to do right now for my poor girl, Holly. Back in March, she was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis after loosing weight and vomiting frequently a few times a week.

The vet prescribed predinsolone. This worked wonders for Holly for a few months and gained her weight back and no vomiting. Fast forward to the past month or so. The same symptoms occurred again and again followed with predinsolone. This time it isn't working. She had continued to lose weight. She still ate some, but vomited most of it almost daily. She has gone from 12 LBS down to 9 LBS. She is 17 years old.

Took her back to the vet and same prescription of predinsolone again and (iv fluids and B12 injections given once a week.) But, nothing seems to be working. This past week, she now doesn't want any food. I've tried almost everything. Knowing this can be a big issue, I have been force feeding her for the past few days. Today I force fed her twice. The first feeding, she vomited about 5 hours later. The second, she vomited an hour later. The weird part is she isn't lethargic and seems her normal self.

I go back to the vet for a checkup on Monday. I don't know what else to do for her. Force feeding her is miserable for her and can't continue that for her mental well being. 3 years ago she did have a feeding tube after depression from my other cat passing away. She recovered fully from that episode after a few months.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I will do everything in my power to help her and give her quality of life, but not make her be here in pain or misery just for my own selfishness. I can do the feeding tube route again if it will help. I don't know if it's time to say goodbye yet or if I should keep going....I'm beyond sad to think about that, but I know she is elderly. She is not a diabetic. Any advice?
 
I have no experience with this issue but wanted to say hi and send prayers for your baby.

HOLD ON FOR MORE REPLIES There are other here who know about Pancreatitis.
jeanne
 
Thank you. Yeah, I’ve read that and about anything else I can get my hands on. Seems like most things covered in articles is what I’m doing or it’s more in line with acute pancreatitis instead of chronic, not to mention seemingly a lot of unknowns with pancreatitis in cats.
If I could get control of the vomiting that would be a big help. She will not take pills and just spits them out for nausea. All her other blood work is good. I did ask about IBD and vet said she may have that too, but only way to know for sure is a biopsy and we should just treat as if she does, but she won’t touch that diet food when she did eat and won’t eat anything now. Just licks gravy off the food.
 
Hi there,

I'm sorry to hear about Holly's chronic pancreatitis. It's the pits, but there are treatments that can help a great deal.

First up, is Holly receiving any anti-nausea treatment and appetite stimulant. If she's in the middle of a flare-up, pain relief can help a great deal. Also, keeping Holly properly hydrated could help make her feel better.

Here is an extremely helpful document from IDEXX Laboratories, a world authority on feline pancreatitis - great for having discussions with your vet about getting the right treatments to help Holly:

IDEXX Pancreatitis Treatment Guidelines

Here are other very helpful resources:

Nausea, Vomiting, Inappetence - Symptoms and Treatments (site is for CKD kitties but all the information here is relevant for managing eating problems due to pancreatitis as well)

Persuading Your Cat to Eat (for when Holly's over the hump with her appetite at the moment)

Also, please see the following recent thread discussing treatments and supplements that may help with management of chronic pancreatitis.

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-member-pabay-10yr-moggie.233826/#post-2614751

Another thing to watch for is any issue with constipation. If a kitty is constipated it can make them feel really lousy. It can adversely affect appetite. Sometimes it can cause a cat to vomit. If you suspect this might be an issue for Holly then the vet needs to check her out to make sure there's no obstruction in the gut and, if necessary, administer an enema to clear any hardened stool. Thereafter a couple of days of treatment with metocloporamide (Reglan) can help restore normal gut motility. (Note: Some vets may prescribe metoclopramide to treat nausea but it's pretty useless for this in cats since they have very few of the receptors it acts on - see the IDEXX document above for more info.) Once things 'get moving' again, you can look at preventative measures such as adding fibre or stool softener to food. Lots of really helpful information at felineconstipation.org. Note that some of the meds used to treat pancreatitis can be constipating, e.g. ondansetron and buprenorphine, so preventative measures are a good plan in general.

I hope some of the above might be a help to Holly. I know how tough chronic pancreatitis can be. I really feel for you both. :bighug:


Mogs
.
 
Thanks for the info. I’ll take a look at them. Yes, she’s on appetite stimulate put on her ears. And tried nausea pills, but she absolutely will not taken them. She foams at the mouth and spits it out. She’s never been good at taking pills.

I’m still giving predinsolone. Would a feeding tube be beneficial? That way I can get all the mess in her she needs and the right diet?
 
You can get ondansetron in injectible form too. Cerenia can help with vomiting, and can also be injected, though it stings. Maybe the vet could do a dose to see if it helps.

How was the pancreatitis diagnosed? Was an ultrasound done? Some times pancreatitis goes along with other conditions. To diagnose IBD, you might be able get an endoscopy which is less invasive. It depends where the inflammation is.
 
Chandler-Holly -Gizmo said:
Thanks for the info. I’ll take a look at them. Yes, she’s on appetite stimulate put on her ears. And tried nausea pills, but she absolutely will not taken them. She foams at the mouth and spits it out. She’s never been good at taking pills.

I’m still giving predinsolone. Would a feeding tube be beneficial? That way I can get all the mess in her she needs and the right diet?
Click to expand...
Feeding tubes are a god send in situations like this but it is a surgical procedure that requires anesthesia. They’ll do a traqueal or stomach depending. Minnie had the traqueal and you mix the meds with the food you blend and down the tube it all goes! I’m curious, when you say she foams at the mouth, are you sliding it all the way in the back of her throat? Your finger needs to go all the way and push it in. If it’s in her mouth and she’s biting and spitting it out, you didn’t reach far back enough. I go all the way in and drop it into her throat so there’s no way she can bite it, it gets swallowed immediately. I usually know it’s the right spot because she’ll bite my finger trying to close her mouth. When that happens, I push it in and it’s gone. In addition, I wrapped it in a thin layer of pill picket so it slides in easier and doesn’t start to melt right away as it comes in contact with the saliva. Just a tip for pilling. If you do decide to go with the tube, I’ll have more tube related tips for ya!
 
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Sorry didn't get the tag. Was a test for pancreatitis done? Ultrasound? Did vet do xrays to make sure there is no obstruction?

Cerenia injectable does sting quite a bit. If your doing subq fluids you can give through port on the line, slowly though. It will still sting but not as much. Higher than 4mg dose can be given, just check with vet. Smokey got 30mg by ER when he first got it. Ollie got up to 15 mg at times. Normally it was to kick start it then after 2 doses it was dropped down.

Are you giving pain med? Most important they get it. And longer than a few days. Buprenorphine is drug of choice. Liquid you squirt in cheek. You want to lessen the pain but not zonk out. Smokey did well on it every 12 hrs. Ollie was much better if given every 8 hrs.

Critical care a/d food seems to be received well by sick kitties (and well kitties). It also thins nicely for syringe or tube feeding if you go that route. Always good to have 1-2 cans in hand.

Looks like you've been through this before. It can be grueling on us parents.

If chronic, as my Ollie was. Keeping the bupre (low maintenance dose), cerenia, fluids, b12 ongoing daily made a huge difference. If it flared I would up the meds and she would usually be back to normal in a day or two. Nip it in the butt before it gets out of control.

Good luck, hang in there and keep us posted.
 
Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
Feeding tubes are a god send in situations like this but it is a surgical procedure that requires anesthesia. They’ll do a traqueal or stomach depending. Minnie had the traqueal and you mix the meds with the food you blend and down the tube it all goes! I’m curious, when you say she foams at the mouth, are you sliding it all the way in the back of her throat? Your finger needs to go all the way and push it in. If it’s in her mouth and she’s biting and spitting it out, you didn’t reach far back enough. I go all the way in and drop it into her throat so there’s no way she can bite it, it gets swallowed immediately. I usually know it’s the right spot because she’ll bite my finger trying to close her mouth. When that happens, I push it in and it’s gone. In addition, I wrapped it in a thin layer of pull picket so it’l slides easier instead of melting right away as it comes in contact with the salive. Just a tip for pilling. If you do decide to go with the tube, I’ll have more tube related tips for ya!
Click to expand...

I've gotten pills far back as I can and still spits them out. Tried with pill popper to no avail and it's hard to get her mouth open even for a second. She is determined not to let me. She's always been like that. My other kitties have no problem. But she's bad for that all the time. Doing all this, now she doesn't really want anything to do with me and tries to run away ever time I get near even just to pet, so I know it's traumatizing. Thanks for the tips.
 
Olive & Paula said:
Sorry didn't get the tag. Was a test for pancreatitis done? Ultrasound? Did vet do xrays to make sure there is no obstruction?

Cerenia injectable does sting quite a bit. If your doing subq fluids you can give through port on the line, slowly though. It will still sting but not as much. Higher than 4mg dose can be given, just check with vet. Smokey got 30mg by ER when he first got it. Ollie got up to 15 mg at times. Normally it was to kick start it then after 2 doses it was dropped down.

Are you giving pain med? Most important they get it. And longer than a few days. Buprenorphine is drug of choice. Liquid you squirt in cheek. You want to lessen the pain but not zonk out. Smokey did well on it every 12 hrs. Ollie was much better if given every 8 hrs.

Critical care a/d food seems to be received well by sick kitties (and well kitties). It also thins nicely for syringe or tube feeding if you go that route. Always good to have 1-2 cans in hand.

Looks like you've been through this before. It can be grueling on us parents.

If chronic, as my Ollie was. Keeping the bupre (low maintenance dose), cerenia, fluids, b12 ongoing daily made a huge difference. If it flared I would up the meds and she would usually be back to normal in a day or two. Nip it in the butt before it gets out of control.

Good luck, hang in there and keep us posted.
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Injectable would be great. I've told the vet that she doesn't do pills well, but still gave me a pills. She's wasting away quickly, so something needs to be done one way or another. Down another 5 oz. I force fed her a can of hills diet yesterday and she threw most of it up and I mean all over the wall and my pillows and my mattress in the bedroom. I tried a third of a can of food this morning and we will see what happens. I also got the high calorie gel that I think she absorbed at least.
 
Chandler-Holly -Gizmo said:
Injectable would be great. I've told the vet that she doesn't do pills well, but still gave me a pills. She's wasting away quickly, so something needs to be done one way or another. Down another 5 oz. I force fed her a can of hills diet yesterday and she threw most of it up and I mean all over the wall and my pillows and my mattress in the bedroom. I tried a third of a can of food this morning and we will see what happens. I also got the high calorie gel that I think she absorbed at least.
Click to expand...

I hope you can get injectable cerenia, it does sting though so if you can have another to help you, it would be best. Even through the line with fluids it stings just not as bad if pushed in slowly.

Delectable Squeeze Up treats helped with the smaller pills. A dab of treat on plate, pill on top, dab of more treat on top of pill, Ollie never knew pill was in it.
 
Here's the specs:

Chronic Pancreatitis diagnosed in March by blood work. No ultrasound. Predinsolone prescribed and worked till middle of July when vomited and weight loss reoccurred.
-took her back to vet, more blood work and levels high again, but not as bad as the first time. Predinsolone prescribed again.
-continued with Predinsolone, but still occasional vomit and eating, but less each day. Weight continued to drop
-back at vet 2 weeks ago as weight almost at 9LBS and weight continues to drop now and just drinks, not much eating and began force feeding.

So currently she is on:
-Predinsolone
-Mirataz ointment for ears
-Cerenia (tried pill, no avail)
-Gabapentin (pill, remove and only use powder from inside and mix with food, but she isn't eating, so can't get any in her)
-IV fluids and B12 injection once a week

I go back to vet tomorrow. It's difficult to communicate anything as I have to stay in the car and can't go in due to COVID and they just call when she's ready. I give them a written note with all the info, just to help, but it's difficult not being there.

Is 17 years old too old for feeding tube? I know there's always a risk, but the other options are worse I think and she's so skinny now. 3 years ago she went into hepatic lipidosis and was only 7 lbs. No one here does feeding tubes and I have to drive her to UT vet hospital 2 hours away to get it done and it's $$. I tell her she's going to kitty Vanderbilt.
 
Olive & Paula said:
I hope you can get injectable cerenia, it does sting though so if you can have another to help you, it would be best. Even through the line with fluids it stings just not as bad if pushed in slowly.

Delectable Squeeze Up treats helped with the smaller pills. A dab of treat on plate, pill on top, dab of more treat on top of pill, Ollie never knew pill was in it.
Click to expand...

If they have the injectable available at the vet tomorrow, I will ask them to give it to her. She smacks her lips quite often and I know she's nauseous. I'm trying to think positive. It's difficult seeing her like this and knowing her old age. :(
 
My cat Charlie had a rough battle with chronic pancreatitis until we figured out what worked for him. At his worst, he would vomit at least 10x a day, including at 4am while he was sleeping in my arms (I quickly learned to hold him over the side of the bed so that he could vomit on a towel rather than on me, then pull him back up into bed and go back to sleep). He also had IBD, diabetes, and a number of other ailments, although it seemed to all follow his hyperthyroidism diagnosis.

The first thing I’d suggest, if you haven’t already done so, is to rule in/out other causes or concurrent illnesses. Examples: thyroid panel (to look for hyperthyroidism), GI panel (which includes fPLI, fTLI, folate, and cobalamin to confirm pancreatitis and check for related issues), etc.

Charlie was a complicated case but his chronic pancreatitis was ultimately managed with many of the items mentioned in the Pancreatitis Primer that others have already pointed you to. For Charlie, the magic combination was famotidine 2.5 mg before meals (he’d begin eating 20 minutes after being dosed, like clockwork), buprenorphine for pain, daily subQ fluids, b-12 injections per the TAMU protocol, and exactly one flavor of one brand of food. The vomiting went to zero, but it took some experimentation. And his eating improved and his weight stabilized.

Famotidine has fallen a bit out of favor in lieu of other medications in recent years, but it worked for Charlie and it still a go-to for one of my vets.

Charlie was easy to pill BUT because he had such a problem vomiting, it was worthless to shove pills down him. They all just came back up. I used as many injectables as possible until the vomiting was managed. Famotidine and bupe both came in injectables, at least back then. Even the “oral” bupe isn’t meant to be swallowed, but rather squirted into the pouch between the cheek and gums to be absorbed.

Charlie also had 3 feeding tubes over the years, although not because of the pancreatitis, and I had windows where I needed to syringe feed.
 
JL and Chip said:
My cat Charlie had a rough battle with chronic pancreatitis until we figured out what worked for him. At his worst, he would vomit at least 10x a day, including at 4am while he was sleeping in my arms (I quickly learned to hold him over the side of the bed so that he could vomit on a towel rather than on me, then pull him back up into bed and go back to sleep). He also had IBD, diabetes, and a number of other ailments, although it seemed to all follow his hyperthyroidism diagnosis.

The first thing I’d suggest, if you haven’t already done so, is to rule in/out other causes or concurrent illnesses. Examples: thyroid panel (to look for hyperthyroidism), GI panel (which includes fPLI, fTLI, folate, and cobalamin to confirm pancreatitis and check for related issues), etc.

Charlie was a complicated case but his chronic pancreatitis was ultimately managed with many of the items mentioned in the Pancreatitis Primer that others have already pointed you to. For Charlie, the magic combination was famotidine 2.5 mg before meals (he’d begin eating 20 minutes after being dosed, like clockwork), buprenorphine for pain, daily subQ fluids, b-12 injections per the TAMU protocol, and exactly one flavor of one brand of food. The vomiting went to zero, but it took some experimentation. And his eating improved and his weight stabilized.

Famotidine has fallen a bit out of favor in lieu of other medications in recent years, but it worked for Charlie and it still a go-to for one of my vets.

Charlie was easy to pill BUT because he had such a problem vomiting, it was worthless to shove pills down him. They all just came back up. I used as many injectables as possible until the vomiting was managed. Famotidine and bupe both came in injectables, at least back then. Even the “oral” bupe isn’t meant to be swallowed, but rather squirted into the pouch between the cheek and gums to be absorbed.

Charlie also had 3 feeding tubes over the years, although not because of the pancreatitis, and I had windows where I needed to syringe feed.
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Thank you for sharing. We've done a full blood work and everything is normal except the pancreatitis, but I'll put that in my notes for them as well.
 
Chandler-Holly -Gizmo said:
If they have the injectable available at the vet tomorrow, I will ask them to give it to her. She smacks her lips quite often and I know she's nauseous. I'm trying to think positive. It's difficult seeing her like this and knowing her old age. :(
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If you want to try giving her a Cerenia injection at home, you can inject it into the bulbous of fluid created after you give sub-q fluids. This avoids the stinging. @jayla-n-Drevon has done this for her cat- she could probably tell you more? I am so sorry for you and your kitty! I hope you find something that works!
 
Kyle & Simon said:
If you want to try giving her a Cerenia injection at home, you can inject it into the bulbous of fluid created after you give sub-q fluids. This avoids the stinging. @jayla-n-Drevon has done this for her cat- she could probably tell you more? I am so sorry for you and your kitty! I hope you find something that works!
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Me too! She's looking so sick today, more than I have seen in the past. Since I started force feeding a few days ago, I did try the Cerenia crushed up in her food when I fed her and she hasn't thrown up today. I also put the Gabapentin in the food too. Wonder if those combinations are making her drowsy today?
 
If you can get a bottle of cerenia, it is pricey. I paid $177 for it but couldn't get the pills in so it was worth it. If you are giving subqs you can give it in the port closest to needle and slowly push it in as fluids are running. Make sure you have a firm grip on her in case you push it in to fast, it will sting. Ollie got 0.5 ml and I gave half, let fluid run a bit then other half. Cerenia also has anti inflammatory properties.

How much gab are you giving?
 
Hi. If you are able to have your vet contact UT &/or you can eventually get back to UT that would be really helpful. I pulled up their internal medicine staff for the small animal hospital and it looks like you’ve got not only 1 but 2 internal medicine specialists who actually sub specialize in pancreatic disease. One actually also sub specializes in procedures used to diagnose issues (Dr Stokes). You also have Drs Kirk and Olin who specialize in DM and Gastro.
Quite the group if you have a cat with pancreatitis, GI and/or DM :)......https://vetmed.tennessee.edu/vmc/Sm...ine/Pages/SA-Internal-Medicine-Personnel.aspx

Not sure who is on clinic but someone would be able to help!

At this point, additional diagnostics, like ultrasound &/or endoscopy, may be recommended in order to best determine what is going on. This is often the only way that the best treatment plan is able to be devised. Even with an elevated Spec fPLI (used to diagnose pancreatitis), diagnosis is limited because there can be other issues resulting in the inflammation of the pancreas besides “just” the pancreas & it is important that the other issues are not missed.

If it is *just the pancreas, IV fluids for a few days vs subq fluids can be a game changer. The pancreas needs to be perfused.

If the Prednisolone is not working, it may be a dosing issue at this point. What works as a treatment dose in a prior flare may not be enough with future flares and in that case, depending on the current dose, options include: increasing the dose OR adding a low dose of an immunotherapy drug to the Pred IF the dose of Pred is unable to be increased &/or it’s at a high enough dose of Pred but it is still not working.

Again, it is very important to figure out what is actually happening with respect to diagnosis first because the Pred can/will mask other issues & makes diagnosis of other issues more difficult.

I am going to attach 2 charts. One is a chart from a recent publication about Triaditis (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32682546/)but it discusses each of the conditions as well as the treatments used (chronic pancreatitis & also IBD and Inflammatory Liver Disease). If a cat has all 3, aka Triaditis, treatment will be guided by organs involved & severity of inflammation. The 2nd chart is of other disease associations in feline acute & chronic pancreatitis & was from a recent publication Re diagnosis of pancreatitis in cats (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32680667/) I include this because oftentimes there are other diagnosis besides just the pancreatitis—especially with chronic pancreatitis. However, despite this fact, it is not uncommon for a Spec fPLI to be done, come back positive, and a cat is diagnosed with pancreatitis with no further diagnostics done to confirm that is in fact the only issue going on. This can result in unsuccessful disease management due to the treatment not being dictated by accurate and full identification of disease states involved.
 

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Chandler-Holly -Gizmo said:
Me too! She's looking so sick today, more than I have seen in the past. Since I started force feeding a few days ago, I did try the Cerenia crushed up in her food when I fed her and she hasn't thrown up today. I also put the Gabapentin in the food too. Wonder if those combinations are making her drowsy today?
Click to expand...
One trick is to get Gelatin capsules and put the pills in them and they cannot taste the pills and won't spit them out. For cerenia, ondansetron or other like size pills I buy size 4, for larger pills I use size 2. I buy from Amazon and other on line stores. I don't know what you are force feeding but Hill's I/D & Hill's A/D are both smooth and easy to force feed. I use the I/D because Buddy cannot tolerate the fat, but A/D would be perfect for a kitty losing weight. When I take my cat's to the vet they will say do you want an injection or pills and most of the time I say pills and the vets are always surprised because most want the injection, but sometimes the injections are better. Just a few more tips for you to think on.
 
Tomlin said:
Hi. If you are able to have your vet contact UT &/or you can eventually get back to UT that would be really helpful. I pulled up their internal medicine staff for the small animal hospital and it looks like you’ve got not only 1 but 2 internal medicine specialists who actually sub specialize in pancreatic disease. One actually also sub specializes in procedures used to diagnose issues (Dr Stokes). You also have Drs Kirk and Olin who specialize in DM and Gastro.
Quite the group if you have a cat with pancreatitis, GI and/or DM :)......https://vetmed.tennessee.edu/vmc/Sm...ine/Pages/SA-Internal-Medicine-Personnel.aspx

Not sure who is on clinic but someone would be able to help!

At this point, additional diagnostics, like ultrasound &/or endoscopy, may be recommended in order to best determine what is going on. This is often the only way that the best treatment plan is able to be devised. Even with an elevated Spec fPLI (used to diagnose pancreatitis), diagnosis is limited because there can be other issues resulting in the inflammation of the pancreas besides “just” the pancreas & it is important that the other issues are not missed.

If it is *just the pancreas, IV fluids for a few days vs subq fluids can be a game changer. The pancreas needs to be perfused.

If the Prednisolone is not working, it may be a dosing issue at this point. What works as a treatment dose in a prior flare may not be enough with future flares and in that case, depending on the current dose, options include: increasing the dose OR adding a low dose of an immunotherapy drug to the Pred IF the dose of Pred is unable to be increased &/or it’s at a high enough dose of Pred but it is still not working.

Again, it is very important to figure out what is actually happening with respect to diagnosis first because the Pred can/will mask other issues & makes diagnosis of other issues more difficult.

I am going to attach 2 charts. One is a chart from a recent publication about Triaditis (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32682546/)but it discusses each of the conditions as well as the treatments used (chronic pancreatitis & also IBD and Inflammatory Liver Disease). If a cat has all 3, aka Triaditis, treatment will be guided by organs involved & severity of inflammation. The 2nd chart is of other disease associations in feline acute & chronic pancreatitis & was from a recent publication Re diagnosis of pancreatitis in cats (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32680667/) I include this because oftentimes there are other diagnosis besides just the pancreatitis—especially with chronic pancreatitis. However, despite this fact, it is not uncommon for a Spec fPLI to be done, come back positive, and a cat is diagnosed with pancreatitis with no further diagnostics done to confirm that is in fact the only issue going on. This can result in unsuccessful disease management due to the treatment not being dictated by accurate and full identification of disease states involved.
Click to expand...


Thank you. That was very helpful. UT is amazing. If Holly can and wants to hold on for me to get there with her. It could possibly save her life and give her quality life. I don't want to keep her here if she's miserable. Today has been rough. I was able to get the Gabapentin and Cerenia crushed and mixed in food when I force fed her. I was able to get a half a can wet food in and the high calorie gel and no vomiting. However, since then, she's not herself. I saw her walk and she was swaying and same with her head up while sitting. Could this be from the meds or am I seeing her shutting down? I may be reading into it too much and watching her all the time. Thankful for no vomiting at least.
 
I am so sorry to hear that she is struggling. It sounds like you are doing an amazing job but sometimes things get to the point where they just need more intensive care—even for a little while to allow them to get some traction.

Would you be willing to take her in sooner than later & by that I mean, if you think she is too ill for the long ride, take her to a trustworthy more local emergency/specialty center where they have the internal med specialists? This would allow them to stabilize her and get some preliminary tests going as well as IV fluids.
 
Happy to hear she is well enough for a drive :).

I have been there and done that :)——hyper vigilant & worry o_O! So hard not to be that way when they aren’t feeling well. If you can get video of the swaying or anything unusual or concerning you notice, you can always share it with the vet via email given that we can’t go into the clinics these days. Some vets come outside but some don’t.

One option, depending on what time your Appt is tomorrow, or you can call first thing when they open, is asking about the possibility of coming in earlier and that way if they think some IV fluids would help, they can do them for several hours while they are open. Just a thought! Depending on the situation, sometimes vets will agree to IV fluids & med management during the day and allow you to take them home at night when they close & bring them back the next day vs overnight hospitalization. It all depends on the severity & issue.

You are also able to have your vet contact UT to assist with setting up the consult or admission through emergency if that was deemed necessary. Some of the U settings are really backed up so having your vet help navigate and potentially find the best way to expedite an Appt would probably be best. I know some are booked out months for new patient appointments which is an issue when you need your cat to be seen sooner vs later.
 
Chandler-Holly -Gizmo said:
Me too! She's looking so sick today, more than I have seen in the past. Since I started force feeding a few days ago, I did try the Cerenia crushed up in her food when I fed her and she hasn't thrown up today. I also put the Gabapentin in the food too. Wonder if those combinations are making her drowsy today?
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Cerenia makes my cat very drowsy, so I wouldn’t be surprised! It does a good job of stopping vomiting though! I hope she feels better soon!
 
I think the swaying and kinda doped up way she is acting is from the Gabapentin.
From google:
The most common side effects include sedation (sleepiness) and incoordination. That's exactly how she's acting. She wasn't like that at all before giving it to her and today was the first day I could get it in her. Hopefully, she can sleep some tonight. Thanks everyone for help and just listening. It's nice to know others care :)
 
Will he thinking about you tomorrow and sending prayers your way for a good vet visit :bighug:! Hope she sleeps tonight. It is good to hear that the gabapentin may be the issue....not good she had that happen but good it may be a side effect vs something more serious. In the past I’ve only ever used Bupe injectable formulation for pain management and my guy is such a lightweight, requiring a very low dose, that the vet said he would probably not manage the gabapentin too well. It is definitely trial and error sometimes to find what works best while also being the most tolerable/least amount of side effects for a particular cat. Thankfully, there are options! Best :bighug:
 
What was the dose? Gabapentin can have that side effect. However, if on a regular schedule kitties adjust to it with no side effects UNLESS dose is to high.

If vet is dispensing it they might only have one dose available. If you give it regularly, might check into compound pharmacy so you can get lower dose. It's better to start low and increase as needed until you find the good dose that helps but doesn't have the side effects.
 
Kyle & Simon said:
If you want to try giving her a Cerenia injection at home, you can inject it into the bulbous of fluid created after you give sub-q fluids. This avoids the stinging. @jayla-n-Drevon has done this for her cat- she could probably tell you more? I am so sorry for you and your kitty! I hope you find something that works!
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Hi--I am so sorry to respond days later-I am not getting notices lately. YES @Kyle & Simon is absolutely right! Cerenia burns like fire and please don't give a shot without preparing by giving fluids first and shoot the cerenia right into the bubble-I always make sure to give at least 50 fluids and it works just as good without the sting.
I also have ondansetron injectable but the dosage breakdown is quite a bit for a normal dose and if you give it daily it can be not only annoying for the cat but costly especially when the oral works great as well.:bighug:
 
Sorry for the delay. Been a long few days. My local vet did an xray and saw intestines inflamed. So, she was able to get us into UT quickly. Holly was there for 2 days doing all sorts of tests in internal medicine. The good news is that they got her eating some again and no vomiting. Bad news at that time was that the inflammation and thickness of the intestine walls was not good. Could be IBD or lymphoma (large or small cell). Well, lots of ups and downs on what it could be without doing full blown bioposy which I don't want to put her through. Today I got a call back with the results and it looks like large cell lymphoma. Not a good sign. :( He said it could be small cell, but without biopsy to really know, all their opinions are going to large cell. Which large cell is a much shorter life span. They've increased predinsolone quite a bit and some other meds and a new appetite stimulant and I have an appointment next week with Oncology. Probably will go with this Chemo pill she can take and see if it works. I do not think I will put her through weekly intravenous Chemo. But, just make her comfortable as possible for hopefully a few months.

So, went from just chronic pancreatitis to a lot more, but at least I know and can be with her for the remaining time she has left. She deserves it.
 
So sorry to read that you got some tough news :(. It sounds like you have a good team and plan in place to help keep her comfortable and give you both some quality time together ❤️. Thoughts and prayers :bighug: that the meds help.
 
UT says if large cell, it's up to 6 months. Small cell could be 1-2 years. I'm not going to put her through surgery for biopsy to make a definitive diagnosis. She's already been through enough. I'll see what Oncology says next week and give her the chemo pill most likely and see if that works. If it doesn't work, I don't think she will have much quality time. She's so frail right now just from being so skinny. She ate half a can today, which is better than what she had been doing, but hopefully she can gain a little weight and we can get this under control as long as possible. She always sleeps with me and has her own pillow next to mine where she sleeps. I just have to prepare myself for this again. I found the forum 3 years ago when Chandler was very sick. He was also 17. Thank you every one for your thoughts and prayers and listening.
 
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