Help with IBD and Pancreatitis for Frank

Status
Not open for further replies.
P

Pace and Frank

Member Since 2011
Hello to All ;
The saying that cats have nine lives is certainly true with Frank. 2006 , Frank was 10 years old and now 16 was dx with diabetes and with the help of this site I got him into remission and he has been on a honeymoon ever since , thank God . In the last two years he almost died of a respiratory problem which left him with no voice. After that it was dx with hyperthyroidism and he had to have one of his thyroids removed the first of 2012. Still Frank was sick. His bg's were all over the place , weight loss , no energy. After extensive testing including a sonogram he was dx with pancreatitis in June and given a steroid shot. Back and forth to the vet for blood work only to be told that he still had pancreatitis. At the vets this week for another blood panel the vet said he strongly suspects that Frank also has IBD , given the sonogram of the intestine and Frank throwing up his food. The vet thinks the IBD could be causing the pancreatitis. Friday I will be starting him on Atopica for the IBD. Given his blood work I am still having to do sub-qs once a week.....his BUN and CREA are high.

Can anyone please give me advice on how to help him with the IBD and Pancreatitis.....diet , medicine , anything that will help him. He has lost 1 1/2 pounds in just a little over a month. He is eating 4 or 5 cans of FF a day and raw chicken. I just knew at this vets visit he would have gained at least a few ounces but NO , thank God again he had not lost any more weight.

Thank you for reading this and offering your advice. I love my vet but I know that the knowledge of the people on this site can help me more than the best vet in the world.
Pace and Frank my beautiful kitty
 
There are a number of folks who've dealt with the combination: here's a board search on IBD and pancreatitis. Perhaps you'll see some posts which are helpful.

Also, I just saw an article on human pancreatitis with the following statement:
"They also noted that animal studies have shown that statins may actually alleviate acute and chronic pancreatitis." You'd want to discuss this with your vet.
 
You might want to also look up triaditis - a collection of diseases that involve the pancreas, intestines and liver. Is he has p-titis and IBD, it is a good possibility that he also has liver involvement. It's all connected through the common bile duct that comes from the liver, joins the pancreatic duct and then empties into the intestine. It's very easy for inflammation to travel up or down the ducts.

I am suspicious of FF food causing IBD. My aunt's male cat has it and has been fed FF his entire life. I keep trying to get her to change his diet, but she just finds FF easier. The raw you are feeding is good and probably the best food for the IBD. Can you increase the amount? Or is that just raw chicken and not a complete food/raw diet? Raw food seems to help a lot of IBD kitties. Maybe find another canned food to switch out for the FF - slowly, of course.

I think Beau has IBD as well. He had years of chronic p-titis which, knock on wood, he has not had issues with since he went OTJ. He has lost weight and occasionally has blood in his stool. This has been going on for almost three years (weight loss stabilized about 2-1/2 years ago). After a bunch of vet visits and labs we could not find anything else wrong. I feed a mixture of PetSmart's Great Choice and Wellness and I add digestive enzymes, probiotics and salmon oil to it. Beau is doing a bit better now that I increased both the salmon oil and the enzymes. He also gets a little plain Greek yogurt now and then. Older cats seem to lose enzymes as they age. Probably because the building blocks for them are not in their diets and the food also doesn't have healthy bacteria in it.

One of the lev posters, Pamela & Tigger, gives Denamarin to support liver function in addition to other supplements. You might PM her and ask for more details.

If Frank is vomiting, that can be the p-titis. Have you tried pepcid before meals? When Beau had flare ups and didn't' eat well (or at all), I gave 1/4 tab reg pepcid with a yogurt 'chaser' about 20-30 mins before a meal. It helped him.

SubQ fluids are another tool in the p-titis toolbox. I think they would also help with IBD, but don't give without making sure he has no heart issues. At his age that sort of thing could be a factor without symptoms. Beau has HCM, hypertrophic cardiomyopthay, so I would have to be cautious giving any subQ fluids to him.

Has his T4 level been tested recently? Hyperthyroid can cause vomiting and digestive issues too.
 
I hate IBD. My Boomer (GA) had pancreatitis and moderate IBD dx'd by a biopsy. He was given pred which helped but gave him diabetes. On Lantus I got him OTJ by using budesonide instead of pred. I haven't heard of the drug you are using. Boomer would also eat constantly /puke and lose weight. He ate more than he puked but he was still always losing weight. Turned out he had EPI which is rare in cats: exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.
Take a look at this site for more info
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+1329&aid=330
The cat's intestines can't break down the food so it's not absorbed....no matter how much they eat. They need to have enzymes added to the food the break it down before the cat eats it.
I tried raw food which seems to help IBD in some cats-but no go-he wouldn't eat it. Perhaps you could slowly increase the raw and eventually switch to that?

I'm hoping Frank is feeling better soon and that you can find something that helps him!!!!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top