Just diagnosed with pancreatitis

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Michele&Molly

Michele&Molly

Member Since 2009
The vet just called and my non-diabetic cat Lincoln has pancreatitis. Value number was over 10. My normally lovey, affectionate baby has been a trainwreck as of late. Constant 'meatballing', clealry uncomfortable, and barely eating a thing. He has lost over a pound in 1 week.

The vet wants me to bring him up to the office in an hour. He's going to give Lincoln an injection of Bupe, cortisone, and B12.

He will send me home with Tramadol for pain (I want Bupe but am being told he can't dispense that high of an amt), cortisone in pill form until a compounding pharmacy can make the gel for me (Linc is a terrible pilling patient!). And i can't remember what he said about the B12.

This is way too much to take in!! I thought I wasn't supposed to give cortisone which is a steroid! He said untreated pancreatitis can develop into diabetes and that diabetes linked to cortisone is from shots, not the pill.

Things are moving too quickly!! Any suggestions? Does this sound correct? Lost and confused!!!
 
My vet gave me buprenex for my cat when he had a dental, she gave about two weeks worth of pre filled syringes. So, I don`t know why he can`t give you the buprenex unless he just does not want to. It would probably be more a more effective pain medication than tramadol.
Also usually they should give some type of anti nausea med to send home, I would ask about that. My Siamese mix had pancreatitis before she became a diabetic.
I am not sure about the steroids, I don`t remember them giving her those. I do remember that she was on B-12 shots afterwards. Main things is nausea and pain with pancreatitis. You have to get them to eat.
Best of luck to you and I hope your kitty feels better.

Terri
 
Tramadol isn't the best choice for cats and it's VERY bitter, so getting it into the cat might be a challenge in the first place. Ask for the buprenorphine...it's much safer but it also has to be given the right way. It should come in a syringe (no needle) and you slowly squirt it into your cats cheek pouch and it's absorbed from the mucus membranes.


I'll see if I can find someone to help advise you on the treatment of pancreatitis...there are quite a few members here that are dealing with it.
 
Thank you Chris! I was given Tramadol and Bupe to see which Lincoln responds better to. I'm to give Bupe in the morning and Tramadol in the evenings. The vet gave me 6 of ea for now.

I was also given cortisone pills. He wants me the try them (2 a day) before making the decision to go with the transdermal (placed in the the ear) gel.

This is a lot of pilling for my Linc! He's not always the best patient.

Any advice from other members dealing with this would be appreciated!!
 
This is a clinical roundtable on feline pancreatitis that was conducted by experts in the field. It may be helpful for you. One of our members also put together a primer on pancreatitis.

I haven't run into any problems with my vet dispensing bupe. If you cat is difficult to pill, bupe can be given as an injection. Another option may be a fentanyl patch.
 
My Newkitty has had chronic pancreatitis flares for the past 8 years. She likely developed diabetes after 7 years of long-term pred use for IBD; however, the only way we have been able to keep her alive & having good quality of life since 2005 has been a very high dose of prednisone. Hopefully your baby would not go that route and will just need them short term. (Is it prednisolone?) It is pretty common to get steroids for this. Newkitty has IBD, pancreatitis, diabetes in remission for 2 years (despite massive pred), and CRF, and pancreatitis has been the worst one by far. We lost our other sugar cat, Buddy, earlier this year from pancreatitis we could not get under control. I basically keep her pancreatitis happy and manage the rest of the conditions as best as I can.

Oh, as for food, the rule of thumb I see a lot is that pancreatitis kitties do not benefit from low-fat diets. However, a high fat diet nearly killed Newkitty 8 years ago. High quality canned = 2 months of misery. We have to keep her under 30% fat. There have been several other cats on the board in the past 8 years who are the same. Just something to think about down the road if you don't see improvement before too long.

Oh one other thing, I would definitely ask for some nausea meds over and above pepcid.

Good luck to you!
 
Hi Michele&Molly,

My cat was diagnosed with pancreatitis about 2 months ago. Finding a food that works well for him made a big difference. For him, that happens to be Wellness no grain, either chicken or turkey. He also gets bupe and Cerenia when he needs it. Making sure he isn't in any discomfort is key, I think. With the bupe, it's suggested that you give it every 8 hours, so make sure he doesn't go too long without some sort of relief.

Since I switched my cat's diet and have been giving him drugs when he needs them, his pancreas has looked much better on ultrasounds and blood tests.

Best wishes for helping your kitty,

Lara
 
There is a yahoo group you can join that is very helpful. Yahoo group Yahoo unfortunately just changed the group format but if that doesn't bother you too much there are some really great people in that group. I do recall people using steroids but I think it is used as a last resort treatment usually because of all the possible side effects. But don't quote me on that.

One thing I learned from the group is that it is so much cheaper to get the Bupe from another pharmacy if your vet will give you a written prescription. I got 30ml for $40 from Diamondback Pharmacy online. That is a ton but they have a minimum charge so you pay the same amount for say 15 ml as for 30 ml so that is why I got the 30ml. I paid the same amount for 3ml from my vet :shock: Milo only got .2ml twice a day but that price was just crazy. Hopefully your vet actually gets that cats need a pain med for pancreatitis. Some refuse to give a pain med because they are adamant that the cat is in no pain. My vet didn't really think Milo was in pain but he said I could have whatever I wanted.

Also if you have a ton of pills to give you can buy empty gel capsules so you can put all the pills for one time period into one capsule and pill once. It makes it a little easier plus your cat won't taste the pills.
 
My Ozy has pancreatitis. He has been doing much better since I started giving him B12 injections. I give them once a week. I also just started subcutaneous fluids because people here whose cats have pancreatitis say fluids have been the most helpful thing with pancreatitis.

Welcome to the forum.

donaleen
 
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