Not eating, vomiting.. :(

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Izzy2017

Izzy2017

Member Since 2017
We were out of town this weekend and had a vet tech come and give our cat insulin and wet food while we were gone. When we came home Sunday everything was okay until night time when Izzy ate he vomited it up immediately after. :(

We went to the vet Monday (not the normal vet we go to as she was on vacation) and they ran a bunch of tests and said that he has pancreatitis and then she gave him a shot of Cerenia for the nausea. They also gave him some fluids since he was dehydrated.

Tuesday morning he was eating a little bit but not as much as he should. Vet had told us to give insulin even if he isn't eating since his numbers were so high. (At the vet he tested 535, no ketones). We called the vet to ask if she could give us a prescription for anti nausea pills or shots and she said no. He would have to come back to the vet (which he hates and stresses him out) and just get the shot that lasts about 24 hours. The vet also said we go to our local pet store and ask them about buying low carb food.. aaaaahhhh. We bought a few different brand pate foods and he did eat a little of those as well but again not what he should be eating. We tested his glucose and got 371 PMPS so we gave insulin.

Wednesday morning he ate the same little amount so we gave his shot again. Tonight (Wednesday night) we couldn't get him to eat anything so we fed him contraband food and he held that down for about 5 minutes so we gave his shot. About 5 minutes past that he threw up everything and then continued to vomit water and is walking around the house crying.

We plan on taking him to the vet tomorrow and the regular vet will be back but in the meantime is there anything we can do? :( :( :( I feel awful for him.


- Kayla :)
 
Usually you get sent home with meds to manage pancreatitis. You need Cerenia in pill form because he might need it for a few days or longer, pain meds and sometimes subcutaneous fluids. Some kitties need an appetitie stimulant and a stronger antinausea med than Cerenia.

The Cerenia shot from Monday is long out of his system and I'm not sure why the vet refuses to prescribe meds for home use. I'd definitely take him in again tomorrow to see your regular vet. A diabetic cats who isn't eating, is becoming dehydrated from vomiting and has an inflammation going on is at risk of serious complications like diabetic ketoacidosis or hepatic lipidosis.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
Usually you get sent home with meds to manage pancreatitis. You need Cerenia in pill form because he might need it for a few days or longer, pain meds and sometimes subcutaneous fluids. Some kitties need an appetitie stimulant and a stronger antinausea med than Cerenia.

The Cerenia shot from Monday is long out of his system and I'm not sure why the vet refuses to prescribe meds for home use. I'd definitely take him in again tomorrow to see your regular vet. A diabetic cats who isn't eating, is becoming dehydrated from vomiting and has an inflammation going on is at risk of serious complications like diabetic ketoacidosis or hepatic lipidosis.
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That is what we thought and mom (Susan) specifically asked the office if we could get sent home with a pill or even the shot since it is subcutaneous and we are already giving those kind of shots. We explained to the vet that taking him there every 24 hours isn't plausible because it is extremely expensive and it stresses him out to drive there. . .

We are going to ear test before bed. A bit nervous that he is going to sink too low because he doesn't have any food in his stomach :C
 
I know how hard it is to feel helpless and wanting to help ease our babies' discomfort. I don't think you will be able to do anything tonight. I'm glad you have a vet appt. Hope it gets here fast.
 
vbc2000 said:
I know how hard it is to feel helpless and wanting to help ease our babies' discomfort. I don't think you will be able to do anything tonight. I'm glad you have a vet appt. Hope it gets here fast.
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Thank you. :) Hoping for a better interaction with our normal vet than we had with the lady that was available Monday.
 
Max had chronic pancreatitis for about 7 years. Cerenia lasts 24 hours. The shots are absorbed better than the pills but sting so I used the pills or the human drug ondansetron that I bought at Costco or on line. There were periods where Max was on ondansetron for months until I was told his dose wasn't large enough for him and I used cyproheptadine as an appetite stimulant. So I don't think you need to take your cat back to the vet. You just need nausea medication and might for a week or more. Sorry you gave this to contend with and hopefully it will be a one time thing and not chronic. Read the primer on pancreatitis.
 
Izzy2017 said:
We called the vet to ask if she could give us a prescription for anti nausea pills or shots and she said no. He would have to come back to the vet (which he hates and stresses him out) and just get the shot that lasts about 24 hours. The vet also said we go to our local pet store and ask them about buying low carb food.. aaaaahhhh.
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Kayla, don't go back to that Vet. I caught my boy's pancreatitis kind of early, which sounds like you may have too. Initial treatment at the clinic was a little bit of fluids, Cerenia shot, and appetite stimulant as well BUT when I verified if they were sending me home with more, Vet said absolutely. The main treatment for pancreatitis is nausea and pain management. I'm very surprised the Vet didn't send you guys home with any :arghh::(. While most seem to get the flare down in a week or few days more, my boy did take almost a month with very conservative treatments. I couldn't afford the aggressive treatment at the clinic but our Vet didn't think it was necessary at the time. I kept her updated.

Obviously, after hearing about most people only dealing with it for a week or so I was a bit worried because my boy took longer. So just letting you know if it does take a little longer, don't feel too bad as it happened to me too :bighug:. The only thing you'd be able to give him tonight is famotadine (pepcid) which would just help the acid in his tummy settle some. If you want to try that, Maury is about 13 lbs / 5.91 kg and I bought 10mg tablets of regular strength pepcid. I was allowed to give him 1/4 of a tablet. We only did this once and it was very unpleasant for my boy so I didn't try again since he didn't seem to have a lot of acid :smuggrin:.

As for food, have you seen this FOOD CHART that most of us use here to find low carb options? Ideally, you'll look for foods with less than 10% carb contents :)
 
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That's so unfair not to give you meds and an RX to get more. I'd find another vet too. Going back for a shot is just a way to get more money.
 
Mom took him to our regular vet today (who has been great to work with unlike the lady we got Monday...)

This is what she said. ..

She is keeping him for a couple hours, said she would do an X-ray to see if anything obvious, probably fluids, will do a free urine check because other Doc didn't leave her any notes:( and can send us home with antinausea pills, but it's illegal to send injections home. She will give him an injection of cerenia today. She said she will try to keep costs down as much as she can.


Update 2 as of a few minutes ago..
She said X-ray showed definite thickening of colon, maybe a mass but questionable, she said if there's a mass it would be lymphoma, so she wants to do ultrasound, I told her do the ultrasound and let me know...she said they have to sedate him & shave his belly so it will be 2:00 before she can do it and she will call me when he is ready to be picked up.

It's 152pm now so he is hanging out at the vet and we are waiting :( Hoping they don't find anything bad and we can bring him home with anti nausea pills.

On a side note - the other non sugar kitty was vomiting yesterday as well. Fingers crossed it is just a bug going through and he is just taking it a little harder as a sugar kitty. :/
 
Yong said:
Kayla, don't go back to that Vet. I caught my boy's pancreatitis kind of early, which sounds like you may have too. Initial treatment at the clinic was a little bit of fluids, Cerenia shot, and appetite stimulant as well BUT when I verified if they were sending me home with more, Vet said absolutely. The main treatment for pancreatitis is nausea and pain management. I'm very surprised the Vet didn't send you guys home with any :arghh::(. While most seem to get the flare down in a week or few days more, my boy did take almost a month with very conservative treatments. I couldn't afford the aggressive treatment at the clinic but our Vet didn't think it was necessary at the time. I kept her updated.

Obviously, after hearing about most people only dealing with it for a week or so I was a bit worried because my boy took longer. So just letting you know if it does take a little longer, don't feel too bad as it happened to me too :bighug:. The only thing you'd be able to give him tonight is famotadine (pepcid) which would just help the acid in his tummy settle some. If you want to try that, Maury is about 13 lbs / 5.91 kg and I bought 10mg tablets of regular strength pepcid. I was allowed to give him 1/4 of a tablet. We only did this once and it was very unpleasant for my boy so I didn't try again since he didn't seem to have a lot of acid :smuggrin:.

As for food, have you seen this FOOD CHART that most of us use here to find low carb options? Ideally, you'll look for foods with less than 10% carb contents :)
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Yes we have been referencing the food chart :) Unfortunately we have to get his vomiting under control first since he won't eat things that haven't been staying down (understandably) we ordered some of the young again zero carb to hopefully convince him to eat something while he refuses the wet food.
 
Just to update:
Izzy got his ultrasound yesterday and it showed thickening of intestinal walls and prominent mesenteric lymph nodes (up to 9mm), so vet is unsure between diagnosis of IBD and lymphoma:( I think she is leaning towards lymphoma. Recommendation is to treat for IBD and see how he responds, so that is where we are at right now. Unfortunately, treatment for IBD is usually steroids, and he is diabetic. She has not given us any steroids yet, wants to wait and see...

Vet gave a shot of Cerenia yesterday and sent us home with an appetite stimulant (which he really doesn't seem to need, he's eating okay). I'm still not clear on why she did not want to send us home with Cerenia (at least the pills, apparently she cannot legally send us home with syringes of Cerenia, she would have to sell us the whole $500 bottle) , but I do trust this vet so am just following her direction at this point. She asked me to call her today with an update and said we would go from there.

Izzy is eating well this morning and last night (no vomiting so far!!) and is acting pretty normal, although he seems a little hypervigilant, but maybe that's because he wonders if I'm going to randomly swoop down and stuff him in his cat carrier again :eek: plus he isn't being let outside at the moment (he normally goes outside every day).

He and his kitty brother LOVE the Young Again Mature Zero that arrived via FedEx yesterday...possibly love it even more than they love the Kitty Crack (Purina Cat Chow). I'm afraid to feed too much of the YA since it's so rich, but it makes a good bribe.

Fingers crossed he does okay today and things start looking up...his sugar was 370-something in the vet office, so not too bad considering, although my guess is the sedative they gave for the ultrasound helped with that, he came home looking pretty stoned, if he could talk I'm sure he would've been saying "wowwwww groooovy duuuude...." haha

sue
 
To get a diagnosis you need a biopsy. Ask if an endoscopy will likely yield results. It did for Tiffany. It's impossible to tell with an US. It just eliminates IBS/lymphoma. More diagnostics are needed. If you would treat with chemo your best chance for a long remission is a diagnosis so correct treatment can begin asap. I'm sorry but praying for the best.
 
tiffmaxee said:
To get a diagnosis you need a biopsy. Ask if an endoscopy will likely yield results. It did for Tiffany. It's impossible to tell with an US. It just eliminates IBS/lymphoma. More diagnostics are needed.
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yes, that is what i understand. the changes appeared to be mostly in/around the small intestine, so not sure endoscopy would reach...but definitely a question worth asking the vet. the limited ultrasound was ~$200, so not sure i can afford endoscopy anyway:(

tiffmaxee said:
If you would treat with chemo your best chance for a long remission is a diagnosis so correct treatment can begin asap.
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at this point, his diabetes is not under control and he has stopped vomiting for less than 12 hours, so the 12 to 18 hour fast that just doing an endoscopy requires is out of the question. we are just trying to get him feeling better/stronger before doing anything else.

I'm not sure if I would treat cancer or not--I probably would small cell as treatment sounds doable for him, but at this point everything is going on a Visa card, so that has to be taken into consideration. How many (more) thousands can I go into debt? It depends on what his chances of (happy) survival are...and how hard it will be on him emotionally.

Was Tiffany's small cell? Intestinal? Did she test positive for FIV or leukemia?

tiffmaxee said:
I'm sorry but praying for the best.
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Thank you so much :) any and all prayers are very much appreciated!

sue
 
Izzy2017 said:
yes, that is what i understand. the changes appeared to be mostly in/around the small intestine, so not sure endoscopy would reach...but definitely a question worth asking the vet. the limited ultrasound was ~$200, so not sure i can afford endoscopy anyway:(

Was Tiffany's small cell? Intestinal? Did she test positive for FIV or leukemia?

sue
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Tiffany had the more serious intermediate cell. She was negative for FIV and leukemia and healthy her whole life until early CKD and the lymphoma. It was in intestines and stomach.

Were you sent home with cerenia? It lasts 24 hours. Will your vet treat for sc without an endoscopy? I wouldn't wait to long to try because while sc is slow moving it also takes more time before you see results. Results would be evident with increased appy, no vomiting, and generally feeling better. It's the disease that makes them feel yucky. Hopefully it's just IBD.:bighug:
 
Picked up a prescription of cerenia in pills from the vet. Not sure if it will be easier to leave as pills or syringe it down
.. We will see how pill popping goes tonight!

-kayla
 
So sorry you are dealing with this. I've had two cats with IBD- one of them also had intestinal lymphoma. I had an endoscopy done on my current kitty Leo while he was in the hospital for projectile vomiting and it was very expensive. My previous kitty's intestines were so thickened with such enlarged lymph nodes her specialist didn't feel anything else than the ultrasound was needed to diagnose at that point. Even if her case was actually only IBD it was so severe that she was given the same treatment that is used for lymphoma so it didn't really make any sense to put her through a surgical procedure at that point. I hope things get better for you and Izzy.
 
Lillie said:
So sorry you are dealing with this. I've had two cats with IBD- one of them also had intestinal lymphoma. I had an endoscopy done on my current kitty Leo while he was in the hospital for projectile vomiting and it was very expensive. My previous kitty's intestines were so thickened with such enlarged lymph nodes her specialist didn't feel anything else than the ultrasound was needed to diagnose at that point. Even if her case was actually only IBD it was so severe that she was given the same treatment that is used for lymphoma so it didn't really make any sense to put her through a surgical procedure at that point. I hope things get better for you and Izzy.
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Thanks :bighug: I'm hoping he will start feeling better in the next few days and we can treat him for either IBD or lymphoma or both! I do think the endoscopy will be too expensive for me to swing anyway, so glad to hear someone else treated without knowing POSITIVELY with biopsy.

We have to get him stabilized first though, and he is not eating this morning:( On the plus side, he's not throwing up either. Vet did send us home with mirtazapine 15 mg tabs to divide into 1/4 and give every 72 hours (so 3.75mg), so when daughter gets up we will give that. I've been reluctant to give it because like all meds it has side effects, so didn't want to risk it without absolute need.

tiffmaxee said:
Put the cerenia in a gel cap. How much are you giving?
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Cerenia is 24 mg tab, divided into 1/4, given one time per day (so 6 mg). It does say to drop down to 1/8 pill for long term use.

We did put it in a gel cap and that is the first time I've used one! Worked much better than trying to get that tiny piece of med down while cat is fighting and salivating and spitting.

I also bought a "pill popper" thing that we have yet to try--we used the open-mouth-and-drop-pill-in method last night for the Cerenia. Any experience with the pill syringe type thingies?

thanks you guys for all your help :bighug:

sue

p.s. vet just called to see how Izzy is doing, said we are doing everything right and to go ahead and give the mirtazapine, but just let him eat whenever he wants (don't try to push food too much) and just check him for hypo if/whenever we are concerned.
 
I used to use a pill popper but eventually decided it didn't help much for me. If you can slide the gelcap in to the side of the mouth it sometimes is easier than opening up the mouth. Always chase the gelcap with a little food or syringe water. I used baby food for that as Max liked it and it was easy to syringe if he wouldn't eat.
 
We used the piller and it worked quicker than pill by hand and then we syringed some water down after. Still no vomit but he isn't eating very much.
 
the mirtazapine must have kicked in---he is eating tonight (mostly purina cat chow dry w/some YAZ mixed in, but a little fancy feast) and still no vomiting. he also played with his (hoodie) string that he loves, and is acting much more himself tonight:)

i didn't notice a lot more meowing with the mirtazapine, but he's normally a talker anyway(increased meowing was one of the listed side effects)

sue
 
Max never got mirt but Tiffany did and it made her VERY vocal and she already was a talker. Because of that Max got cyproheptadine instead. I'm glad it's working for you.
 
My boy was given 16mg tablets of Cerenia to be cut into 1/4 pieces and they were too tiny for a pill popper. Luckily, they must not taste too bad because after a couple times he was OK swallowing that. No weird side effects on Bupe or Mirtazapine either like I've heard some kitties can have ;). Also, with pancreatitis my boy preferred his YA dry over his wet foods. I hope Izzy starts feeling better soon :bighug:
 
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