Pancreatitis help

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Sonia & Tom (GA)

Sonia & Tom (GA)

Member Since 2010
I have never dealt with this before.
Katmandu was not feeling well this week - not eating, lethargic - and I took him to the vet.
Xrays, full blood and urine work. UTI and "mild" pancreatitis. He was a bit dehydrated and they gave him some fluids. He was constipated too, maybe because he was "holding" because of pain. Took him home with antibiotics, bupe and fluids.

Vet says that he's ok only with pain meds. I am the one who asked for fluids. She says once a week is sufficient. Should I give fluids more often until cleared?
 
Sonia & Tom (GA) said:
I have never dealt with this before.
Katmandu was not feeling well this week - not eating, lethargic - and I took him to the vet.
Xrays, full blood and urine work. UTI and "mild" pancreatitis. He was a bit dehydrated and they gave him some fluids. He was constipated too, maybe because he was "holding" because of pain. Took him home with antibiotics, bupe and fluids.

Vet says that he's ok only with pain meds. I am the one who asked for fluids. She says once a week is sufficient. Should I give fluids more often until cleared?
Click to expand...


Hi Sonia,
Shadoe had lots of problems with pancreatitis, and even Oliver tested in the grey area just under 5.0 each time he was tested. What was the number on the fPLI test?
Under 3.5 is negative, 3.5-5.0 is the iffy grey area, and over 5.0 is positive.

You need to give 3 things:
1. pain meds - get buprenex as pancreatitis is terribly painful, and that's what humans have stated.
2. upset stomach - pepcid AC regular strength 10mg and give 2.5mg BID. When you're nauseous, you sure are not interested in eating. You can tell if upset when you put food in front of cat's nose, but the cat turns away... you ever smell something that turns your stomach? I imagine it's the same for them - sure, they are hungry, but if you feel like you're going to hurl, you won't want to eat.
3. Sub Q fluids - get a kit from the vet and give at least 100ml per day unless yr cat has heart issues, then go with the max that the vet says is safe. If needed, you can always break up the daily amount into 2 sittings. The fluids are needed to flush the system; you will see an improvement from them.

Shadoe had a horrible time with frequent bouts/flares of pancreatitis. Cats seem to be prone or not prone to pancreatitis, much like ketones. I don't know why some cats are more susceptible but they are. I had Shadoe tested a few times for fPLI and always in the teens or higher for a result, and her signs were always the same, so eventually, I saw them and treated her with the above 3, having all cleared in about 3-4 days.

When I changed to the vets Dr. Mitelman and Samson, they said B12 shots. It seemed that giving Shadoe weekly B12 shots would help with her pancreas inflammation, and may not stop all flares, but would definitely minimize them. I got a vial of B12 and gave her 25u every week.
Well, after about a month, I started to see a great improvement in her and in the months that followed, she had only 1 minor flare that passed in a day. I also started giving Oliver weekly shots, and have since heard that B12 shots are a great supplement to be giving older cats for all of the benefits.

Gayle

ETA: since he's been 'holding' because of pains, it may be an idea to use some Restoralax in his food, giving maybe 1/8 tsp BID, to get things moving..... you will need to add more water to his food to help the Restoralax soften the stool for passing. Oliver has megacolon, so if you have any questions on what's helped him, just let me know.

Gayle
 
Blue said:
Sonia & Tom (GA) said:
I have never dealt with this before.
Katmandu was not feeling well this week - not eating, lethargic - and I took him to the vet.
Xrays, full blood and urine work. UTI and "mild" pancreatitis. He was a bit dehydrated and they gave him some fluids. He was constipated too, maybe because he was "holding" because of pain. Took him home with antibiotics, bupe and fluids.

Vet says that he's ok only with pain meds. I am the one who asked for fluids. She says once a week is sufficient. Should I give fluids more often until cleared?
Click to expand...


Hi Sonia,
Shadoe had lots of problems with pancreatitis, and even Oliver tested in the grey area just under 5.0 each time he was tested. What was the number on the fPLI test?
Under 3.5 is negative, 3.5-5.0 is the iffy grey area, and over 5.0 is positive.

You need to give 3 things:
1. pain meds - get buprenex as pancreatitis is terribly painful, and that's what humans have stated.
2. upset stomach - pepcid AC regular strength 10mg and give 2.5mg BID. When you're nauseous, you sure are not interested in eating. You can tell if upset when you put food in front of cat's nose, but the cat turns away... you ever smell something that turns your stomach? I imagine it's the same for them - sure, they are hungry, but if you feel like you're going to hurl, you won't want to eat.
3. Sub Q fluids - get a kit from the vet and give at least 100ml per day unless yr cat has heart issues, then go with the max that the vet says is safe. If needed, you can always break up the daily amount into 2 sittings. The fluids are needed to flush the system; you will see an improvement from them.

Shadoe had a horrible time with frequent bouts/flares of pancreatitis. Cats seem to be prone or not prone to pancreatitis, much like ketones. I don't know why some cats are more susceptible but they are. I had Shadoe tested a few times for fPLI and always in the teens or higher for a result, and her signs were always the same, so eventually, I saw them and treated her with the above 3, having all cleared in about 3-4 days.

When I changed to the vets Dr. Mitelman and Samson, they said B12 shots. It seemed that giving Shadoe weekly B12 shots would help with her pancreas inflammation, and may not stop all flares, but would definitely minimize them. I got a vial of B12 and gave her 25u every week.
Well, after about a month, I started to see a great improvement in her and in the months that followed, she had only 1 minor flare that passed in a day. I also started giving Oliver weekly shots, and have since heard that B12 shots are a great supplement to be giving older cats for all of the benefits.

Gayle

ETA: since he's been 'holding' because of pains, it may be an idea to use some Restoralax in his food, giving maybe 1/8 tsp BID, to get things moving..... you will need to add more water to his food to help the Restoralax soften the stool for passing. Oliver has megacolon, so if you have any questions on what's helped him, just let me know.

Gayle
Click to expand...

Thanks Gayle.

His number was 7.1 According to what I read I don't see that as "mild". I would see the grey area as mild maybe.

We have Bupe and gave him Pepcid once or twice but maybe he should get it every day? He get Lax A Day every day and his food looks like soup. He's not one that chews his food anyway, he seems to prefer licking so watery food works well.

Thank for the advice on the sub Q. I did get a kit and gave him some yesterday, seems to have made a difference. The vet was talking about once a week and it seems too little to me.
I will give him some more tomorrow.

How long does it take for him to feel better? It's been on and off the last few days.

Sonia
 
Hi Sonia,
I don't know how much fluids you gave but if he's healthy and agreeable to it, I would go with 100ml a day. The bag will be good for 10 sittings and by then, you for sure should be done with it. For the needle size, vets usually give you size 18ga as it's large and get the fluids into the animal fast. Oliver's skin is thick like a car tire, and those 18s were gruesome to get through his skin. Shadoe HATED the 18s. I always got 20s UTW ultra thin wall and Oliver was fine; Shadoe really liked the 21s and 22s. Yes, they were slower to get the fluids in, but it's a perfect time for bonding with your cat.

I gave Shadoe 1/4 tab pepcid about 30min before her 2 shot meals; I wanted to have her stomach settled by the time she needed to eat. I gave her Pepcid at that dose, 5mg per day, for months until switching to the B12 shots.

So the Pepcid twice a day, fluids daily around 50-100ml but aim for the 100 until the flare has cleared, and I gave tiny amounts of bupe a couple times a day. Before shot time, I'd give her maybe a 0.15u of bupe orally, then the pepcid. After the 30min, she was fine with eating a bit, and getting her shot of Lev.

For the Lax a day, yes, there's no diff between it and the Restoralax. I just went with which one was on sale at Shoppers. For the constipation, between the souped foods, and the fluids, you should see some good results in a day or two. If not, then maybe talk to the vet about looking into the reason for the lack of stool. It may be an idea to have an enema if the powder and fluids don't help. With Oliver, he also gets another stool softener a couple times a week, called Senakot or Sennalax, that you can get at Shoppers or any pharmacy. If the constipation is just that, nothing more, once he's moving regularly, you want to keep up the Lax a day by using at least 1/8 tsp in 1 or 2 meals a day, just to stay regular.

Now, that 7.1 is not 'mild', it's a positive. Sure, it's not a 14 or 20, but it's not in the grey area.
Combined constipation and pancreatitis and need for antibiotics (what did she give you and for what reason), the daily fluids is the right thing to do. Just so you know, you don't need any antibiotics for pancreatitis; it's inflammation.

I hope it goes well!

Gayle
 
Thanks Gayle.

I had done fluids with Tom for a bit and remembered to ask for the smaller syringes. Mandu is great with the whole process. Gave him some again last night.

He got antibiotics because of a UTI. And and enema.

She thinks the constipation may be a combination of things: pain from UTI, dehydration and hair. He has long fur that he won't let me brush very much without bitting me so when he's better he's getting a good grooming.

Sonia
 
I have seen some finagles for "cat brushes" such as a U-shaped arch of bristled material which the cat may deliberately walk through to scratch itches and remove excess fur at the same time. Or bristled pads which may be placed on the corners of things, with the same idea.
 
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