Pancreatitis swollen tummy - has anyone had experience?

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BaileyUK

BaileyUK

Member Since 2013
Hi

We posted an intro to our beloved Maine Coon BAILEY yesterday and shared some info about our journey with his Diabetes and the change over to Lantus and the benefits of having him on this type of insulin.

We were really after some feedback from anyone who has had expereince with Pancreatitis and in particular the characteristic fluid build up around the abdomen - at least we are assuming this is related to Bailey's pancreatitis and not something else. We have his FD under good control at the moment so are loathe to put him thru further tests to determine exactly what this fluid build up is but as I say our vet and ourselves strongly believe it is to do with his Pancreatitis.

We think he has had chronic pancreatitis for some time which may have led to the onset of his Diabetes. There was certainly an acute pancreatitis flare up in June this year and it knocked him back again considerably just when we were starting to get decent control over his Diabetes. The lipase results confirmed an acute flair up 4 months ago now but still his belly is very big and balloon like - our vet has confirmed this is a fluid build up. Clinical signs are still good he is a lot better and much more himself (thanks mainly to the change onto Lantus) but we are still concerned about his belly and that this hasn't yet subsided.

We are waiting on a further round of tests to see what his pancreas function is currently like but certainly the tell tale signs of Pancreatitis seem to have subsided several months ago and around the time of the change onto Lantus - before that he was one very ill cat.

Interested to hear if anyone else has had expereince of this abdominal swelling and if it is meant to subside or indeed if there is anything we can do to treat it. Once again we have seen the vet about this and they share our concern but we all feel that he has been thru enough these last few months and we really don't want to put him thru anything intrusive at this moment and whilst his clinical signs are still good.

Thanks in advance for any info anyone may be able to share on this.

Best wishes,

Bailey (and Barnes)
 
I'm dealing with pancreatitis in a non-diabetic cat. Her first symptoms were weight loss and a hard belly. I did have an ultrasound done and they found a nasty looking liver along with some fluid in the abdomen and a possible mass on the pancreas. The mass isn't a mass at all but rather an abscess on the pancreas which is going away.

What is causing the fluid in her abdomen is liver problems. The fluids drained showed a lot of protein in them and her ALT is high. Our treatment plan as of last Thursday is Denamarin and Hill's l/d food. Both of these treat liver disease.

My recommendation to you would be an ultrasound checking on the liver, pancreas, gallbladder and have a fluid drain and analysis of it to see if there is protein in it or even cancer cells or if an inflammatory process.

Just some ideas for you based on my experience.

Dale
 
Thanks Dale

We REALLY appreciate your feedback it is very helpful we shall discuss options with our vet and decide on the best course to take.

Thanks again for the info.

Barnes
 
Dale - just wanted to ask would the fluid drain involve a general anesthetic?

I do think we need to find out but it's whether or not we want to start messing with him again after we've had such a tough time getting him regulated. I think ultimately we are going to have to although our vet seems to want to leave it for the time being to see if it subsides.

Thanks again for the info very much appreciated.

Barnes
 
Hello again Elizabeth and thank you! I shall take a look thank you for thinking of us!

B
 
No anesthetic necessary to aspirate fluid, however, they usually (at least my vets do) need it to be done via ultrasound so they can guide the needle in safely.
 
Other causes exist for fluid in the abdomen or thorax, so if you have the vet aspirate some, it may help lead to a diagnosis.
 
Thanks for the feedback.

We got the test results back this morning and Bailey still has Pancreatitis his Lipase reading last month was 12 and has since gone upto 17 so we are starting him on Dudesonide which is a steroid that is not meant to mess with his insulin as badly as the other's we're told and he will also be on another course of anti-biotics.

Ultra-sound booked in for 2 weeks time to get some clarity on his swollen abdomen to all intents looks like Pancreatitis but we do need to rule out other possibilities.

Thanks again
 
Just wanted to tie this one off.

We took Bailey for a scan this morning and he has been diagnosed with Chronic Pancreatitis which we have suspected for several months. Incredibly relieved to rule out any tumours or anything more sinister. We are happy now that we know what we're dealing with and to all intents that this is a condition that goes hand in hand with his Diabetes which we are confident we have good control over now.

A very large THANK YOU to everyone that has posted info and welcomed us onto this forum.

We shall keep updating the BG table and will add to the forum as and when in the hope that we can return the favour.

All the best,

Barnes and Bailey
 
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