nepenthe
Member
My 11 yr old male Bengal has been diabetic for 2 years now and although that has been managed tightly, over the past several weeks he started to act lethargic, seemed less playful, and ate less and less, and has been sitting around in the so-called "meatloaf" position. He has exhibited the classic symptoms of IBD too, over the past 2 yrs.
Last week, after having eaten little, I took him in on Thursday the 13th. The vet said that he was down 1/2 lb since June and was severely dehydrated. She could sense that he expressed pain on palpitation of the upper-right quadrant. She wanted him kept overnight on i.v. and gave him a shot of buprenorphine. She ordered a Spec fPL and a panel, as well as thoracic x-rays.
The next morning, I came to see him and he seemed better and was eating some dry food (which, due to his diabetes, I havent fed him for 2 yrs. They said he ate that am too and wanted to keep him on i.v. until closing time.
The vet said that his blood work was normal, except for some "slight" elevations in his liver's ALT/AST. She said his x-rays were inconclusive.
I asked the vet what she thought and we both agreed that this looked like pancreatitis and maybe even triaditis with the liver elevations. She said the only way to conclusively prove this is with ultrasound, but wanted me to watch him closely for the next 10 days. She didnt think there was anything suggestive of cancer, as his weight hadn't gone down that much.
I asked her for sub-q and also prednisolone, and she agreed. I figured it best to be proactive. She didnt think it was necessary to give him more buprenorphine as he was eating. (I want to ask her for some more, in case of future flare-ups)
He got the first 5mg prednisolone on Friday night.
By Sunday he was eating more, albeit less than what he used to. It looks like it is still painful to eat, but he is nibbling at a bit of wet food and crunching bits of dry (which I would normally never feed him, but want to let him eat whatever he wants until this clears). I have given him 100ml sub-Q nightly and some 250mcg B-12. A good sign is that he is lying down on his side and was even lying on his back on the couch and stretching out, which I wouldn't think a cat would do with abdominal pain, reflux etc..
I guess my questions are:
1) Can other illnesses masquerade as pancreatitis?
2) How long typically does it take for a cat with concurrent IBD/pancreatitis (or even tridaitis) to improve on prednisolone at 5mg a day?
(I am thinking that if he does well and returns to some semblance of "normal", to taper him off the prednisolone and make a diet change to raw or novel protein and put him on long-term metronidazole.)
Last week, after having eaten little, I took him in on Thursday the 13th. The vet said that he was down 1/2 lb since June and was severely dehydrated. She could sense that he expressed pain on palpitation of the upper-right quadrant. She wanted him kept overnight on i.v. and gave him a shot of buprenorphine. She ordered a Spec fPL and a panel, as well as thoracic x-rays.
The next morning, I came to see him and he seemed better and was eating some dry food (which, due to his diabetes, I havent fed him for 2 yrs. They said he ate that am too and wanted to keep him on i.v. until closing time.
The vet said that his blood work was normal, except for some "slight" elevations in his liver's ALT/AST. She said his x-rays were inconclusive.
I asked the vet what she thought and we both agreed that this looked like pancreatitis and maybe even triaditis with the liver elevations. She said the only way to conclusively prove this is with ultrasound, but wanted me to watch him closely for the next 10 days. She didnt think there was anything suggestive of cancer, as his weight hadn't gone down that much.
I asked her for sub-q and also prednisolone, and she agreed. I figured it best to be proactive. She didnt think it was necessary to give him more buprenorphine as he was eating. (I want to ask her for some more, in case of future flare-ups)
He got the first 5mg prednisolone on Friday night.
By Sunday he was eating more, albeit less than what he used to. It looks like it is still painful to eat, but he is nibbling at a bit of wet food and crunching bits of dry (which I would normally never feed him, but want to let him eat whatever he wants until this clears). I have given him 100ml sub-Q nightly and some 250mcg B-12. A good sign is that he is lying down on his side and was even lying on his back on the couch and stretching out, which I wouldn't think a cat would do with abdominal pain, reflux etc..
I guess my questions are:
1) Can other illnesses masquerade as pancreatitis?
2) How long typically does it take for a cat with concurrent IBD/pancreatitis (or even tridaitis) to improve on prednisolone at 5mg a day?
(I am thinking that if he does well and returns to some semblance of "normal", to taper him off the prednisolone and make a diet change to raw or novel protein and put him on long-term metronidazole.)
