Sheryl and Peaches said:
His vet called today because she said she hasn't stopped thinking about him and his symptoms. She wants to try him on some meds to treat a couple of things that it "could" be...1 is pancreatitis and the other is toxoplasmosis.
there doesn't need to be a *could be* as p-titis can now be easily tested for w/ fPLI blood test.
I think I gave you the links to the labs in my previous posts. They also have some good general information about the disease. The Idexx site also has a nice roundtable on treatment.
He is now on Mirtazapine, Clindamycin, and Reglan.
mirtz worked great for us. it is nick named *meowzapine* b/c many cats will react to it by becoming talkative. Winnie was never a talker , but as soon as her mirtz kicked in.... lots of conversation. It is also called a happy pill ( it is an anti depressant). Winnie got very lovely on it.
some cats can take that response to the extreme and become a little hyper active. It wears off the first day. And works great --- as long as pain and nausea are under control.
She also put him on a Hills ID diet to help calm his stomach if that is what is bothering him. The vet sounded optomistic and said we can keep him on the special food for 6 months or so and see if it is helping.
the important thing, of course is that he is eating. Most cats are not diet sensitive w/ p-titis and it will not make any difference w/ their illness.( and yes It is in the literature ;-) ) I experimented w/ food for both my kitties anyways. Didn't make a bit of difference. FWIW, Winnie was on ID and she got very sick w/ p-titis on that food. All that said, some on this board have found their cats are diet sensitive ( the old ECID) and that it helps to feed a low carb, mod fat diet.
cheri and louis put together a great list of foods for kitties w/ both FD and p-titis :
http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... sg-1179876
I know you are also dealing with CRF w/ Peaches, we were too and found some of the merricks flavors to also have phos. amt. lower than 250.
He had a very good day- ate a couple of cans of food- thought we were making some progress...then I gave him the meds and now he is acting VERY uncomfortable. He can't sit still and just hobbles from the living room to the kitchen and then back again.
reglan/metroproclimide can make cats very restless. Winnie could not sit still. Wolfie became very aggressive on it.
It also is not the best antiemetic med for cats. Most vets now prefer the ondansetron for nausea for p-titis.You have to get a script for a human pharmacy. I would be happy to email some papers on that and other p-titis research papers if you would like to take them to your vet. Just like FD, vets are not always up to date on the latest treatments for p-titis. I took papers in to my vet and she read ( and listened to a great lecture on CD ).
and of course the mirtz /meowzipine can cause hyper vocalization ( and it starts as soon as the mirtz kicks in and is very noticeable )oh and Winnie would get very affectionate on mirtz.
Some kitties, do get an extreme vocalization response and overstimulated. As mentioned, that effect wears off in a day (usually less). If he is still restless, I would try skipping the reglan and look for improvement.
ETA-- just read your post in community about him smacking your other cat. That would be the reglan.
p-titis is by nature an extremely painful condition. Please ask your vet for some pain med.
Feline Pancreatitis: Underdiagnosed and Overlooked
Margie Scherk, DVM, DABVP (Feline)
Analgesia is of critical importance in the comfort of the patient, but also in the progression of the disease/inflammation through the negative physiological effects of pain. Pain causes disease and prevents healing. Even if obvious abdominal pain isn't present, use a "test dose" of 0.1-0.2-mg/kg oxymorphone IV to see if the patient improves over the approximately 6 hour effective period. If that is the case, then constant rate infusion of a narcotic may be considered or a transdermal fentanyl patch (DuragesicTM) for continuous relief. TorbugesicTM is not as effective for visceral pain as the opioid agonists are.
in other words, buprenex or fentanyl patches are best options for home care.
(her emphasis)
I have a copy of her full paper somewhere if you would like me to dig it up.
You can test dose at home w/ burprenorphine/buprenex. It can be given orally(liquid) or by injection.
We used the oral just fine. ECID. As soon as it kicked in for Winnie -- w/i 10-15 min. she would just get this huge relief. and eat and act so much better. Wolfie too. and he did not exhibit pain behavior, other than inappetence. As soon as it kicked in for him, he would eat.
I hope Peaches feels better soon.
