Please help!!!- sick kitty- pancreatitis.

[aTmkat04]

My 12 yr old kitty Duchessa has been having a rough few days. Wednesday, she started throwing up and not eating. I tried tempting her with her favorite foods to no avail so on Thursday I took her to the vet. After many tests, Pancreatitis seemed the most likely culprit. This was confirmed with an ultrasound. She has had a few small flare ups in the past but nothing like this. She is extremely lethargic. The vet, who knows her well, agrees that she might turn for the worse in case of hospitalization. She does not do well at all caged or in unfamiliar places. I have been going to vet every day for treatment and monitoring. I check on her through out the night as well.

Wed- throwing up, no appetite. Gave cyproheptadine to induce appetite (didn't work) and for allergies (wheezy breathing).

Thursday- diarreah (with some blood in it) throwing up- syringe feeding chicken baby food and science diet id. Gave first quarter of cerenia. Started flagl for bacteria detected in stool. (Stool was pale colored which is typical of pancreatitis I hear).

Friday- received sub q fluid from vet, also received shot of steroids. Continued cyproheptadine, flagl, cerenia and started prednisolone.

Saturday- received sub q fluids, checked blood sugar level (perfect), vet a gave first shot of buprenorphine which I repeated at home late at night. Continued all pills. Started feeding royal canin gi formula. She gagged on the flagl and threw up most of what I syringe fed her.

Sunday (today)- fed this morning without incident, but after eating, she had a bm with blood mixed in her stool. I will attach a picture of it. She has gotten really good at not swallowing her pills but I don't want to gag her again. I spaced it all out but she ended up throwing up anyways, steroid pill and all. She just had another odd colored loose bm. It has been continuously pink and runny for the last few days. I am also concerned that today she is throwing up even with the cerenia in her system.


I am so confused about what to do. I feel like I am torturing her but really want her to get better. Instead of getting better, she is getting worse and on top off it all I have pretty much burnt through my cash available to treat her. It's so frustrating not knowing what I can do to help her! She looks to be weakening instead of recovering.
There is never a good time for this, but I am 21 weeks pregnant and the hormones are making me that much more emotional.

She has always been there for me and I just want to do what's best for her. If anyone has any advice, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you,
Katherine

 

[Blue]

The 3 things you need for pancreatitis are for hydration, pain, and nausea.

You need to be giving at least 100ml fluids a day so if you have a fluids kit at home, just keep giving the fluids, especially if the cat is vomiting and therefore losing body fluids.

You need to be giving buprenorphine every day, at least twice a day, because pancreatitis is extremely painful. The pains are sharp, and you can ask any human who has suffered.... not good at all.

You need to be giving something for nausea and vomiting. Cerenia is good, and also pepcid.
You know that when you are nauseous, you sure don't think of eating and you are not hungry... now, if someone made you eat when you felt like hurling, what would happen? Yup, what went in would come right back out.
You need to give something to settle the insides before going for the food, and if you are syringing feeding, you need to go very very slowly.... just a trickle of food so that it's barely noticeable.

What do you have on hand now? Please know that pancreatitis can be fatal so just let your cat eat anything at all.

For the meds, I think I would suggest emptying the flagyl and other meds into some water and syringe the water/meds mixture down the corner of the cat's mouth.

you need to keep the hydration up, the pains down, and some form of nutrients in.

Gayle

 

[Ann & Scatcats]

I want to add blood in poop and puke is not related to pancreatitis

There is an Anti-Inflammatory NSAID for Cats - tolfenamic acid - Tolfedine
http://www.drugs.com/vet/tolfedine-6-mg ... s-can.html
http://www.askavetquestion.com/news/201 ... in-canada/

But given as Anti-Inflammatory for reducing the inflammation of pancrea with GREAT CAUTION, since even by mistake the sliiiiiiightest over dosing gives them instant stomach ulcer and just throwing up blood because of that.
Did that by mistake to Gustav and rushed him off asap to hospital when he threw up some blood. Later it was also tried on Simba in his first Lethal Critical Severe pancreatitis. A last not tried added, and when given it turned the swelling of pancrea to go down. But he was strictly not giving it many times.


But Anti-Inflammatory of NSAID type for Cats lacks in the conventional regiment. None of the above have that function, unless I am wrong given each things function and content.


But blood in poop and puke is more or less severe ulcerations, so Tolfedine should be out of the question then.

 

[Squeaky and KT (GA)]

I'm sorry kittybaby is so sick. KT just went thru a lot of what you're describing. The one thing you might try is adding digestive enzymes to help her digest the food. A probiotic is the other thing I gave KT. You might talk to your vet before starting the enzymes, the probiotic is always a good thing unless given at the same time as an antibiotic. It was about 3 days after starting the enzymes that his poop started looking much more normal.

BIG HUGS TOO! It's hard when our babies are so sick...

 

[Marje and Gracie]

So just to confirm....your kitty is NOT diabetic? I couldn't tell. While you said her BG was "perfect", my cat's is too, today but she is diabetic.

Cerenia is not the best medication for nausea; ondansetron (zofran) is much better. Cerenia is best for vomiting.

I wrote a A Primer on Pancreatitis. I did extensive research and it has the most up-to-date info on pancreatitis and how to treat it. BTW, I'd talk to my vet about how much to give in terms of fluids. Yes, she needs fluids but you need to be careful. If you are aware if she has any other conditions, like any heart issues, you will want to be more cautious with fluids. I'd find out how much they've been giving her and what you can give her on a daily basis. If she has a heart murmur or any other issue you are aware of with her heart, you'll want to break the fluids up and give half as much twice a day.

If you have never given fluids at home, here is a video I made on How to Give Subcutaneous Fluids to your Cat at Home.

I'll check back in a little bit to see if you have questions but you do need to treat it aggressively. I also would not give digestive enzymes, IMHO. That is usually for cats who have exocrine pancreatic insufficiency but a probiotic might help her especially since she is on flagyl.

 

[BJM]

Some pills may be dissolved in an oral syringe for administration. Adding a bit on soft food to mask the flavor is OK, but use one you don't normally food, to prevent food aversions. Ex plain meat baby food with nothing else in it.

Some meds come in an injectable form, too, so check with your doc if anything may be given subQ, to avoid further irritation of the GI tract.

 

[Blue]

Most currently, there are vets who are suggesting cerenia for nausea and it works, plus more vets are going with Zantac for nausea and the cats are doing well on it.

It's not often that cats have normal BG during attacks / flares of pancreatitis, and even cats who have normal non-diabetic BG numbers will rise when sick.

Ultrasound can confirm if pancreatitis and how bad the inflammation is inside your cat.

Also, take your cat's temperature as cats very ill from pancreatitis can have issues with maintaining their temp.

the short list:
get pain meds - bupe is the best for sharp pains of pancreatitis.
get nausea meds - if cat is vomiting, injectable is fine. otherwise, get liquid or crushable pills AND a feeding syringe if you don't have one.
get fluids kit - give max fluids/day for at least 4 days..... no more than 100ml in a sitting, and if vet says 150, then split it into 2 sittings as the larger the amount, the harder it is on the cat's heart, and that's even for a cat with no health issues.

Gayle

 

[aTmkat04]

Duchessa has been at the vet for hospitalization since yesterday morning. They are giving all her medication via an IV. This morning they called and said she looks a little more alert, went to the restroom in the litter box (no blood in it!) and are a little dry food. (they just want to see if she will eat anything!) This is really good news since yesterday she wouldn't move at all and was going to the restroom on herself. We are keeping her there and should know more tomorrow morning. She has a heating pad with towels on top in her kennel and I when I visit her, she seems to be happy.

Thank you so much for all the information and well wishes- I have been discussing all options with my vet.

Katherine

PS- She is diabetic (has been for about 4 years) but her sugar levels have been pretty stable. I know sometimes you have to up the insulin when giving steroids.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Thanks for letting us know.

The issue with giving cerenia for nausea is that you can't give it for long periods of time. Yes, you can give it more than five days (old school) but I'd feel more comfortable giving zofran which I know I can give for longer periods of time if I need to. And I have found that it actually DOES work much better for nausea.

Be sure they are addressing her nausea before giving appetite stimulants. It's hard on them if they get the appetite stimulants but are too nauseous to want to eat. Yes...they can adjust the insulin to allow steroids.

Hope she is better soon.