Prayers = Blackie Has Pancreatitis :(

Status
Not open for further replies.
Angela & Blackie & 3 Others

Angela & Blackie & 3 Others

Member Since 2010
I took Blackie in this morning to have her BW checked as a routine since she hasn't had a visit since February when we had the lump on her back removed. Had her eyes checked out, also, as she appears to be following solid things, and sometimes will walk in a straight line to follow the sounds of my hands. Her left eye has something going on with as she can see shadows, but there's a delay when the vet flicked her hand at her eye. The right eye is fine, and she can see clearly out of it.

The BW came back with the pancreatitis. The vet suggested 1/2 a Cerenia pill every 24 hours for 4 days, and she's getting Tramadol topical every 8-12 hours for the pain for the next 5 days. I found out that the Tramadol also comes in pill form, which is much cheaper than the topical. The vet tech suggested that instead of the topical, but right now, and for not stressing out Blackie, I'm giving her the topical and we'll go from there.

She also suggested sub-q fluids, but I don't think I can do it. I offered to increase her water intake with each meal instead, which I will do. I know that Blackie drinks it up when it's in her food bowl along with her food.

I gave Blackie 1/2 a Cerenia when we were still there, and I'll give her one in the morning. I'll need to verify with the vet to make sure it's ok as it's not a full 24 hour period.

So, that's where we stand.

Any advice/help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated right now.

Question:Do I need to change her food to something with a lower fat content? Her food is 12.66% fat per the nutrient value on http://www.EvoPet.com.
 
Re: Blackie Has Pancreatitis :( (Question at bottom)

I'm sorry to hear Blackie has pancreatitis, Angela.

Have you read A Primer on Pancreatitis? It has some good info to discuss with your vet.

Dogs and humans are more likely to get pancreatitis from high fat foods than cats are. In cats, pancreatitis is often idiopathic (they don't know what causes it). The Evo you are feeding her has an 'as fed value of 12.66% fat but the % calories from fat (which is how we usually look at it) is more around 65-70% depending on which one you are feeding her. That is kind of high in fat; not because of the pancreatitis but because you'd rather an obligate carnivore like a cat have more of a balance of protein and fat. However, high quality protein is expensive and so cat food manufacturers either up the fat or up the carbs in order to put in less high quality protein. Less high quality protein is less expensive for them. Again, I don't think it is the % fat that is causing her pancreatitis and I also don't think it's good to switch a cat's food when they aren't feeling well unless they just stop eating what you are giving them.

What bloodwork was done? Did she do a fasting specfPL to diagnose the pancreatitis? If she is diagnosing it off amylase or lipase numbers, it's inaccurate and cannot be done for cats. The only BW that works for diagnosing pancreatitis in cats is a specfPL. Diabetic cats should be fasted about six hours prior to doing the test. Some vets do a snap specfPL as well but better accuracy comes from the one sent to Texas A&M or through IDEXX labs.
 
Re: Blackie Has Pancreatitis :( (Question at bottom)

She did a full blood serology with CBC. Blackie had eaten before then, though. The amylase was elevated, and she has acute pancreatitis at this time. She's not sure if Blackie will fully recover or not as she's not sure if we caught it in time or not. No, Blackie wasn't put on a fasting because I made a decision to bring her in this morning to have BW done on her to see if everything was fine, or not. She hadn't been there since February.
 
Re: Blackie Has Pancreatitis :( (Question at bottom)

You might also like to consider ondansetron as an anti nausea medication. I would only give cerenia if remi was actually being sick and ondansetron to control ongoing nausea. It used to be recommended that cats have a break from cerenia every few days. I can't quite remember the reason but I think it builds up in the system.

I also give my cat, who has chronic pancreatitis, 1/8 Zantac twice a day to help prevent the build up of stomach acid. I am like you and didn't like to give sub q and do added water to his food and also syringed it carefully into his mouth.
 
Re: Blackie Has Pancreatitis :( (Question at bottom)

Blackie was given 1/2 16mg pill only once/day (every 24 hours) for 4 days, and she only got 2 whole pills, which I'll be splitting. Thank you... I may need to talk to my vet about giving her something like that. What dose was the Zantac, and was this per your vet's suggestion?
 
Re: Blackie Has Pancreatitis :( (Question at bottom)

I don't have anything smart to say about Blackie's condition, but I want to send a hug across the miles. I hope you and Blackie can work through this. Sending comfort, healing and positive vibes to your neck of the woods. :YMHUG:
 
I missed that Blackie wasn't feeling well...does she have symptoms of p-titis? I don't know if you recall that Trix had a pretty severe case last Spring and she is still here, just as feisty as she was before the p-titis! With a dedicated caregiver such as yourself, p-titis is definitely beatable.

But I am confused about how this diagnosis came to be. If Blackie doesn't have any symptoms, I don't see how she could be diagnosed with acute p-titis, as p-titis is very painful and nauseating. My vet doesn't even trust the specfPL test because if there is anything else going on within the kitty, the values can easily be skewed.

If it is p-titis...this is what we did with Trix:
I've never used Tramadol, but Trix had bupe for pain, 3 times a day at first, which we then tapered. She was on Pepcid (5mg BID), and 4mg cerenia (which comes in injection form if you need it...very expensive, but easier than pilling a nauseated cat. ECID - for Trix, cerenia worked better than ondansetron.) every for several days, then every other day. The Pepcid comes in liquid and injectable, too, if you're having trouble with pilling. These meds really help a lot - you need her to keep eating, and if the pain and nausea are under control, it will make eating much easier for her.

SubQ fluids really are very important when treating p-titis; it helps keep them hydrated (which also helps with nausea) and balanced. You really can't put enough water in their food to equal the amount of hydration they get from SubQs. Trix was on 150mls once a day during the peak of her attack, and is now on 100mls a day because of her CKD. I am confident you'd be able to do this...it's like doing an extended insulin shot. For Trix, it takes about 5 minutes, tops...it's not a long drawn out process.

Sending prayers....
 
Re: Blackie Has Pancreatitis :( (Question at bottom)

Angela & Blackie & 3 Others said:
Blackie was given 1/2 16mg pill only once/day (every 24 hours) for 4 days, and she only got 2 whole pills, which I'll be splitting. Thank you... I may need to talk to my vet about giving her something like that. What dose was the Zantac, and was this per your vet's suggestion?
Click to expand...

Hi I give remi 1/8 of a 75 mg Zantac tablet twice and day and 1/4 of a 4 mg ondansetron tablet twice a day. I put them both in a size 4 empty gelatine capsule twenty minutes before remi breakfast and dinner. I make sure the capsule is swallowed with 5 ml of water in a syringe. The vet initially suggested famotidine but we switched to Zantac as it has better stomach motility properties and this helps remi somewhat (it's cheaper too ). I can't remember if the vet suggested ondansetron or whether I did but he was happy for remi to be on it and still is.

The cornerstones of treatment for pancreatitis is the use of anti nausea /sickness medication, stomach acid reducing meds, pain relief and fluids. in the uk sub qs are not routinely used at home and so I added water to each of remi's meals and also gave water with his meds and a few more syringes of water throughout he day. He was on buprenex for a month or so and to this day gets his anti nausea and Zantac twice a day. The panc forum recommend that you keep the supportive meds going for a long time (ie don't stop as soon as blackie seems to improve) and you only change one thing at a time.

Remi had a terrible flair two years ago where he was being sick. Multiple times a day, couldn't move because of the pain and couldn't eat. With the help of these meds (and an antibiotic/steroid for cholangitis ) his symptoms improved and he got through the flair. He now has chronic pancreatitis and I just watch for any symptoms but just keep most the meds the same.
 
A low fat food does seem to help remi and he had one acute flair after eating some cooling sausage fat so I would look at he fat content of blackie food. He also flaired when I switched him to a duck and pea food which was higher in fat. Having said that you need to tread carefully with new foods when they are already poorly.

As someone else mention you want a spec fPLI test done. The pancreatitis forum members don't worry about whether it is a fasting test or not but it should be that test rather than anything else.

Does blackie have any symptoms? Lip licking, walking away from food, sitting in the meatloaf position, face pinched, sickness or bringing up bile? If not then I would just add water to her food and keep and eye on her. I think many older cats have slightly raised pancreatitis.
 
Angela

There is no way to diagnose feline pancreatitis on a superchem/cbc. The elevated amylase cannot be used. Our IM specialist is more convinced by u/s than anything else but does look at the specfPL. He looks for a complete picture: symptoms, labs, u/s. I'm sure the pancreatitis group might not think fasting is necessary but my vet called TAMU who said absolutely six hours fasting for a diabetic and 12 for non diabetic. And they developed the test so I would trust them over the pancreatitis group.

I'm not a fan of throwing antacids at a cat without knowing that acid is a problem. We need acid to digest foods and if you give antacids without knowing it is absolutely needed, you could be doing more harm than good.
 
To go along with what Marje said...giving any sort of medication (in addition to the Pepcid) or fluids when it isn't needed can cause more harm than good. We're just concerned about how this diagnosis came to be because it seems to have come out of the blue.
 
Marje and Gracie said:
Angela

I'm sure the pancreatitis group might not think fasting is necessary but my vet called TAMU who said absolutely six hours fasting for a diabetic and 12 for non diabetic. And they developed the test so I would trust them over the pancreatitis group.

I'm not a fan of throwing antacids at a cat without knowing that acid is a problem. We need acid to digest foods and if you give antacids without knowing it is absolutely needed, you could be doing more harm than good.
Click to expand...

Yes sorry, to clarify I would never advise adding any med without discussing it with your vet. The antacids are usually given if a cat begins throwing up bile a lot. And again re the fasting the pancreatitis group advise that fasting is not necessary for those cats with high numbers for example my cat spec fPLI level is chronically over 50 and thus fasting makes no difference in a diagnosis however for cats on the borderline of normal levels then I am sure fasting is advised.

Apologies if I came across as trying to advise you to start giving antacids. I only meant to tell you what helped my cat remi. I feel bad for maybe overstepping the mark. I think I just rushed to help and wasn't clear enough.
 
A couple of points...

Like Marje pointed out, amylase and lipase levels in a cat are not reliable indicators of pancreatitis. The values will be misleading and result in misdiagnosis.
[url=http://manhattancats.com/Articles/pancreatitis_test.html:2ibh5m1s][b:2ibh5m1s]Manhattan Cats[/b][/url] said:
As for diagnostic testing, it has been suggested that two enzymes found in serum, amylase and lipase, were good indicators of pancreatic inflammation if they were elevated, but recent comparisons have shown that almost 50% of dogs with elevated serum amylase or lipase levels did not have pancreatitis. In cats, the situation is even worse. Serum amylase and lipase levels have no clinical usefulness at all for the diagnosis of feline pancreatitis. This is mostly because other organs in the body produce these enzymes, such as the stomach and small intestine.
Click to expand...

Antacids are not used if a cat is vomiting bile. Bile is not a product or related to stomach acid. It is produced in the liver and stored in the gall bladder. You would know if your cat is vomiting bile -- it is brownish yellow and has a pretty awful odor. Most people presume that if a cat is not vomiting food, the cat is vomiting bile. This is not necessarily true. Antacids can be helpful with pancreatitis and historically, Pepsid or other antacids were used. This appears to be less the case now.

If Blackie is not demonstrating any of the signs or symptoms of pancreatitis, i would not put my faith in the lab results your vet provided.
 
Re: Blackie Has Pancreatitis :( (Question at bottom)

Angela & Blackie & 3 Others said:
She did a full blood serology with CBC. Blackie had eaten before then, though. The amylase was elevated, and she has acute pancreatitis at this time. She's not sure if Blackie will fully recover or not as she's not sure if we caught it in time or not. No, Blackie wasn't put on a fasting because I made a decision to bring her in this morning to have BW done on her to see if everything was fine, or not. She hadn't been there since February.
Click to expand...

The amylase is not a good test for pancreatitis in cats. You need the fPL. That is ridiculous to say that she doesn't know if she will fully recover and how does she know it is an acute attack? I'm really confused by this. Please don't let this get you down as it doesn't make sense. Max has had chronic pancreatitis for nearly 5 years. I like ondanasetron for nausea but some cats do better with cerenia. You need to treat it until the cat is back to normal and eating well. Four days is just not enough in my opinion, especially if the vet thinks she is having an acute attack. The gold standard to diagnose short of a biopsy that almost nobody would do is a fasting fPL. I wouldn't fast a cat with diabetes though more than 6 hours. The test will be accurate unless in the gray zone and if in the gray zone it wouldn't likely be an acute attack.
 
((((Angela,))))
I'm very sorry that Blackie might have pancreatitis, but, as the others have said, the only way to know is to have the specfPL. Do read Marje's primer on pancreatitis! The IDEXX Round Table discussion cited there is very helpful. Rusty has mild pancreatitis from time to time and I make sure that he eats enough and that he gets lots of water (I mix water into his food).

I hope you can get the diagnosis straightened out. Sending many prayers, good thoughts, and vines to your girl.

Hugs and scritches,

Ella & Rusty
 
i'm a bit skeptical of the diagnosis, too. punkin had one pancreatitis attack and he was quite sick - meatloaf position, refusing to eat, etc. He was so "off" that was what sent us to the vet - it certainly wasn't picked up just routinely. He had fasted that afternoon and we did the spec fPL that is run by IDEXX.

I remember when Tarragon had an acute pancreatitis attack and Melissa got home and found him quite ill on the floor, scooped him up and ran for the vet's. An acute attack is dramatic and the cat is definitely ill. If you're not seeing that kind of symptoms, she may have some chronic pancreatitis, which is pretty common in our diabetic cats, but i don't think she's at death's door - fortunately! :YMHUG:

So breathe easy, Angela, and try not to worry til you get a little clearer information. If you suspect pancreatitis by her behavior, then I would specifically ask for that Spec fPL to be run tomorrow and fast her for 6 hours before the test. I made that easy by making the appt for the end of the day.

sending our best "feel better" vibes to your sweet Blackie and "rest well" vibes to you.
 
Hi Angela.

You are getting lots of wonderful advice here. I just wanted to offer prayers and some moral support. It sounds to me like you have a lot of faith in your vet. I'm guessing you've had a long relationship with her. We are not implying that she is deliberately cutting corners or that you should ignore what she says. As with FD, many vets only know the basics about a lot of diseases and conditions. The people here have tons of experience with p-titis, and they are sharing that with you to help. Please, take the info they have given you and ask your vet about the test they say you need and the other suggestions they have made. You might also ask her how many cases of p-titis she has treated in cats. I'm betting it isn't many.

We are all here for you and sending healing vines and prayers for Blackie. :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG:
 
Angela, I was reacting to the grim take on this by your vet. I need to add that if this is a mild episode it CAN go away within a few days and in that case you wouldn't need to run the fPL. It is only elevated during active pancreatitis. So if Blackie feels better by Monday there would be no reason to run it. The cerenia should help a lot. IF Blackie isn't pretty normal by by Monday then I would definitely consider the blood test and get more cerenia or ondansetron. the nausea can last a long time. I have found the cerenia works well for vomiting and ondansetron for nausea but it depends on the cat. Some even benefit by getting both. Take care.
 
No advice giving here, but just wanted to send off prayers, moral support and healing vines for a quick recovery for Blackie, poor baby! :YMHUG: :YMHUG:
 
Sending vines for Blackie and hugs for you. I know it sounds like you are being inundated with advice, but the folks here have Blackie's best interests at heart. It doesn't sound like you took her in for any specific symptoms, just a routine test? I'd ask your vet to do a followup w/ the specfPL or U/S. Just to be sure. Don't question her dx, just say you'd like the more specific tests to know just how bad it is and to set your mind at ease. The snap fPL can show whether or not she has pancreatitis, the specfPL gives a number range for the severity of the attack. Tess has had elevated amylase in the past and it wasn't pancreatitis. You may find that a great weight has been lifted from your shoulders.

If it is the dreaded P do consider the subQ fluids. Marje has a great video and it isn't as scary as it feels right now. Remember the first time you had to shoot insulin? I know it took me several minutes to get up the courage to do it the first time. SubQs aren't much different, it just takes a few minutes longer. Ask them for smaller gauge needles, those 20s they usually offer are unnerving!

Hang in there. :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG:
 
Angela ....looks like you are getting lots of good advice here already. I have no experience with this but it does sound a lot more optimistic than your Vet was indicating. I just wanted to let you know I am thinking and praying lots for Blackie and you! Lots of these too :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG:
Risé
 
She's currently on the Cerenia for 4 days, and then if the Cerenia doesn't work, we're to try the Promethazine. That I can recall, Blackie's symptoms are walking around a lot, purring loudly as if in pain, not finishing her food. The latter can take her up to 1/2 hour to complete, and I sit on the kitchen and hold the bowl for her while she eats.

I gave her the 1/2 pill (wasn't quite a 1/2 pill as it was the other 1/2 to yesterday's, which was bigger) this morning at 5:15 a.m. I'm about to test, shoot, and feed her now. I will be calling the vet on Monday with regards to how she's doing.
 
How is Blackie doing today? The cerenia is primarily an anti-vomiting med. The Ondansetron (sp) others mentioned is geared more towards nausea. Is Blackie demonstrating any signs of being nauseated, other than taking longer than usual to finish her food? Is she meatloafing at all? Was she vomiting at all before you started the cerenia?

FWIW, with Trix I spend a LOT of time getting her to finish her food now, and the same thing happened with my GA civvie Mario as he gold older, too, and he never had p-titis. For him, it was a quirk of aging; with Trix, it's a lasting/learned behavior from having p-titis, but she doesn't actually have p-titis at the moment.

It does sound like something is up with Blackie, but I have to be honest - I don't love that your vet told you she wasn't sure if you "caught it in time", only because I think she really upset and scared you. My only experience with acute pancreatitis is when Trix had it, and when my GA civvie Mr Kitty had it (about 12 years ago), and they were both VERY sick - it was obvious that they had acute pancreatitis. Severe meatloafing, not moving well at all if and when they did move around, extremely nauseated, in a daze from the pain, not eating at all, etc. Blackie very well could have pancreatitis, but it doesn't sound acute, and it can be managed with support from the bean, especially is she is eating, even though it takes a while - that is HUGE.

Did her BW show anything else being off other than the amylase? How are her kidney values, etc?
 
I had force fed Blackie some very watered down food. It was 45g, but she didn't eat it all and she kept trying to paw the syringe away from me, which I took it as she's done... For now. Right now, she's purring like mad, and flicking her tail. I'm trying to eat something myself, and showed her my bowl, which she seemed to be interested in (can't haz it, kitten pie... Gotz zugarz!)

Yes, she's been walking around in a daze. I'm really ashamed to say that I should've caught this earlier, but didn't know the signs of it, and thought it was just part of the neuropathy/diabetes. I only hope that I can reverse the damage that I have caused her. :sad:
 
Sounds like she is still nauseous. If the cerenia doesn't help today I would ask for ondansetron. That is what I use for Max. For many cats cerenia works better for vomiting and ondansetron for nausea. With Max I also had to increase his dose. Not all of the oral is absorbed. So cerenia injections might work better than the pills. I hope Blackie feels better soon. Don't beat yourself up for not discovering it sooner. It can come on suddenly or gradually. Once the nausea and pain are controlled Blackie will feel much better. When Max was first diagnosed it took months before I could wean him from the medication and I was giving cyproheptadine along with the ondansetron. It turned out the nausea was not completely controlled. Once he got the 2mg of it instead of one I was able to cut out the cypro. Some cats never come off the nausea meds.
 
((((angela)))) you didn't cause any damage to her. this has nothing to do with anything you've done or not done. pancreatitis is common in diabetic cats - i'd guess 1/2 of the cats who regularly post on here have probably had it. the pancreas is what puts out insulin, so often diabetic cats have some sort of pancreas issue.

she'll be fine - give your sweet little girl an extra hug and just plow on forward. sending you a big hug!

for what it's worth, cerenia worked great for punkin. i'm a huge fan of it for both nausea and vomiting because it helped him tremendously.
 
You didn't cause it; her body just doesn't work optimally.

You do the best you can with what you know and observe. That is all any of us can do.
 
I just saw your question about fat. With dogs and people it is an issue but not so much for cats. Sometimes a cat has IBD and a different protein source or grain free makes a difference. When it's brought on by CRF, diabetes or stress a food change isn't usually necessary. The only caution I would give you is that a cat can develop food aversions if fed while nauseous. So the best things you can do for Blackie is to figure out how to get the nausea and pain under control. Feeding small amounts often is helpful. Try baby food if she likes it. I used to finger feed it to Tiffany but when Max won't eat his normal food he often will eat it on his own.
 
I agree with the others....you did nothing to cause or worsen this! Initial symptoms of p-titis can be very vague and they don't jump out at you. And unfortunately there really isn't any one good test to definitively diagnose it, either, just to make it more challenging for us. And, there is no med to actually cure it....the only cure is time and support to relieve the symptoms while you wait for the flare to settle down.

As others have also said, it can take quite a while for a kitty to get over p-titis, so be patient. It took Trix several months to get over her p-titis. It is important to maintain the meds for quite some time AFTER you stop seeing symptoms, and when you do start removing meds, do it one at a time and do it slowly so you can catch any backsliding right away.

Also, since it can take quite a while to get over the p-titis, I would not be so quick to switch out the cerenia for another med. ECID, and every vet is different, too....my vet prefers cerenia, and Trix did better with Cerenia than with ondanstetron, but I also think that consistency is key when providing support for p-titis. Unless Blackie is actually vomiting, I would be inclined to keep going with the Cerenia.
 
Angela, good ideas from everyone here. I have no experience with p-titis so can't offer any help there. But I can send prayers, lots of them, to you and Blackie. It's so stressful when our wee ones aren't "just right." And we all do the best we can. Can't do more than that. You're a great mamabean. Blackie's lucky to have you.

Vines..

Marilyn and Polly
 
I've been feeding Blackie watered down wet food, and have been syringe feeding her most of the day. I just gave her a small amount of water, and now she's resting. I also gave her about 1g of food on a spoon, and she ate it. I wanted to see if her appetite was still there as her shot time is coming up at 6:00 p.m.

Blackie was vomiting white froth, which I thought may have been a normal thing, since cats typically vomit anyway, at least some do. When I started increasing the water intake with her food, the vomiting lessened somewhat, with the occasional vomiting here and there. Her moving around, I thought, was attributed to the fact that she's now getting Omega 3-Pet, along with the Cosequin, and Zobaline. Never did I think it was due to pancreatitis. I'm sorry, but I am beating myself up over this. I should've done some research, and it would've told me the symptoms to watch out for. Perhaps then she would've gotten the much needed care earlier.

I can only hope and pray that Blackie doesn't hate me for this. I cried after I gave her the water.
 
Hi Angela, sorry for the DX. We had been through that too with Mannie. His Dx came through an U/S, but that can be expensive.... I will send vines, lots of vines, for Blackie. And please know: you did not cause this. Sometimes this just happens, the cause will never be known for sure. We never knew why Mannie came down with it, he just did. Support Blackie the best you can, follow the routine as outlined by your vet and you together, and be patient, it can be a bit before Blackie feels better. Hugs to you Angela.
 
The symptoms vary so much for pancreatitis you never could have known. Please don't think you could have prevented this because I don't think you could have. Vets don't get it right. When Max got it they told me that he was grieving the loss of Tiffany. Then the first vet said it wasn't . She wanted to send him for exploratory surgery. I went for a second opinion Snd he did the fPL and saved him from unnecessary surgery.
 
Blackie ate about 98% of her evening PS meal. :-D With the rest of it, approximately about 3g, I did add a bit more water, which she licked, but then was done. So, I tossed it. Am about to feed her the 2nd meal, and then we'll be done. I didn't hear any purring at the first meal. I did give her another dose of the Tramadol topical in her ear (I love that stuff!) I think that may be the reason for the lack of purring this evening. Perhaps she's on the mend....?
 
she's handling the Tramadol ok and not showing any signs of hallucinating or agitation? I only gave punkin one 9mg dose of Tramadol on 4/20/12 and he responded so bizarrely to it we didn't give him any more. He was looking around at the ceiling like he was watching something. He seemed all agitated in a way that was very unusual for him. One of my nurse friends was here and she said she thought he was hallucinating. that's why we switched to bupe and stayed with it.
 
Hi Angela,
It's GREAT that Blackie ate so well this evening. Eating and getting enough water are the most important things when having a pancreatitis flare. With Rusty, I fed him food he really liked and adjusted his insulin accordingly.

Have a good night,

Hugs and scritches,

Ella & Rusty
 
Ok, she's now finished (23 minutes later, I might add), her 2nd meal all by herself. The fact that I didn't have syringe feed her is a bonus. I did keep threatening her that, though. She's still walking around, though. Hopefully it'll stop, but I don't know. This is the first time that I've dealt with a kitty with pancreatitis.

Thank you, everyone, for your support, and advice. I greatly appreciate it.
 
{{{{Angela and Blackie}}}

We don't have experience with p-titis but it's obviously scary and we just want you both to know that you have friends and prayers with you. You'll get through this together!

Georgette and Clare
 
Unfortunately, this is my first bout of pancreatitis. With any one of my cats, and again unfortunately, it decided to sneak up on Blackie. I'm trying my best to give her a lot of water, and this is the first day so far.
 
Angela & Blackie & 3 Others said:
Ok, she's now finished (23 minutes later, I might add), her 2nd meal all by herself. The fact that I didn't have syringe feed her is a bonus. I did keep threatening her that, though. She's still walking around, though. Hopefully it'll stop, but I don't know. This is the first time that I've dealt with a kitty with pancreatitis.

Thank you, everyone, for your support, and advice. I greatly appreciate it.
Click to expand...

julie & punkin (ga) said:
she's handling the Tramadol ok and not showing any signs of hallucinating or agitation? I only gave punkin one 9mg dose of Tramadol on 4/20/12 and he responded so bizarrely to it we didn't give him any more. He was looking around at the ceiling like he was watching something. He seemed all agitated in a way that was very unusual for him. One of my nurse friends was here and she said she thought he was hallucinating. that's why we switched to bupe and stayed with it.
Click to expand...

that might be a side effect of the Tramadol. If it doesn't resolve, or you see other side effects like i mentioned above, you might want to switch to bupe. you can either get it injectible and use your Lantus syringes, or you can use an oral syringe and squirt it on her gums. It absorbs quickly and is effective. Seems like most cats tolerate bupe without side effects.
 
No, she was walking before being put on the Tram. What's the full name of the bupe?

I'm not looking forward to tomorrow's Cerenia moment. She frothed at the mouth this morning. I'm not sure if that's a side effect, or not. I forgot to ask about any side effects with the Cerenia. I know that she's never had any with the Tramadol because she was on it before after she had the lump removed off her back.
 
Buprinorphin

i've been told that foaming at the mouth right after getting a med is from the taste of it. punkin did that with baytril that i'd had compounded as a liquid with a chicken flavoring. he walked around foaming and drooling and sorta vomiting immediately after i gave it to him.

do you have pill pockets? or gel caps you can put them in? if not, you might try butter, cream cheese, a bit of cheese with a slit in it that you put the pill into. something that will be a barrier in between the med and her tasting it. punkin had cerenia pills many times and he didn't react to it, but i always used pill pockets to wrap the pills. just a thin layer is enough to do the trick - you don't need an entire pill pocket.
 
yes, the idea is to contain the taste and have a barrier. it'll slide down her throat easily too, and something like butter might help it not stick as much to your fingers.
 
i wanted to respond to your pm here. Angela asked about giving cerenia.

I looked at punkin's spreadsheet. It just says I gave it in the morning. I don't recall giving it before feeding him and then waiting for it to take effect. I'm pretty certain i wrapped it in a pill pocket and threw it on the floor for him, then gave him breakfast and his shot immediately afterwards.

Cerenia is a long-lasting anti-nausea, anti-vomiting drug. It was developed for use in dogs, so there's not a lot of online information on giving it to cats, but i did find the directions for dogs say to not feed the dog for 2 hours prior to giving the Cerenia. I think you're safe just giving it in the morning before you feed her. I'd test, give the meds, give breakfast and shoot, in that order.
 
Ok, thank you, Julie. That's what I'll do, then. I have to cut the other pill in 1/2 this morning, and will smear a bit of butter on 1/2 so that hopefully she won't taste the pill itself. I normally test, shoot and then feed Blackie.

As it was, Blackie did pretty good yesterday, other than my syringe feeding her for a bit in the morning. And last night, she ate both meals, even if it took a while. I'll be working on getting some more water into her system today, even if I have to syringe it to her.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top