Talking to the vet tomorrow- need advice

[Shadowboy]

Hi,
Tomorrow I'll be talking to the vet about how Shadow is doing and the next steps.

We're (the rescue and I) are trying to figure out the next course of action to take in regards to a workup.

Here's Shadow's recap-
Shadow came to me in April after being in a shelter for over a year. His diabetes was poorly managed- no testing & sometimes went days without insulin. No known history of DKA

When he came to me he had a urinary tract infection and pancreatitis.

About a month ago he had what we thought was a flare up of his pancreatitis. He was treated with SubQ fluids and Buprenex. Things seemed to be getting better until last week. Last week Shadow started having the loose clay colored stools again. Started vomiting occasionally and went back to not always eating his food. Initially started him back on Buprenex, pepcid, and B12 injections once a week. Yesterday we started him on Reglan.

We're trying to figure out if this is Pancreatic enzyme insufficiency, IBD, or something else.

What would you suggest as the next workup? Specific lab tests? The vet didn't realize there was a test that could be run for Pancreatic enzyme insufficiency... I have the fTLI test written down to tell her about.

Would it hurt Shadow to start the pancreatic enzymes and not test?

Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[rhiannon and shadow (GA)]

The rainbow means they've crossed over.
You might want to take that icon off your post.
Gave me a scare.... nailbite_smile

 

[Wendy&Tiggy(GA)]

Scared me too!!!!

As I said in my other post, you can give the enzymes anyway but I would test since no reason to spend the money on them if that's not the issue.

 

[Shadowboy]

So sorry- didn't realize I had clicked on the rainbow

 

[BJM]

An empirical trial - one where it seems like it could work in the absence of a clear diagnosis - may be done if the treatment isn't likely to harm the patient and the testing costs are burdensome.

Those clay colored, loose stools are very supportive of the exocrine pancreatic insufficiency diagnosis, and you know he has issues with his pancreas, so it makes sense that this could be a related problem.

If the vet believes it is safe to try the enzymes without the test, I'd do so.