9 Yo Female Not Eating: Ibd? Lymphoma?

[catwoman707]

HP happens not slowly over time, re-read my description in layman's terms lol but it describes a process that is not slow, her body once it thinks it is starving and needs to switch to stored fat is when it happens, so, while her system may be considering this and is bordering going in to HP or not, is too risky, so give her any and all she will eat, any calories will prevent this from happening.

Turkey baby food, chicken broth, tuna and/or tuna water, beef boullion broth, literally anything with cals she will eat.

Nutrical, squirt a ribbon on her leg, she will clean it off and get the cals that way so you don't have to force it on her.

You are not going to hear it's too late, that is unless a rare chance they find a mass of cancer too far beyond help, but doubtful, chances are it's IBD and will get controlled once confirmed.

I certainly hope the vet is better at reading the ultrasound than taking the blurred x-ray.

An ultrasound is only as good as the person who reads it correctly.

 

[paiger8]

I would really try the Slippery Elm syrup. It coats the intestines and it helps with inflammation. It's really easy to make. Just give it 20-30 mins before a meal. 

 

[rubear]

 
HP happens not slowly over time, re-read my description in layman's terms lol but it describes a process that is not slow, her body once it thinks it is starving and needs to switch to stored fat is when it happens, so, while her system may be considering this and is bordering going in to HP or not, is too risky, so give her any and all she will eat, any calories will prevent this from happening.

Turkey baby food, chicken broth, tuna and/or tuna water, beef boullion broth, literally anything with cals she will eat.

Nutrical, squirt a ribbon on her leg, she will clean it off and get the cals that way so you don't have to force it on her.

You are not going to hear it's too late, that is unless a rare chance they find a mass of cancer too far beyond help, but doubtful, chances are it's IBD and will get controlled once confirmed.

I certainly hope the vet is better at reading the ultrasound than taking the blurred x-ray.

An ultrasound is only as good as the person who reads it correctly.

I was aware that HP happens quickly, but I guess I wasn't aware of how long it could go unnoticed? 

I stopped by my vet's office to pick up her blood test results to take to the Ultrasound on Wednesday. Two of the values are very high. The ALT is 527 (normal range is 20-100) and the TBIL is 1.2 (normal range is 0.1-0.6). Is it ok for them to be that high for much longer? I'm afraid she might already be in HP and I'm considering taking her to the emergency vet tonight (I called and a tech there definitely recommended it, but I doubt they tell anyone not to come). Am I overreacting? I can't even get her to eat turkey now

 

[missmimz]

 
I would really try the Slippery Elm syrup. It coats the intestines and it helps with inflammation. It's really easy to make. Just give it 20-30 mins before a meal. 

Slippery elm is so great and so safe. I have a batch in my fridge 24/7. Helps my old kitty so much, and my IBD outside cat. 

 

[rubear]

It's nice to see that there are so many great tips and resources and support out there. I wish I had known better 8 years ago. I've gotten her to eat a small amount of grain-free dry food. I'm going to keep trying every few hours. She's losing steam I think. She's been asleep since we got home from vet around noon. I fed her where she was laying but she did go to get a drink of water.

I think I'll wait on the ER vet and see how she's doing tomorrow. If she's eating and drinking enough I'll wait until our scheduled appointment Wednesday afternoon. My vet doesn't do ultrasounds so we have to go to a referral center (which is also the Emergency vet). I considered going in as emergency just to get the tests done sooner, but then I figured it would cost 10x as much.

 

[rubear]

This waiting is the hardest part. Despite extremely elevated liver enzymes, the emergency vet said it was probably ok to wait until her appointment with the internist tomorrow afternoon as long as I can keep getting a little food in her. Although it's very likely that the elevated enzymes are a result of going into HP, the reality is we don't know that. The ultrasound will tell us more.

She is drinking on her own and she ate a few bites of dry food from her bowl on her own for the first time since Saturday. It's rough. I want to help her as much and as fast as I can! But I'm sure another trip to the vet or a possible hospital stay would be much more stressful than keeping her here at home and trying to get her to eat every few hours.

 

[bellel]

If it comes down to it, please consider a feeding tube. I truly believed that it saved my Tater's life.

 

[rubear]

Today we had the ultrasound. The specialty vet thinks it may be pancreatitis with possible secondary cholangiohepatitis. She gave me pain killers and appetite stimulants for Ruby, whose appetite has gone from almost none to none. The past two days she's basically been curled in a ball (mostly awake) and very rarely eats anything except a few morsels and some lunchmeat. She's tired and weak and nothing like her usual self. Of course pancreatitis can be very painful which would explain this.

My primary vet and speciality vet neither seem to be quite sure what's going on and also seem to not agree with each other's assessment, which isn't helpful. But mostly I'm still concerned about her getting enough nutrition—which I'm certain she's not getting.

I know a feeding tube is the next stop but I really want to avoid that stress for her. I'm thinking of trying syringe feeding Hills A/D. I've never done it before and I know she'll HATE it. My primary vet discouraged it because it could cause her to not want to eat, but I feel like I am running out of options and time to get food in her. I'd rather have her be a little mad at me than watch her starve.

Thoughts anyone?

 

[missmimz]

If this was my cat I would be syringe feeding high quality meat based wet food. 

 

[rubear]

 
If this was my cat I would be syringe feeding high quality meat based wet food. 

Thank you. That's the conclusion I'm coming to. I'm feeling like I should have done this SO much sooner but kept taking the "wait and see" advice of my vets. She's my baby and I know she won't like it and she's been through so much in the past couple weeks. But I think I need to get over that and do what's best for her health. As my mom says—you need to be a tougher parent, she has to get food.

 

[bellel]

The feeding tube is not as stressful as you think and is actually better for them because you know exactly how much you are giving and how much they are getting. You can give medications easier. It is actually less stressful than syringing them. Think about it...one requires a tube where you gently push food and medications into their stomach versus squirming around fighting you not wanting the syringe and trying to pill or syringe meds into them. Feeding tubes are the first option that vets perform on cats with pancreatitis because it is critical that you get food in them and as quickly as you can. Please, please consider the feeding tube. The amount of time you've spent in vet limbo has already caused her enzymes to be high. You do not want a diagnosis of hepatic lipidosis. That's basically a death sentence. My boy Tater Tot had both IBD and pancreatitis and it truly saved his life.

 

[bellel]

And just an fyi...my cat is just as rambunctious at the vet as yours is. He was perfectly fine having a feeding tube for 5 weeks while he recovered.

 

[rubear]

The feeding tube is not as stressful as you think and is actually better for them because you know exactly how much you are giving and how much they are getting. You can give medications easier. It is actually less stressful than syringing them. Think about it...one requires a tube where you gently push food and medications into their stomach versus squirming around fighting you not wanting the syringe and trying to pill or syringe meds into them. Feeding tubes are the first option that vets perform on cats with pancreatitis because it is critical that you get food in them and as quickly as you can. Please, please consider the feeding tube. The amount of time you've spent in vet limbo has already caused her enzymes to be high. You do not want a diagnosis of hepatic lipidosis. That's basically a death sentence. My boy Tater Tot had both IBD and pancreatitis and it truly saved his life.

And I will consider it for sure, I'm not ruling it out. If that's the route we have to go it's what I'll do. The fact that she is still somewhat active and is eating some gives me some hope that we can get her over that hump without anything surgical. Basically the specialty vet said give it two days and then report back and then feeding tube is probably the next step.

As stressful as a syringe feeding will be, surgery and weekly trips to the vet to check the tube would be hell on her. She hates, hates, hates going to the vet. But all the same, I'm not going to not do it if that's what she needs right now.

 

[rubear]

And just an fyi...my cat is just as rambunctious at the vet as yours is. He was perfectly fine having a feeding tube for 5 weeks while he recovered.

That's good to know. With her my biggest concern is pawing at it and trying to tug at it, which the vet said is a problem they do have to deal with often.

 

[rubear]

She just took a few bites from her bowl of her own accord. YES! Not enough, no. But maybe the appetite stimulants are going to work? I'm a little disappointed that my primary vet told me there were not stimulants available that weren't in pill form but the specialty vet gave me a liquid. I really wish I had just come here to start with.

 

[bellel]

Remember: you can always have drugs compounded into liquid form. Now I'm disappointed in your regular vet. Is your cat on any anti-nausea meds? Those will help greatly towards getting the cat to eat (some of them also stimulate apetites). Are you giving her pain meds? If so, what kind?

 

[bellel]

That's good to know. With her my biggest concern is pawing at it and trying to tug at it, which the vet said is a problem they do have to deal with often.

Trust me, I have a pawer too. However, if it is bandaged correctly, your cat won't pull out the tube. Now she might go through bandage changings because of her pawing at it, but she may feel so bad that it may not even bother her. Unfortunately for me, my kid came down with fleas at one of the vets' offices (he got sick right before it was time for his next flea stuff application), so he was constantly scratching at it.

If your vet is a bad bandager (and it sounds like he is), you can try these:
http://kittykollar.com.

Also, if you have Facebook, search for groups for IBD cats. There is a group on there that has been especially helpful for me as Tater Tot recovers.

 

[bellel]

If the time comes for a tube, make sure your vet secures the tube with strong stitches. I know. Sounds painful but it's not and it will further help keep the tube in place.

 

[rubear]

The specialty vet does tube insertions all the time, she just prefers that people come in weekly to have the insertion site checked and re-bandaged although she said some people choose to monitor it at home. The biggest issue they have is that some cats kick at them and cause irritation. 

We did cerenia injections but she was never really vomiting or seemed nauseous. They did nothing to increase appetite. We did Depo Medrol, although the specialty vet seemed to wish my regular vet hadn't done that because long-acting steroids sometimes aren't effective for GI inflammation. The specialty vet gave me Bupenorphrine liquid for pain. She also gave me cerenia tablets if I noticed vomiting.

 

[rubear]

Trust me, I have a pawer too. However, if it is bandaged correctly, your cat won't pull out the tube. Now she might go through bandage changings because of her pawing at it, but she may feel so bad that it may not even bother her. Unfortunately for me, my kid came down with fleas at one of the vets' offices (he got sick right before it was time for his next flea stuff application), so he was constantly scratching at it.

If your vet is a bad bandager (and it sounds like he is), you can try these:
http://kittykollar.com.

Also, if you have Facebook, search for groups for IBD cats. There is a group on there that has been especially helpful for me as Tater Tot recovers.

I just think the speciality vet wasn't ready to jump to that decision without trying to get her going on her own. Also the pancreatitis was a solid diagnosis it's just "suspect." We're waiting on blood tests to for that. 

Interestingly, though we strongly suspected IBD (and it hasn't been ruled out yet) the ultrasound showed the colon being all normal. She thinks the increased liver enzymes might have more to do with secondary cholangiohepatitis caused by the inflamed pancreas rather than fatty liver. Apparently the other enzymes that would likely be high for fatty liver were in the normal range. But I will check out the IBD resources. Even though we don't know if that is the underlying issue it can't hurt to proceed as if it is.

Sorry if I sound like I'm trying to avoid the benefits of a feeding tube—I'm really not and I understand it as a great live-saving tool. I'm very receptive to it but still hoping we can get her going on her own.