Pancreatitis - would you go back to the vet now?

brooklet425

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Well, on a positive note, its been a really long time since I've posted a question in the health forum. On a negative note, it looks like my 3 year old cat may have pancreatitis.

Has anyone dealt with this before? I searched the forums and there don't seem to be a lot of recent threads about it, and I've noticed that experiences seem to really vary per cat, but I thought I'd ask anyway. Maybe someone who wasn't around for the older threads has had some experience with it.

About 3 weeks ago Moe was vomiting a lot. He gets hairballs somewhat often so the first 2 or 3 times he vomited foam I just ignored it, thinking he had a hairball. By the 4th time, I started counting, and by the 6th time he vomited I knew something wasn't normal so I took him to the vet. The vet thought he might have had an intestional obstruction. He has had a history of eating plastic bags (yes we try to keep plastic away from him, but he always seems like he can manage to find some.) He had x-rays done and I was told that plastic doesn't typically show up in x-rays but if there was a blockage, you could see the actual blockage. His x-rays were clear though. The vet mentioned pancreatitis as a possibility but Moe was still eating well at this point, and he was lethargic, but alert. So he gave him an anti-nausea shot and sent him home with some cans of Hill's I/D food. The shot seemed to work because the vomiting stopped. He was more active the next day, and by about 3 days he was actually completely normal again.

Then fast forward to today - about 3 weeks later. Last night he refused to eat and was acting really mellow - which is NOT normal for him. This morning he refused to eat again and was more lethargic than mellow so off to the vet we went. This time the vet wanted to check for pancreatitis immediately. He said it would be normal for a cat with pancreatitis to "recover" on his own without ever knowing what was wrong and then relapse a few weeks later.They don't have an in-office test so they took blood and sent it off to the lab. Another anti-nausea shot was given and I was sent home with cans of I/D again. I gave him some food about an hour after the shot and he ate some of it eagerly. I thought he was beginning to act normal again, but I just tried to feed him about an hour ago and I was unsuccessful this time. I put him by himself in a bathroom, and he sniffed the food (which he seemed to love the last time he had it) and then sat on a shelf and curled up. He's just been curled up on the shelf for the past hour or so now and the food hasn't been touched.

I won't get lab results for 2 days, but for now I'm wondering if I need to bring him back to the vet now. I know cats need to eat, and they can't go long without eating, but he did have a little bit of food earlier. I don't know if its a problem that he hasn't touched his dinner yet. He's alert, but very lethargic. He's responding to his name and he's purring when I pet him, but he's just sitting there. I'm keeping an eye on him, but I guess the question is, do I rush him to the emergency vet now? or just wait it out until morning. I feel like I'd be able to make a better decision if I knew what was actually wrong with him. I don't want to overreact, but I also don't want to ignore a problem either.

Also, I'd love to hear any experiences of dealing with pancreatitis :(.
 

carolina

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I don't know much about pancreatitis..... But what I know is, the kitty will be in pain, so pain medication is necessary, proper feeding with highly digestible food, and hydration are also required.... As well as nausea medication.
So yes, I would go back to the vet for that while you are waiting for the results, because while it won't hurt if you start him on a treatment course, time Is of the essence if you don't.....
The curling up, not eating, etc., those can be a sign of nausea or pain. The fact that he eats after he takes a shot for nausea, but won't eat afterwards.... Means he is in constant nausea- he needs medication to control that so he can get proper nutrition....
No matter what, he needs to be fed and have proper hydration.... I would not wait.... :vibes::vibes::vibes:
 

minka

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If he ate earlier today, he should be okay till the morning. Cats can go at least 24 hours without worry of fatty liver disease (unless he is severely overweight also). But if you are anything like me, I'd end up taking him to the E-vet anyways because I know I wouldn't be able to sleep...
 
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brooklet425

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Minka, I AM like you :). About 30 minutes after I posted my question I decided to take him back to the vet. I was worrying too much and I knew I wasn't going to get much sleep unless I knew he was going to be ok.

My vet here is the ER vet too, which was convenient because they didn't even charge me an emergency visit fee since I was there earlier in the day. That was probably the highlight of my evening since we spend ridiculous amounts of money on these cats!

This time around they did more blood work. Earlier in the day it was blood work to check for pancreatitis and any other gastrointestional problems, but they hadn't done a regular blood panel. It was a different vet who was there at night (some hospital, but they have 9 different doctors who rotate on the emergency shift), so he decided to do a normal in office blood panel to check for infections or liver and kidney problems. His liver and kidneys were good. White blood cells were normal. But some other thing in the blood (I've never heard of it before and I can't for the life of me remember what it was called), was a little high. The vet said that COULD be indicative of infection, but since his white blood cells were normal it could just be a freak thing that the numbers were a little high. They gave him an antibiotic shot, just in case there was an infection somewhere that couldn't be found.

He was also dehydrated. He didn't seem dehydrated at our first visit this morning, but I guess as the day wore on, it happened. So he got Sub-Q fluids.

He also got a pill to stimulate his appetite, and another anti-nausea shot.

The vet said that aside from all of that, there wasn't much he could do until the other test results come back. He offered to let him stay overnight so he could be hooked up to an IV, but we only live about 5 minutes away, and he had just been given the sub-q fluids, so he suggested taking him home where he would be more comfortable, and just made me promise to bring him back immediately if anything changed again.

By the time we got home, my husband had come home from work, and he was freaked out by the way Moe looked. He was convinced that he wasn't going to live through the night just based on how lethargic he was acting, which then started to worry ME again. Moe is a cat who literally spends the day bouncing around and running up walls, so seeing him just laying there, doing absolutely nothing, is beyond strange and not at all normal. I tried to feed him again, and he did manage to eat a little more food so that made me feel better. We went to sleep with my husband convinced that Moe wasn't going to be alive in the morning, but since he looked absolutely no different than he did at the vet, there was nothing we could really do. (I would have taken him right back if he had gotten worse in that short period of time.)

Then this morning we woke up to good news! Moe was stomping all over like he does every morning, demanding food. I don't know if it was the fluids or the antibiotic shot, or just a good night's sleep, but something perked him up during the night! He still didn't eat much, but he ate some. And he's still not acting normal, but he is MUCH more active than he was yesterday, so I feel like I can at least relax a little bit now while I wait for the pancreatitis test results to come in. :)
 
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finnlacey

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Pancreatitis is very dangerous so I'm glad you opted to take him in. Good call! As far as what the vet said he could have given you appetite stimulants and pain meds. I'm glad things are looking up, please make sure to keep him eating as food is the answer. But make sure it's a lower fat food, high fats are not good for pancreatitis! 
 

carolina

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Good call on taking him to the vet!
I am with finnlacey.... I would insist on pain meds and an appetite stimulant.... And don't let it up to him to eat.... If push comes to shove, be prepared to assist feed him..... Syringe feeding, for example can be a life-saver. :vibes:
 
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