My baby had surgery yesterday- support requested.

Hello all, 
It's been a while since I've posted here but I'm finding it difficult for people IRL to understand what I'm going through with my baby. 

Mia has always been a puker. It was always after meals so the vet and I came to the conclusion she just ate too fast. Over the weekend, she started a new kind of vomiting not associated with meals and she would have a funny wail/cry right before doing it, like she didn't feel well. As the weekend progressed, her vomiting frequency increased to where overnight on Sunday it was every hour or two. I also noticed she hadn't pooped in at least a day and wanted nothing to do with food or water. She looked pretty wiped out by the end of the night.

Fearing dehydration, I took her into the vet first thing. He immediately suspected a bowel obstruction based on her xray, ultrasound and exam. He suggested immediately surgery during lunch and seemed pretty sure of the diagnosis. I made sure there were no other options as I didn't want to put her through an unnecessary surgery, and he said there were none. 

So at lunchtime, my baby girl had her surgery. And no bowel obstruction was even remotely found. At all. He inspected every inch of her bowel over and over again, and it all looked very healthy. The only thing he found was a mildly inflamed pancreas, so he changed the diagnosis to pancreatitis, though he appeared much less confident in that diagnosis. In fact, I kinda got the impression he only made the diagnosis to say he found "something", because it was so mild, and my prior hesitancy about an unnecessary surgery. 

Now I'm just besides myself that I put my sweetheart through a surgery she didn't really need.  I feel terrible to put her through the pain and recovery of the surgery. Her incision is about 6-8 inches long, so it's not going to be easy for her for a while. And of course it's been a terrible few hours without her, as she had to stay overnight to recover. I miss her dearly. My wallet is also stinging, but that's a far distant concern.

I'm just looking for some support about what just happened. Thanks.

I'm very worried about your kitty.  There are allot of things that can cause these symptoms. I'm surprised that the vet didn't do x-ray first to determine what the problem was before surgery.  I have some personal experience with this, but I'm not going to drag you through a long story.  Did the vet run blood tests?  Doesn't sound right, just cutting into her without running the proper diagnostics first   Since your vet doesn't seem sure of his diagnosis, it sounds like it is time for a second opinion.  The sooner the better.  Although I have no first hand knowledge about pancreatitis I have read that there are specific tests for it.  Maybe someone with first hand knowledge can chime in here.

I hope that this turns out to be something easier to deal with.  Right off hand I can think of three conditions that I have experience with that could cause the symptoms you talk about, and all of them sound easier to deal with than pancreatitis.  I have first hand experience, with diabetes, kidney disease, and gall bladder attacks.  All three of those cats are doing well, so if it turns out to be one of them, I can give you the advantage of my experience.

I know this wasn't what you ask for and I wish I was better with words that are supportive.  I'll be watching this thread and waiting to hear about how things are going.  I feel for you, I know how frustrating it is when you know something is going wrong, but your not sure what.

I am assuming he didn't do a biopsy to check for IBD.  There is a specific blood test for pancreatitis.  It's done at Texas A&M so the results aren't back the next day but it doesn't take very long to get results back.

If he didn't do a biopsy that was a real missed opportunity.  Most people with cats that have IBD have an actual diagnoses of probable IBD due to wanting to put their kitty through a invasive procedure.  Everything like diabetes,  hyperthyroidism and CRF are easily found with routine blood work.

hello, thanks for the replies.

jcornman, the vet did do 2 xrays. He said in the side view xray, she had nothing in her small bowel which was suggestive of a blockage. He didn't have much to remark about the frontal xray other than she had little air in her bowels. He also said he briefly ran the ultrasound machine over the area in question he had felt on exam and saw dilated loops on the ultrasound. I just don't understand how he could have seen these things on the machines and it just wasn't there once she was opened. 

Denice, we did not do a biopsy. He did offer to do a pancreatic biopsy while she was opened up, but didn't feel it'd be particularly useful as he was going to treat her for it anyway. IBD was briefly mentioned as a potential cause, which is probable as her sister/littermate received this diagnosis several years ago with different symptoms.  He said the condition of her bowel was good and healthy... Wouldn't he be able to see the bowel looking inflammed while he was in there or is IBD something that needs a microscope for a diagnosis? I don't believe any bloodwork was drawn, at least it was never mentioned to me if it was.

I called this morning to see how she was overnight. So far, no vomiting. Food was offered but she hasn't eaten yet and can't come home until she does. 

ETA: she had bloodwork done a year or two when I took her in for her baseline vomiting after meals. It was all normal and so I was told it was just regurgitation (this was a different vet- we have since moved). 

I'm just offering what support I can....... it will have to be prayers and good vibes. I'm sorry your baby had to go through all that, but at least you can positively rule out an obstruction. I hope you find what it is.  

I went through something similar about 2 yrs ago with my eldest (now 15.) We did a series of X-rays over the course of a week (he was vomiting, having bloody diarrhea, just couldn't tolerate food.) He had an area on x-ray that look like a blockage (I saw it on multiple views) however, once they got in all that was found was inflammation...a few biopsies were sent out that just confirmed inflammation.

He was put on I/d food, then e/n, etc...nothing seemed to help much. Through trial and error I determined he had a severe grain/gluten intolerance and was allergic to pork products (something that is on the I/d food.)

I hope you are able to determine the cause of Mia's symptoms. And sending vibes for a quick recovery for her as well!

I agree to have him do blood tests. My cat had kidney failure a few years go that was vaguely similar to this. She had to get a lot of medical stuff. Unfortunately, she passed away since then, but we had caught it too late. I do not think it is too late for your cat in any mean; so don't let that scare you!

Please keep us informed!

I would definitely ask for complete blood work.  The test that is done at Texas A&M is a blood test not a tissue sample.  It isn't part of the regular complete blood work so it would be something you would need to ask about.

He should have been able to see problems with the intestines but this digestive stuff is different from one cat to another.  I know the first time the vet that my cats go to now did an exam on my probable IBD cat she said that his intestines felt ropey when she palpitated his abdomen.

Don't be discouraged if all the blood work comes back normal, it often does with digestive problems.  It needs to be done though to rule out all the possibilities.  It then becomes a matter of finding the right diet and/or medication regimen that controls the symptoms.

I suppose your immediate concern will be getting her eating again so she can come home and recover from her surgery.  There are a number of other cats on this board with suspected pancreatitis with similar symtoms (chronic vomiting with or without diarrhea).  The typical treatment for pancreatitis or IBD is prednisone, however it comes with some serious long term side effects to consider.  Idexx Labs had an fPLI test for pancreatitis.  They have this discussion of the disease here: http://www.idexx.com/pubwebresource...es/feline-pancreatitis-roundtable-article.pdf.

Having just had my 5yo succumb to lymphoma who had always been a chronic vomiter since he was a kitten, I would say to not accept the usual vet's responses of vomiting from eating too fast.  There is something wrong.  Either a food allergy or something internal.

Thanks for the replies. Mia was able to come home last night. They took her Fentanyl patch off yesterday before she came home so she's still been quite out of it as it slowly wears off. She is still not eating or drinking yet. She's pretty much just been staying in one area all night... I've been taking her to the litter box every 3-4 hours, as it appears she had an accident at the vet, and she has been using the box each time. I then offer her some food...She seems interested by sniffing the food but doesn't actually eat it. Then she'll drool a lot and go sit back by the litter box and stare into space. The vet said she is probably still having nausea post op, which makes sense of her to go sit by the litterbox if she feels that way, as she did all her vomiting the other night in and around the litterbox. 

It doesn't appear any bloodwork was drawn on her. I keep forgetting to ask the vet as I've been so worried and haven't been able to sleep. Even last night after being up all day, I felt I needed to stay up with her to monitor and care for her. I will write it down and ask the next time I talk to the vet this afternoon.

I'm still slightly puzzled as to the vet's treatment. No bloodwork and no change in diet have been mentioned. I figured he'd at least mention z/d, which she has tried in the past and vomited that as well. Perhaps the diet instructions will come later once she actually is wanting to eat. I will also put this on my list to ask next time I talk to the vet. The only change for now is he wants her to take Pepcid AC 5 mg daily for 2 weeks. He also said Reglan might be needed but is going to see what she does without it for now.

Thanks for all the advice everybody.

Hello,

There's been a bizarre twist to this story...my other cat is now acting funny.

My other cat, Marble, is kinda like the 'mom' between the two cats- littermates. Earlier, I put her next to Mia in hopes she would groom Mia like always but she wanted nothing to do with her. I then noticed she kept swallowing a lot and then her whole body starting twitching. I thought she was having a seizure but realized she was trying to vomit. I put her on the floor and she heaved and heaved but nothing came up. I realized her stomach was totally empty...I went to look at the food bowl and it was still full...I don't usually measure them out a set amount, just when I notice the bowl is empty, I refill it. And I know I haven't refilled it in at least a day, or maybe even since Mia got since on Monday. I scooped more food out thinking it was stale and Marble seemed interested but sniffed and walked away. 

Now, I just switched to this food about a month ago (yes the vet knows). They had eaten this food for a while before I rotated foods so I didn't think it would be any problem. I've always wondered if there was something wrong with this new food this entire time, or at the very least made Mia have an acute exacerbation of whatever she has. I have checked the issued recalls and the food in question is NOT on any list but now that Marble is acting weird I decided I'm just going to throw that bag away and go back to what they had been on previously.

Curious...what are is this mystery food and what were they eating before?

Cats back from veterinary procedures smell funny to other cats for a few days.  You can try to dab vanilla on them both to confuse the smell issue (I have used men's cologne) or just keep the one separated until the smell wears off.  I found it takes about 2-3 days for the foreign smell to subside.

On the eating front, when I had one very sick - my other two would hunger strike in sympathy.  The best I could do was to keep offering up fresh food in a routine manner to get things back to normal.

My test has always been Gerber's meat flavored baby food off my finger.  If you hold your finger out with the baby food on it right in front of their noses and they don't take it, they are pretty bad off.  The vet can also sell you Science Diet A/D which is very caloric, has a very strong smell, and very irresistable to sick kitties.  It seems like it has been a few days since the surgery and eating needs to happen.

Catpack- the food in question is TOTW rocky mountain dried. The food they were on previously is NB Duck and Pea. I think it was a false alarm with Marble...I don't know what the dry heaving episode was all about but she hasn't done it again and she is eating again and acting normal. 

I thought we had made some progress with Mia... All this time post op, we've been offering her chicken flavored baby food. She'll act interested by sniffing but never actually ate it. I've been putting little tastes of it in her mouth which she would swallow and do fine with. This morning, I finally got her to lick a little portion off my finger but then did the same behavior as she was doing when she was sick prior to the surgery- went and sat in the litterbox, swallowed a lot, and did a weird meow a few times. I really thought she was going to vomit again but she didn't. I'm so bummed. She's 3 days post op so it's kinda getting a bit out there to still be writing it off as post op nausea, huh? She seems to still have a lot of drool when I offer food to her. We'll see what the vet says this morning.

mia has taken a turn for the worst. im afraid this is the end for her. we're off to the vet

auchick said:

mia has taken a turn for the worst. im afraid this is the end for her. we're off to the vet

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hno: Oh dear, I just read through your thread and am offering up my heartfelt vibes for you and Mia this morning. I am sorry to hear of this downturn in her health. Let us know, please, if you can. Mega, mega vibes for you and for dear Mia. Your doing the best you can, the very best and she knows this.

Tons of for her!

I saw this thread previously, but didn't respond because it made me very sad. I'm so sorry for what you and Mia are going through, and it breaks my heart. My thoughts and prayers are with you. 

Sending many vibes your way.          

I'm happy to report Mia and I are back at home. I am a nurse, so I know what death looks like and I was convinced death was coming for her. She was sooo lethargic with a glazed look in her eyes, not eating, not moving and soo weak. But when I put her in the cage to go, she started crying! And she cried some more! I've never been so happy to hear her cry, I knew then she is still fighting. 

So by the time the vet saw her, she was more alert. She still wouldn't take the babyfood the vet offered her, so she got 200 ml of subQ fluids. Her weight was down again- her baseline is 9.3 lbs, she went down to 8.8 lbs on Monday at the first visit and back up to 9.3 lbs by the time I took her home Tues. Today she was down to 8.9 lbs, up to 9.1 lbs after the fluids. He also prescribed her Reglan for her nausea. He was hesistant to draw bloodwork but I really pushed for it, so that was done (chem 11 and CBC) and the results will be back tomorrow morning. He is still calling this a gastritis/pancreatitis/IBD crisis and said once she's back to herself, we can work on diet modification. He didn't feel it was renal failure based on her history, but we'll see what the bloodwork tomorrow shows. 

Thanks everybody for your prayers! She really seemed to like the subQ fluids, she was walking around a lot once we got home and her eyes weren't as glazed over. She has now settled back in to rest. 

So glad to hear that she has perked up a bit with fluids! Hopefully the bloodwork will shed some light on what is going on.