Caring for kitty with pancreatitis

Hello all, I am brand new here and I have come to you desperate for help understanding my beloved Hugo's pancreatitis. This past week has been rough, and think I'm starting to lose it emotionally. I've read everything I can find, including other threads here, but I'm still not sure what to expect.

Hugo is a black 7 1/2 year old male. He and his sister were abandoned by their mother in the back of our garage, so I hand raised them from about a week old. Hugo is a big fella, and we suspect partially Burmese based on appearance and behavior (soft shiny black coat, big golden eyes, just like a panther). Always healthy, confident, very playful. Happy!

On Sunday he started vomiting, a few times in a row, but only just white foam. When he did that several times in just a few hours we rushed him to the ER (only place open on Sunday). They did blood work and xrays, blood work looks "great" but xrays showed that he might be constipated. We mixed pumpkin in his food and thought it would pass.

Monday, no eating. Very lethargic. Alert, but not interested in moving or being around us.

Tuesday we took him to his regular vet. They said they weren't convinced he was constipated, since it looked like things had moved along (though no pooping), but he still wasn't eating. They gave him some anti-vomiting (Cerenia I think) and antacid, with subcutaneous fluids, and kept him overnight. Wednesday was more of the same, and they checked him liver levels to make sure he wasn't starting fatty liver. While the levels were higher than Sunday at the ER, it was still within the normal range. Thursday they did an abdominal ultrasound, and again everything seemed okay. They told us to take him home and try to get him to eat, since he might be more amenable to it in his normal enviroment. In the meantime, they sent our blood work to test for pancreatitis (FPL?). Came back at a 5 (normal range ends at 3), so that is nowhat the working diagnosis.

He tried to eat at home, but it was like he forgot how. He sniffed, licked, but never actually took anything down. So, unfortunately on Friday morning he had a feeding tube put in.

I was not emotionally ready for what it would look like nor how he acted after the sedation. It was terrifying and heartbreaking. We were instructed to give 21 CC food every 5 hours (with 5 CC water before and after to flush the tube). We crush up a quarter pill of antacid with each feeding and give buprenorphine every 7 or 8 hours via his mouth.

Now, the fun context is that we live just north of DC, so we're in the middle of an epic blizzard right now. About 22" of snow, with about a foot more possible. The vet is obviously closed and we couldn't go anywhere if we tried. Probably still can't for the next 2 days.

So now we're at Saturday afternoon. We've completed 3 feeding on our own. No vomiting, which is good I guess, and he is relatively cooperative, though not happy. But he is hardly moving, and mostly so that he can hide under the bed or get away from us. Now that the sedative wore off he seems much more aware and responsive, but not at all happy.

He also is snoring/wheezing. All the time. Breathing sounds like snoring, but he's wide awake. Is that normal?

How long after having the tube placed do cats typically start to behave more lively? I think he wants to eat, I do, but he's just not up for it. I'm guessing because of the pain.

Please, help me understand if this is normal, or if there's something we can do to make him more comfortable. I am really on edge with this, it's not at all what I had hoped for him. He seems so unhappy. Do cats typically pull through, or is there a good chance we'll lose him?

@StephenQ  

@StefanZ  

could you possibly advise this member. I am of no help with this..

Thanks

Sorry, I dont have much to say, Im no real heatlh / disease expert, even if I sometimes manage with a correct interpretation of what the doc or vet says.  And sometimes I manage to get in a good intuitive guessing on what is possible to do.   So what Im doing now is sending you @SuperFurby and Hugo my best wibes  *vibes!*

Artiemom said:

 
@StephenQ  

@StefanZ  

could you possibly advise this member. I am of no help with this..

Thanks

Click to expand...

It's good that he has a feeding tube, my kitty had one for fatty liver and it was much easier and less stressful than syringe feeding.

Pancreatitis is very much individual as to what works and recovery can be slow.  Is your kitty getting anything for pain?  Pancreatitis is very painful and lethargy is one of the ways that kitties display pain.  Fluids seem to really help with pancreatitis.  You could talk to your vet about the possibility of giving sub-q fluids at home.

Supportive care is really all that can be done.  Are you still giving Cerenia at home?  It's usually given 5 days on and 2 days off.

StefanZ thank you so much for the good vibes. We need them!

denice we are not giving him any fluids besides what's mixed in his food and the before and after flushing water. I'll definitely ask the vet if we should increase the water or how to give sub-q at home. They did give him some Cerenia on Thursday, and then gave us 2 pills but told us only to use it if he's vomiting, which he's not.

Yes we are giving him .1 ml buprenorphine (I'm sure I'm spelling it wrong) 3 times a day (morning, afternoon, and before bed). I worry that it's not enough, since he still seems to be so hesitant to move. Ithe seems like he has the will mentally, but doesn't like the physical outcome.

Thank you all. At the very least, it is reassuring to know that we're not alone (blizzards have that effect) and that we are capable of handling this.

@SuperFurby, pancreatitis is so scary, I know. My Sebastian was first diagnosed with an acute case of pancreatitis in the summer of 2013. The acute cases are always the worst. He was hospitalized for four days, and we were so close to putting a feeding tube in. On day five, he still wasn't eating and I was getting so nervous about fatty liver. I opted to bring him home and syringe feed, which I had to do for two weeks before I felt comfortable that he was eating enough on his own. We were hoping and praying it was a one time thing. Unfortunately, it turned into chronic pancreatitis for the next two years. The flares from chronic pancreatitis were never as bad as the first, though.

I don't have direct experience with feeding tubes, so I can't answer your questions about that. But I would definitely call the vet if you have concerns about the tube and his wheezing. To answer your other question: Yes, they can pull through. The inflammation can come on quick, but it takes time for it to go back down.

Here's a professional link to the main supportive care treatments for feline pancreatitis (although dated 2011, these are very much the same today):

http://www.idexx.es/pdf/es_es/small...pec-fpl-treatment-for-feline-pancreatitis.pdf

Cerenia is great and we couldn't do without it. Sebastian has been on it long-term (5 days on, 2 days off). Sub-q fluids were also so important that I learned to do them at home.

Re fluids.  If you manage to give fluids by mouth, it perhaps wont be necessary to give fluids subcutaneously.

Some pedialyte advices:

PEDIALYTE

Pedialyte, continuation.  Exactly which you give, depends on what you do have at hand.    Ask your neigbours for help, if the shops are closed!!!

If bought, the best is some unflavored baby version.   But if flavored are the only one at hand, you can use them to begin with.

Of homemade,  do you have mineral salt and glucose sugar = dextrose?  These salt respective sugar source are the best

If  you havent,  common kitchen sugar, and white caro syrup, or even honey, are OK.    Even common white sugar works, but much slower.

One basic receipt, is

1 litre water.   1,5 tea spoons salt  1,5-2 soup spoons  sugar source...  A little baking soda= bikarbonat, if you have.   Boil up, let it be room temp again. Use.   Dont spare too long.

Another is,   take some rice,  boil it too long, more than in a food recipe.

Use the water, add some salt.

My favorite at this moment, is you take a bottle of a good minerale water.  They contain lotsa of different, good salts and electrolytes.

You let the gas out, and add some sugar source, about half soup spoon  in a 33 ml bottle.   Be sure the sugar gets  diluted in there as it shall.

And voilá, you do have an excellent home made pedialyte...

Make sure the pedialyte you give, is body warm.

Basic home made pedialyte is the main weapon against the great manslaughter  Cholera,  so dont underestimate this....