Hello---Need Help

Hello, my name is Rhonda and I am new to the site and Forum. I am in desperate need of help for my Sydney. I got Sydney 11 years ago from the SPCA at which time the estimated her to be around 2 1/2 or 3 years. She is a good cat, tempermental at times and can be a little nasty, but this is her personality and I love her dearly. I have never had any real medical problems with her until now. She has been diagnosed with Feline Pancreatitis. Sydney had a vet stay for about 4 days and received great medical attention but I ran out of money after about $450.00 and had to bring her home. Her diahreahh is just awful and even though they have given her new meds, nothing seems to be working. I have been feeding her Eukenuba since this started but I have to wonder if this is too rich for her. At least her mess is confined to the garage and she has not lost control in the house (We have a cat door to the garage where her litter box is). Has anyone ever dealt with this and is there any advice that can be offered to clear this up seeing as meds are not working? I love her so much! She doesnt appear to be in pain and is eating and drinking.

Thanks So Much for any help!

You might want to post this down in the Health & Nutrition section.
Someone will move your post down there soon and you will get all kinds of
advise. I sure hope Sydney gets better. Sending good vibes your way!

Welcome to TCS! Sorry I can't help you there.

Hi to you all and thanks for the reply's. It has really been a disaster for us, and this strangely started happening after all the Hurricanes we had down here. I am going to try switching her back to her normal food to see if this might help. I have heard that the Eukenuba is very rich and Sydney isnt used to it. I am going to give that a try and see what happens. Thanks for your concern and any help that can be given is greatly appreciated.

Happy Holidays to you all!!!

Originally Posted by Shelby6977

Hello, my name is Rhonda and I am new to the site and Forum. I am in desperate need of help for my Sydney. I got Sydney 11 years ago from the SPCA at which time the estimated her to be around 2 1/2 or 3 years. She is a good cat, tempermental at times and can be a little nasty, but this is her personality and I love her dearly. I have never had any real medical problems with her until now. She has been diagnosed with Feline Pancreatitis. Sydney had a vet stay for about 4 days and received great medical attention but I ran out of money after about $450.00 and had to bring her home. Her diahreahh is just awful and even though they have given her new meds, nothing seems to be working. I have been feeding her Eukenuba since this started but I have to wonder if this is too rich for her. At least her mess is confined to the garage and she has not lost control in the house (We have a cat door to the garage where her litter box is). Has anyone ever dealt with this and is there any advice that can be offered to clear this up seeing as meds are not working? I love her so much! She doesnt appear to be in pain and is eating and drinking.

Thanks So Much for any help!

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Shelby,
What did your vets prescribe for a diet at this time? I took a quick skim of articles on this, and it seems that there is a question as to if diet can help control pancreatitis, but I did see it suggested that after fasting the cat to let the pancreas rest, an initial high carb/low fat diet was suggested, others mentioned using a prescription food by Hills...the point here is simply that while you had to remove your kitty from the hospital, they should have made a recommendation for continuing care at home, including diet.

I would question if Eukanuba is appropriate at this time, and ask your vet. What meds did they send her home on? Is she on a steroid such as prednisone or prednisolone? Did they give you an idea as to how long it might take for the meds to take control, as to by when you'd begin to see improvement?

Some of the articles mentioned an acute attack requiring 7 to 14 days of hospitalization....can you set up a payment plan with your vet, so that if they feel she needs to be in the hospital right now, she can be?

I'm not a vet or vet tech, and your vet is your best guide, but I think that you should 1)call and update them on her current condition 2) see about setting up a payment plan so if nec. she can be rehospitalized 3) tell them the diet you are using and see if they feel it is appropriate or not.


I'll ask our TCS vet tech advisor to comment, her name is Dr. Doolittle, and I wish you and Sydney all the best,

Hi Rhonda! Welcome to TCS!
Pat has given you some great advice already. I do have a few questions for you though. Which Eukanuba diet are you feeding? What meds is Sydney on exactly? Is diarrhea the only symptom or is she vomiting as well?
For now I would advise you NOT to change Sydneys diet without consulting your vet. Pancreatitis in cats is very serious and can lead to death. If Sydney is not vomiting at this point- she is doing well and you should continue with the Eukanuba.

Originally Posted by Dr. Doolittle

Hi Rhonda! Welcome to TCS!

Pat has given you some great advice already. I do have a few questions for you though. Which Eukanuba diet are you feeding? What meds is Sydney on exactly? Is diarrhea the only symptom or is she vomiting as well?
For now I would advise you NOT to change Sydneys diet without consulting your vet. Pancreatitis in cats is very serious and can lead to death. If Sydney is not vomiting at this point- she is doing well and you should continue with the Eukanuba.

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At this time, Sydney is still sick. While she was at the Vets she was fed intravenously and given meds. When the vet bills topped $450.00 I brought her home, with the Eukanuba (recommended by vet) and Amoxi (Amoxicillian I presume). When Sydney was still having the diahreah and occassional vomiting, and the money well had dried up, they prescribed Metronickruk or Metrenickruk (the label is hard to read), 1/2 pill twice a day. Sydney is still having the diahreah and she is losing her bowels all over the garage, where her litter box is. I have to wonder if she is going to be able to recover from this or not, and sadly, if putting her down would be the more humane thing to do. I have raised cats all my life and this is the 1st time I have had to deal with this disease. I love her dearly but it is hard to tell if she is in pain or not as she is eating, drinking and acting normally otherwise. Any and all advice and help is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

Hi & Welcome to TCS!!!!!

Please feel better, Sydney!

Hi and thanks for the great welcome......and thanks for thinking of Sydney!!! The old girl is sitting with my daughter while she eats HOPING for a scrap, but that isnt going to happen!!!

Originally Posted by Shelby6977

At this time, Sydney is still sick. While she was at the Vets she was fed intravenously and given meds. When the vet bills topped $450.00 I brought her home, with the Eukanuba (recommended by vet) and Amoxi (Amoxicillian I presume). When Sydney was still having the diahreah and occassional vomiting, and the money well had dried up, they prescribed Metronickruk or Metrenickruk (the label is hard to read), 1/2 pill twice a day. Sydney is still having the diahreah and she is losing her bowels all over the garage, where her litter box is. I have to wonder if she is going to be able to recover from this or not, and sadly, if putting her down would be the more humane thing to do. I have raised cats all my life and this is the 1st time I have had to deal with this disease. I love her dearly but it is hard to tell if she is in pain or not as she is eating, drinking and acting normally otherwise. Any and all advice and help is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

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My Lion had pancreatitis last year. He spent 4 days in the vets and I brought him home on the weekend even though they wanted to keep him, but since they have no one on duty over the weekend and just stop in a check twice a day, I insisted on bringing him home where I could watch him. He was on intravenous those 4 days and came home with several medications and strict advice from the vet that he had to have this extremely bland (and accordingly to Lion, absolutely tasteless) prescription diet for the next 10 days, and if the vomiting returned to bring him back in immediately. He had the opposite problem from diarrhea - he was constipated. The idea was to put as little stress on the pancreas as possible, and to keep him quiet. My vet was very concerned about a rebound and fully expected to see him back in her care by Monday. His blood work on Monday, however, showed that he was making good progress although still not out of danger. Fortunately, Lion recovered slowly but surely. He slept most of the time and when he started to want to play again I knew he was going to be alright. The vet bill was expensive - over $800 Canadian and it took me about 8 months to pay it all off but my vet was more than willing to work out a payment plan.

I would suggest you contact your vet and explain Sydney's situation. Ask if they will work out a payment plan for you. It sounds like she still needs veterinary intervention to get the pancreatitis stabilized. The diarrhea can be extremely dehydrating and she is definitely uncomfortable. I do know that a bland diet is considered instrumental in obtaining resolution and preventing a re-occurance of pancreatitis.

Good luck. I hope everything all works out for you.

Kathryn

I am sorry to hear that Sydney is still not feeling well. I would give your vet a call and explain. If you haven't seen any improvement on the Metronidazole (I'm assuming that's what this med is) then your vet needs to know about it. Also the amoxil could just be aggravating the situation by disturbing her normal gut flora. Maybe your vet would consider discontinuing the meds? I would ask your vet if he could suggest another diet to try. Maybe more fibre or a pro-biotic would help? Have food allergies and IBD been ruled out as a cause?
Good luck! I hope Syd feels better soon!

Have you checked out www.carecredit.com ? Becky

Sorry to say that we had to put Sydney down this morning. As much as I would have rather had her here, she was going downhill quickly and the mounting vet bills were going to be impossible to pay. May my sweet buddy sleep with the Angels tonight and know JUST how much I love her. These are always the hardest decisions to make and I had to make a decision based on what was right for her, not for me. It will be rough for a while, I have never been without at least one cat. Please say a prayer for her.
Thanks for all the advice to all.

I am so sorry. You prevented her from suffering more. Hugs, Becky