My Old kitties issues, chronic pancreatitis?

[sillywabbit]

She does have arthritis in her spine, her front and back legs/hips.  She is on cosequin for that.  We let her sleep with us, she spent most of the night curled up on a heating pad (on lowest setting).  She wasn't as grumpy last night as she was last weekend when she slept with us.  She is still moving very tenderly, but I think part of that is her arthritis.  I am looking into Zeel and Traumeel which are holistic remedies for pain & arthritis.   I think she is feeling a little bit better today, I did not give her any pills this morning.  She isn't hiding and actually let my cat Mini Dee clean her.  For the last week or so she has been super grumpy and growling and hissing at Mini when she lays by her, so I think this is a good sing.  Her appearance is still rough looking but she looks more alert and better today.   Her stools are back to normal.  Right now she is just getting the Miralax.  We may add the Cisapride if the Miralax doesn't work on it's own, but so far I think it is. 

Here's a picture of Mini Dee cleaning her and then one of them snuggling together, DeeJay is the one on the left in the first picture and the right on the 2nd picture.

deejnmini.jpg

• cprcheetah
• Dec 14, 2013

What a beautiful and touching testament to the love animals have for each other!!!

deejnmini2.jpg

• cprcheetah
• Dec 14, 2013

 

[cprcheetah]

Mini Dee is the one cat I have that doesn't pick on DeeJay or that DeeJay doesn't fight with.  Which is why she has the name....Mini Dee (Mini DeeJay) she not only looks like DeeJay but has a lot of the same personality characteristics as DeeJay.  They are always snuggling.  Which is why I knew something was majorly wrong with DeeJay as she was grumping every time Mini got close. 

 

[sillywabbit]

I just love those pictures. DeeJay must be feeling better to be snuggling that close, and Mini Dee is doing her best to be protective.

Puts happy tears in my eyes, it really does. Your cats are clearly loved, and comfortable in their environment!

Praying all the news stays good. You're a good cat mama.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

OK, so some good news.  Her stools are back to normal, and she is passing them ok with just Miralax, so perhaps NOT megacolon...maybe just constipation from the meds? 

  If she will take treats from DH, is there any way to hide at least her pain meds inside treats?   Or can you get ANY of them compounded into tuna or chicken flavored liquid to mix into her food? 

Obviously she is feeling a tiny bit better if she is letting Mini Dee comfort her now (I love Mini Dee's story BTW)

So!  I still wonder, really, what is the underlying issue here

.  Obviously cold bothers arthritis, but has nothing to do with abdominal pain or eating (I wouldn't think).  Constipation or even backed up hairballs upset the eating cycle and might cause pain.  Pancreatitis causes great pain.  Now didn't this entire thing start because she wasn't eating well?  Then it seems like she has been diagnosed with several different things and she's on several different medications for several different things (until you said "enough"), am I right?   And now that you've stopped the meds, she seems a little better?  I don't know WHAT to think at this point

(not much help huh)

 

[cprcheetah]

I know definitely a confusing case.  She is more happy today.  She still seems like she is in pain though, she does have arthritis pretty bad in her joints.  I started her on Traumeel last night and am going to pick up some Zeel when I can.  They are homeopathic, but I have been reading that Zeel was more effective that Rimadyl for dogs with arthritis http://harmonyvetcenter.wordpress.c...medy-equivalent-to-rimadyl-in-clinical-study/  I am guessing the same would be true for cats.  However from what I have been reading it takes about 3-4 weeks to see a big difference, but it's worth a shot.  Since she wont take pills easily, I can just grind them down and mix with her food.  She is eating a lot better now.  She hasn't had an appetite stimulant for over 24 hours now, so that's really promising.  Her stools are soft today, like slightly firmer than cow pieish.  I talked to my dad about her pain levels, he said that Buprenex is the least constipating so if I think she is in a lot of pain I can give her that.  We are waiting on results of the pancreas test.  We are also going to add Krill Oil to her diet (when I can afford it).  I hope that it helps with her pain.  She has been sneezing quite a bit for the past couple of days, not sure if she's got a respiratory issue going on or what not but I am keeping an eye on her.

 

[portia]

Hi there,

I just saw these posts and wanted to provide you a little bit of information about pancreatitis. Ive been struggling with my cat for about a year now and have learnt a lot along the way. Couple of things:

1. It would be helpful to run the Texas A&M spec fPL test(it is also performed by IDEXX labs). Thats the only clear way of diagnosing pancreatits in cats. If you havent already, I would definitely encourage you to run that to ensure that DeeJay does have pancreatitis.

2. If she does have pancreatitis, then the mainstays of treatment are:

a) Anti-nausea meds (ondansteron/zofran or cerenia are commonly used ones). Ondansetron has a fairly broad dosing so it may require some trial and error. 

b) Pain medication (buprinex/buprenorphine since DeeJay appears to be in pain. It has a fairly broad dosing so I would encourage you to try different doses to see what works- based on your vets recommendation of course).

c) hydration: many people administer SubQ fluids to ensure the cat is well hydrated. I add extra water in her food and dont do subQ.

d) Appetite stimulants: As you already seem to be giving. 

If your cat has concurrent IBD (diagnosed by biopsy) or suspected IBD, that may cause or worsen pancreatitis. So many owners try changing food.Options that have worked for various people include low fat or grain-free or novel protein or hydrolyed diets,etc. This takes a bit of trial and error and may or may not help. Others have used steroids such as prednisolone or budenoside to control intestinal inflammation which may in turn help the pancreatitis. Steroids can be very helpful but have side effects including diabetes so think about this carefully.  

Denamarin or ursodiol can help with the liver. 

These are just broad suggestions. Since DeeJay appears to have other concurrent problems, I would strongly recommed talking to your dad/vet about all the options. 

The feline pancreatitis yahoo group has amazing resources and people who have dealt with chronic pancreatitis for many years and can be very helpful.

Goo luck and sending positive vibes your way.

Rita and Portia

 

[cprcheetah]

Thank you for the information.  She was on Buprenex and Tramadol but we determined they might be adding to her constipation so we stopped giving them.  We are awaiting results of the pancreatitis test to determine if she in fact does.  Her other bloodwork is pretty much within normal ranges so it's kind of a puzzling case. 

 

[portia]

Hi there,

Constipation can be handled with miralax or lactulose as indicated by others. I would want to keep my cat as pain free as possible even if that means increasing the miralax. Pancreatits can be a very painful condition. If DeeJay is showing signs of pain which include not moving, sitting in a meatloaf position or growling when touched, then I would definietely be administering buprinex. Just my tw cents. Portia is pretty constpiapted as well but she's on miralax (1/4tsp am and 1/8tsp in the pm) everyday and that seems to help her.

Rita

 

[goholistic]

Aw, they are both so cute! Glad to hear DeeJay seems to be feeling better. Hopefully she's on the mend from here on out! 

 

[cprcheetah]

Tonights update.  She is more affectionate to me now that I am not giving her any medicine lol.  She pawed my legs earlier which means she wanted to sit in my lap, she hasn't done that in well over a week.  She sat there for a good hour and was even purring.  She does have respiratory issues going on, she is sneezing, has clear nasal & eye discharge.  She has had issue with Herpes so she may just be having a flare up from all the stress she has been under.  So I will increase her lysine for a few days to see if that helps, if not back to the vet she goes.  She is eating fairly well, ate about 1/2 of a 5.5oz can this am, and about 1/2 of a 3oz can, +about 1/8 cup of the Fresh Pet Select.  She is getting Miralax (1/4 tsp) twice a day.  Had a normal bowel movement this afternoon so that is good. 

 

[sillywabbit]

Cprcheetah, that has got to be the best news you've posted since you began this thread!! I'm do pleased for you. And I bet you're right about the flare up.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Definitely sounds like a Herpes flare-up, and makes total sense.  But otherwise a good report

  But how's her pain?  Does that seem better too?

 

[cprcheetah]

So she didn't eat very much through the night and again this morning she hardly touched her meal.  She hasn't pottied since yesterday afternoon.  Pain wise I think she is improving a little bit as she isn't grumpy and isn't hiding and seems to be purring more.  I did give her an appetite stimulant this afternoon which she was NOT happy about.  Right now she is sleeping.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Did the appetite stimulant do anything? 

 

[cprcheetah]

Can I just scream?  She is frustrating me so badly.  Didn't eat last night through the night, hardly touched her breakfast this morning, but did eat most of what I left out for her while I was gone to work.  She is sneezing quite a bit, talked to the vet today and she wants to give her a Convenia shot....don't think so, I'd rather have her mad at me for pilling her twice a day.  She has not had a bowel movement since yesterday.  But I just weighed her and she weighs 10.0# she was 9.8# at the vet a couple of weeks ago.   I think she has been eating some of Mini Dee's dry food during the day.  Mini Dee refuses to eat canned food, and so I feed her dry, she likes to graze so I usually leave that out for her.  I am going to have to find a food lower in fiber to feed Mini that way if DeeJay eats it, it won't be a problem.  I talked to the vet today about DeeJay and she recommends an Ultrasound with the specialist.....we honestly cannot afford it, even with my discount, I am in bankruptcy at the moment.  So we may pursue exploratory surgery with me dad (minimal charges cause he loves his grand kitties lol).  Haven't heard anything on the pancreatitis test we sent out yet either. 

 

[goholistic]

Ugh...so frustrating.  

  Did they give you an idea on when the pancreatitis results are going to be back? After blood/urine/fecal labs and x-rays, an ultrasound is usually the next step, and vets typically suggest this first before exploratory surgery (at least mine do). Surgery is invasive and would be another thing DeeJay has to recover from on top of her existing issues. 

 

[cprcheetah]

The pancreatitis test results should be back any day.  I know the Ultrasound should be next, but we honestly can't afford it even with the discount I would get, we just had to spend $300 for new tires for my car as they were bald.  I am going to beg my sister to see if she might be willing to lend me the money for the ultrasound.  I am also going to talk to my manager on Thursday to see if she would let me break the ultrasound up into biweekly payments (not sure if they will since it is a specialist that does it).   It breaks my heart that we can't figure out what's going on.  The Dr and my dad both did say that Megacolon can make kitties pretty sick so that could be why she isn't wanting to eat as it gives them a belly ache.  I was able to find some Zeel in boxes in my basement (we moved last year and I still don't have everything unpacked), Zeel is a homeopathic remedy for arthritis, that is said to have just as good or better results than Rimadyl in a study that was done.  So I am going to grind them up and add that to her food.  Right now she is getting Traumeel, Miralax, Viralys (lysine) added to her food twice a day.   At first I thought her picky eating was due to me adding things to her diet, but she is picky even with the meals that don't have anything in them.  She likes the chunky foods....which I know aren't as good as the pates but at this point whatever we can get her to eat good, I'm gonna give her.  She REALLY likes the Meow Mix Cups and eats those most consistently (my hubby picked her up a bunch of different foods....we spent over $50 trying to find foods that she likes).  I increased her appetite stimulant to 1 pill instead of 1/2 pill....the dose is 1/4 to 1 whole pill twice a day.  So we will see if that helps.

 

[goholistic]

I understand. 

  I hope you're able to work something out.

I have to say, the eating / not eating thing is very familiar to me. Before Sebastian's "diagnosis" and before we found a good regime that works for him, this type of behavior was constant. It was SO frustrating. I'd open up six cans of food trying to get him to eat, and have 5 different kinds of kibble available as a last push. Even with our current plan, he still occasionally will walk away from his food (he just gets one type of food now).

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I'm right there with you.  I try to stick with grain free, but I've run out of options, so just today I went to Petco and bought stuff I would never have ever thought I'd buy again.   And today Callie ate more than i have seen her eat in a long time.  So I guess we're back to smelly poops around here

.  But if that's what it takes, so be it, as long as she eats.  I just hope it's not a fluke.  (Today it was Fancy Feast GRILL, but I actually broke down and bought Science Diet because it's actually one of lowest on phosphorus, which is what she needs as a kidney cat.  OMG, OMG, OMG, I'm probably going to be struck by lightening

)

I sure hope you can get to the bottom of what ails Dee Jay, and soon

 

[cprcheetah]

Yeah, I too broke down and bought some science diet i/d as that is what she liked at the vet over the a/d.  I swore years ago I would never again feed that diet (I had several young animals die of rare forms of cancer while I was feeding it).  They have since changed their preservatives so I feel it's 'safe' hopefully.  But if she eats, she eats   I just get so frustrated....we are broke as can be yet are throwing away at least 3-5oz of canned food per day of food she refuses to eat.  I just wish she would get back to her 'chunky monkey' self and be the food hound that she has always been.  She used to weigh 14#, granted she was a couple pounds overweight, but she could stand to gain a pound or two right now.  I hope we get the pancreatitis test back soon and that it gives us more answers as to what is going on with her.