At odds with vet

mr b has had pancreatitis for 14 months. We found out at the same time he was dx'd with diabetes.

We didnt treat it. He seemed to be in no pain. No nausea. Always ate happily. No vomiting. For a short spell the marker for pancreatitis came up normal, even. Xrays and u/s showed nothing disconcerting.

Recent bloodwork shows the presence of pancreatitis. No surprise. About the same range too, not super high. For whatever reason, i dont know, she wants to start him on cerenia. I dont understand why now. Thats for nausea and vomiting, right?

She wnats to change his diet too. To a prescription diet of course, and even a dry one. Hypoallergenic and renal formula. I think thats crazy.

He's got signs of early kidney disease, and his potassium has gone down over the last year to just a point away from the low zone, so iasked if a supp would help. She said a low dose but we'd havee to closely monitor because elevated potassium can be a problem in cats with kidney disease.

Finally the other thing is the hind leg weakness thathas been dogging him for a year now and is worsening, which is also why i asked about the potassium supp. Maybe on ttop of diabetiic neuropathy he's got low enough potassium that its making it worse. I dont know.

I'm confused.

One thing i know for sure is i'm not intersted in chnaging his diet, especially to dry!! And the process of hydroloizing food to make it hypoallergenic is questionable in my book.

 

My Smoky was on a hydrolyzed diet, Royal Canin SO urinary formula which gave him very bad diarrhea. It helped his allergies but messed up his GI Tract so badly the vet pulled him off of it. My vet told me no dry food for cats with pancreatitis or kidney issues.
The Cerenia is for nausea and vomiting but my vet also prescribed it because she said it has some anti inflammatory properties to it.

 

My Tuxie has chronic pancreatitis and very high fPLI readings and has for 2 years, largely due to his Cushing's. However the only time he needs meds is when he is having an episode, which becomes clear quickly. He is a food vacuum and if he doesn't eat everything he gets then that is a red flag. Unless he is having problems there is no reason for him to be on medications since they are meant more for nausea and the pain that comes with a pancreatic attack. I don't know why your vet wants to treat something that is not happening. If Mr B is nauseous and not eating then certainly, otherwise what purpose would it serve?

 

Regarding potassium supplements - your vet is right, too much can be dangerous - the one Squallie is on is apparently low dose, his vet only checks his potassium levels every 6 months or so and it's never been too high. I was concerned a few times when one of the civvies would steal his food and I asked my vet if they'd be at risk because of the added potassium and he said the amount they'd get from it wouldn't hurt them. He had a lot of weakness in his hind legs before he started on the K supplement and now he's pretty much back to normal.

 

What are his creatinine and bun? Do you give sub q's or vitamin b 12?

 

Creatinine normal 2.2
Bun elevated 54 (16-37)

I give b12 both oral and injection. We had done subq fluids for a bit but not for a while now.