Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - back to normal

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis flare

My cat Lilly did not respond well to the appetite stimulant Mirtazapine. It had no effect on her whatsoever when she had pancreatitis plus you can only dose it once every three days. Another vet told it works best with dogs. The cypro seemed to work well with my cat Arthur however.

Terri

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis flare

Just a thought about food, LIsa. If the vet finds something Tisha can eat OK (e.g. poached chicken breast and broth), it might be a good idea to just stick to that until she stabilises. If necessary, you can blitz some breast meat, broth and water in a blender to give it a soupy consistency.

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis flare

I went and saw Tisha this afternoon. I was hoping to bring her home so that she could rest and see everyone. (On a side note, I am so proud of my human kiddos, who all told DH that they would go without Christmas if it meant Tisha could get the treatment she needs.) Sadly, that was not to be. She still needed to be fed and the combination of ondansetron, cyproheptadine and Pepcid was not enough to stimulate her appetite. The vet said she turns away from the food less, but she still won't eat. I went in and spent some time with her. She growled at me when I picked her up, which is really not like her, even when she hurts. I set her on the counter and after a few minutes she started acting like she wanted to get down. I carried her back over by her cage and she climbed in, then went to the very back and curled up there. I did stay for a while and stroke her cheek. While I did that, she started purring. I asked the vet tech if she seemed better or worse than earlier in the week and she said worse. The vet said that some cats don't like to eat when they're being watched, so the vet tech said that she will give her a variety of foods, then cover her cage to see if she eats. When I came home, the first thing I saw was her empty cat tree. I just want to bring my baby home and let her at least be peaceful and comfortable.

FYI: Aine (sorry no accents on this keyboard), we always leave food out for Tisha at night and she usually eats a few bites at a time all day and night. The vet just said we didn't have to try to syringe feed her at night. She has her on an every 3-4 hour feeding schedule at the hospital.

So I'm down to waiting and praying. We have done everything that I can think of to try to help her. I don't want to lose her, and I don't want to watch her suffer any more. I just want her to miraculously be better tomorrow, even if it's just a little bit better.

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis flare

My heart sank when I read your update, Lisa. I was hoping so hard that the cyproheptadine would help Tisha. :sad:

Did the vet say whether steroids might be an option? It's the only other thing I can think of, but I have no idea how they might work. Maybe other members who know more will post something about them.My heart goes out to you all (and please give your wonderful human kiddos a big hug from me).

:YMHUG:

I will continue to pray for Tisha. cat_pet_icon

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis flare

Here's the link to the Yahoo Feline Pancreatitis Support Group:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Feline_Pancreatitis_Support/info

Maybe some of the members there might be able to help. I'm kicking myself that I didn't think to post this link earlier.

ETA:

Have the vets given you info on Tisha's BG and ketone levels, Lisa?

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis flare

FINALLY SOME GOOD NEWS!!!!!

After a long discussion with DH last night where he said I was torturing the cat and doing all of this for me, followed by much prayer, DH stopped by to see her this morning and she was licking at some broth they gave her! I have never been excited for such a small bite! She was also up, moving, meowing and alert this morning. He left without telling the vet, so I called to let her know that he saw her eat. The vet tech that I talked to said that they all think she looks better this morning. I hope that we have finally turned the corner on this, and that we never have to do this again.

I also remembered that when we were still trying to address the litter box avoidance and other behavioral issues, the vet tried a medication that we had to discontinue because it made Tisha want to eat ALL the time. (She was waking us up in the middle of the night because she had eaten all of her food and still wanted more.) I asked the vet to look it up and see if maybe we could use that to stimulate her appetite further.

I'm feeling very relieved this morning.

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

Fingers cross the improvement continues.

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

flip_cat Happy dance going on in the Shire!!!! flip_cat

Fingers and paws crossed that Tisha will continue to improve.

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

I am so happy to hear this! Hearing her voice and knowing that she's eating has to be the most wonderful feeling. :razz:

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

I stopped by the vet's office to see Tisha and talk to the vet. Tisha was very excited to see me and ready to get out of the cage. She licked a little of her normal canned food off of my finger and was sniffing at the other bowls when I left. (They have broth, 2 kinds of canned food, and dry food available for her to see if they can coax her to eat.) They are going to keep her today, coax her to eat as much as possible, and syringe feed if she won't eat. The goal is to send her home today with as much food in her as possible and try to get her eating normally at home. She will stay on the cypro, Pepcid, ondansetron combo at least until she is back to her normal routine and eating habits. Then we will discuss how to prevent any future episodes like this. The vet said that she has had very good luck in the past treating chronic pancreatitis by intervening at the first hint of symptoms with fluids, anti-nausea medication and pain meds, so we will likely try that. In retrospect, the first hint of a problem this time was actually about Tuesday of last week, so Tisha didn't start meds until 3 days later.

So now hopefully we can get her eating and then get back to balancing out her insulin. I hope this doesn't destroy the progress we made on the diabetes front, but, if necessary, I will happily go back to injecting more insulin rather than have this mess again.

I am so glad that my baby gets to come home today!

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

Thanks for the update, I have been praying for this, so happy you got some good news! (((Tisha and Lisa))) Fingers crossed for continued improvement, and still sending healing vines!

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

I liked the good news

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

I don't know whether this will be of any help to you but when Saoirse rounded the corner Hellen and Elise advised me to feed her very small amounts frequently and not to give too much at a time even if she was still hungry (the idea being not to put too much load on her digestive system at any one time) Our vet recommended chicken because it's easy to digest. I poached chicken breasts and blitzed them to a fine mince in the food processor and reserved the broth. Each mealtime (once an hour at first) I fed her 2 heaped teaspoons of minced chicken and served it in a bowl with a 50-50 mix of broth and water. She managed that quite well and it kept her going. I got timed feeders so that she could get her scheduled rations while I managed to catch a few hours sleep.

I did get a bit impatient with trying to get Saoirse back onto a complete food because I was worried about her not getting balanced vitamins and minerals, but I had to backtrack several times because Saoirse's tum got upset (which made me feel like an awful kitty parent). It has taken several weeks but now she's been weaned onto her recovery food. I'm still dreading trying to wean her onto a maintenance food, but I'll worry about that when the time comes.

Sending special anti-nausea appetite vibes to Tisha >>>>>>>> cat_pet_icon

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

Just got another call from the vet. They syringe fed her, and after they got 25 ml into her, she started eating on her own again!

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

Sounds like Tisha is really improving.

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

Happy happy joy joy!!

That's one plucky pusscat you've got there, Lisa. And I'm glad she has such a loving family.

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

Wow, eating on her own is great news!

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

Hi LIsa,

Just checking in to see how you are doing. Any news?

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

Hi, Aine!

I was just debating whether to update this post or start a new one. She is feeling MUCH better today. We do not let Tisha sleep in our room because she wets on our bed if we do, usually on my husband's side. So I slept in our oldest daughter's room last night so Tisha could wake me if she needed something. (Our oldest daughter has moved out.) I knew that we had our kitty back when I woke up at 4 AM in a pool of cat urine. (I know, gross, but at least she's feeling better. I'm so glad to have her home that I would put up with almost anything right now.)

She is still eating on her own, but still in small bits. She ate a few bites of her normal food in the middle of the night. Today, she periodically sniffs the cat food (dry diabetic, normal dry, FF classic) that is sitting out around the house, but hasn't eaten any. She did eat a handful of freeze dried shrimp. I gave her some canned tuna and she ate about a tablespoon of that. She's mostly enjoying licking up the liquid, so I gave her all of the liquid. I plan to go to the store soon and will buy her some of the FF broths too. I know none of those are ideal, but it's just important to get her to eat.

Having said that, her BG is back WAY high. She was 408 when I tested her this morning. The vet really did not want her on insulin this week, and was hopeful that she wasn't going to need it any more. I agreed to that with the caveat that I would test it every day and if it was high, I would call. So I called the clinic this morning and they said our vet was not in. I texted her cell and she agreed to give .5 of the Lantus. So, I will obviously be closely monitoring that in the hopes of getting her back down. Once we get her diet back to normal, then we can start working on getting her off of insulin again.

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

Tisha's home, feeling better and eating a little under her own steam! That's great news. I'm so happy for you!

If Saoirse's any way typical of cats recovering from a flare-up, there'll be a lot of baby steps and ups 'n' downs as Tisha gets better. Hoping for lots of ups.

Isn't it strange how perspectives on things change with circumstances. As I was reading about Tisha's bedroom hiccups, I was mindful of how my attitude to litter boxes has done a complete 180 this year. Never did I think I'd see the day when a litter box would become one of my best buddies. :roll: ;-)

I can understand how you feel about Tisha's higher BG. Saoirse's BG started climbing like that at the peak of the flare up. As the numbers got higher my heart sank lower and I felt like I had blown her chance of remission. I was due to start her on Lantus and TR the following week but when her numbers rose I was keen to restart her on insulin ASAP (as recommended by the authors of the TR protocol). I gave her some token doses of Caninsulin to protect her pancreatic beta cells as much as possible until I had the review of TR with our vet and got the Lantus. I'm relieved that she seems to have responded well to the Lantus, even while we've been dealing with the pancreatitis issues (the meds helped her to eat regularly but it did need a lot of nursing support). She's only on a tiny dose (<0.25 IU) once a day at the moment. I'm too exhausted to monitor her at night, but she seems to run low on the PM cycle and I'm taking advantage of that. I prefer to have her higher and safe. If you look at the brief log on her SS, you can see how she's doing. She's in the healthy range most of the time now. It has given me a little more hope.

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

I'm so glad she's doing better! I hope the trend continues!

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

She is eating pretty well now. She's still not back to her normal amounts, but she is eating her normal food. Unfortunately, her BG went from 408 at AMPS to 510 at PMPS. Her BG has NEVER been this high, not even when she was first diagnosed. Since she is eating her normal food, I have picked up the bowls with the high carb food for the moment.

So Tisha has 3 pills that she has to take now. I just gave them to her. The antibiotic got mixed with cream cheese and smeared on her paws, which she is now stubbornly refusing to clean. I managed to get the Pepcid and Cypro into her, then held her until I thought surely she had swallowed them. Then I used a syringe to squirt a little bit of water in her mouth (and consequently all over her face and my clothes.) I swear that she gagged herself somehow a minute later and managed to spit up dissolved pills. Sigh. :YMSIGH:

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

Some pills may be cut up, put in an oral syringe, water added to dissolve, optionally add a bit of mushy food, then given that way. Much harder to spit up.

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

Hi LIsa

Great that Tisha's eating unassisted. :thumbup I bet you're all thrilled to have her back home with you instead of looking at the lonely cat tree.

I followed a tip to feed Saoirse something immediately after her meds plus giving a little water by syringe (think it was on Dr Pierson's site). I give the meds, do the gentle throat massage to stimulate her swallow reflex then follow up with a couple of freeze-dried chicken treats. It works really well and gets easier with practice. Saoirse barely had time to notice she'd had a famotidine dose last night. (I think it helps me even more than it helps her - I always feel like a fink when I have to give her her medicines. :sad: )

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

I normally crush the pills, mix them with cream cheese (a very tiny bit), then smear them on her paws. It irritates her, but then she licks off the cream cheese and gets the meds. Much easier, although if she sees cream cheese, she tends to disappear. I did that with her antibiotic last night, but then she wasn't cleaning it off, so I figured I'd better give her the other 2. (She did eventually come sit in my lap and clean off her paws.)

Tisha seems to be almost back to normal today. She is sitting on the top of her cat tree and has been asking for food. She ate about 1/2 can of FF this morning, and is working on the other half. Plus I noticed that the dry food bowl is empty. (Since she's eating and her sugar is so high, we have not refilled it, but did leave the last of the Meow Mix available in case she got hungry.) She is obviously feeling much better. It really blows my mind how fast she rebounded once she started feeling better. She is still noticeably weaker and thinner than 2 weeks ago, but that will get better with eating. She was so skinny that even with one day of eating some food, you can tell the difference in her appearance.

Now I guess we need to work on getting her BG back under control. It is higher than it has EVER been right now. We're sticking with the .5 dose for now, on the assumption that if that was the right dose before, it will still be the right dose once her body gets somewhat back to normal.

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

It's great to hear how well Tisha is progressing. Fingers crossed when she's had her insulin for a few days her numbers will start to improve. She has had a very stressful time of it. Maybe when she has had a few days at home recuperating that might help her numbers, too.

I'm made up for you both. :smile:

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

Hi

I am on the pancreatitis forum and they advise that supportive meds are the way to go and not to stop them too early. My remi takes the same meds today that he took when he had his really bad panc flair two years ago namely ondanestron, Zantac and when necessary cerenia. The pills are best given in an empty gelatine capsule and followed by at least three mls of water that has been carefully syringes into the mouth (side on, never down the throat).

They would also avoid that when possible you avoid things like salmon and fish or food too high in fat.

Additional sub q fluids are given my many but I added water to food and by stringing into the mouth. A kitty can feel nauseous when dehydrated. Pain relief given whenever pain is suspected.

Hope she keeps getting better.

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

How's Tisha doing today? And have you managed to get some rest yourself?

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

I am happy to report that Tisha is basically back to herself today. She has eaten about 1 1/2 cans of her normal food in the last 9 hours. (The vet would like her to get to 3 in a 24 hour time period. We may get there today.) She was actually playing with one of her catnip toys today. :c)

Now if we could just get the BG back down...

Phlika: are on the same pancreatitis forum that Aine posted earlier? I haven't really figured out that piece of this yet. (Too busy trying to get caught up on everything that didn't get done last week when Tisha was so sick.)

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

Yes I am. It is a different set up but you do get used to it in the end. I set it up so I get the daily email digest but it's worth changing to be notified via email of every post if you are in urgent need. I just reply from the email digest rather than log on.

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

3 1/2 cans of food today! And the BG is slowly coming back down. Yay!

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

Yay! :smile:

Isn't it a great relief to see the numbers going in the right direction again.

 

Re: Diabetic cat not eating; Pancreatitis - GOOD NEWS!

Glad Tisha is doing better.

You might go to your 1st post in this thread and revise the subject.