Food for Pancreatitis

Hello Everyone

I am desperate for some advice on food for pancreatitis. When my Abby (17 year old tortie) had a bout of pancreatitis a month ago, I had to bring her to the emergency vet. They put her on Royal Canin Moderate Calorie canned food. She seemed to be doing well. I brought her for a check up with my vet because she was drinking and peeing a lot. No diabetes, but her pancreas is, apparently, still inflamed. So my vet put her on Cerenia, and wanted her to be on HA Hydrolized Protein food.
To be honest, I'm not thrilled about the ingredients in either of these foods, but the HA gives her diarrhea, yet my vet insists it's the best, most easily digested food! Now, she won't eat the Royal Canin because she prefers the HA!
I don't know what to do. I don't know what food is ok to give to an old cat with pancreatitis. Not to mention, I can't get her to take the Cerenia without it causing her to drool excessively. Can anyone help me?
Thank you so much,
Marisa

 

Hi Marisa, I don't know anything about pancreatitis, so can't really help, but
I'm sure someone will be along that can help you with food choices.
In the meantime, have you seen this http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/a-primer-on-pancreatitis.83108/

 

Hi Marisa,

Some folks here have found that their kitties do best on a lower fat diet; and some - that have kitties with sensitive digestions - have said that their cats have also done better on 'single protein' diets, especially 'novel' proteins like rabbit, lamb, etc...

I'm sure other will chime in with advice soon.
HUGE hugs to you, and well wishes to your Abby.

Eliz

 

Both of my cats (Rain - 8.5 yr, and Jason - almost 18 yr) have been diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis within the last year. Both are eating and doing well on low carb Fancy Feast pates. I switched Jason to pure Fancy Feast after his acute pancreatitis flare last December that sent us to the ER and resulted in his diagnosis (before I had been feeding him a mix of Fancy Feast and higher quality foods, but he was having diarrhea - keeping him to one type of food has resolved his diarrhea issues). Jason also seems to always need something in his stomach so he's essentially free fed (I put out fresh bowls every 6-8 hours which is about how long it takes my cats to eat 2 cans of Fancy Feast).

Rain was actually on Royal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein before her pancreatitis diagnosis. She was put on it a year or 2 before for suspected food allergies (vomiting undigested food and itchy/scaly ears). I had a lot of problems with Rain's appetite and eating habits over the years (notoriously picky eater, unexplained bouts of inappetance and weight loss, etc). Once her pancreatitis was diagnosed and initially treated (Cerenia, buprenorphrine and an appetite stimulant), she started eating Jason's Fancy Feast ravenously. She's continued to eat the Fancy Feast and done really well on it. I've taken her completely off the hydrolyzed protein (mine was dry food, so high in carbs - one of my problems once she was diagnosed with diabetes - and water depleted) and she's been doing fantastic (gained a pound and a half, acts like a kitten again).

The Cerenia has helped both of my cats immensely. I've experimented a bit with mine and the best way that I've found to give it to my two is actually with laxatone. Both of mine have hairballs, so I tend to cut off the ends of 1 ml syringes, draw up about 1 ml of laxatone in the syringe (from a clean pill bottle that I've squeezed some laxatone into), insert the the 1/4 Cerenia tablet into the cut off end of the syringe (mine are on 4mg) and then syringe it into their mouths. The laxatone coating helps prevent them from tasting the Cerenia and from spitting it out.

If you're having a lot of problems with the Cerenia, it is also available in injectable form but the injections do sting and it's much more expensive (also a bottle is only good for 30 days after first use).

You might also want to ask your vet about injectable B12 - it helps mine a lot when I suspect their starting to have a flare.

 

When Smokey was dx with it, they wanted novel protein to rule out allergies. Smokey wouldn't eat the Royal Canine. I went to ziwipeak lamb, rabbit and lamb, and venison. Regular vet said it was to high in fat. The fat content has been debunked. Smokey did well on it though. We are back to his regular food with ziwipeak thrown in every 2 weeks.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to drop me a line. I have read everything on the pancreatitis primer, and many other things from other sites, as well as what two different vets have advised. Hence, my confusion. Be assured, I appreciate every bit of knowledge that you can throw my way!

Thank you again!
Marisa

 

This makes perfect sense to me, and I have been wanting to switch ALL my cats over to Call of the Wild, which seems to be very pure in their ingredients. After all this with Abby, I wasn't sure what I should do; everything I read, what the vets tell me, all seems to contradict each other. My vet swore by the HA and the first ingredient is rice starch! Then there's corn oil, corn, hydrogenated oil, etc. Yet, my vet kept telling me this was the most hypoallergenic and digestible food. That seems to be a lot of baloney since rice and corn are HUGE allergens, and I know cats can't even digest them properly.

I'm just going to listen to my own instincts, and to what others have done and been successful with. I'm definitely taking her off the HA. For now, I'm just trying to get her back on the Royal Canin.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my post. It really means a lot--I've been so confused.

Hugs
Marisa

 

I am thinking of trying Abby on some novel protein--perhaps rabbit. The Call of the Wild is what I'm looking at for my other feline fur-babies. May I ask what Smokey's regular food is? So, you give him his regular food and then supplement with Ziwipeak every couple of weeks? It sounds like a good idea to rotate their foods.

My deepest thanks for taking the time to reply to my post. I feel like I have somewhat of a game-plan now, whereas before, I was panicking and afraid to give her anything besides what the vets had diagnosed.

Thank you again
Marisa

 

Wulfwin

Thank you so much for this in-depth reply. You've obviously had some serious time to figure out the differences between the good and the bad. May I ask what exactly the Vit B12 does? I remember reading about it somewhere, but I've forgotten the purpose of it. My husband and I were thinking of asking the vet to give us the injectable cerenia (for the life of me, I can't understand why they don't coat the pills so they go down easier); but, maybe we'll try it with the laxatone first.

At this point, I'm trying to get her back on the Royal Canin--I sprinkled a bit of tuna water in it to get her to start eating it again--and I added a probiotic. She's just not very fond of it. We're considering switching all our cats over to Call of the Wild food. It'd be nice to have her put on some weight (she's just over 5 lbs). It's also nice to see that you also have an elderly cat with the same problem. I'm surprised your kitties are doing well on the Fancy Feast! See what I mean? Vet's assured me that was a complete no-no! I had given Abby a few kibbles of the grain-free Performatrin Ultra, just to see if she was nauseated or just being picky. She gobbled it up! But, when I asked my vet, she said to keep her off that stuff.

Again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your informative reply. Believe me when I say that I was in a panic this morning. At least I have some direction now.

Many hugs
Marisa

 

It's awfully scary when you're first dealing with it! Jason was diagnosed after we ended up at the emergency vet last Christmas Eve with vomiting, poor appetite, and a 106 fever (it was our 2nd trip in 2 days). Even after diagnosing him with the pancreatitis and a concurrent infection, the ER vet still didn't end up treating the pancreatitis properly (he didn't give him any pain medication; I didn't know anything about pancreatitis at the time, so it wasn't until 2 days later that a vet I work with at an animal shelter told me to give him buprenorphrine - what a huge difference that made!).

Cats with pancreatitis (or other gastrointestinal diseases) may not be able to absorb cobalamin (B12) well, leading to a deficiency in their levels. Check out the page about B12 on Tanya's CRF site (this is specifically referring to cats with kidney disease, but the information on B12 still applies). Before his pancreatitis diagnosis, Jason would have unexplained episodes of poor appetite and generally just not acting right; I'd take him to the vet, and we couldn't find anything wrong with him but a B12 shot (sometimes with Cerenia as well if he was vomiting) would always perk him back up and have him back to normal soon. Looking back on it now, my vet and I realize that those were pancreatitis flares.

If you go with injectable, just remember that it does sting. As far as coating, it's probably at least partially because the tablets are off-label use in cats and are specifically labeled for dogs (the injectable is labeled for both). It's a lot easier to get a dog to eat a pill than a cat. If you haven't tried it yet, there are also pill pockets for cats if Abby would eat those (when I do use those, I usually just use enough of the pocket to cover the pill, not the whole thing to try to avoid them chewing it). If there are certain wet foods that she likes, you can try hiding it in a small meatball of the food (I used to do that with my Kaleigh when she was on pred tablets). You can also try chasing the pill with some water.

From what I've read about pancreatitis in cats, it seems like a lot of the diet guidelines where based off pancreatitis treatment in dogs and have since proven to not apply in cats (for example, high fat content I believe is a big no-no in dogs with pancreatitis, but no study has shown this to be the case in cats). The current thinking seems to be more along the lines of finding the diet that works best for the individual cat (especially since a lot of cats might have concurrent illnesses that play a role in diet choice, and a lot of cats with issues like pancreatitis can be difficult to get to eat consistently). In my particular cats, Fancy Feast works really well for them. I've had Jason on a variety of foods over the years but the food I'm feeding now and the timing of his feedings has worked best for him. I also add water to their Fancy Feast to up their water intake, which I think has been very beneficial for them (especially Jason since he's been on the high end of normal kidney values for years).

I found this document about treatment guidelines for pancreatitis in cats (produced by Idexx Labs, one of the I believe only 2 labs that offer the blood test for pancreatitis) really helpful.

I think the biggest thing is finding a diet that Abby likes and she does well on. Managing the pancreatitis with Cerenia and any other needed treatments (B12, fluids, appetite stimulant, pain medication are often needed during flares) will also be key.

 

Marisa, I rotate food and flavors every meal to make sure he eats. I use ProPlan Savor beef with carrots, Purina One Smartblend chicken, Sheba perfect portions beef and chicken, True Nature (Purina) chicken and turkey, Prescription DM or Ziwipeak lamb and rabbit/lamb (I alternate these two, DM Ziwipeak). He doesn't like the venison. He is fed every 3-4 hrs around the clock. I also give him cooked gizzards and liver once a week for one snack and bone soup 1 tsp daily mixed with the True nature or DM. Sounds confusing here is how I do it.

7am. Proplan or true nature
10am. The one I didn't use above
1pm. DM, ziwipeak. With bone soup. On Saturday it's the gizzards.
4pm 1/2oz or 3/4 oz proplan beef

These pm never change:

7pm Sheba beef
10pm true nature
11pm or 12 midnight same as 4pm if he's super hungry
1am Sheba chicken
4am 1/2 oz or 3/4oz Purina chicken

Smokey is 18 1/2 yrs with heart issues although it was suspected at time ultrasound for pancreatitis was done. When they wanted me to use the prescription novel protein I said no because of carrageenans which is irritating to gastro tract and carcinogenic. I also started thinking about making my own food. That's when I found the bone soup. It's soothing and has lots of benefits and he loves it when mixed with food but not alone. It's what got him to eat better especially with the DM that he loves also but started to turn away from it and most food. He is a chow hound so when he walks away something is wrong. That's why I say get the cerenia. If nauseous they stop eating and a appetite stimulant won't help until the nausea is addressed.

I lost a cat to pancreatitis and hepatic lipidosis due to previous vet bungling and me not knowing anything about it. And not even told about the ER. I only lived here a month at that time. She did not have diabetes. When I suspected Smokey had it, I was all over it and pushed to get the tests done, which his regular vet said he did not have. He was very apologetic for not listening to his symptoms better and only going by his regular blood panel. He is very attentive now. And when we go for an appointment we are put in a quiet room immediately because Smokey is a "cardiac senior" and he doesn't want the noise of a waiting room stressing him.

Anything else, please ask. I can only say what works for us.

 

Marisa, the video on this web site has helped me with pilling my cat. http://www.fundamentallyfeline.com/medicating-tips-and-tricks/. She would do the same with most of her medications, foam, vomit, drool. I never felt she was getting the correct dose, not to mention upsetting her more. I also use a compounding pharmacy to make some med's in to a trans-dermal form that I smooth in the top inside of her ear. It may take a few times for your cat to get use to you using a syringe to get the medicine down, but it has worked beautifully for me. I dissolved my Cerenia in tuna water, not much water, pull some food up in a syringe, pull up the Cerenia, then more food. & it is ready to give to my cat. I hope this method of dosing your cat will help, both of you.

 

Some unpalatable meds (those that don't need to be given whole) can be chopped or crushed and put into flavourless empty gel capsules. These can also slip down more easily than a pill. I've heard that some use size 4 capsules, but, if the meds will fit, the size 5 are particularly dinky.

Eliz

 

Marisa, you may also be interested to see this thread; and there are some helpful links in some of the posts too:
Pancreatitis diet for a non-diabetic

Eliz

 

Hello again Everyone

I am humbled at how many of you have helped so much in answering my questions. It's been a rough few days (for me, not Abby). We live in Ontario, Canada, but had gone to visit friends for 2 weeks (their daughter was getting married) in St. Francis Bay, South Africa. I caught such a bad cold and cough (it's winter for them right now) and I haven't been able to get rid of this cough! And now, it's ragweed season--and I'm extremely allergic to ragweed. I feel completely exhausted!

Anyway, we put in a call to our vet about the Cerenia injections, but I wanted to try a few of the suggestions that many of you gave to me first. We finally found a place that sells the Wild Calling food; we opened the lamb/salmon one and let Abby smell it. She went wild! So, we put a quarter of a Cerenia pill in a small bit of it, and put another small bit on the plate as a chaser--to get rid of the flavour. She absolutely devoured it--pill and all! So, we mixed a half a can of Royal Canin with a heaping tablespoon of the Wild Calling Triple Delight (http://wildcalling.com/products/triple-delight-cat/). She actually ate as though she was starving. It just goes to show that she is hungry, she just needed something tastier. I still don't know how this food will sit in her belly--we'll see. We're switching our other two cats over to it, as well.

There's lots of flavours of the Wild Calling (has anyone used this food?), including rabbit, buffalo, chicken, duck, beef, salmon, turkey, the Triple Delight (which is a mix of lamb, chicken, and salmon), and alligator. You can't get the beef one up in Canada because the beef farmers up here don't want beef coming from the States (States allows things in their beef that we don't here). From what I've read, it seems like a really good food, but, to be honest, my knowledge of feline nutrition is probably severely deficient compared to all of you.

Has anyone got experience with this food? Or, does anyone know of any reason why I should avoid giving it to Abby? I would be mixing it with the Royal Canin. The other cats would just get the Wild Calling straight. Abby's blood work showed her kidneys are at the high end of normal for kidney disease.

Again, thank you all for your advice! I wish there was something I could help all of you with, but I'm such a newb here!

Hugs to all
Marisa

 

I'm not familiar with that brand.

Regarding the cerenia it should be given an hour before feeding or 2 hours after eating.

 

Hello, I see that you use Laxatone in your cats, is it safe to use on a regular basis or daily for hairballs in cats with pancreatitis do u know? My Kiki is not too hot on pumpkin lol