I was warned the day might come - now it is here

Hi everyone. Two years ago my cat Bailey was diagnosed with pancreatitis. It was suspected that she had a food allergy. We tried Atopica (cyclosporine, I believe) and that made her very ill, so we switched to prednisolone and a hypoallergenic diet, which cleared up her symptoms quite well. I was warned that prolonged use of this steroid might lead to her developing diabetes, and last week that diagnosis was made. Right now, my vet has had me switch her diet over (seems weird to be feeding her something with chicken in it) and already her excessive water drinking has diminished. I am also giving her Cerenia. The idea, as I understand it is to switch her off the steroid and hopefully onto something like Atopica, and maybe that will be all that is needed. Her urine sample showed no ketones, so that's something. But in case this course of treatment isn't enough, I think it is time to start educating myself on what I may have to deal with in the future. There seems to be a lot of information to wade through though, so I thought I would start with this introduction. Thanks.

 

Pancreatitis Primer - you may find this helpful to read.

 

Thank you for that. A lot of it is familiar, but since her pancreatitis has been under control until recently, I haven't reviewed the information lately. It is good to have a refresher, especially since it seems she has had a flare up. I'm really hoping the new diet doesn't bring back the more acute form because I'm already giving her two drugs (Cerenia and prednisolone) and I really would like to avoid adding a third. She was exhibiting some signs of discomfort, but since being on the Cerenia (which I understand has some anti-inflammatory and anti-pain properties) she has started seeming more lively and playing with her toys, which I take to be a good sign. I think right now, the biggest adjustment for her is not having her crunchy food available to her at all times and not getting her treats. She cries for them, but can be distracted. I hope she will eventually forget about them.

 

Are you free feeding or meal feeding? She may do better if she doesn't get too hungry and has some food to graze on through the day.

 

Well, after scanning through the forums and seeing all the dietary advice, dosing advice, monitoring advice etc., I'm feeling a bit like

Currently I am meal feeding (one half of the amount the vet told me in the morning for while I am at work, one quarter when I get home with her meds in it, and one quarter for overnight). She was always permitted to free feed on dry food so I tried that at first, but she bolted almost all the food down and was then in so much pain later that I'm sure she had indigestion. She seems to be slowing down a bit, there was still some food in her bowl this morning. Maybe it was the hunger associated with this illness. So I may switch back to free feeding, but the drawback of that is ensuring she eats it all when her medicine is in it. It has only just been a week, so this is still a work in progress. I'm just glad that she likes the Purina DM wet food because she would not eat wet food before, unless it had gravy. Even then, she would only lick up the gravy and leave the rest behind. But this she likes.

 

Timed feeders such as the Pet Safe 5 can be helpful if you have a scarfer. Until the insulin dose matches up well with the glucose, the cat is literally starving because the glucose can't be used.

 

Thanks. I will check into that. She's usually not a scarfer, and even before I switched her to the wet, she didn't seem to be gobbling her dry food down. I suspect it may be that she went almost two years without chicken while on the hypoallergenic diet so when she got a couple of bites of this new food, she went a bit overboard. She seems to be eating at a more measured pace now than in the first few days, but a timed feeder might be nice, especially for days where I may have to work late, so she won't be left long without food. I'm hoping that the food switch and the eventual change off the steroid will be enough and she won't need the insulin. If she does, at least I'm in knowledgeable hands - one of the vets at the clinic I go to has a cat that developed diabetes after treatment for pancreatitis.