Need help, possible Pancreatitus diagnosis! Need diet advice :(

[BlackJackMAMA]

My cat BlackJack has been in remission for about 3 years. Purely controlled by diet! I feed him Friskies Pate.

The last month or so, he has been throwing up ALOT! I was finally able to take him to the vet yesterday, she took blood to check his sugar, liver and kidneys. All were fine. She said that it maybe Pancreatitus, but they would need to send his blood to an outside lab to be sure. That was going to cost $250, and I really do not have that right now. She told me that the only treatment was diet and steriods which were inexpensive.

Yesterday, he had a vitmain shot for the sickness and a anti neseau? sp? shot. He was also given meds to help with the vomiting and some probiotics as his poop is very smelly.

She told me to buy science diet, which is prescription only. It would run about $35 a week, and with a new baby I simply can not afford that. Is there a canned food that I can feed him from the grocery store? I have two cats and can really not pay more then $10-$15 a week.

Anyone have a cat in the same situation?

Also, the vet said I could feed science diet dry?? I was surprised as I had always kept him away from all dry. She said after 3 years she does not think he will have diabetes again??? really?

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Here's a great Primer on Pancreatitis that can answer a lot of your questions

As for the Science Diet....NO...BlackJack might be in remission, but he's still a diabetic, so feeding a high carb dry (or high carb anything) will risk losing that precious remission so you don't want to ever go back to a high carb diet

 

[BlackJackMAMA]

Thank you! Yes, just read! Im just confused on what to buy to take care of both (diabetes & pancreatitus) She sold me a few cans of the prescription I/D, its just way out of my budget.

I agree with what the vet said about dry food- did not seem right at all.

Thank you for the advice and happy new year to you and your kitty!!

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

The I/D is high carb, so I'd not use it if he were mine

The important part is just to keep him eating enough, so hopefully the shot you got for nausea will help with his vomiting. Was it Cerenia?

What meds did they send home for nausea? Cerenia is pretty common (and a good choice) as well as a human medication called Ondansetron (brand name Zofran)....they act in different ways so if one doesn't work, try the other....or some people have had good results using both

 

[Critter Mom]

Hi Black Jack and your Mama,

My cat has chronic pancreatitis and she had quite a severe flare not long after she was diagnosed with diabetes.

Food is the trickiest part of treating pancreatitis. Some cats are more fat-sensitive with it so you need to keep an eye out for that. (Note: Hill's i/d wet food is bland but it is also too high in carbs for a diabetic in remission.) There is a feline pancreatitis support group on Yahoo who may be able to give you more advice on feeding.

Our vets suggested feeding Saoirse plain skinless chicken breast (poached gently in water only) for a few days because it's quite easy on the digestive system. It's important to keep a cat with a pancreatitis flare hydrated so keep the poaching water. It will have been flavoured by the chicken in the cooking process and you can mix it with some water to encourage Black Jack to drink more. I minced up the chicken very finely to give to Saoirse. It is better to feed very small, very frequent meals. It is easier on the pancreas, and also if there is always something in Black Jack's stomach it will help to reduce or prevent build up of excess stomach acid and therefore be a help towards stopping the vomiting. I fed Saoirse 1 tbsp minced chicken, 1 tbsp broth, and 1 tbsp fresh water per meal, one meal every hour day and night (using timed feeders to dispense the night time feeds). You could work out something along those lines to suit Black Jack's needs (assuming he'll eat the chicken). If you get past the vomiting/nausea stage (hopefully with no diarrhoea appearing!) and he improves you can try g-r-a-d-u-a-l-l-y transitioning back to his normal food. If you see any signs of symptoms worsening, try a different food and note the ingredients of the food that caused things to worsen.

Chris has has already given you the link to the FDMB Pancreatitis Primer. Here are some other links I found really helpful:

Nausea, Vomiting and Appetite Problems - Symptoms & Treatments (from Tanya's Site)

IDEXX Pancreatitis Treatment Guidelines

Persuading Your Cat to Eat (from Tanya's Site)

Stimulating a Kitty's Appetite (from FDMB FAQs)

Saoirse is helped greatly by generic ondansetron for nausea (1-2mg twice a day - 10lb cat). She also gets 1/8 of a 20mg tablet of famotidine for stomach acid. If appetite stimulation is needed then mirtazapine or cyproheptadine can help. Note that some vets seem to prescribe too large a dose of these. Mirtazapine carries a risk of inducing serotonin syndrome (potentially life-threatening - antidote is cyproheptadine), and another member posted recently with information that caution is needed with cyproheptadine - it can affect the liver. Another word of caution: buprenorphine is an opiate painkiller commonly used in the treatment of pancreatitis (see IDEXX guidelines). Mirtazapine and buprenorphine used together can increase the risk of developing serotonin syndrome. (We have a little cat here called Nova who was affected by this last week - thankfully she's OK after getting cyproheptadine.) Based on my experience with Saoirse, if a cat is receiving any supplement containing SAMe (e.g. for liver support) that, too, can affect serotonin levels and may potentiate the effect of mirtazapine. Cerenia (generic name maropitant) is another anti-nausea treatment. It may help more with vomiting than ondansetron as a short-term treatment.

I'm assuming that the vitamin injection your vet gave was B12 cyanocobalamin. A course of B12 supplementationcan give a great boost to a pancreatitis kitty, and it can also help stimulate appetite. Check the IDEXX guidelines to check how many weeks the course should last.

If you scroll down the Feline Health board there are a couple of recent threads about pancreatitis (e.g. "Ben has Pancreatitis", IIRC). You may find more hints and tips by reading them through.

I hope Black Jack feels much better very soon.



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