Not eating, runny poop and vomiting - pancreatitis?

This is long. I'm sorry. I am really worried about Mia, and I need to 'talk this out' and to get any insights any of you can share (if you are willing to read all of this ), please.

Mia's glucose levels are finally looking great for days and days, and now something else is wrong with her. Several days ago, she started vomiting once every couple of days, then pretty much once every day. Then, her poop started getting softer until it became flat out runny, and she started eating less than normal. Saturday morning, she would not eat at all, and she gagged when she smelled the food. I had some Cerenia, so I gave her 1/2 of a 24mg pill that morning. By 2pm, she still was not eating. I had offered everything I could think of - even got a piece of KFC chicken and offered the meat from it which she would normally do flips for - but all she had eaten all day was a couple of licks of tuna water and maybe three bites of food (and I mean like 1 kibble or shred of meat per bite). I had some bupe, so I gave her a dose of that. By dinner time at 6pm, she finally ate. I have a camera covering their food area that is triggered by motion to record. The next morning, I reviewed it and found that she had eaten a few times during the night. She ate fine Saturday and Sunday, and no icky poop or vomit. I was so relieved.

Then today, it has been bad. She was back to not eating at all, and she has had runny, very stinky poop and has vomited more than once. I gave her another 1/2 Cerenia and a tiny dose of bupe at noon. At 4:30pm, she finally ate a couple of bites, and she ate more when I gave them dinner at 6pm. I have a vet appointment, but it is not until Thursday morning. Unfortunately, our vet will not be in until then, and if I can, I would rather wait to see her. I hope the medication I gave her today will have the same impact it had Saturday and that she will be okay tomorrow. (PLEASE!)

I am so worried about the poor, sweet baby. She must feel so bad. Someone told me it sounded like it could possibly be pancreatitis, and that treating the symptoms is what is done with that. I am grateful that she told me that Cerenia and bupe are often given. I would have thought to give the Cerenia due to the nausea, but I would not have realized she needed pain medicine, too. Does this sound like pancreatitis to the rest of you who know about that? If she has it, I hope the Spec fPL test will show that. I do not want her going through a lot of invasive testing. I am so tired of taking her in when I know something is wrong yet they are unable to figure out what it is. So frustrating!!!

If it does sound like pancreatitis to you, and you have any advice, please share. Or, if you think it sounds like something else, tell me. Thank you.

 

I don't have anything to offer except that I understand the feeling of frequent vet visits with no answers. It is truly frustrating. I hope they can figure it out for you!

 

It could indeed be pancreatitis-- I'm glad you're getting the test to make sure. There are likely other things it could be (I don't know), hopefully your vet will be able to rule them in or out with just a physical exam.

With regards to pain, is she sitting in meatloaf position? Does she seem sensitive if you touch her in the abdominal region? That's the kind of pain I'd expect to see with pancreatitis.

Do you ever give sub-q fluids? Sometimes that seems to help make them more comfortable when they are having an attack. Other than that, yes, pain meds and anti-nausea meds can help a lot.

Pancreatitis sucks.

 

I don't have anything to offer re: pancreatitis, but I'm sorry Mia isn't feeling well and that you are worried. I hope she feels better fast and you can worry much less.

 

I did not notice her sitting that way, and she did not react as though it hurt when I rubbed her belly. When I gave her the Cerenia, and she still was not eating 6 hours later, I gave the pain medicine. The fact that she started eating a few hours later made me think there must have been some pain.. something other than just the nausea. But, I don't know if that was a good assumption or not.

I have never given her sub-q fluids. (I had to do that with another cat I had many years ago.. over 14 yrs ago.) Thanks for the tip.

Yeah, if this is a taste of what it is like, it certainly sucks!

 

She is eating some now. Thank goodness (and medical science) for drugs!!!

It wasn't much, but I'll take it. I hope she keeps it up.

 

These symptoms could definitely be pancreatitis and it is very painful. A flare or onset of inflammatory bowel disease can also present the same way.

 

If it's IBD another thing to check might be B12, and if she's low, start with some shots. I don't know why, but at least with Amber it seems to help both the IBD and general well-being.

Feel better soon, Mia!

 

C'mon Mia, keep eating that yummy food until ther doctor and your momma can find out what's making you not feel so good.

Wow..a motion activated food camera! Brilliant!

 

Keep us posted on how she's doing.

 

It is really great being able to know for sure who ate and when. And, it's cute seeing them go about their little lives when I'm asleep or not around.

Checked it this morning, and both girls visited the food bowls a few times during the night for a few bites. YAY!

 

@FurBabiesMama sorry to hear Mia has been having such a rough time. I hope you get some answers soon.

 

How’s Mia this evening?

 

She is eating dinner now. Such a lovely sight! I am sure her eating today is due to the medicine she had yesterday since this is the way it went this past weekend, too. So, I am glad to be getting her to the vet in the morning.

By the way.. her PMPS was 99. This girl's BG is great lately. I waited a year for this. Now, the poor baby has to have some other issue. No fair!

 

A really good website to check out- with latest info on IBD and pancreatitis is ibdkitties.net
With pancreatitis, cerenia is good for vomiting but I found that, for nausea, I need to give ondansetron (a human drug developed for people on chemotherapy) - also appy stimulant in addition to bupe and fluids. Digestive enzymes can help too

 

I can't offer any advice but just want to say I'm sorry to hear your girl has been having such a rough time lately. Give her some hope-you-get-better pets from me

 

Is today her Vet appt?

 

We are back from the vet. I asked that they do a Spec fPL test and test for Cobalamin (B12) deficiency. So, they are running a GI profile, and the results will be in on Saturday. They did an x-ray which showed thickened small intestinal walls. Fecal test was negative for parasites and had normal bacterial count. Mia whine-meowed a couple of times during the physical exam which she never does. She then starting pooping, so I think the meows were, 'Hey, I need to go to the potty.. now, please." Poor baby. Anyway, the poop was formed (thank goodness it wasn't that nasty runny stuff), and it had a piece of yarn in it.. WHAT?! I have no carpet in my house, but I do have a fluffy bathroom rug that is made up of yarns like that. She clearly ate one. The vet said something like that can wreak havoc on their system. She said, in some cases, it can cause the bowels to 'knot up'. That was the main reason she wanted to do the x-ray, but she did not see any evidence of that. So, she is thinking that foreign object - which she says could have been in her for one to two weeks - may have triggered inflammation causing the symptoms. It just seems like an awfully big coincidence to me that Mia would pass the culprit right there during her exam like she is saying, "Here, doc. This is the issue. I'm good now." While I am sure having that piece of yarn go through her was not good, is it really to blame for all of this?? We will see what the blood work shows.

The vet gave me Cerenia and Buprenex, so I will again have those on hand should I need them. She also gave me Metronidazole which she wants to me start now and give for at least 5 days and up to 10 if symptoms continue. She said it will help with the inflammation and any 'bacteria overflow' (though no bacteria issues were found in the fecal test). She also suggested that I consider Duralactin and probiotics. I used to give my girls probiotics but stopped because they did not seem to eat as much of their meals that I put it in. I guess I will start adding it again. I had never heard of Duralactin, so I will be researching that. Any insights anyone has and wants to share are appreciated.

Thank you to those of you who have responded with your well wishes and to check on Mia. We appreciate it.

 

Oh my goodness-- what timing!!! Way to go, Mia!

Odd as it is, crossing fingers that the yarn was the problem all along!

 

From what I understand, a piece of yarn can absolutely cause that sort of stomach upset. It can wrap around their tiny little organs quite easily. So happy she pooped it out!! Wishing you good test results...

 

I'm glad the vet visit went well and Mia presented you with what might be the explanation. I do hope the forthcoming test results are good ones. I sure hope she is on the way to feeling better and that you are relieved and less worried. Healing positive energies on their way to both of you.

 

I'm glad to hear you might have found the problem, and will be hoping for the best for you and Mia

 

The blood tests results are in. Spec fPL is 0.5 (reference range 0 to 3.5), Cobalamin/B12 is 395 (reference range is 276 to 1425) . Folate is >24 (reference range 8.9 to 19.9). The vet said Folate is always elevated any time there is any kind of bowel irritation/inflammation.

Mia has continued eating and has not had runny poop or vomited, but she still does not seem to feel well. And, I feel horrible because my attempt to give her the Metronidazole this afternoon was an epic fail. I mean epic. I have been unable to get her just to eat it no matter what I try to disguise it in. She hates having her mouth messed with, but I was able to get it in her yesterday by coating it in butter and pilling her - I think the element of surprise helped. Today, I made several failed attempts to pill her. None of the things that are supposed to work worked. It was ridiculous. By the end of it, the pill was still not in her, she was stressed out, and I was about to have a breakdown (maybe I did have a little one... I can neither confirm nor deny ). The poor baby. She is so good through so much.. the shots, the ear pokes.. I feel SO bad about that episode. The best part is that I still have to figure out how to give her the pill today and for at least the next three days.

The cherry on top is that Mia's PMPS was 254. First 200+ in 10 days. She went too low last night, 52 on AlphaTrak (dose has been reduced slightly today as a result). I am wondering if this could be a slow bounce from that.. though she did not bounce the last time she went low (and it was even lower). Or, maybe I stressed her out so bad with the pill debacle an hour and a half earlier that she was still that high at shot time.

I'm exhausted. I need a break, but there is no break in sight.

 

We have had that kind of day with getting a pill into Grandpa. After wasting 2.5 expensive pills, my roommate crushed a pill and dissolved it in a couple mls of water in a syringe and gave syringed it into his mouth. He's an angry boy right now, but he's an angry medicated boy. Maybe give it a try?

 

It is a very bitter pill, so I am afraid she will end up drooling/foaming at the mouth. The other day, I did that with the Cerenia (also bitter) only I used tuna water instead of just water hoping it would mask the bitterness - she still ended up foaming at the mouth a bit. I may have to go that route anyway. Why can't they just give me everything in a shot?? Shots are easy.

 

Yeah. We had some major drooling, too. It didn't last long, though. Good luck!

 

I'm not a labs-reader but that means no pancreatitis, right? Fantastic news! Wondering a little about the B12-- it's in range, but I know with humans that there's disagreement on the low cutoff point, and people generally feel better at the upper end than the lower. So, not an immediate problem, but maybe something to keep an eye on in the future.

Maybe the meds are what is making her feel a little "off" right now? Plus the aftereffects of the yarn adventure (and it's always possible that there's another tiny little piece still in there working its way through and throwing her off a bit). But it really seems like that, not some systemic illness, was the primary cause of her week of feeling yucky.

Hope she's feeling better soon-- good luck getting the remaining meds into her!

 

Yes, that result should mean no pancreatitis (though I have been told that it being false does not always rule it out). I was wondering the same thing on the B12. It is in the range but near the low end. I have no past results to compare so I have no way of knowing if she has always run this low or if this new. I would be open to giving her B12 except that I am having so much trouble getting anything into her right now that I would probably struggle with that, too.

 

The Zobaline tablets used by many here are tasteless (I can verify that because I tasted one myself!) and dissolve easily in water added to wet food.

 

Very good to know. Thanks! I always taste their pills first, too!!

 

I use the injectable B12 for IBD-- even easier! [edit: it is Rx, though]