3/6 Cain Drank some water, ate a tiny piece of KFC

Hello hello!

It's been quite a while since I posted here last. I've been lurking a bit since but lately I haven't been keeping up. I've been making sure to check Cain's BG every two weeks though. And until today, it's been in his favorite 70s.

He's not feeling well. He's thrown up three times this morning alone, all liquid but there is some bits of food in it as it wasn't straight clear. Right now he's quite sleepily curled up in my chair. I have him on a towel and another in front of him just in case. Yesterday he threw up two times, but his appetite was still normal till about 3am this morning. That's when I noticed that he barely touched his food. I add a few tablespoons of water (rough guess) to their fancy feast pates to help on their water intake. I haven't seen him drink from the water bowl I have for them. He did go to the litter box this morning but I don't know what he did in there. (I was busy trying to feed his sister and forgot to check.) He jumped on my bed fine this morning and my chair.

Other than throwing up, I know not touching his food is a big indicator that something is off. He's usually pushing his sister Brownie out of the way when he wants to swap bowls. (And I have to sneak Brownie more food around him cause Cain's already too big.) I did get him to eat a few bites this morning with some Fortiflora in it. I have also so far given him a 1/3 of a tablet of Pecid just in case his stomach acids were too much and wasn't making him hungry. The lady at the vet office said they could try to squeeze him in tomorrow morning if he's not better by the end of the day.

Cain is still taking a methylcobalamin capsule daily sprinkled into his food. Brownie gets some of it cause Cain keeps getting into her bowl, so I just split it between the two.

Brownie, on the other hand since I've mentioned her frequently here, she's still doing okay but underweight. Barely six pounds. I think it was 5lb 8 oz. I'm feeding her more food as I can (same food I feed Cain which is the fancy feast pates and one of the chicken chunky ones that were 8% I think...), but I usually have to sneak it around Cain cause he loves food. She'll be back on fortiflora again with Cain getting a little too since I had the money to get another box. I wonder if I can get that online cheaper somewhere... I'll search Google soon.

And that's what they've been up to. I'm hoping Cain will perk up soon. He'll purr a bit when I pet him but he's just not feeling well. I'll take him in tomorrow if he's not feeling well by the time I go to sleep. And now I need to go wash some blankets. Definitely a bit of an alarm wake up call when you have a cat throwing up near ya. :lol:

Edit: Woops had the wrong date up there! And the year. It's been a while since I posted here huh? I forgot everything, >_<

 

Re: 03/6/14 Cain AMBG 203 Sick kitty

Jennifer,

He could be having a bout of pancreatitis. If he is still not feeling well like tomorrow and not eating much I would take him to the vet and have them run a Spec fPl test,
Marje wrote a real good article on it,

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=79693

Terri

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Sick kitty

Hi Jen! Thanks for the update on Cain. Sorry to hear he isn't feeling well and vomiting frequently.

Do you think he might just be trying to throw up a hairball and not having much success?

spec fPL needs to be done fasting. Just in case you do go to the vet with him.

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Sick kitty

Oh I hope that's not it but thank you for linking that post, Terri. I'll bring it up to the vet if I need to bring in him tomorrow. At least Cain isn't meatloafing that I can tell. He's curled up like normal on my chair right now. Not sure when he was sleeping on my bed though.

If he doesn't eat by 8 or 9pm tonight I'll not try to get him to eat so we can get the test done.

Hi Deb! I don't think so, but I'm not sure. I've been doing some grooming on him but he's still shedding a bunch. Light haired cat, dark clothing. :lol: It might be possible.

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Sick kitty

Hello again Jennifer. Sorry to hear that Cain is feeling icky. Do you give him anything for hairballs? My civie goes off his feed if he's got a big one brewing. You can try a bit of unsalted butter, some olive oil or coconut oil. There's always a bit of vaseline if he'll eat it - I just find it weird to give them that.

Good luck at vetty tomorrow. Make sure they check his teeth in case his mouth is bothering him.

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Sick kitty

Hi Wendy! I haven't tried that though he has gotten into some butter I had for cornbread muffins a week or two ago.

Cain just tried to throw up again. Definitely swallowed a bit before he did. Nausea I'm guessing. It was mostly foamy fluid. I made a vet appointment for him tomorrow at 11:30am. they have an earlier opening if I need it. I'll have him check Cain's teeth too. Cain's back on my bed again. Poor thing.

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Sick kitty

wishing for good news and some help from the vet tomorrow. let us know!

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Sick kitty

FortiFlora is usually more expensive at the vet than buying it online, but here's a $5.00 Rebate offer to help with the cost.
I hope Cain is feeling better soon. Keep us posted.

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Sick kitty

Hi Jennifer,
Sending good vetty vines for Cain. Hope it is something minor and he feels better quickly cat_pet_icon

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Sick kitty

I hope Cain feels better soon. Had you thought of trying a bit of Pepsid. (1/4 of a 10 mg Pepsid AC/famotidine tablet) It may help to settle his stomach.

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Sick kitty

Hello again!

Well I took Cain to the vet this morning. I brought up the whole pancreatitis tests and how Cain has been doing. He ended up vomiting 6 times in a 24 hour period, mostly stomach fluids since he hasn't eaten more than a few nibbles. 2 more times since.

The vet wanted to try getting Cain's nausea under control first and see how he does over the weekend. If he's not improved, I'm to bring him in for a full bloodwork panel after the weekend. I think including the spec fPL test. That vet didn't have an account with them but he thought that the other vet in the practice did. (For Texas A&M I think.) He did give Cain two shots. One was Cerenia(?) for nausea and Famotidine I think was the other. (The office assistant and I were trying to read his handwriting on the chart. That looks the closest to what he wrote. ) And I was told to try giving Cain pepcid twice daily to help control the stomach acids. He did check the teeth and other than some yellow ones, nothing looked abscessed. The vet also checked him for any sore spots but Cain didn't do anything. He was just purring from the petting he was getting while the assistant and I kept him calm. he was purring even while checking his teeth and giving him a shot. Cain's such a mellow dude.

Thank you all for the well wishes. Hopefully once the shots kick in, I can get Cain to eat a little. Should I go ahead and try giving him some more pepcid or wait to see if he wants to eat in the next few hours?

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Sick kitty

Some Pepcid, about 20-30 minutes before each meal would be good. I've given my Wink 1/4 of a tablet of the Pepcid. You want the regular strength one, not the extra strength version of the complete version with other ingredients.

Yes, you were able to read the vets hand writing correctly. ;-) Cerenia is for the prevention of vomiting.

Famotidine is the generic name for Pepcid and helps to inhibit stomach acid production.

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Still not eating

I'll start a new thread tomorrow probably, but yeah Cain's still not eating. I've tried to bring him some food several times today and he licks his lips and swallows and kinda wanders off a little. I think this is nearly two days without food at this point other than a few licks yesterday. I don't see him drinking water either. I think the only water he's getting at the moment is what I give him with the pepcid, which is twice daily what the vet told me to do. I'm getting really worried. Is there something I can try with him to get him to eat? At least the Cerenia did it's job and kept him from throwing up anymore so far.

Mostly right now he's sleeping on my bed. He'll wake up for pets and he'll show some interest in what's going on but he's mostly sleeping.

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Still not eating

have you tried a different food? Sometimes when they throw up a particular variety, they don't want that one again for quite a long time. It becomes a negative association.
you could get some baby food - stage 1 meats
or KFC - peel the fried part off and give him the inside part
tuna?

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Still not eating

Jennifer,

The thing you have to worry about after several days of not eating is liver failure in a cat, it can happen quickly, Hepatic Lipidosis.(sp)
I would try at this point to get him to eat anything, baby food, I always used Beechnut Chicken and Chicken Broth. If you have to give him dry cat food at this point you have to get him to eat something.
I would start offering some different things to him to get him to eat. Otherwise you may have to try to syringe feed him a little bit. He has to eat.
If you have to go get Kentucky Fried Chicken to get him to eat, Not kidding I have heard people do that.

Terri

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Still not eating

KT - I can usually get him to eat beef roast....
Dakota - his 'always' is pork anything but I prefer roast...

It may be time to think about syringe feeding. I just cut the tip off a large syringe leaving a bit larger hole, mixed some food in blender with water and popped it in microwave enough to warm it. I put towel around KT's neck then slowly began syringing a bite at a time. After about 5-6 syringes, he wanted to finish the bowl by himself! Sometimes it's just getting beyond that 'really hungry so tummy's hurting' stage.

BIG HUGS AND PRAYERS from here....

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Still not eating

Sending tummy feel better vines and better appetite vines and eating vines to Cain.

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Still not eating

Sending tons more vines to Cain!

Three years ago I was told my cat, Grover, had a failing liver and that the vets in our area didn't treat that so I should euthanize her (farm vet's). I took her home and tried absolutely EVERYTHING. Several soft foods, hard foods, moist foods, people foods...nothing. This went on for days. I syringed her water in tiny amounts but she would just gag. Finally, it was temptation treats that she started eating. But not just any flavor...and not one of the first three I tried. :roll: It was truly terrifying that I couldn't find anything before that and I honestly feel for you. Do whatever you can, and try anything, because you just won't know what will do the trick.

Sending huge hugs and vines to both of you!

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Still not eating

Jennifer

I'm so sorry Cain is not feeling well and not eating.

He is showing signs of nausea and so I would call the vet today and get a prescription for ondansetron (zofran). Cerenia helps with the vomiting but ondansetron is really better for nausea. Once you address the nausea, he might eat. But I would be prepared to syringe feed him....absolutely. You must get some calories in him to avoid fatty liver disease as others have said.

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Still not eating

Hi Jennifer,

My suggestion, get you baby Cain to your vet or emergency pet clinic ASAP, RIGHT NOW. Cain is obviously nauseous. THROWING UP FOAM means that he is definitely DEHYDRATED. I would not give my cat Cerenia. Cain might be so dehydrated that he needs a continuous IV drip, which can only be done in the hospital. Sub-q fluids may not work at this point because you can't get enough fluids into him doing that method. You don't know unless you take him to the vet.

Do you know how to do a back of the neck skin pull on Cain? If his fur does not snap right back to his body when you pull it up into the air, he is very dehydrated.

Do you know how to check his gums? You can stick your finger just inside of his mouth and touch the side of his gums. If his gums are NOT all slimy, it means it is sticky. That also means that he is dehydrated. (But the throwing up foam already DEFINITELY means that he is dehydrated.)

If you are going to take Cain to the vet today I would not give him sub-qs yourself as they may want to put him on an IV drip ASAP. If you are going to chance it and wait until Monday to take Cain to the vet, if he were my cat, I would give him at least 100 mL of sub-qs.

If he were my cat, I would not wait until Monday to get Cain medical help. Also, you must never let him go for 2 or 3 days without eating again. This makes a cat's condition even worse.

You want to ask your vet for Buprenor, pain medication for cats. You give this medication by squirting it on the inside of their gum cheek pouch, and not on their tongue or down their throat. It act INSTANTANEOUSLY to relieve any pain. It is also the SAFEST pain med for cats, and it is A LOT easier on their stomach than any other pain med. I would not give Tramadol.

Please, I hope that you take Cain to the vet today.

Things to have on hand when Cain comes home:

-Stage One Chicken or Turkey Baby food. (any brand) Just make sure that it is STAGE ONE.Stage two baby food has cornstarch in it. This makes the cat's condition even worse.

-Children's Unflavored Pedialite. This can be a generic brand.

-Baby food squash.

-Trader Joe's "Tuna for Cats." (I'll explain more later about this)

We cannot wait to treat pancreatitis. The condition just gets worse and worse. It never just clears up on it's own.

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Still not eating

I fostered a shelter cat with hepatic lipidosis aka fatty liver disease. You want to prevent that if you can - he needs to get food in him now. Syringe feeding a high calorie food is best. Royal Canin Recovery RS and Iams MaxCal Plus are low carb vet foods and designed for syringe or assist feeding. I fed the foster kitty for two and a half weeks, one can a day of Recovery RS with some warm water added and 6-8 feedings a day. Here is a video on assist feeding. He may have an aversion to eating what you are assist feeding, so sometimes feeding a food that isn't his regular food is a good idea. After I got the hepatic lipidosis guy eating again, he wouldn't eat chicken for ages. :roll:

Sending mega eating vines your way. BTW: The Buprenor Tina refers to is also called buprenorphine or sometimes trade name Buprenex.

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Still not eating

Oh god yes yes yes he's drinking. I gave him his "morning" pepcid and I think he realized he was really thirsty and went to my shower (it has a leak so it's dripping all the time, I caught him in it all the time when he was undiagnosed with diabetes) to start drinking. I emptied out his water bowl (it's a gravity one, his sister's been drinking out of it a lot) and put fresh water in and he's drinking from that.. in the shower. I wanted to show it to him while he was thirsty before he moved to another place.

I really really don't think I have the money to take him to the emergency vet unless they do some kind of payment plan. I want to take him, I can't afford it. I'm going to see what I can do. The office isn't open on the weekends. I'll see if there's a vet in my area open on the weekend. I do have a can of trader joe's tuna and I have some of the kitten food that fancy feast makes in a fish variety. I'll try the baby food and other suggestions. I know he has to eat.

I'm crying here. I'm just so happy he's drinking at least. I'll do my best today to get him to eat something. Even if I have to syringe it. I only have 3ml syringes on hand. Will those work? And can I use the baby food maybe? I pulled up his fur on his neck and it seemed to snap back but maybe I was doing it wrong.

Sorry this is so late in replying. My sleep has been horrible. As soon as I'm awake enough to drive I'm going into town and pick up some foods to try

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Still not eating

we're all cheering you guys on, jennifer.

you can also try finger-feeding. i think you're talking about insulin-sized syringes, and no, those are too small. there are youtube videos on assisted feeding.

btw, i gave punkin cerenia many times for nausea and it worked like a dream on him. i had only good experiences with it and know many others have said the same thing.

KFC or rotisserie chicken is often irresistible. just put things in his mouth and see if he'll pick up on it and eat.

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Still not eating

Here is one that's pretty good. I used a people-sized syringe (needle-less) that a friend who worked at a pharmacy had - it was really big but the opening didn't clog at all. that's the main difficulty with syringe feeding - the chunks get clogged and it's a pain in the neck.

you can also give lunchmeat, the tuna you mentioned, putting the tuna juice over other food, absolutely anything that doesn't include onions or garlic is worth trying. warm the food so it's a little smellier, sprinkle on catnip, oregano or parmesan cheese. whatever would tempt him. sometimes getting it in their mouths will be enough to entice him to try and eat.

big hugs to you, jennifer. i know how hard it is when our babies don't feel good.

[youtube]U6o17wH6ujk[/youtube]

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Still not eating

Thank you for the videos. He'll get food somehow today. I'll go by walmart while I'm out and see if they have those syringes.

And thank you all for the support. I really really appreciate it.

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Still not eating

omg he ate a piece of KFC without the breading. LIke a few chicken pieces. I'm going to keep trying to get him to eat some more but he licked it and ate a bite or two. Then I had to fend off his sister. She loves chicken. So I'm going to feed her some of the stuff I picked up and then try to get him to eat some more. Had to report it here though!

 

Re: 03/6 Cain AMBG 203 Still not eating

Jen,

While you're at Walmart today, buy about 6 jars of Stage One Chicken and/or Turkey flavored baby food. You do not want the stage two. Stage One is ONLY chicken meat and broth, or turkey meat and broth. Stage two has cornstarch added to it and it makes this condition worse! Also, buy two or three jars of baby food squash.

The generic brand of unflavored Pedialite is usually stocked on the same isle as the baby food in Walmart. Cain is no longer a diabetic, right? He needs the electrolites into his system ASAP and you're going to give them to him. This will help him A LOT and may even help improve his appetite.

While you're at Walmart, also pick up a bag of white sticky rice, the kind they make sushi with.

Do you have a Trader Joe's near you? You need to get about 3 cans of Trader Joe's "Tuna for Cats." It has NEVER failed me in getting a cat to eat again. HOWEVER, I almost never give out this trade secret because I ONLY use this in an emergency and NEVER feed it regularly. I do not feed it once a month, not once a week, not even once a year. To me, this TJ T4C is a direct shot of adrenalin to the heart. Most cats WILL eat it **IF** they are not dehydrated. Also, it is 18% protein. I don't have any idea how many carbs it has. I wish Dr. Lisa would find out. hehe :mrgreen:

OK.. so here is what you want to do for Cain:

If it was me, I would stop giving the Cerenia. From what you've told us so far, Cain is severely dehydrated and Cerenia won't do a darn thing to help with that. In fact, it could make him more sick.

Cook about (1) cup of that rice and it is OK if it is on the mushy moist side.

Start with the baby food. Mix (2)TBS baby food [chicken or Turkey] with (2)TBS generic Pedialite. Add 1/8 TEASPOON of baby food squash to it. Now stir in (1) TBS of the cooked white rice. Mix all of this together in a blender until it is the consistency of a LIQUID. Don't add any tap water to it. You are using the Pedilite instead of tap water.

Now heat up the mixture in the microwave for about 5 to 6 secs only. You're going to feed Cain using a syringe ONLY about (2) TBS of this mixture at a time, once every hour. (Yes, this is really labor intensive.) If he only wants to eat 2 tablespoons of it, just give him that. If he doesn't want any of it at all-- you're going to have to force feed him it for a few times.

I always mixed this up in a bowl like this and then put it in one of those tiny Tupperware plastic containers and just left it on the counter during the day unless it was too hot in the house and would get spoiled.

If you find that after a few feedings that Cain wants to willingly eat this mixture, you can pour it onto a FLAT PLATE RAISED UP OFF OF THE GROUND. I found that Jomo's acid bile did not bother her as much if I was able to keep her head up higher while she ate. This worked REALLY well for us. (When she had a flair up she was also taking pepcid)

If you find that Cain is REALLY eating the baby food well after a day or two, move onto the TJ T4C. With that you will-

Take (2) TBS Trader Joe's "Tuna For Cats" and mix with (2) TBS Pedialite, and 1/4 TEASPOON baby food squash. The TJ T4C is super chunky so Cain nor any pancreatitic cat will eat it in that form. So, what you want to do is put that in a blender and mix it until it has the consistency of a very watery milkshake. There shouldn't be ANY chunks in it at all. Also, it will need to be thin enough to pass through you syringe very easily.

You're going to feed Cain about (2) TBS of this at a time, once every hour. I wouldn't feed him more of this in one hour because there is a likelihood that he might throw it up. His system won't be ready to digest that much food yet. You might find that he REALLY wants to eat more of it right then, but hold off and give him only (2) TBS of it per hour. You're going to need to feed him like that for at least 3 hours.

About the appetite stimulants.. I NEVER used them with Jomo. I know that people say with diabetes and pancreatitis that Vitamin B-12 isn't absorbed as well in an oral form. I think this is false. A Vitamin B-12 shot doesn't last for a week. The cat pees out excess Vitamin B-12 out of it's system immediately, the same way the we humans do. I gave Jomo (1) tab of Zobaline in the morning and one at night (smushed into her food) for her entire life. It REALLY helped increase her appetite.

http://www.ilifelink.com/zobaline-for_d ... blets.html

So, why use the rice and why use the baby food squash? Rice is easy on a cat's stomach just like it is on a human's stomach. Because Cain is super dehydrated ANY foods with protein in it will make his stomach more upset right now.

Why use the baby food squash? Because when Cain is dehydrated like that it will be more more difficult for him to go poop. The baby food squash will help to get him back on track again, and it will not give him diarrhea. It's going to make that hard stool he has in his system, (from being dehydrated), easier to pass and get out of his digestive tract and colon.

I cannot stress enough how important it is that you get fluids into Cain ASAP. He needs sub-q fluids that have electrolytes in them, not just tap water. Do you know how to give sub-q's?

It sounds like you are going to take Cain back to the vet on Monday? You are going to want to have them give him fluids there if you do not know how to do it.
Fluid therapy is a MUST when fighting pancreatitis.

You want him to be eating about 2/3 jars of that baby food mixture per 24 hours. Anything less and it's not enough calories or nutrition for Cain. He'll go downhill. After that, move onto the TJ T4C mixture. He needs real food into him, pronto!

Once Jomo would willingly and happily eat that TJ T4C mixture, I switched her to her normal wet food with distilled water and squash added to it.

 

Re: 3/6 Cain Drank some water, ate a piece of KFC

Thank you, Tina. I was running so long on picking some stuff up for him that I went home before I could go to walmart. I live outside of town so it's a small trip but not bad daily. (About 15mins in) I will go back into town in a bit to get those items for him. The closest trader joe's is about 50mins away. I opened up the tuna can earlier today. I do give them it every so often when I go to Trader Joe's but Cain's eaten it every time I've given it to him (before today).

The cerenia was in a shot so I only have pepcid to give him. I normally give him methylcobalamin in his food in the morning but he hasn't wanted to eat so he's behind on his daily ones. I don't know how to give Sub-qs. But yes, he's going into the vet first thing on monday if I can help it. Or somehow the emergency vet tomorrow if he won't eat anymore (not sure how I can pay for it, but something might work).

...and I look away long enough and Brownie has gotten into the chicken I set out to try for Cain. :roll: Time to feed her real quick before trying to get Cain to eat another piece.

 

I really feel Cain is not eating on his own because he is feeling too sick to his stomach because he is too dehydrated. Have you ever been dehydrated? I have.. it gives you a headache and makes you feel sick to your stomach, incredibly nauseous. Drinking tap water doesn't really help too much either because you've lost too many electrolytes.

Taking pepcid will help if Cain is vomiting up his bile, but I don't think you said he threw up any yellow colored fluid, right? It was first some fluid and food, and then after that he's been gagging, and throwing up foam, right? That is definitely dehydration. I became an expert on vomit with Jomo.. :roll: :!: :lol:

The pancreas really hurts and causes a lot of pain when they are sick like this. Remember to get the Buprenor (also called Buprenex) prescib. from the vet. \M/

 

Yeah nausea definitely with him and I'm agree he's not had enough fluids. I'm going to eat real quick and then go into town to get the stuff you said. I have some regular pumpkin here in a can (not pie filling) but if baby food squash is better I'll get that.

It was some colored vomit when he was throwing up so often. Orange-ish? Though now I can't remember what he threw up last. It looked a bit foamy.

Definitely will get that buprenex on monday. It must be pancreatis right? He's meatloafing a lot now.

He just ate a tablespoon and a 1/3 of stage 1 chicken & chicken broth by beechnut. He wouldn't lick it until I put a finger of it in his mouth then he started cleaning the spoon. Brownie started biting right at the spoon to eat it so I know she likes it. :lol: Is the beef one bad to have? I picked up chicken and beef and turkey I think of the stage one.

Okay, I'll check this real quick while I'm eating then I'm off to Walmart. Good thing I still have most of the Trader Joe's tuna so I can make that recipe you posted.

 

FWIW, Stage 2 baby food is fine. The Gerber Stage 2 has cornstarch in it but it's about 7% carb so it's still LC food. Beechnut Stage 2 doesn't have cornstarch (or at least it didn't the last time I bought some.)

Another trick is to make a small meatball of LC food and smoosh it on the roof of Cain's mouth. If he'll eat KFC, that's good too!! Some kitties also like Chik-fil-A.

 

Jennifer ,

Hey if the KFC works do whatever you have to do to get to do get him to eat. A bite or two is a start. Might want to buy enough for all kitties.
He has to eat something so that is a start, yea

Terri

 

I disagree that Cain should not have cerenia although I think it is best to address nausea with something else (ondansetron) and leave the cerenia for the vomiting. Cerenia is only given once a day. If he is vomiting foamy, clear liquid, it doesn't mean he's dehydrated. It means he has an acid tummy and it's also a sign of pancreatitis. It would be great to give him subq fluids if you can. The link Terri gave you on my post on Pancreatitis has a link embedded to show you how to do subq fluids.

Having had a kitty with pancreatitis, the best treatments are supportive and include fluids, something for pain (buprenorphine is great if you can get it; some cats do fine with tramadol although mine do not), the cerenia for vomiting, the ondansetron for nausea, the pepcid for upset tummy (if you need it). All of these treatments are listed in the pancreatitis post and can be done at home. And, of course, it is important to get food into him. Fatty liver disease can be caused even by a reduction in calories over a few days; it's not only caused by anorexia.

I hope he continues to eat. One caution on human tuna....unless you find a specialty one that doesn't, most of them now have vegetable broth even though the front of the can might state the tuna is in water. Read the ingredients. I also would stick with the baby food and not give a diabetic cat rice. IMHO.

 

No rice? what about the pedialite or however it's spelled? I saw it has dextrose in the ingredients. I want to keep him eating, but still in remission if possible. Lantus isn't cheap enough to get that second prescription he gave me filled right now. The only tuna I have is the trader joe's one. And I think I got the fancy feast appetizer tuna one. No chik-fil-a's in the area. At least not anywhere closer than thirty minutes I think.

Cain wouldn't eat much of the second time I tried to feed him the baby food. What he ate was what I could get on my finger and on the side of his mouth. I saved one piece of the KFC I bought in the fridge to try again soon.

Oh right, there was a link for video for the sub-q fluids in the post linked. Sorry, I'm all scatterbrained right now. If I can just get him past this nausea I'm sure he'll want to eat. He was always poking around Brownie's food. Now she's getting into Cain's food.

 

Well I would worry about the sugar in pedialyte. I think it would be better to take some food, add water, put it in a blender, and syringe feed. You just need to be sure you are getting food and water in him.

It is true that he needs electrolytes if he's vomiting slot but he can get that in subq fluids.

 

Luckily he hasn't vomited since before the vet visit yesterday morning. I just finger fed him most of a tablespoon of chicken baby food. The rest of the tablespoon ended up on me.

Lemme take a look at the sub-q video and see if I even have the supplies to do that.

 

You are already giving Cain food with sugars in it, those carb foods you now feed him again because he is in remission. I wouldn't worry about Pedialyte being too much for him, you are giving him such a small quantity of it. If his diabetes kicks in again it's because of the pancreatitis, not because of Pedialyte. He needs the electrolytes to feel better. Tap water alone is not going to do that.

When my Emma was alive I learned how to give sub-qs. She was my first CKD kitty. When discussing fluids with Emma's vet I would sometimes say that I gave her "the water" and they would correct me. When a vet tells you that cat needs fluid therapy to help relieve pancreatitis they are talking about water WITH electrolytes and sugars in it.

It is suggested that a cat receive between 2mL to 4mL of Pedialyte PER HOUR per pound of body weight when suffering from pancreatitis.

If you are not going to add the Pedialyte to Cain's baby food, I would at least add the water, but the Pedialyte would help him more. He definitely needs more than just the baby food alone.

As for the rice-- if you are feeding Cain foods with carbs in them I bet that they have some type of grain in them, either wheat, corn, or rice. I ALWAYS trust rice more than any other grain because it is the easiest to digest. Cats cannot digest the corn and the wheat gluten. Read the ingredients label on the food that you are currently feeding him to see if it has any of those ingredients in it.

Rice will help settle Cain's stomach and that is why I suggested using it in his food. You could always add even a smaller amount, like only one teaspoon of it.

BTW, what were you mostly feeding Cain before this P-attack? What brand and what flavor of food?

When did you start feeding Cain the Trader Joe's "Tuna for Cats" before this P-episode, and, for how long has he been eating it before he stopped eating anything at all?

 

He's still on the same low carb food I used to get him in remission. I don't want him out of remission so I stayed on it. Fancy Feast pates, most except two of the fish ones, and two of the Fancy Feast chunky ones, turkey & chicken. I can get all the names if needed. The trader joe's tuna came up as 5% on one of the lists I was using. I think the short list Rhiannon posted on this board? I only get two cans when I'm there now and the most recent feeding was in the past week. About monday or tuesday. It's rare they get to eat it. I go to Trader Joe's once a month? Maybe two months at most between visits. I only started them on it when I saw it was low enough carbs. Maybe it wasn't? They only started eating the tuna one about six months ago I think. Wednesday's food was the fancy feast pate. I don't think I fed the tuna to him on wednesday... I'm trying to remember.

 

Stop feeding the fish food

Now, after learning that Cain has had fish quiet often, i would suggest to NOT give him the Trader Joe's Tuna for Cats.

So, all together, how many times a week do you think Cain has been eating a fish food, and for how long? I wasn't quiet sure, did you mean to say that you are also feeding him a FF fish flavor, or you don't feed him the FF fish flavor?

The reason I ask about the fish is because there is a connection between histamines and problems with a cat's liver. Histamines are found in fish cat foods. That's why I ONLY use the TJ T4C if they won't eat anything else. It's an emergency "go to" food, not an everyday feeding food. Not even a 'once in awhile' snack food.

"Histamines are known to cause changes in stomach acids, the liver, gall bladder, pancreas and intestine as well as localized inflammation, as well as altering liver enzymes." -Ron Hines DVM PhD

If Cain is having problems with his liver then he needs a 'balanced' food. Trader Joe's Tuna is not that!! It is 18% protein. Protein is known to cause an excess of ammonia.

I suggest you put Cain on a rotation diet which does not include fish. You will need to read the labels on the food to make sure that they do not have fish in them. Almost all of them do now-a-days, even if they food is called, "My Tasty Chicken Filet.'

My little pancreatic kitty Jomo liked Merrick's 'Cowboy Cookout' and 'Turdunken.' I would rotate these with the FF CLASSIC Chicken Pate and Turkey and Giblets. You would feed feed one brand of food one day, and then the other on the next day. The idea is to not get the liver fixated on one type of food.

A cat nutritionist once told me that the "Cowboy Cookout" has the exact composition of a mouse!

http://www.merrickpetcare.com/consumer/ ... ife_Stages

http://www.merrickpetcare.com/consumer/ ... ife_Stages

 

They get the salmon and shrimp, and the salmon feast one of the Fancy Feast pates. They've been eating those for nearly a year now I think. Sometimes I took them out when Brownie didn't like them, but for the most part they've been eating them since I switched them to wet food. For how frequently a week, uh.. I buy 24 cans or so of Fancy Feast about once a week. Maybe every 6 days? I haven't been counting. I usually buy three of the shrimp and salmon, and two of the salmon feast.

 

Rotation Diet Canned Food Diet Can Work Well

Hi Jen,

I used both the Merrick 'Cowboy Cookout' and the 'Turdunken' flavors when Jomo was having a P-episode. (I ALWAYS started with the baby foods and the Pedialyte though for a day or two.)

I put 1/2 can in the blender and mix it with (2) TBS of Pedialyte and 1/8 tsp of baby food squash. I did not use rice with these cat foods. I syringe fed Jomo these cat foods until she got to the point where she would lick up this slurry on a flat plate, elevated up off of the ground, on her own.

You can kind of tell when they are starting to feel a bit better. They'll practically try to swallow that syringe and gobble up the food very fast. :lol:

Oh, about the squash vs. the pumpkin-- I found with both my CKD cat Emma and with Jomo that they preferred the baby food squash to pumpkin. I did the taste test on them. I would mix the exact same amount in the same type of food and present two plates in front of them. They always choose the one with the squash in it. I think it might taste sweeter to them but I don't really know. :mrgreen:

Did I already post a photo of my little Jomo in your condo? She was my life for nearly 4 years. I have had so many cats, but she was the miracle cat.

 

Just a note: Merrick has changed their food compositions and Cowboy Cookout is now 18% calories from carbs. While my philosophy on cats that aren't eating is that the best food is the one it will eat, you might have other options that you can get him to eat that are LC. If not, I'd feed him what he'll eat. Wendy is right, too, on the Iams Max Cal. It is a good choice for syringe feeding and the carbs aren't sky high. Cain needs calories and fluids.