Vomitng...could it be pancreatitis?

Hi. Diane has been acting a bit off lately, and I'm wondering if I'm over-reacting. I get very hyper sensitive whenever she's not feeling well, just because my mind goes to the worst possible scenario.

Diane was diagnosed four years ago, but a previous vet suggested keeping her off insulin and managed by diet since her levels never went higher than 350 (and that was at the highest). My new vet suggested we start insulin now since I had bloodwork done a few weeks ago and it showed her liver values were slighly elevated. She thinks this is secondary to the diabetes. Everything else looked fine though and was no need for concern. Her weight was also fine and has been about the same for years. she was 16 lbs when diagnosed and is now a health 9 for her size. No ketones and no UTI.

Early June we went out of town and had a petsitter come by once a day to feed the cats. She would feed Diane half a can of DM wet food. When we got back, Diane refused to eat DM again. I chalked it up to maybe it sitting out too long from the petsitter and upsetting her tummy while we were gone and therefore not wanting anymore. I gave her sheba pate and she was fine with that. Then, I switched her back to fancy feast pates which she was on about two years ago when first diagnosed. She ate those up right away and at first we were only giving her the seafood flavors. I then purchased chicken/turkey flavors.

Since then, she had been acting a little odd but nothing too crazy. Still playing and such, but started sleeping on my husband's side of the bed and sometimes under the bed which is odd. Early this week was when she started getting a little sick though. She first threw up on Tuesday once....it was pretty much right after breakfast and was the entire can (though she ate it afterwards which is REALLY gross). She ate dinner fine. Wednesday morning she had a bit of diarrhea on my baseboard and then in her litter box. She ate breakfast though. That afternoon I came home for lunch and she threw up EVERYWHERE. There were spots across the room (though again, she ate whatever she threw up before I got home and could clean it). I chalked this up to the fancy feast pate seafood flavors. My other cat does awful on the seafood ones and I thought maybe she was the same....so I haven't given the seafood flavors since then.

Thursday she was fine. She ate breakfast and most of her dinner. This morning I woke up to her at about 5:30 am throwing up. Though, it was only two tiny tiny spots and one was mostly hair. So it's possible that it was really just a hairball and some other stuff came up maybe?

I tried to feed her the DM this morning and she ate some but not much. I then gave a can of fancy feast pate chicken and she ate most of it but not all of it.. I did sprinkle some parmesean on there to help stimulate her appetite. She usually eats a lot so I know she isn't feeling well. She was very hungry acting though. I mixed water in with the food too to help hydrate her a bit more. Her stool this morning was slightly runny again...but I don't think as bad as the other day.

Question is....does this sound like pancreatitis? She is not sore from what I can tell. She isn't playing much this week but that doesn't surprise me if she's not feeling well. Her insulin arrives Tuesday so she isn't on insulin yet but her levels were at 279 on Wednesday (Relion).

I don't really have money to go to the vet at the moment, having just stocked up on all the insulin needs. I also just spent over $300 on her recent vet bill and senior blood panel. I go out of Town tonight and am leaving her with my mother to keep an eye on. Thankfully, my sister is her veterinarian now so I know my mom can just call my sister if anything comes up.

Any advice is appreciated! I'm also thinking of getting some pedialite and pepcid.

 

The only definite way to tell if it is pancreatitis is to do the fPLI blood test.
Symptoms of pancreatitis can include dehydration, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhoea, lethargy, pain, nausea. Not necessarily all of these, but certainly lethargy and either nausea/ loss of appetite, pain and some dehydration usually.
It sounds more like an upset tummy to me than pancreatitis though...but I could be wrong.
Have you tried a different food?
350 is high for a diet managed cat. You are lucky that ketones have not developed. When were the ketones last tested? I would buy a bottle of Ketostix from a pharmacy or Walmart and test the urine daily until at least the insulin is started if I were you.
I am glad you are starting insulin soon.
How long are you away for?

 

It could be a number of things and difficult to diagnose for sure without tests but my experience with Chachi tells me you might consider the possibility it could be Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Vomiting after eating and soft serve poop among other symptoms. Stress induced perhaps. If your sister is her Vet I wonder if she thinks Cerenia might help the nausea and vomiting but you might not want to mask the symptoms until you know for sure what is going on. I hope you find the cause soon!

 

It may also just be the changes in the food you are giving. Many cats are sensitive to diet change. I just went through this with my cat, thinking the worst... but I'm pretty sure I was giving him too much olive oil and pumpkin in his food and once he had some icky poops, he felt much better. Those supplements work for some cats but didn't seem to agree with him.

Maybe feeding smaller meals would help? Mix in some water?

I don't mean to discourage you from a vet visit if you think something underlying is a possibility, as it could be. But maybe choosing one food and sticking with it, not adding extras, and letting her stomach settle could help while you decide.