Complications Following Dental

mrsgreenjeens

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Here's hoping the change up in the meds works well for her and we continue to see improvements.
 
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corvidae

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That’s my hope too! We visited her at 3:30 yesterday, and she purred on my lap the whole time. I think being able to visit her in hospital has made me feel a little less sure about the whole thing, which is good.
The clinic is closed since it’s Sunday, but the head vet will be in to take care of the pets in hospital and she’s going to give us a call mid morning to let us know how Mindy is doing. Here’s hoping the new antibiotic is helping, and maybe even that she’s regaining some appetite.
 
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corvidae

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Not much change for Mindy today. She’s bright, alert, and doesn’t seem to be in pain, but she still isn’t eating. She also had a little blood in her stool, which the vet said is not abnormal with the amount of meds she’s on. Tomorrow they will do another ultrasound to see if the pockets around the pancreas are responding to the antibiotics, and if not, they will do a needle biopsy of them to see if we are dealing with something more sinister than pancreatitis. The vet is considering, pending imaging and how’s she’s doing tomorrow, about sending her home with us for the night tomorrow to see if being in a familiar place will coax her back to eating. The vet said at this point it may be an aversion to food rather than nausea, so if her pancreas issues subside and she’s still not eating they may insert a feeding tube and send her home, and then apparently some people find after a couple weeks at home they just start eating again.
I’m so hoping she can get well and come home with no necessary further sedation or invasive procedures. Poor girl has been through enough.
 
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The head vet is out sick today and won’t be able to do Mindy’s ultrasound, so we don’t get to take her home tonight. I did just visit her - she’s in good spirits, got some good purring and drooling time in. She’s still not eating and also still having diarrhea but the vet assistant didn’t mention anything about blood today. Here’s hoping the ultrasound can take place tomorrow and shows improvement, and that she can come home with us soon!
 

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mrsgreenjeens

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How unfortunate that the Vet is ill today :sigh:. Here's hoping tomorrow brings good news :crossfingers:
 
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Got the best text ever this morning- Mindy started eating on her own last night! Pending her ultrasound results, she should be able to come home today!!
 
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corvidae

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Our girl is safely home now! She will probably go for that recheck ultrasound in a couple of days; the vet who does the ultrasound was out sick again today (she got her second dose of the COVID vaccine on Sunday and is having bad side effects), but the vet who has been managing Mindy's care did a good touch exam of her belly and noted no pain at all, so that plus the returned appetite leads her to believe we are in the clear! Here's hoping Mindy's appetite remains strong and she continues recovering comfortably at home.
 
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corvidae

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So Mindy had her recheck on Friday - we didn’t do the ultrasound because she was looking so good by all the other measurements. The vets were all so excited to see her doing so well! We were advised to take her off the mirtazapine and see how she does, but to hang on to the extra couple pills of mirtazapine just in case.
Yesterday she ate all her breakfast but wasn’t interested in lunch/dinner, until I mixed tuna in and she would eat it then but there was still about 1/2-1/3 left in the morning. She also wasn’t initially interested in breakfast this morning, so we decided to give her one of the leftover mirtazapines to hopefully start up her appetite again. It’s 6pm here and she has eaten probably 3/4 of her breakfast and a couple bites of dinner- I soaked some kibble for her to hopefully get some more calories in.
Mindy has always been a picky cat, but after this whole fiasco I’m feeling really afraid that her pancreatitis is back/flaring back up. It’s so hard not to overanalyze every meow for a sign that something is super wrong. I don’t want her to have to be hospitalized again, and I also don’t want to have to put her through the stress of another vet visit (though of course I will if necessary). I’m going to call the vet in the morning and go from there, but any supportive words/thoughts/prayers would be appreciated in the meantime.
 

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Hi,
I think that this may all be pain related. The pancreatitis causes pain in cats. So if she is having a flare up then she would be in pain. If you have the appetite stimulant then I would give it as directed to help with the appetite. You don't want her not eating anything at all because then she runs the risk of hepatic lipidosis or fatty liver disease caused by not eating.

It is probably best to feed the A/D or recovery diet if you can since all the diet changes aren't good. I would also stay away from the dry food, even if it is watered down, it is still full of carbohydrates that cats cannot digest or process. So that isn't good for her.

Call your vet in the morning. See if you can get more pain medication. I would get the buprenorphine and if they will sell you injections instead of oral that would be great. Some vets won't though. In that case use the oral I would not ever give the metacam again.
 
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corvidae

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Hi,
I think that this may all be pain related. The pancreatitis causes pain in cats. So if she is having a flare up then she would be in pain. If you have the appetite stimulant then I would give it as directed to help with the appetite. You don't want her not eating anything at all because then she runs the risk of hepatic lipidosis or fatty liver disease caused by not eating.

It is probably best to feed the A/D or recovery diet if you can since all the diet changes aren't good. I would also stay away from the dry food, even if it is watered down, it is still full of carbohydrates that cats cannot digest or process. So that isn't good for her.

Call your vet in the morning. See if you can get more pain medication. I would get the buprenorphine and if they will sell you injections instead of oral that would be great. Some vets won't though. In that case use the oral I would not ever give the metacam again.
Hi there! Thanks for chiming in. I have called the vet and am just waiting for her to call me back. I don’t have any evidence that the pancreatitis is back right now- she was released to me after 6 days of hospitalization because she wasn’t showing any more signs of pain/inflammation in the pancreas. Doesn’t stop me from worrying about it of course! I will ask the vet if she thinks this could be pain related. If she goes back on a pain med it will be the bupo- she only had the metacam for a day or so at the beginning of all this, and there’s a note on her file not to give it again, as it could very well be what caused the acute pancreatitis- we can’t know for sure if it’s the medications she was given, the anesthetic, or something else about the surgery.
As for her diet, Mindy usually gets the lowest carb dry food on the market: Dr. Elsey’s CleanProtein kibble, alongside wet food (wet for breakfast, dry for dinner). Since it’s currently taking her so long to eat each meal, she would not get sufficient calories in a day from her wet food alone (she’s picky and doesn’t like pate, so she is on shreds in gravy or broth which tend to be about 60-70calories per 3Oz can). She’s cleared right now to be back to her usual diet but just with soaked dry food because of her dental operation on the 11th, so I’m not sure switching to Hill’s A/D would be helpful for her at the moment.
 
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