Kiki diagnosed with Pancreatitis

[MeowHiss]

Hello.

First of all, I'm not sure if this post belongs in cat health or feeding and nutrition...

But anyway, my cat was recently diagnosed with pancreatitis. My cat originally presented with sudden onset of major aggression last July, so I took her to her primary vet. He did a physical exam, said it might be seizures, and sent her home with the order to take her to the ER for more testing if it happens again.

Well, it happened in the middle of November. So me and Kiki ended up at the ER at 1am. It was here that the doctors discovered she has pancreatitis.

They said she had to be on a prescription diet and recommended Hills I/D. I've always been against this food, mainly because there's grain in it. My cat was eating Nulo before being switched.

However, I have 4 vets from the ER and 3 vets from my primary clinic that all recommended my cat be on this hills food. And she luckily gobbles it right up.


Does anyone see have a cat with pancreatitis? How do you manage it long-term? I'm just worried she might have another inflammation episode and turn aggro again.

 

[danteshuman]

Dante had pancreatitis & severe asthma ..... that were the reason I had to put him to sleep.

I would do the diet but please be aware that pancreatitis often comes back. They think high fat diets are the cause.

All they can do for pancreatitis is supportive care. They gave me antinausea & some kind of natcotic pain med to give to Dante. These made a huge difference for him because he started eating/drinking like normal and appeared more at ease. I would have continued it for a month to see if he could recover, if he hadn’t been constantly out of breath from the asthma.

I hope your cat recovers and does not get a second case of pancreatitis!

 

[MeowHiss]

Kiki doesn't have asthma, thankfully. But I'm hoping she doesn't get any reoccurring episodes...

I'm sorry about your kitty

 

[daftcat75]

High fat diets don't cause or exacerbate pancreatitis in cats. Cats are obligate carnivores. They are not only equipped for high fat diets. They can't do it any other way. There's only three macros to work with here: carbs, protein, and fat. If you lower the fat, the protein or carbs must increase. But cats don't eat carbs. They don't handle them well. And a high protein diet can be challenging to the kidneys.

I don't like that Hill's food. It's too high in carbs. However, eating can be a real challenge on pancreatitis. If Kiki is eating that food, stick with it and have her pancreatitis re-tested in a month. It's a simple blood test called Spec fPLi. If you can get her eating Rawz, that's a much better food for her and will make it a lot easier to rule out any dietary reasons for her pancreatitis as they have several single protein simple recipe choices to choose from. If she's eating any kibble, that should be discontinued. Kibble is much too high in carbs. Carbs are much more problematic in cats than high fat. Cats don't produce much lipase (the carb digesting enzyme) to begin with. Asking an already overworked pancreas to do something it isn't very good at to begin with is not a good recipe for success. I think you have encountered seven vets who need more nutrition education than they received (which is very little to begin with and often taught or subsidized by Hills and other prescription food makers. )

On a parallel track, I encourage you to look for the cause of her pancreatitis. This rarely happens in a vacuum. Often there is either an acute or chronic stressor. An acute stressor could be environmental exposure (inhalation or ingestion) to a toxin. Make certain all your house and garden plants are cat safe. Discontinue any use of essential oils especially diffusers. Use fragrance-free cleaning and laundry products as much as possible. A chronic stressor would be inflammation like IBD or a mass/tumor. A diet that is too high in carbs can cause chronic inflammation that could result in IBD and/or pancreatitis. Has Kiki had an ultrasound to rule out any masses or other organ involvement and check her gut for inflammation? Does she have any other symptoms like vomiting or diarrhea? Vomiting in cats is sadly common but never normal. Even hairballs should be passing in their stool. If she is bringing up hairballs, that can be an indicator of something wrong with her gut or digestion. If she hasn't had an ultrasound, I would book that ASAP. The pancreatitis may be only the leading edge of something else going on.

How's her weight? Is she losing any weight?

 

[MeowHiss]

High fat diets don't cause or exacerbate pancreatitis in cats. Cats are obligate carnivores. They are not only equipped for high fat diets. They can't do it any other way. There's only three macros to work with here: carbs, protein, and fat. If you lower the fat, the protein or carbs must increase. But cats don't eat carbs. They don't handle them well. And a high protein diet can be challenging to the kidneys.

I don't like that Hill's food. It's too high in carbs. However, eating can be a real challenge on pancreatitis. If Kiki is eating that food, stick with it and have her pancreatitis re-tested in a month. It's a simple blood test called Spec fPLi. If you can get her eating Rawz, that's a much better food for her and will make it a lot easier to rule out any dietary reasons for her pancreatitis as they have several single protein simple recipe choices to choose from. If she's eating any kibble, that should be discontinued. Kibble is much too high in carbs. Carbs are much more problematic in cats than high fat. Cats don't produce much lipase (the carb digesting enzyme) to begin with. Asking an already overworked pancreas to do something it isn't very good at to begin with is not a good recipe for success. I think you have encountered seven vets who need more nutrition education than they received (which is very little to begin with and often taught or subsidized by Hills and other prescription food makers. )

On a parallel track, I encourage you to look for the cause of her pancreatitis. This rarely happens in a vacuum. Often there is either an acute or chronic stressor. An acute stressor could be environmental exposure (inhalation or ingestion) to a toxin. Make certain all your house and garden plants are cat safe. Discontinue any use of essential oils especially diffusers. Use fragrance-free cleaning and laundry products as much as possible. A chronic stressor would be inflammation like IBD or a mass/tumor. A diet that is too high in carbs can cause chronic inflammation that could result in IBD and/or pancreatitis. Has Kiki had an ultrasound to rule out any masses or other organ involvement and check her gut for inflammation? Does she have any other symptoms like vomiting or diarrhea? Vomiting in cats is sadly common but never normal. Even hairballs should be passing in their stool. If she is bringing up hairballs, that can be an indicator of something wrong with her gut or digestion. If she hasn't had an ultrasound, I would book that ASAP. The pancreatitis may be only the leading edge of something else going on.

How's her weight? Is she losing any weight?

She did get an ultrasound at the ER. They also mentioned something about an inflamed intestine. She also had diarrhea and random vomiting right after eating. Oddly enough, she hasn't had it so far on the new food.

Also, I don't use diffusers other than feliway. I did use regardless tide, however I can switch to arm and hammer fragrance free.

The vet that did the ultrasound kinda scared me because he said there's a very low chance that it might be pancreatic cancer. But her white blood cell count was low, so he didn't think so.

There was a lot of professional talk and I didn't understand some of it except for "food" and "maybe but probably not cancer"

 

[daftcat75]

“Inflamed intestine” does sound like IBD. Many cancers present as a mass (tumor) which would be visible on an ultrasound. Usually. Small cell lymphoma presents as a diffuse thickening of the intestinal walls. It’s pretty much the same presentation as IBD. They are indistinguishable from each other on an ultrasound. To make things even more confusing and worrying, IBD today can become lymphoma in the future. This is why I don’t recommend the surgical biopsy to determine whether it’s IBD or lymphoma. It’s hard on the cat and an “all clear” today is only an “all clear” for today. The best thing you can do to prevent IBD from becoming lymphoma is to manage the inflammation. You’ll know the inflammation is managed when she’s not having gut and butt episodes (vomiting and poop issues), her appetite is well, and she’s maintaining her weight.

The most important thing for pancreatitis right now is to keep her eating. And to avoid dry food. So if she likes the Hills and she’s not having any butt or gut issues, keep feeding it. It’s more important that she stabilizes and her pancreas heals than it is to find a perfect food right now. If she does have or issues again or after a good long time without issues, you could try to change her to Rawz in a single protein pate

One last piece of advice would be to pick up a baby scale and monitor her weight. Leave it out in her environment so it’s not foreign and potentially stressful. If she’s allowed treats—if you have treats that don’t upset her butt or gut—put a treat (or a meal) on the scale for her. Then it’s just a simple matter of herding her butt onto the platform for a couple of seconds to get a reading. If you can weigh her the same time and place no more than once a week (for both of your sanities), you won’t miss it if her inflammation becomes lymphoma. The hallmark of GI lymphoma is rapid and relentless weight loss. Conversely, as long as she can maintain or even gain weight, it’s most likely not cancer.

Pancreatitis is the priority right now. If she likes the Hills and it treats her well, stick with it. Get the all clear from the pancreatitis retest probably in a month.

 

[daftcat75]

One more thing. Weight loss doesn’t always mean cancer. There are a lot of conditions that can cause weight loss. Even without IBD or pancreatitis, it’s a good idea to monitor your cat(s) weight so that you can catch any health issues early. In a young and healthy cat, monitoring weight may only need to be noting any difference since the last vet visit. But in an older cat or a cat with an active disease process like IBD or pancreatitis, monthly or even weekly monitoring of weight is much better. It’s a non-invasive measure of health and progress along with noting any butt or gut episodes in a health journal.

This was a neighbor’s cat who had me fooled into thinking he was homeless for a few weeks. I would let him in sometimes for a meal after my last cat passed. Because the baby scale was not only part of the environment but one of the more appealing parts (at height and with toy ), it would have been so easy to place a treat on the scale to focus him long enough to get a reading (a couple of seconds.) This is more accurate and less stressful than weighing yourself holding your cat and subtracting your weight. Bathroom scales are notoriously inaccurate.

Playful Meatball

• daftcat75
• Sep 19, 2020
• 2

For all his outdoor stud life, he looks like he knows his way around a cat tree and toy.

 

[kitkath]

Any updates on your baby MeowHiss ? Hopefully she's doing ok! My boy got diagnosed with pancreatitis after a bad vomiting/diaherria episode and they put him on the Hills food too. He eats it and has had only a few vomiting bouts but am trying to research more with this disease. I don't love using Hills but he's doing ok for now. Curious if you've kept your girl on it or moved to something else?

 

[MeowHiss]

Any updates on your baby MeowHiss ? Hopefully she's doing ok! My boy got diagnosed with pancreatitis after a bad vomiting/diaherria episode and they put him on the Hills food too. He eats it and has had only a few vomiting bouts but am trying to research more with this disease. I don't love using Hills but he's doing ok for now. Curious if you've kept your girl on it or moved to something else?

She's been herself so far. I was trying to feed her 4 small meals a day, but she developed a scarf and barf habit unrelated to her original illness. Her vet said to try free choice feeding of dry food, but it seems like that just made her feel sick.

I've decided on my own to feed her 3 times a day with a petsafe auto feeder that pops open. On one side, I'll feed her the wet food, and on the other side it's the dry food. I've started crushing the dry food because I personally think the kibble is too large. It seems to help reduce her scarf and barf episodes. However, she also scarfs the wet food. I've found that if I spread it on the sides of the feeder dish that it slows her down enough to where she won't eat so fast.

At her last vet appointment, her white blood cell count was still low, specifically neutrophils. I asked what that could be from and was told they don't specifically know.Her platelets also like to clump, which I was told means her clotting factors are good. I also found out that my vet apparently didn't perform a cbc I know I specifically asked for when Kiki was a kitten. Typically, when I get a new pet, I ask for a complete workup of bloodwork along with fecal and urinalysis just so we have a basic understanding of what I need to do as an owner healthwise.

Apparently, Kiki didn't get a cbc when she was a kitten, but I'm almost positive she did. I can't find the paperwork and her vet has no record of it. So I'm kind of on the verge of thinking about getting a second opinion. Or third, as the case may be, since she was already seen by an emergency vet. If something happens again, I will not be taking another wait and see approach.

 

[daftcat75]

Is Kiki still eating the I/D?

After a $1300 urgent care visit for a hairball (the hairball came up easy enough but Betty White kept spitting up stomach acid all day), I decided to humor the vet and purchase a few cans of I/D and offer it to my nibbler. She loves the stew. She’s okay with the pate. But clearly not her favorite. We’re only one day into this, but it seems like some combo of the pate and the stew might be the combo that I’m comfortable with and that she will eat until I can transition her back to something less starchy. Then again, if this solves her sensitive gut, I’ll keep feeding this for awhile.

 

[Aafia Ijaz]

Dante had pancreatitis & severe asthma ..... that were the reason I had to put him to sleep.

I would do the diet but please be aware that pancreatitis often comes back. They think high fat diets are the cause.

All they can do for pancreatitis is supportive care. They gave me antinausea & some kind of natcotic pain med to give to Dante. These made a huge difference for him because he started eating/drinking like normal and appeared more at ease. I would have continued it for a month to see if he could recover, if he hadn’t been constantly out of breath from the asthma.

I hope your cat recovers and does not get a second case of pancreatitis!

View attachment 403208

Was your cat also presenting symptoms of vomiting? If yes, how often in a month and in a day?