My 12 year old chubby cat has suddenly lost her appetite and is sleeping constantly

[catwoman707]

Wow, interesting to know!

I do believe in Krissy's case, it is directly related to food, looking at how she has several internals inflammed now, and last Dec how her eosinophils were screaming allergic reaction too.

I should have been vigilant about changing her diet back then, it would seem to me this all could have been avoided.   

 

[goholistic]

Pancreatitis is more accurately diagnosed through the Spec fPL test and an ultrasound, so I think it would be difficult to say through regular blood work alone. The information you received from the ultrasound is probably your most accurate at this point.

Sebastian never had diarrhea either. All his ailments are in the upper GI tract.

Avoiding another flare-up really all depends. A diet change may be all that's needed for Krissy. That alone didn't avoid flare-ups with Sebastian, unfortunately. The next treatment (a steroid) helped greatly, but he still got flare-ups. He's now on a whole long list of various medicines and remedies and he still gets mild tummy upsets. The severity of pancreatitis and IBD will vary from cat to cat. You just have to take one step at a time. One thing about Sebastian is that I had to introduce everything very slowly and not make too many changes too quickly.

Here's a good TCS thread on the difference between IBD and IBS:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/262946/the-difference-between-ibd-and-ibs

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

@catwoman707 -- how is your krissy doing? has she tried any new foods that she likes?

 

[catwoman707]

I had returned the non grain free food and just today found the Blue Buffalo Basics grain free turkey and potato limited ingredient food, dry and canned.

Right now as I type she is crunching some dry down just fine. But she is hungry because dinner was the same but canned, just what I expected to happen, she ate a few bites and when the flavor really hit her, she stopped, so did Simone. 

I hope Simone doesn't mind having to eat what I feed Krissy, otherwise it will be insane trying to keep that separate. So we will see!

Thanks for asking.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
I had returned the non grain free food and just today found the Blue Buffalo Basics grain free turkey and potato limited ingredient food, dry and canned.

Right now as I type she is crunching some dry down just fine. But she is hungry because dinner was the same but canned, just what I expected to happen, she ate a few bites and when the flavor really hit her, she stopped, so did Simone. 

I hope Simone doesn't mind having to eat what I feed Krissy, otherwise it will be insane trying to keep that separate. So we will see!

Thanks for asking.

i'm so glad you were able to find the blue buffalo basics grain free turkey and potato LID dry and canned.

could you try putting several pieces of dry food on top of the wet food, kind of pushed down in it a bit (so the dry food pieces don't easily get picked off and eaten)? i many times serve my snick her wet food with a few pieces of dry food in it like that, and i've found that that's one way snick will eat more of her wet food.

another idea might be to try sprinkling crumbled treats (some of those new ones you got that krissy likes) over the top of her wet food. i do that for my snick too. it's a little incentive for them to eat more of the wet food.

 

[catwoman707]

I will try that, thank you!

 

[catwoman707]

Well Krissy isn't feeling so good today, I was hoping she would begin to have feeling better days but of course it won't happen overnight. (I wish)

I wondered too if I should have done the gradual switch thing too, my thinking was that with an easier on her system food, it shouldn't upset her like other switching would, but maybe it did. 

Another brilliant move on my part.....

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
Well Krissy isn't feeling so good today, I was hoping she would begin to have feeling better days but of course it won't happen overnight. (I wish)

I wondered too if I should have done the gradual switch thing too, my thinking was that with an easier on her system food, it shouldn't upset her like other switching would, but maybe it did. 

Another brilliant move on my part.....

i'm so sorry that krissy is feeling poorly today.

when my mickey and snick were having very bad diarrhea and were diagnosed with IBD, our vet had me switch both cats over immediately to a different food. so vet's do suggest an immediate switch sometimes for cats. it took one full month for my mickey and snick's gastrointestinal systems to settle down and stay settled down.

it could possibly be some of the original gastro upset still working it's way towards settling down. do you have the stage 1 meat baby food and some pepcid ac on hand?

 

[catwoman707]

Thank you, yes I do just in case.

It makes me feel better knowing that your vet recommended an immediate switch. Mine didn't say one or the other, and I assumed it was the thing to do, but saw it was looking like it upset her already upset system, just by how she was acting. (not feeling so well)

She is a little better today, so on with the new food.

She eats the dry fine, which is big, but not like I want her on dry, and def. not dry only, but she has no plans on eating that darned canned food, same type.

So as for a total switch over, it is not happening anytime real soon.

I have to fall back on good 'ol fancy feast again, but did only get her the turkey ones and a couple of the chunky chicken. I hope this isn't going to interfere with her getting better, but have a feeling it might, and I can't have that. Got to get her back to well again.

In reading the ingredients though, the only protein is from turkey liver, no other meat mentioned. Is this a good thing, or is it wishful thinking that I will be able to keep her on ff?

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

@catwoman707 -- i'm glad that your krissy is feeling a little better today.  )

good, you're prepared, just in case krissy needs the pepcid or meat stage 1 jar baby food. sometimes when my snick hasn't wanted to eat the baby food during a flare up, i'll wipe a bit on her front arm/paw and she'll then lick it off.

i think you're doing the right thing by falling back on the fancy feast you know she'll eat for the moment. better to make sure that your krissy eats. you might want to keep a written list of the wet foods you try for krissy, and how she likes them. i'd keep her on the Blue Buffalo Basics grain free turkey and potato limited ingredient dry food, since she'll eat that. and work on trying other turkey grain free canned foods, seeing which krissy might like. so even though the blue buffalo basics turkey canned hasn't worked out so far, the blue buffalo basics dry food did -- you've made some progress!

could you try mixing some of the blue buffalo basics turkey canned into some of the fancy feast turkey canned? like start out with more fancy feast than blue buffalo in the mixture, then slowly and gradually add less and less of the fancy feast and more and more of the blue buffalo?

i'm copying the list of some [relatively] limited ingredient canned turkey foods that @GoHolistic had included in a previous post of hers in this thread -- to make it easier for you to find:

Blue Buffalo Wilderness Turkey (http://bluebuffalo.com/natural-cat-...ess/wilderness-turkey-recipe-canned-cat-food/)

Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Turkey (http://www.naturesvariety.com/Instinct/cat/can/LIDTurkey)

Nutro Natural Choice Soft Loaf Turkey (http://www.nutro.com/natural-cat-food/natural-choice-cat-food/canned/soft-turkey.aspx)

By Nature 95% Turkey & Turkey Liver (http://www.bynaturepetfoods.com/cat-food/grain-free/95-percent-turkey-turkey-liver.php)

Natural Planet Organics Turkey (http://naturalplanetorganics.com/in...lanet-organics/canned-recipes/canned-for-cats)

she also had posted about another brand that her sebastian did well on -- "Sebastian did well on Royal Canin Selected Protein PR (pea and rabbit) and I still offer it in rotation. It's also the food that seems to settle his stomach when he doesn't feel well."

 
In reading the ingredients though, the only protein is from turkey liver, no other meat mentioned. Is this a good thing, or is it wishful thinking that I will be able to keep her on ff?

while the fancy feast turkey canned food isn't ideal, it also isn't the worst canned food out there imo. i would definitely keep it as a canned food you can fall back on if/when krissy won't eat others of the limited ingredient grain free turkey canned foods you try.

 

[bonepicker]

Does Snick have pancreatitis and/or ibd/ibs?

I went and bought Blue Buffalo Basics for sensitive stomach, it is also limited ingredient, HOWEVER, dummy me didn't notice it is not grain free, which I believe is important in getting the inflammation down again.

I don't know, I'm lost and haven't heard from anyone regarding these issues and how to care for her.

I can tell you my cat vomited daily until I switched to grain free canned food and no dry food. She is 6 and does not have these medical issues but I suspect she has ibd. I also give her vets best hairball relief aid (slippery elm and psyllium) it acts as a digestive aid. No vomiting since, 2 months now. I also dewormed her even though nothing showed in stool sample, because she has been known to catch mice in garage. I strongly believe she was not able to digest grain and other veggie carbs so she kept vomiting. I mean rice, potato, peas not just corn, wheat and soy, which I never gave her to begin with.

 

[catwoman707]

Thank you!

While I realize that Krissy's insides will take a while to settle down and not be inflammed, I wonder if this is enough to do the job.

Also if I will even know, since she has no diarrhea or vomiting.......

When is it determined that she might need prednisolone?

Is it better to wait it out with her diet change or help it along with the steriod temporarily do you know?

 

[stephenq]

@catwoman707

Hey, remind me are we talking about IBD?

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

@catwoman707 --

 
@catwoman707

Hey, remind me are we talking about IBD?

(post #48 in this thread) both IBD and chronic pancreatitis, if i'm not mistaken.

 

[catwoman707]

Right!

Any thoughts/input @StephenQ  ??

 

[stephenq]

@catwoman707

Ok well I've reviewed some earlier posts and its obviously a complicated situation.  As to your specific question above, in at least my situation, Pred was started when there was weight loss that couldn't be arrested through diet change. If the pred works, weight stabilizes and then gains and rather quickly.  One should see weight gain within 1-2 weeks, i have and would recommend a baby scale at home to track the weight very closely.  Even a few ounces gain shows a positive trend.

If the pred stops working, Leukeran and you mentioned is generally the next step.  My cat is stable on Pred 5,g/day.  Of course, once the cat is on pred you can no longer do a biopsy should that be in your cat's future, and determining the cause of bowel inflammation, IBD vs infiltrative disease ie small cell lymphoma can only be done by biopsy.  Although the treatments for both are essentially the same until you got to heavy duty chemo....

My cat has IBD and pancreatitis and he also gets Cerenia (miracle drug) which is an amazing neural block for nausea/vomiting.

Does this help at all?

 

[catwoman707]

Well the thing is, there is no weight loss with Krissy. NOT that she doesn't need to lose but rather the right way and not due to lack of eating....:/

She eats well, but won't eat the right canned food. I am not thrilled about her dry food thing now, it was difficult to finally have switched her over to all canned, then gave in and allowed some dry in between breakfast and dinner, but now, unless I find a substitute for fancy feast breakfast and dinner, she is eating that along with the right dry food. The key is to get her off of anything that might have caused this reaction.

The vet who did her ultrasound felt it was unlikely lymphoma, but points much more toward an allergic response over a period of time.

This is why I stated that I am responsible, I saw in her blood results last Dec I believe, that her eos being through the roof, which is the wbc that reacts to allergies, that her system was upset back then, and I didn't work hard enough to fix it then, so basically not dealt with, caused all this inflammation now.

So I DEF. believe key is the right diet. 

Oh also, no vomiting or diarrhea.

That only happened when she hit her peak of inflammation. Well and a reaction to the clavamox, likely due to her gastric upset going on already.

 

[stephenq]

 
Well the thing is, there is no weight loss with Krissy. NOT that she doesn't need to lose but rather the right way and not due to lack of eating....:/

She eats well, but won't eat the right canned food. I am not thrilled about her dry food thing now, it was difficult to finally have switched her over to all canned, then gave in and allowed some dry in between breakfast and dinner, but now, unless I find a substitute for fancy feast breakfast and dinner, she is eating that along with the right dry food. The key is to get her off of anything that might have caused this reaction.

The vet who did her ultrasound felt it was unlikely lymphoma, but points much more toward an allergic response over a period of time.

This is why I stated that I am responsible, I saw in her blood results last Dec I believe, that her eos being through the roof, which is the wbc that reacts to allergies, that her system was upset back then, and I didn't work hard enough to fix it then, so basically not dealt with, caused all this inflammation now.

So I DEF. believe key is the right diet. 

Oh also, no vomiting or diarrhea.

That only happened when she hit her peak of inflammation. Well and a reaction to the clavamox, likely due to her gastric upset going on already.

Ok so it sounds like things aren't so bad! 

 

[catwoman707]

 
Ok so it sounds like things aren't so bad! 

Well, I really don't know. I know she is still not feeling well, so it's obvious that she is still inflammed. Still got the water obsession going on too.

I know it could be much worse too, for sure, but I can't help but think with so much inflammation going on, and for a while too, that I'm asking for trouble if I can't get it settled down soon.

(??) just not sure.....thanks

 

[stephenq]

Hmmm...inflamed bowels almost by definition lead to either diarrhea or vomiting......so i'm wondering what's going on?  Refresh my memory.  Inflammation presented on ultra sound?

How is her appetite?