Hi all - I hope you are all doing well!
My 14 year old cat, Shyla, was diagnosed with IBD (possibly small cell lymphoma) a few years ago via ultrasound. We switched her from a regular adult dry food to the Hill's hydrolyzed protein dry food. She was doing very well with just the diet change, with no diarrhea, vomiting, or weight loss for about 2 years.
In June when I came home from school, I noticed that Shyla looked much thinner than normal. She usually weighs about 10-11 lbs., but she was down to about 8.5 lbs. My parents said that while I was away, she was completely normal and had a great appetite with no vomiting or diarrhea at all.
I took her to see an internist in June and they did an ultrasound to see if her IBD had progressed or if there was another issue that was causing her weight loss, despite having no other symptoms.
The ultrasound showed diffuse thickening of the small intestine, but no actual masses or tumors. The internist explained that it could either still be IBD, or it could be small cell lymphoma and that the only way to definitively diagnose her with one or the other was with a biopsy, but that he did not really recommend going that route, since they are treated very similarly.
He started her on a steroid (Budesonide) once daily - the rationale behind trying Budesonide instead of Prednisolone was that Budesonide would theoretically have less side effects, since it targets the GI tract specifically, instead of the entire body.
Shyla has been doing great with the hydrolyzed protein diet and the Budesonide once daily with no issues, and she even gained back some weight.
I am now back at school so I am not home to monitor her, but my parents have said that she has been doing great and continues to have no additional weight loss, vomiting, or diarrhea.
They called me on Friday to let me know that Shyla had no appetite and did not eat on Friday, which is EXTREMELY unlike her. She is usually very food motivated and she never lost her appetite despite all of her GI issues. They brought her to the ER late Friday night where they did bloodwork, abdominal X-rays, and treated her symptomatically with Cerenia and Ondansetron. They did not see any abnormalities on her bloodwork or X-rays, so my parents took her home with medication to see how she responded. They called me on Sunday morning to let me know that she still was not eating and she was salivating and drooling a lot as if she were nauseous.
They took her back to the same ER on Sunday and she was transferred to internal medicine where they did an abdominal ultrasound. They said that her small intestine did not look any more thickened or inflamed than it did back in June (when we did the initial ultrasound for the weight loss) and there were no masses, but she did have pancreatitis/triaditis.
She has been in the ICU since Sunday and they have been treating her with IV fluids and IV medications for her symptoms. They called me this morning to let me know that she ate wet food on her own this morning and she also ate a bit tonight, but her appetite is still decreased, but they did not think that a feeding tube needed to be placed since she is eating. They are planning on sending her home tomorrow, but they are going to call me in the morning with an update. They did say that we should switch her from the Budesonide to Prednisolone, as the Budesonide is likely not strong enough to fully control her IBD.
I have been doing a lot of research on pancreatitis in cats since her diagnosis, and my understanding is that it can either be acute or chronic and it is relatively uncommon for cats to get pancreatitis. It also seems like the prognosis for cats with pancreatitis is extremely variable - with some cats doing great and never having a recurrence, while other cats end up having chronic issues after their first episode.
My questions are - has anyone had a similar experience with a cat that had IBD and/or pancreatitis? Since she is responding to treatment, does this mean that she will likely recover and be okay? Is it normal for her appetite to be returning so gradually and should it continue to improve over the next days/weeks? Should she be on any other medications or should we change her food now that she has had pancreatitis?
I am hoping that she recovers well and can return to her happy, normal, healthy self. I was very shocked that she became so sick so fast because she has been doing exceptionally well with her IBD treatment, so this was very unexpected. I am just concerned that she will not fully recover from this and will continue to have lots of issues now that she has had an episode of pancreatitis.
Thank you all so much for any insight you can provide!
My 14 year old cat, Shyla, was diagnosed with IBD (possibly small cell lymphoma) a few years ago via ultrasound. We switched her from a regular adult dry food to the Hill's hydrolyzed protein dry food. She was doing very well with just the diet change, with no diarrhea, vomiting, or weight loss for about 2 years.
In June when I came home from school, I noticed that Shyla looked much thinner than normal. She usually weighs about 10-11 lbs., but she was down to about 8.5 lbs. My parents said that while I was away, she was completely normal and had a great appetite with no vomiting or diarrhea at all.
I took her to see an internist in June and they did an ultrasound to see if her IBD had progressed or if there was another issue that was causing her weight loss, despite having no other symptoms.
The ultrasound showed diffuse thickening of the small intestine, but no actual masses or tumors. The internist explained that it could either still be IBD, or it could be small cell lymphoma and that the only way to definitively diagnose her with one or the other was with a biopsy, but that he did not really recommend going that route, since they are treated very similarly.
He started her on a steroid (Budesonide) once daily - the rationale behind trying Budesonide instead of Prednisolone was that Budesonide would theoretically have less side effects, since it targets the GI tract specifically, instead of the entire body.
Shyla has been doing great with the hydrolyzed protein diet and the Budesonide once daily with no issues, and she even gained back some weight.
I am now back at school so I am not home to monitor her, but my parents have said that she has been doing great and continues to have no additional weight loss, vomiting, or diarrhea.
They called me on Friday to let me know that Shyla had no appetite and did not eat on Friday, which is EXTREMELY unlike her. She is usually very food motivated and she never lost her appetite despite all of her GI issues. They brought her to the ER late Friday night where they did bloodwork, abdominal X-rays, and treated her symptomatically with Cerenia and Ondansetron. They did not see any abnormalities on her bloodwork or X-rays, so my parents took her home with medication to see how she responded. They called me on Sunday morning to let me know that she still was not eating and she was salivating and drooling a lot as if she were nauseous.
They took her back to the same ER on Sunday and she was transferred to internal medicine where they did an abdominal ultrasound. They said that her small intestine did not look any more thickened or inflamed than it did back in June (when we did the initial ultrasound for the weight loss) and there were no masses, but she did have pancreatitis/triaditis.
She has been in the ICU since Sunday and they have been treating her with IV fluids and IV medications for her symptoms. They called me this morning to let me know that she ate wet food on her own this morning and she also ate a bit tonight, but her appetite is still decreased, but they did not think that a feeding tube needed to be placed since she is eating. They are planning on sending her home tomorrow, but they are going to call me in the morning with an update. They did say that we should switch her from the Budesonide to Prednisolone, as the Budesonide is likely not strong enough to fully control her IBD.
I have been doing a lot of research on pancreatitis in cats since her diagnosis, and my understanding is that it can either be acute or chronic and it is relatively uncommon for cats to get pancreatitis. It also seems like the prognosis for cats with pancreatitis is extremely variable - with some cats doing great and never having a recurrence, while other cats end up having chronic issues after their first episode.
My questions are - has anyone had a similar experience with a cat that had IBD and/or pancreatitis? Since she is responding to treatment, does this mean that she will likely recover and be okay? Is it normal for her appetite to be returning so gradually and should it continue to improve over the next days/weeks? Should she be on any other medications or should we change her food now that she has had pancreatitis?
I am hoping that she recovers well and can return to her happy, normal, healthy self. I was very shocked that she became so sick so fast because she has been doing exceptionally well with her IBD treatment, so this was very unexpected. I am just concerned that she will not fully recover from this and will continue to have lots of issues now that she has had an episode of pancreatitis.
Thank you all so much for any insight you can provide!
