Sebastian is Back at the Vet...Suspected Pancreatitis Again :(

[goholistic]

...but

and

!!!!!

Which fish oil supplement are you using? Mine really aren't in love with salmon oil, but *most* of them like sardines....

   I ended up with Ascenta Feline Omega 3. It's a liquid in an amber glass bottle. This type of fish oil was always at the bottom of my list for consideration; I always preferred a softgel type with as few ingredients as possible. However, I just wasn't getting what I wanted in a softgel. I've tried a few human-grade softgels, but Sebastian either didn't like the taste/smell or it was just too much oil. Even when I tried to only use half, a lot went to waste (the other half didn't do well when left sitting out to oxidize) and trying to puncture it was a mess. I even bought a "triple strength" thinking I'd get more omegas out of it, but the softgel was just bigger. Grrr... I now have like 5 bottles of various fish oils that I have to take for myself. We also tried two types of salmon oil awhile back and that was a total flop. They all hated it. The Ascenta has very little smell and has a decent amount of DHA and EPA in only 1/4 tsp. HOWEVER, it does contain rosemary extract as a "natural preservative" and I know some people try to avoid this. I even saw a thread here on TCS where you, LDG, expressed your dislike of rosemary extract. 

  So, a big :: from me and a "oh, what the heck" and I decided to give it a try. Both Sebastian and Boo like it. Caesar doesn't count; he doesn't like anything. It is super easy to pour out into a measuring spoon. It's working out well, and I have no complaints.

 
Boy, that is a lot of regimen!  Kudos to you.

What ever happened with the rabbit?  Did I miss that?  We are just finally finishing up a 4#  bag of NV Rabbit from mid-summer and I don't plan on restocking it.

btw: my Mom is giving their dog coconut oil now.  I was telling her about it's popularity here on tcs.

Thanks! I had given Sebastian cooked rabbit on a few occasions. He liked the taste, but coincidentally each time he acted like he didn't feel well afterwards. It's difficult for me not to attribute it to the cooked rabbit since I'm intentional about making little to no changes to his regime, or I only change one thing at a time to have control over the variables and an understanding of what affects him. I have not revisited the rabbit. I may give the rest of the cooked rabbit that I froze to my boyfriend's cats and I still have 9 lbs. of frozen raw rabbit and rabbit organs in my freezer. I may experiment with the rabbit in its raw form and see how he does.

 

[mamabirdy]

So glad that things are going so well for you and Sebastian and that you appear to stabilised his condition through lots of patience.

 

[iloveprincess]

It sounds like Sebastian and Tigger have the exact same thing going on. For some reason I thought Sebastian only had that one major flare, but I guess his is chronic like Tigger's.

Thank you for the fish oil recommendation. I will look into it for Tigger.

 

[catchatcaren1]

Sending purrs and prayers to Sebastian ((((hugs))))

 

[teach bam]

Have you ever gone to IBDkitties website. Lisa is very knowledgeable about this and can help you.

 

[denice]

Lisa is a member here also.  Her user name here is finnlacey.  At some point she usually chimes in on IBD threads and we often refer people to her website.

 

[wt1964]

I don't frequent here as often as I'd like...but I am rooting for you and Sebastian!  

 

[roxie]

GoHolistic, just checking for an update on Sebastian. I hope he's still doing well.

 

[jill-e]

Wow, that's a lot of medications. So glad he's doing better though.
Did you try the Slippery Elm syrup?
Did it give any good affects?
It's really a good GI and bowel soother.

I'd be a little concerned about giving the RO water though. RO water doesn't have much in the way of nutritional value and is on the acidic side of proper ph balance, not as bad as distilled water though, but I'm also no fan of tap water, what with all the add chemicals to purify it, fluoride, etc.. Have you considered buying local, purified, natural spring water?

I recently (for the past month) started getting all our drinking water from Eldorado Springs. I live in Colorado and it's one of the natural springs here, very close to my house (20 mins). So, instead of buying it at the grocery store now or having it delivered in those 5 gallon bottles I can't even lift, I go to the spring itself, about every 2 weeks, and use their auto dispenser to fill all the 1 gallon water jugs I've saved up (glass, and BPA-free plastic ones), which is 1/4 the price of the 1 gal. store bought ones, and I don't need to keep adding to the recycle/trash load of more plastic bottles. It's been purified at the source, by filters and UV light. Still, I boil it at home too, just to be extra cautious. I've had my share of intestinal parasites that made me soooo sick, so I have to be extra careful myself. I have a blood disorder called cyclical-neutropenia, which basically means my body's neutrophils fluctuate in a wave pattern and never get up to normal levels, even when I'm sick or injured. I can't fight parasite or bacterial infections easily and have had to be on antibiotics more than I'd ever want to be. No one knows why I have it, but I rarely get sick anymore because of the extra precautions I take now, but I'm not living in a bubble either.

Eldorado Springs water is really wonderful tasting and has reduced not only my own acidic stomach issues, but also those of my cats, and I'm not as thirsty either anymore, but my cats urine output seems to be about the same. I never would have thought just changing water could do this. Unfortunately, many of the natural spring water you find at grocery stores is from far away or might just actually be RO water with minerals added, or even just tap water. I used to have my own RO system at home, but I had it removed once I found out that it wasn't so good for us.



Obviously, not all natural spring water is safe to drink though so you have to make sure you're getting it from a reliable and safe source. Eldorado Springs come from an ancient, unpolluted aquifer, deep below the Rocky Mountains. Fracking isn't allowed in Boulder, County and the water is tested daily to ensure purity.

 

[ldg]

Thanks! I had given Sebastian cooked rabbit on a few occasions. He liked the taste, but coincidentally each time he acted like he didn't feel well afterwards. It's difficult for me not to attribute it to the cooked rabbit since I'm intentional about making little to no changes to his regime, or I only change one thing at a time to have control over the variables and an understanding of what affects him. I have not revisited the rabbit. I may give the rest of the cooked rabbit that I froze to my boyfriend's cats and I still have 9 lbs. of frozen raw rabbit and rabbit organs in my freezer. I may experiment with the rabbit in its raw form and see how he does.

I don't have definitive info yet, but something you may want to look into as well: it appears that cooking meats increases the histamine levels.

 

[goholistic]

So glad that things are going so well for you and Sebastian and that you appear to stabilised his condition through lots of patience.

 
Sending purrs and prayers to Sebastian ((((hugs))))

 
I don't frequent here as often as I'd like...but I am rooting for you and Sebastian!  

Thank you! 

 
It sounds like Sebastian and Tigger have the exact same thing going on. For some reason I thought Sebastian only had that one major flare, but I guess his is chronic like Tigger's.

Thank you for the fish oil recommendation. I will look into it for Tigger.

Sure thing!

 
Have you ever gone to IBDkitties website. Lisa is very knowledgeable about this and can help you.

 
Lisa is a member here also.  Her user name here is finnlacey.  At some point she usually chimes in on IBD threads and we often refer people to her website.

Yes, I have read her entire site, including all the case studies.  

GoHolistic, just checking for an update on Sebastian. I hope he's still doing well.

Yes, he is still doing well. Thank you for asking. I introduced something new (cue doom music), and so for two days or so I wasn't exactly sure how he was feeling. He would be ravenous one day and not hungry the next. I think we've leveled out now. 

  He is SO sensitive to change...the little bugger. This is the one thing I found that is different with Sebastian than what I have read. Many resources, particularly for IBD, say to continually change things up. This is not the case with Sebastian. He thrives when I make no changes. It's great that I've realized this, but frustrating, too, because anything that I want to introduce has to be done extremely slow (over the course of several weeks or more) and I have to be prepared to pull back due to adverse reactions.

Did you try the Slippery Elm syrup?
Did it give any good affects?
It's really a good GI and bowel soother.

I'd be a little concerned about giving the RO water though. RO water doesn't have much in the way of nutritional value and is on the acidic side of proper ph balance, not as bad as distilled water though, but I'm also no fan of tap water, what with all the add chemicals to purify it, fluoride, etc.. Have you considered buying local, purified, natural spring water?

Yes, I have tried the SEB syrup. I was giving it to him during a flare last October, but it didn't seem to help much. I mentioned it above in post # 458. I do give it to one of my other cats, usually along with Marshmallow Root, as a GI soother.

Two holistic vets that I consulted with on Sebastian's issues both recommended RO water. In actuality, Sebastian isn't getting much of any nutritional value from the water he drinks, anyway, because he doesn't drink all that much. He's primarily on a wet diet and gets 100 ml sub-q fluids every two days, so I do not see him go to the water fountain all that much. He's very well hydrated.

I don't have definitive info yet, but something you may want to look into as well: it appears that cooking meats increases the histamine levels.

Hmm....

 

 

[goholistic]

Sebastian hasn't felt well since Friday night...literally the day after I said he was doing well in my post above! Grrr..... 

Unfortunately, he's off Cerenia on the weekends, so that didn't help matters. We upped the pred to 6.25 mg for two days as we did last month. He had the Cerenia this morning and within 1-1.5 hours, he was meowing for food. It really does help him feel better. So, crossing my fingers that this little blip only lasts for a few days. No vomiting, but he's not finishing his food and sleeping all curled up quite a bit.

Last month, this happened after giving him cooked rabbit. This month it happened after introducing something new (which I'm debating whether or not to discontinue). So, as you can see, every time I try something that has the potential to help him (and possibly reduce the meds he is on), his body disagrees. 

 

[jcat]

Lots and lots of that this is just a temporary setback.

 

[ldg]

Ornery cats. His body doesn't like change! :rub:

things settle right back down again. !!!!!!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Lots and lots of

that this is just a temporary setback.

   

(I just realized that if you simply read this in your email notification, you won't see anything, since the emoticoms don't show up in the emails

)

 

[goholistic]

Thanks guys. You're right. His body doesn't like change. I'm wondering if I should just sit back for awhile and let him be and see how he does. I keep thinking, "okay, he's been doing so well for a month, let's try something," but it always seems to lead to this.

No worries @mrsgreenjeens. I'm usually signed in to the site directly.

 

[carolina]

Ok - do not take this as a rule - this is just my experience with Bugsy..... So read it, and take your own conclusions, Ok?
Bugsy's Body also doesn't like changes BUT - it doesn't mean he won't get better after he get's worst :nod:
The key is to introduce whatever I am introducing into his diet - sloooooooowwwwwwllllyyyyy and steady. And keep going. Of course I double his probiotics, if he has any other issues, I deal with it - But I don't back away - only if it is extreme, or if it is something that is totally unnecessary.
But if it is something that I know it has to be introduced, that's just like he reacts - and he reacts to EVERYTHING! He will have a "flare", then his body will recover and he will be officially introduced to whatever I was introducing into his diet - being a supplement, or a protein, whatever.
Do I go forever? No - I give it about 4-5 days or so....
I know it is not perfect..... But I have become accustomed to the fact that Bugsy has IBD and he will react differently to new things in his diet than the other cats - today I know how to deal with it.
So, like I said - this is my take...... Not saying this is Sebastian's case, but it might be..... These guys are extra sensitive...... But it is not to say that they CAN get used and do well on new stuff too.
You just need to watch monitor him very carefully and help him out along the way. If it becomes too much, pull back. But if he can go on, keep going - otherwise you will never change anything on his diet..... My opinion only -
Maybe you can discuss this with your vet and see what he/she thinks about it

 

[goholistic]

Thanks Carolina. I totally agree that sometimes you have to just push through the worst.

The thing is...I started Sebastian on a new supplement on 1/18 and introduced it in VERY tiny amounts as recommended. After day 2, he was not enthusiastic about eating, but I continued on. This went on until day 4. On day 5, he seemed to be okay, so again, I kept it up. On day 6 is when he really started to act like he felt like crap. I still continued the supplement through day 7 and 8. By day 9, Sebastian is hardly eating anything, so I made the decision to discontinue the supplement.

So here I am now trying to get him back on track.

 

[cprcheetah]

Poor Sebastian.  Sounds like such a sensitive guy.  My Munchie won't eat his food with the new supplements in it so I am battling that as well.  It's interesting how sensitive some cats are.  DeeJay takes things all in stride has no issues whatsoever with change.  Munch on the other hand can't handle a lot of change without issues.

 

[goholistic]

Naturally, I am feeling regret. I apologized to Sebastian for once again trying something new and having it not agree with him. It is Mommy's fault he doesn't feel well. Sorry buddy. 

I've had to move on to the next lifeline in my arsenal of available treatments ...mirtazapine. 

  Of course, he is now eating. It buys me some time, and I hope the inflammation (or whatever) starts to calm down by the time the mirt wears off.