Possible Pancreatitis?

[aly]

I'm putting this in General so hopefully Sandra or any other medical experts will see it. My boy Chance possibly has pancreatitis. I am beside myself with worry. Here is the thread in Cat General:

http://207.44.135.130/talk/showthrea...threadid=39753

If he does have pancreatitis, is the usual way to clear it with the antibiotics the vet gave me? Or is there a different medicine they need?

Thanks for any advice.

[joycenalex]

alex the wonder dog has had a bout of pancreatitis. he was also very lethargic for most of a week, even after he started the meds, it was a slow process of getting better, but the meds did help alot. my brother, who has also had pancreatitis (way too high cholesterol) said it hurts alot. so the not moving is normal in dogs and humans, i'd bet so in cats too. why do they always get sick on the weekends?

[aly]

Originally posted by joycenalex
alex the wonder dog has had a bout of pancreatitis. he was also very lethargic for most of a week, even after he started the meds, it was a slow process of getting better, but the meds did help alot. my brother, who has also had pancreatitis (way too high cholesterol) said it hurts alot. so the not moving is normal in dogs and humans, i'd bet so in cats too. why do they always get sick on the weekends?

Thanks. That makes me feel a lot better. I don't know why I expected him to pop back to normal as soon as we got back from the vet.

What kind of meds did Alex take? Were they just antibiotics? I have two kinds of antibiotics I'm giving him twice a day.

[joycenalex]

i cannot remember the name of the antibiotics (brain fade at 47! ) i do remember i gave the antibiotics at different times from his epilepsy meds, so he had 4 very small treats each day ( he did enjoy that). i don't recall pain relievers for him, my brother got some tylenol with codeine for a few days. sorry i am not more useful in this.

[aly]

You're very helpful. You've given me a good story that leaves me with some hope for my boy.

[Cookiebaker]

Feel better soon, Chance!!!

Yikes, I can only imagine how scary it is for ya, Aly! Crossing all our paws and fingers that everything will turn out just fine. Keep us posted!

[aly]

OH M GOSH! MY heart just stopped!

I looked down to his spot on the floor to check on him and he wasn't there! I dont know why but I thought he had crawled away to die (yes i'm paranoid and over emotional). Guess where he was! At the food bowl eating !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dukedogsmom]

I hope he feels better soon. I wouldn't worry about him too much if he's being allowed to eat and all. Duke couldn't eat or drink for almost a week. Stayed at the vet with an IV in him. Get better soon, Chance kitty!

[aly]

Hmm ..then maybe its not pancreatitis but a severe bacterial infection or something? Or maybe just mild pancreatitis? It doesn't seem mild to me because of how bad he's acting, but like you said, at least he just got up to eat and drink.

I'm not too sure. The vet isn't either because I guess pancreatitis is hard to diagnose.

[micki76]

Oh, I hope he doesn’t have pancreatitis. I don’t think he does, if he’s already eating and drinking. When Chester has a bout of it he won’t eat or drink. In fact if I go and sit in the living room with any kind of people food, he leaves the room and sometimes even goes outside.

Pancreatitis is usually pretty easy to diagnose with a blood panel, though some vets also like to do a sonogram of the pancreas, too. But if he does have pancreatits he wouldn’t be eating or drinking.

Just an FYI for everyone - My vet says no one should ever entice their pet to eat, because their bodies tell them if something is wrong. Enticement eating or drinking is going to cause more damage because it forces the pancreas to continue to produce enzymes which are the cause of pancreatits. Those enzymes escape into the abdomen and surrounding organs causing extreme pain and damaging whatever they come in contact with.

Not saying that you’d do or have done this (in fact I know you wouldn’t), but some people want their pet to eat, because not eating can be such a bad sign. Always remember that unless your pet is underweight or extremely unhealthy, a day or two of not eating will not kill him or her. And always check with your vet if you even remotely suspect pancreatitis. As Valerie said, they need IV fluids and pain meds!

[aly]

Thanks for the information, Micki.

He got a blood panel done and two thingies (I'm sorry , I completely forgot what the heck they were called) were elevated. The vet said that is common when there is an infection or with pancreatitis.

He did go two days without eating or drinking. During that time, I put some food in front of him a few times. If he didn't eat it, I took it away. I offered him canned food a couple times also and he didn't touch it. So he's never had food forced. He woke up and walked over there on his own earlier to eat.

If its not pancreatitis, then I'm really scared at what else it could be

[aly]

Ugh, I just posted this on the other thread, but thought I'd post it here too in case anyone has any ideas. This is just breaking my heart


I'm so confused about this. He has no other symptoms besides lethargy, fever, and lack of appetite. He's not vomiting or anything like that. He is SO lethargic though. Right now Skylar and the kittens are wrestling next to him and they keep bumping into him, but he won't even move when they do. He doesn't even pick his head up or anything. But when we were at the vet, he was walking around the room, purring, sitting in my lap to be pet and acting normal. I DONT GET IT.

I was so happy he got up to eat, but now he's back down and just not moving.

[Nomilynn]

Sorry to hear Chance is sick. I don't have any advice but wanted to let you know I'm thinking about him. I hope he gets better.

[wolf_Q]

I'm sorry to hear that Chance is sick. Hopefully it's not pancreatitis...I've had that, and it's not fun at all. I'll be thinking about him!

[Barbara]

We keep fingers and paws crossed for Chance and hope the meds help.