Owner concerned about elderly cat’s pancreatitis
Q My 17-year-old Russian blue cat is starting to fail. His appetite had dropped off precipitously about a week ago and he had bad diarrhea, so I took him in to an emergency facility. They diagnosed him with pancreatitis. I have to admit that I recently had gotten lazy about giving him some cardiac medications that he needs, and I wonder if the two are related. The vet administered some fluids and sent me home with metronidazole and Pepcid for the cat. After another week of not doing well, I took him to see my regular vet, who pointed out the loose skin and said my cat was severely dehydrated. He gave him more fluids and ran more blood tests. I learned my cat has a high white blood cell count signifying infection. He still has advanced pancreatitis, and his kidney values are rising, including something called SDMA. He was prescribed antibiotics, and I am to give fluids to him under the skin at home. Is any of this tied together? Will he recover from this, or am I facing the inevitable? A Pancreatitis in cats can be a debilitating condition manifested by many different signs including some of those you mentioned. These can be fever, vomiting, weight loss, dehydration, lethargy and more.
I am confident that your cat’s cardiac condition has little or nothing to do with the pancreatitis.
On the other hand, cats often also have other issues at the same time, such as inflammatory bowel disease, liver issues or conditions like diabetes. Often it is difficult to ascertain a specific cause, so veterinarians typically do what they can in the way of supportive care to turn the pet around. Anti-nausea drugs, medications like those mentioned, fluid therapy and specific diets may be utilized to make the cat better.
It sounds as if the current treatment plan is appropriate, but I am concerned about the kidney values being elevated, especially given his advanced age. The SDMA test you refer to is a specific kidney test that is reliable in identifying kidney changes early on and should be taken seriously. Your veterinarian will probably want to tackle the pancreatitis first and look at a longer-term means of managing the kidneys. I wouldn’t get too pessimistic yet. See how the next week or two go. Fingers crossed.