Not much longer....

So Pippin had a little episode of puke last night.  He couldn't hold his food down this morning either.  I called the vet and told them there was just no way I could have another $1000 day and that we keep going in and doing tests to only find out that his pancreas isn't doing good.. and same old same old.  She told me to bring him in and that she would do an ultra sound for free to see how he is doing inside.  When I called today I also told her we would probably have to put him to sleep.  I picked him up this evening and turns out that of course his pancreas is still bad and has a lot of scaring in it.  The gallbladder still has sludge in it too.  The only organ that doesn't have any issues right now is the liver.. which will probably eventually will be going soon.  This is called Triaditis. 

So we talked about what is next.  She said there is really nothing left to do, the pancreas will not get better but can be managed.  We are going to try that route... so Pippin will get a steroid twice a day, and nausea meds twice a day along with his insulin.  She did say if this doesn't work we'll have to put him down.  I asked about them putting him down after hours.. but they said for some clients they will come to your house and do it.  Since we have been long time clients they will come to my house, I am quite happy about this. 

Having a good vet even if they are pricey can really been a good decision in your pet's life.  Today all the procedures and medicine I was sent up with were all free.  That isn't something you get if you don't have a relationship with your vet.  Even if you have a healthy cat be sure to do their check-ups and teeth cleanings and get to know your vet.

 

EDIT:  It is now February 18th, 2014 and Pippin is doing really well.  The mix of pills has turned his pancreas around.  He takes a steroid, 1/2 nausea pill, and his diabetes medicine everyday. 

Gallbladder and Pancreatitis

Another day, another problem.  My cat Pippin was so sick last night.  Lots of throwing up... this throw up was even the color of blood and stunk really really bad.  It was Nasty!  Poor guy... I stayed up with him in the bathroom most of the night till it settled down.  I called the vet first thing in the morning and brought him up there.  I knew it was going to be his pancreas again.

 

I walked out of the vet today with a $900 bill!!!  WHAT!  I was not expecting that.  I mean .. WHAT!  So the vet did two blood tests... one is the normal panel and I guess the other one was to check the pancreas.  Then it was all this meds... and a urine test and a $50 vet visit charge.  And then they did an ultra sound since there was blood in the vomit.  Turns out that the gallbladder has some gunk in it which we discovered with a ultra sound. So Pippin now has to take Denosyl to help him out. 

Today sucked as far as money that is for sure.  Pippin is now on a steroid for life.  Which isn't great for cats with diabetes because now we will probably have to up his insulin (3 units of Prozinc).  He will be taking a narcotic for 5 days, nausea pills for 5 days, novifit, his insulin meds, and his steroid.  The cost of today's visit was a tough one.  Now we also know we will have to spend an additional $30 a month on steroid pills for Pippin.    Just a tough day all around.  Though I am glad we figured out his gallbladder isn't well and have time to correct it.

For those of you wondering whether or not to get a pet... remember they aren't cheap!

Vetsulin

All is ok over here.  Merry is now on both the Prozinc and the vetsulin and still taking the Glipizide with it.  No changes with his Acromegaly either.  Pippin just got over another bought of Pancreatitis. This time my vet did put him on steroids despite him having diabetes. The nsaid just wasn't getting rid of it. He was on it everyday for about 4 weeks.  We tried to just give it to him everyday for 1 week but that didn't get rid of it so we needed to put him on it a little bit longer. He has been off of it for about two weeks and we did have to increase his Prozinc does to 4 units (plus his glipizide) but that should go back down once the steroids are out of his system.

My vet did tell me about a clinical insulin trail out of CSU Fort Collins for Merry.  It was listed as especially for cats with Acromegaly.  She asked me if I was interested.  It would all be free.. the insulin, the tests. I thought about it and thought it might be a good thing to try to get his glucose readings down.  Then I found out that this study would have placebos and he might just get one.  There is no way Merry can go without insulin with his glucose readings being between 300-400.  So she and I decided this wouldn't be a very good study for him. 

I don't know what to expect for Merry the next year with the Acromegaly.  This month I have had both my cats for 10 years.  I adopted them from a petsmart at the same time way back then... and I don't regret a thing!!

Acromegaly in Cats

New update on cats.  Pippin has Pancreatitis again.  Last time he had it we put him on a NSAID because typically you don't put a diabetic on a steroid which is the normal way to treat Pancreatitis. Since it has come back (symptoms are throwing up bile a lot) the vet has now gone ahead and put him on steroids.  We first tried it one everyday for 7 days and then every other day after that for about 20 days, but when we started the steroid every other day he began puking again. So after taking him back to the vet she decided to go ahead and give him a steroid pill everyday for 30 days.  This may make Pippin a full diabetic though since right now he is borderline. I think that if you are a diabetic and you take steroids that makes your glucose levels go up since it releases sugar in your system (though you will have to check the facts on this).

 Medicines, food,  and Medicine schedule

So now for Merry's news.  He has always had to take a large amount of insulin.  He is on 8 units and a Glipizide pill (5mg). My vet asked me to come in and do a few tests.  As I understand.. when a cat's insulin is that high they are insulin intolerant so there are a few tests to do.   After looking at a few things it turns out Merry has Acromegaly.  This is where there is a tumor of the pituitary gland in the brain.  One of the signs of this is uncontrolled diabetes. So I suppose I am lucky my vet was watching for these signs.  There are two treatments, one is radiation.  I have chosen to not do this.  I think this is too hard on a cat and they don't even understand what is happening.  The vet said the radiation only shrinks the tumor and it usually comes back in about 8 months anyways.  The other option is to give him another insulin.   Which I have chosen to do.  I am not sure the name of it yet.. they had to order it and I pick it up next week.  She did tell me that after a cat has been diagnosed with Acromegaly that they typically will live 14-22 months more.  I am very sad about this.  I can only do my best to provide him a great and comfortable life.  More updates soon.  Here is my Merry!

Glipizide Trial & Pancreatitis

Well.. we are trying a new technique with Merry.  He is now on 8 units of Prozinc and his glucose readings are about 300-400 still.  So the vet has us trying out Glipizide in the liquid form along with the 8 units.  This weekend he will be on it about 3 weeks and so we will do a curve on Saturday and see how his numbers are.  If they aren't any lower still then we're going to switch him to a different insulin.

Pippin is now on 2 units of Prozinc and his numbers are perfect.  Today they were 203.  But then all last week he has been doing some EPIC pukes.  It's straight bile.  This happened to him in 2010 and we went to a different vet then who took xrays to see if anything was blocking his intestines and discovered he was constipated . That vet just sent us home with an enema and had us do it ourselves at home.  Well today we went to the new vet that we love with Pippin and told them about what is going on.  This vet not only took an xray but also took blood to check the pancreas.  Pippin does have Pancreatitis which she said is common in cats that have diabetes.  He is also very constipated (like last time). The vet I take them to now actually did the enema for me this time which was nice! It turns out when a cat is diabetic you can't give them medicine that is given to cats normally for diabetes.  Sooooooo (my cats always have drama) we have to give him pain meds because pancreatitis is very painful, he gets NSAIDS to help with the inflammation of the pancreas instead of steroids that are normally given. My vet posted a picture on facebook of Pippin getting the enema!  Yea... so I'm going to post it here too!

So in a month we go back and check Pippin's pancreas numbers and see if they have gone back to normal.  Also we must make sure he doesn't puke because the vet said that this is very bad for a cat's pancreas.  Diabetic cats are drama!

Update on 5/1/2013  The Glipizide is working.  Merry's glucose is perfect.  He is on Glipizide and 8 units of insulin and everything is perfect!