Any advice appreciated! My 10 yr old tabby was just diagnosed with pancreatitis. The vet is recommending (requiring) I feed strictly either Science Diet id or Purina EN. I'm going crazy trying to figure out what to do because neither of these foods is great on ingredients. In fact, I read many reviews saying people's pets became even more ill. The EN Natural even has an additive commonly used in metal manufacturing and pool cleaning!
Kook is an adopted kitty, (he was my father's)--I originally kept the Meow Mix dry but then changed his canned food to Tastefuls and Tiki, which he has been on for two years. Five days ago he was vomiting, so I took him to a new Vet (as my old Vet retired). Of course, the Vet wants one of these Rx diets. The problem is, he won't touch the Science Diet canned, he barely tolerates the Purina canned, and he completely avoids the Purina EN dry. But... he was eating better on the Tiki.
Because I needed to get him to eat something/anything over the weekend--when he wouldn't touch the Science Diet--I picked up Tastefuls Dry Sensitive Stomach and Tiki Silver Chicken (mature cat). He was eating these but I could tell he was still in pain. The Vet got irritated--I was debating the need for a low-fat diet--and said I need to use the Rx diets. I'm willing to switch as he is still in pain, but I am so afraid of making him more ill by choosing the wrong food.
Has anyone gone through this? Any advice? Any Pet Nutritionists out there who can offer a solution?
Hi Kooksmom, pancreatitis in cats is a bit complex and not as straightforward as it is in dogs. In dogs, pancreatitis often occurs from eating something really fatty or greasy or that otherwise really upset their stomachs. In cats, it's often more insidious and the cause is often not clear. How we approach pancreatitis in cats vs. dogs is fairly different too. In dogs there is a strong focus on low fat diet but in cats, the low fat diet has not been found to make a big difference as that's not a significant part of the pathology. Now, diets like i/d and EN may be helpful in the short term, especially with vomiting because they're highly digestible. Many cats with pancreatitis simply stop eating. But it's much more important to be getting small frequent meals in. Studies have shown that getting small frequent meals in as early as possible is an important part of recovery. For me at least, if this means we have to feed a regular diet because that's all a kitty will eat, then so be it because they need to be eating. If your kitty won't eat the RX food, it's not going to help very much in this case to try to keep feeding it. It sounded like your kitty is eating, which is most important. Other hallmarks of addressing pancreatitis include anti-nausea medication like Cerenia. Some cats may need subcutaneous or even IV fluids. Any abdominal pain associated with pancreatitis should be addressed with pain medication until it abates. The diet change alone usually doesn't change that.
Now, there is a percentage of cats with pancreatitis who may also have either concurrent bile duct disease, inflammatory bowel disease, or both. When they have all three, this is called triaditis. Clues for that can be looked for with labwork and with abdominal ultrasound findings. Cats with concurrent inflammatory bowel disease often do require an actual diet change and I have found novel protein or hydrolzyed protein diets to be the most helpful in these cases because there is typically a protein allergy involved. I can't speak on how that may apply to your cat, but if there has been any history of chronic intermittent vomiting or diarrhea prior to this, it's a possibility.
It can be a point of confusion at times because the low fat diet is such an important part of long-term therapy in dogs. But yes, the most important part is getting over the hump, and seeing if it is isolated or just one part of a larger complex (hopefully not). I wish you and Kook well!
@chris-vanderhoof Thank you! I will keep offering the food regularly and see what the current Dr says at recheck time. Your answer lets me know I was on the right track; at this point it is waiting to see if there is triaditis, or some other hidden allergy that would require a new diet. I don't know why this Veterinarian keeps talking about low-fat diets when all other kitty doctors seem to state that isn't normally an an issue in cats, but the goal is to get Kook past the current situation--I can worry about the details later. Thank you for taking time to reply!