I just dug out the records of Jake's bout with hepatic lipidosis and
pancreatitis. It began in April 2000. It appears, from what I wrote
back then, that he wasn't on prednisone during the tube feeding and
initial recovery period. That lasted 6-8 weeks during which time the
daily improvements were frequently offset by losses the next day. But
he gradually got better and the feeding tube was removed in early June
2000. He never lost a lot of weight. He went from 16lbs before the
episode down to 12-13lbs and then back to 15lbs. From there on things
were pretty smooth until early September 2000 when he relapsed.

It was then that he was started on prednisone at 5mg twice a day and
remained on that dose through the middle of October 2000 when the dose
was dropped to 5mg per day. After further improvement over the next
month, the prednisone was reduced in November 2000 to 5mg every other
day. That continued over the next year.

At his checkup in December 2001 the vet suggest that we drop the
prednisone completely. Two weeks later he relapsed again. Back to 5mg
twice a day for a week, then down to once a day until January 2002
when it was switched to prednisolone and set back to every other day
again.

Apparently the only reason for the switch to prednisolone was because
prednisone is converted to prednisolone in the liver and with dogs
this process can be a problem. Not so for cats, but the vet didn't
want to stock both versions.

That continued for another year until January 2003 when I tried, on my
own, to adjust the dose to 2.5mg every other day. However, in March
2003 he crashed again, so back to twice a day on the pills, and then
taper back to the 5mg every other day regimen after about a month.
That's where things stand right now. He has had no further relapses
since then - about a year ago.

So the steroid thing is ambiguous. Jake didn't get them for the
initial recovery which was as much from the hepatic lipidosis as from
the pancreatitis. But for all of the relapses, that's all that was
done - increase the prednisone. It hasn't cured him but it seems to
hold something at bay. Not sure what that is. The only issues with the
steroids that I've noticed are that he can't jump as far (rear
weakness) and possible weight gain. But he never was a small animal
and he is currently at his original 16lbs.

Dick Ballard



On Sun, 04 Apr 2004 11:59:58 -0500, Underwood
wrote:

Dick Ballard wrote:

We went through a fatty liver/pancreatitis episode several years ago
with a then 13 year old cat. The vomiting clear or yellow fluid, not
eating, withdrawal, postures and behavior suggesting pain, all too
familiar. The vet even did an exploratory surgery. Internal organ
appearance suggestive of pancreatitis but nothing definitive.

Yeah. That's the problem I have with this. There appears to be no real
way to diagnose the problem except by "heuristic" analysis, i.e. making
a good guess after ruling out other possibilities.

After we got him back in shape with tube feeding and prednisone for
several weeks, he gradually recovered. He has been on prednisone, and
later prednisolone, ever since. He now gets 5 mg every other day.

Ok, here's where I am getting conflicting information. I have read
several news articles which reported success with using prednisone to
address a "probable" but inconclusively diagnosed pancreatitis.
However, my vet as well as several web sites and other articles strongly
discourage the use of prednisone in the event of pancreatitis. When I
mentioned the possibility of trying steroids to my vet, she declined
"because the cat may have pancreatitis".

Why do these conflicting opinions exist? Would I be crazy to suggest to
my vet that we try a small dose (5mg) to see how the cat responds? I'm
curious what sort of corticosteroid interaction would be required to
negatively impact a pancreatitis attack. Can the dosage be kept low, or
is it the mere presence of the steroid that causes problems?

About a year ago I tried tapering off the med and then dropping it.
But within a few weeks he started going down again. So we're resigned
to giving him a pill every other day for the rest of his life. We
still have no idea of the origin of this malady.

He is now 17 and leads a pretty normal life, although he is badly
spoiled and neurotic. That's partly his original personality, but also
can be blamed on the attention he necessarily got while he was so
sick.

Pnut is pretty neurotic to begin with. Your post gives me a great deal
of hope, but I hope some others chime in with their opinions before
tomorrow.

Thanks!