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Rafiki not eating

Rafiki

Site Supporter
Had a chat with my vet yesterday. B12 deficiency symptoms are usually lethargy, vomiting and diarrhea, and is often indicative of IBD. She is perplexed that Rafiki is back to eating and has tons of energy. We are going to wait another month and see how things go. If she stops eating or her energy level goes down, we will bring her in for injections. If things are good for a month, we will another blood draw and see what the B12 levels are.
 

WitchyWoman

Admin
Staff member
B12 deficiency symptoms are usually lethargy, vomiting and diarrhea, and is often indicative of IBD. She is perplexed that Rafiki is back to eating and has tons of energy.
Well let's hope it was a one-off experience and that she doesn't have IBD.
 

Rafiki

Site Supporter
It was never mentioned to me with either of my cats with IBD so I'm going to ask my vet. I found this snippet re: injections vs oral dose:
On PetPlace.com, they clearly state that a congenital B12 malabsorption syndrome has been reported in cats
(as well as some specific dog breeds). It also states that for dosing in cats, no good data is available and oral
treatment is unlikely to be of much benefit in malabsorption states (e.g. pancreatic disease interfering with the
production and release of pancreatic IF). This is why injections are used instead of pills. Injections will bypass
the stomach and go straight to the liver but the pills will have a long way to get there, will break down a lot
sooner and not have nearly the same affect. www.petplace.com/drug-library/vitamin-b12/page1.aspx[/QUOTE]

.

Since getting the news about the low B12, I have been doing quite a bit of research on the web. Apparently they do not recommend the oral dose because in malabsorbtion states (which I still do not know if Rafiki has) there is a decreased production of a substance called intrinsic factor (IF) by the cells of the pancreas. This substance helps the body to absorb the vitamin into the bloodstream. Wonderlabs has a product called TRINFAC-B Intrinsic Factor - B12 with IF. The results sound promising and as there is no toxicity with excess B12 it seems worth a try.

I also plan on following up with Darwin to try and determine how much B12 was in their previous formula. I wonder if Rafiki was not getting enough B12 in her diet all along (chronic) or if something changed in the last 2 months (fatty liver from not eating or IBD) that has given her an acute case
 

Jacq

Savannah Super Cat
Well, glad to hear she is feeling better, anyway.


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