Hello, everyone. Thanks so much for your words of advice and encouragement. I was getting very hopeful, since the other night, he was introduced to a new brand of food and gobbled it up! Then he ate again in the morning. I took him to the vet as planned, and he received fluids while there and was re-evaluated. The vet said he was honestly perplexed. He said the following:
Ultrasound and bloodwork normal...ish.
Pancreas a little larger, which could Pancreatitis, but his blood work didn't have any raised levels that would indicate that, and he wasn't sure about giving Em a steroid "just in case." Though he said he would if I asked for it.
Intestine slightly thickened, but so small an area that he said it's unlikely it could be IBD.
I asked about the really scary stuff, and he observed that in his past vet records with the other people (before I took him) he had never been tested for FIP. He seemed not to want to do that just yet, but I asked him to and he did. I'm waiting for results, which OMG I hope are negative.
Otherwise he doesn't know what is wrong and neither do I. Upon returning yesterday, he was perkier than he had been in weeks. Gobbled up a whole bowl of food, more than he had eaten in a while. Jumped around, sniffed things. I was so excited - thought maybe whatever it was is passing.
Last night he starting drooling again though, and he continues to appear nauseaus this morning. Sniffed his food and wouldn't touch it.
Vet said Bengals are prone to GI issues and maybe he is simply delicate. Sent me home with Cerenia and the cat version of Pepsid.
I gave the Cerenia pill this morning (for nausea) but to be honest I'm not sure he got any of it...the pilling is a whole other issue. I held his mouth closed until he licked his nose, but as soon as I let him go he did his utmost to barf it up. I think it had already dissolved so I don't know how much came back up with the barf. He can get it every 24 hours. But I'm worried because I feel this is treating a symptom and not a cause.
The next course of action is either to try the steroid for the maybe-pancreatitis, re-do the ultrasound and see if anything changed/have a specialist look at him, or have a ridiculously expensive, invasive operation.
I just wish he would get better.

I have had a cat on high dose steroids for 5 years to treat a tumour, and she was none the worse for the steroids, I also had a cat on steroids for a year to treat polyneuropathy, again none the worse for the steroids. I would not be scared of steroids.
Both were monitored by blood tests whilst on the steroids.

Oh dear...this site is really scary!!! Oh, I hope Em does not have anything worse!

Have they talked to you about thr possibility of an intestinal blockage? Part of a toy or a piece of clear plastic or a piece of fabric may not show up well on an ultrasound or xray. Does he like to eat or chew things?

Em update: he is negative for FIP - yay! Though the blood panel showed slightly elevated levels for toxoplasmosis - that scary protozoa that effects pregnant women. Vet is not too sure that's the cause, though, because 20% of cats have this. (As a separate note, this is a little freaky to me since at one point when he first came to us, he was tracking poo all through the house! I do hope neither me nor my boyfriend have gotten this, since I certainly want to have a baby someday!)

Em is now taking Cerenia, an anti-nausea med that seems to help him feel better. He is still not eating nearly enough, though. He used to go through several cans of food a day, and now just takes a few bites and walks away. He has barely eaten an entire can of food per day in over two weeks now, and has gone from 13 pounds to 11.75.

The good thing is he is appearing slightly perkier - though this might just be because the medicine helps him not be nauseous all the time. He even played with me yesterday!

Vet said to keep an eye on him through the weekend. If things are still the same, we will have to give him a second ultrasound, this time looking for signs of .... I can't even say the c-word. Please no.

There is no blockage that anyone could find when doing the first ultrasound.

I'm glad he's feeling a little bit better. Have they checked his mouth and teeth for any signs of inflammation?

_________________
Dallas, TX USA
Diesel - snow Bengal born 09/01/2013 adopted Feb 2014
Tuck, Chloe, Buddy, Lewis & Tia - rescue kitties
Clyde, Bleu & Coal - Great Danes

Em update: we are taking him for another xray tomorrow morning. He is doing much better in some ways, is eating regularly (still not huge amounts). He still cannot meow, and seems to gag sometimes but not vomit after eating. He will sometimes hunch and curl up after eating, so something about the process must be painful. :( When I get pepcid ac into him it seems to help a little.

My husband mentioned something last night when we were talking about cats getting into stuff.

Do you by chance keep thread with a sewing needle attached anyplace around the apartment? He said he had a cat once that got a hold of some thread with a needle on it and the needle got stuck in his esophagus and caused all kinds of problems.

_________________
Dallas, TX USA
Diesel - snow Bengal born 09/01/2013 adopted Feb 2014
Tuck, Chloe, Buddy, Lewis & Tia - rescue kitties
Clyde, Bleu & Coal - Great Danes

Needs a barium swallow and meal and a look down his throat and oesophagus

Em update!

After 5 vet visits, normal x-rays, normal blood tests, vet (s) have concluded that they basically have no idea what is/was wrong. The best guess is a mild IBD...which I have long suspected, because he has had on and off diarrhea since we've had him, and has been negative for parasites (including TF) except for a slight spike in his toxoplasmosis blood indicators. It could also be mild pancreatitis, acid reflux, or a combination of all three. But no one knows.

The next step, which neither me nor the vets feel we should do at this point, is highly invasive, highly expensive exploratory surgery, and no one even knows where that would happen or even what to look for.

The good news is Em is starting to normalize! He is eating regularly, playing, meowing loudly (still hoarse, but boy is the loud meow back in full force), and best of all, seems to be gaining a bit of weight.

He is being slowly switched to prescription food for the possible IBD. He was sent home with Pepcid ac to take regularly, but to be honest, I haven't observed he's needed it - wonder if I should give anyway....??? But he appears almost normal.

Hoping this is a one-time episode/flare-up. Now we just have to make sure the small cat doesn't stress him out (see other thread).

How is Em doing? I think about you guys all the time.

_________________
Dallas, TX USA
Diesel - snow Bengal born 09/01/2013 adopted Feb 2014
Tuck, Chloe, Buddy, Lewis & Tia - rescue kitties
Clyde, Bleu & Coal - Great Danes

Donna, thank you for following up! So thoughtful of you. Em seems to be doing much, much better. We basically never figured out what was wrong. But he has been very hungry - it is thrilling to watch him polish off full bowls of food!

Had a couple scares where it looked like he was starting to vomit again - one night a couple of days ago he kept throwing up food, eating more food, and throwing up again. I got super worried and took the bowl away to stop the cycle. In the morning, he seemed fine.

He has gained back a lot of weight, too!

The small cat has been back for almost two weeks. We've been keeping them very separated, and only now we are letting them spend VERY small amounts of time together. Tiny cat is always pouncing and running after Em, but the good thing is he appears to be chasing her back, and it looks like they might be playing! I usually only let them have a couple of minutes per day. If Em looks stressed, I remove the small kitty.

Hopefully we continue to improve!

It sounds like things are definitely looking up! I hope it all smooths out and both babies can be together without any issues.

_________________
Dallas, TX USA
Diesel - snow Bengal born 09/01/2013 adopted Feb 2014
Tuck, Chloe, Buddy, Lewis & Tia - rescue kitties
Clyde, Bleu & Coal - Great Danes

Dear everyone,

I hope you are all well. It has been 7 months since I posted this thread, and I came back tonight to review it all - because, unfortunately, Em has had another flare-up. This time, there is a diagnosis - pancreatitis for sure. And we are back on the same road, and I'm trying not to freak out. I wondered if any of your cats have dealt with this condition, and what I should be expecting. Unfortunately, I don't feel like things are going right and I don't know what to do. To be totally honest, I'm trying not to totally lose it. Em is very sick and I'm really scared.

We thought we had caught the flare-up before it flew out of control like the first time. He stopped eating and we immediately took him in. Here's the sequence of events:

Dec 28-30 - became very finicky about food and vomited multiple times, food at first and then foamy clear/yellow liquid.
Dec 31 - took him to his vet to be evaluated, as he had not eaten for 24 hours. Vet gave prescription food, a medicine to coat his stomach so food would be digested more easily, and an anti-nausea med.
Jan 1 - No improvement. Had a mouthful of food. Went to ER.
Jan 2-3 - two nights at ER. Test positive for pancreatitis and treatis. Liver blood levels a bit high - disturbing. Kept him on fluids, anti-nausea meds, and pain meds. No other treatments. He improved greatly at the hospital, was perky and ate food.
Jan 4 - came home and immediately spiraled, like immediately. Hid all day and didn't eat anything. We were also not discharged with ANYTHING - no signs to watch for, no meds, no instructions, just a summary of what was done, and "yay he's all better."
Jan 5 - still not eating. I call the hospital and they say to take him back in to show us how to give the IV at home. Gave him an anti nausea injection and gave us pain meds to give at home. He ate a tiny bit of food and now refuses it again and is curled up in the bed. Refuses to do anything but burrow in his blankets.

I really don't know what to do. I asked about giving him a steroid injection and the Dr. said she didn't do that unless he had IBD, even though I said I knew others who used temporary steroid injections when their cats had flare-ups. I'm angry my request was ignored and feel that he should have one at this point, because clearly things aren't working. Our regular vet called me today and said he was worried, based on the initial tests, about the terrifying and possibly fatal hepatic lipidosis setting in if he doesn't eat more food soon, and that he might have to have a feeding tube if tomorrow comes with no improvement.

Last time he recovered naturally with mild medications, and I'm scared to put him through tons of trauma. We have also dropped over $2000 already, and are not rich - that said we will do what we need to do if it will save his life. He is lying in bed now, and I don't know whether to drag him out for a 5th hospital visit or wait until morning. I'm so scared.

Does anyone have experience with this?