Cat acting weird

Question
I have a cat that will be 17 in May.  Last year, my vet told me he was in the early stages of kidney failure and had me put him on k/d and giving fluids at home.  He was acting weird a few weeks ago and I took him in and blood work came back that some levels were indicating issues with his pancreas.  She told me to give him Mylanta.  I haven't been doing that (shame) but I started tonight because he is acting more odd.  He hasn't purred in 3 days and the last 2 nights he has gotten under the covers to sleep.

I have a heating blanket going for him, and I have been separating him from my other cat for a couple of days.  I also noticed he isn't eating a lot, but is sleeping a lot, and his back legs seem a little weak.  He is still jumping, but seems it might be getting harder.  He isn't vomiting.  She is going to have me put him on i/d starting wends.

Does all this sound correct?  Is it more important to fight the pancreatic issue v/s the kidney failure?  He doesn't seem to be in pain.  Also, is it common that cats just stop purring?

Answer

inflamed pancreas He is in Pain Candance, a lot of pain. Cats don't show pain the way we do or even the way dogs do. They hide it because to show pain means you're weak and if you are weak you get eaten. It's the law of survival still at work in even our domestic animals. Not purring, having a hard time jumping, sleeping more are all signs of pain. So are the back legs being weak. His intestines (the pancreas is up closer to the liver but attached to the intestines) hurt and that makes it hard for him to stand up too. He is basically curving inward to protect his gut.

I don't know how Mylanta will help with pancreatitis but switching off the K/D for now is a good idea. K/D has extra fat in it to trade off for the lowered protein levels and is used for energy needs. But that extra fat set of his pancreas. I/D, on the other hand, is a mild, low residue food that is very gentle to the gut and the pancreas. It is mostly chicken and rice.

She may have you transition very slowly back to K/D after this attack is over to see if he can tolerate it. My cat Floyd lived to be 19 yrs old on K/D.

I would trust her judgment but I would ask if Mylanta is going to address the extreme inflammation of pancreatitis. She is probably trying to forgo the steroids that are normally used because of his kidneys.

Keep him on track and he should start to feel better soon.
I am enclosing an image of a very inflamed pancreas.