Sweet old kitty with liver disease

[Lori_B]

Ugh! My 13 year old calico girl just out of the blue stopped eating a couple days ago, so I took her to the vet yesterday, and one of her liver enzymes is OFF the charts. Vet gave her IV fluids, an appetite stimulant, and amoxicillin. After some reading, I think she probably has idiopathic hepatic lipidosis. She still won’t eat, and according to WebMD, if I don’t get her eating soon, this will kill her, probably fast:

Cat Health: 6 Mistakes Owners Make

According to this article, the most effective treatment is a feeding tube. Arrrgh.

Anyone have experience with this illness or similar?

We didn’t see any other indications in her bloodwork, and will get the thyroid panel results today.

I have tried the usual tempting treats – a jar of plain chicken baby food, super smelly flavors of canned foot, etc. She won’t eat a bite. She is also drooling.

Waiting for the vet’s office to start answering their phone so I can push for more aggressive treatment. She is clearly not doing well, and there’s nothing I can do here at home except watch her hunker under the bed looking unhappy.

[oliverreed]

Oh, so very sorry. Lots of jingles going your way.

[SquishTheBunny]

Sounds like she needs an ultrasound. Hepatic lipidosis is “classic” on ultrasound, and what it can rule out is tumors etc. Sometimes a FNA is needed to diagnose. If it is just HL, having her hospitalized with an NG tube for feeding is one way to speed the healing process up. However, there are 1001 other liver issues that could be causing her anorexia. I would ask your vet for a referral to an internist, or someone who could give your kitty the support she needs while getting through this IF you want to go that route

[Lori_B]

FNA? We did an xray today, and her liver is not enlarged, no masses, nothing looked abnormal. If I can’t get her to eat something before tomorrow mid-day, we will be going in for a naso-gastric tube and a fresh set of bloodwork tomorrow. Thanks, Squish. But yes, the ultrasound is next, if she doesn’t improve.

Also, thyroid numbers were normal in her bloodwork. Kidneys ok too.

[SquishTheBunny]

FNA is a fine needle aspirate. Its a very small needle inserted into the liver to capture some cells. These are spread on a slide and sent for cytology. Even without sending for cytology (if money is a concern), just eyeballing the slides can give you an idea if you are dealing with fatty liver (the smear will look shiny) or other liver pathology (smear will look a little more opaque). Obviously not a 100% guarantee, but gives you a pretty good idea if you are dealing with fatty liver or not.

Unfortunately xray is only going to show you liver size and gross masses which cats rarely get, it wont show you finer liver pathology. But, saying that, hepatic lipadosis is a frequent diagnosis for kitties so its not unreasonable to try the treatment before diagnosis approach. NG tube for feedings, antinausea drugs and IV fluids are what will hopefully get your kitty better within a few days. Hopefully thats all she will need to give her a jump start into eating again. We see a ton of hepatic lipadosis cats, and fortunately if finances arent a limiting factor, all of them have gone home

[Lori_B]

She ate a little last night, and some more today. Is acting like she feels much much better. PUrring, not hiding under the bed, up and around, cleaning herself. Even drank a little water this a.m. She has had 2 days of amoxicillin and the anti-nausea med; perhaps it was an infection after all?

The second dr. wasn’t convinced she had hepatic lipidosis. ??

[SquishTheBunny]

Excellent news, jingles for a complete and speedy recovery!!

[Lori_B]

Ok, she is bouncing back very well, and I’m thinking this one liver enzyme off the charts is not necessarily indicative of liver disease, but that apparently her teeth have gotten really awful in a very short time (she had her teeth cleaned a couple years ago, and I swear the last time I looked closely at them they weren’t so bad). She’s eating and active again, so we’ll get her stable and get her teeth cleaned up, and with luck that will resolve this.

I have 4 cats that eat the same stuff (90% canned food, very small amount of snack / people food, like a bit of grilled chicken every once in a while). But their dental health is all over the map – some look fine, others are terrible. I never understand this. It’s not like one of them secretly is eating candy and not brushing her teeth or something. ???