Hepatic Lipidosis or something else?

For the last few weeks my cat's appetite has gone up and down. She was on Ronidazole and on the second week of it stopped eating for a couple of days. Once I realized she wasn't eating, I started force feeding her and within a day she started eating on her own again for full week and a half. When she started eating again, I had switched her from Hill's S/D to Orijen which she seemed to really love. Not only did she love it, but since she has been on it she has become much more active than she has been in years. She seems perfectly content as well although the kitten does get in her face a bit more than she likes.

This weekend, she only picked at her food. She ate maybe 3-4 kernels each time. This morning, she barely walked by her bowl and looked as though it completely disgusted her. I force fed her a little bit of canned wellness hoping to stimulate her to eat again, so we'll see if she eats anything this evening.

I have been monitoring her weight since this all started and here is her progression:

Start weight (Taken in May but this was her typical weight while on the S/D): 265 oz
Week 1: First weight after initial realization that she wasn't eating, 1 month after start weight taken: 252 oz (4.9% loss over one month)
Week 2: 253 oz (gained 1 ounce since she had started eating again)
Week 3: 249 oz (1.5% loss from week before)
Week 4 (today): 242 oz (2.8% loss from week before)

For the most part, these are within the 1-2% safe weight loss range. My cat is not vomiting and is drinking very well. Eating is the only thing she is fluctuating on. This is why I'm not 100% sure it is fatty liver disease or something else at this point. I do expect her to lose some weight on the Orijen but to me she seems to be losing it too fast to just be that. I'm taking her to the vet tomorrow to run tests but wanted to see if anyone had any input in the meantime. Thanks again!

Anyone?

I just gave her some Whiskas Temptations after trying canned and dry because neither of those worked. The treats were all that she would eat so I gave her about 8-10 of them to try and kickstart her appetite. I even put a few on her regular dry food but she didn't eat those.

I also just gave her some slippery elm in case she's having any nauseau or anything. I guess I'm going to have to try to syringe feed her some more canned but it's really stressful for her. The vet appointment isn't until 4pm tomorrow. Any suggestions to get her through until then?

I'm just wondering, is there a reason why this kitty couldn't have an appetite stimulant? That could make things so much easier.

Originally Posted by Violet

I'm just wondering, is there a reason why this kitty couldn't have an appetite stimulant? That could make things so much easier.

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That's what I'm planning to ask the vet tomorrow. I did a search on hepatic lipidosis and found where a vet wouldn't give one to a cat with this. I don't know if it's too hard on the liver or what the reason was.

I doubt it's hepatic lipidosis. Chances are she wouldn't eat period and she would be vomiting. However you probably want to have the vet do bloodwork and check the skin by her ears for a yellowish colour. It's excellent that you are force feeding her though when she stops eating, if she does get lipidosis this could save her life, so as stressful as this is keep it up.

I reccomend bloodwork though, this will let you know what may be going wrong. Orijens is a great food, keep it up, there may be nothing wrong with her, maybe she is a picky eater? but keep monitering her weight and eating and have a blood panel done......

As for the appetite stimulants, if the cats are in the thick of HL these will often cause them to vomit more and can make them sicker, they are only really useful if the cat is 'just being picky' and not, not eating at all..... if that makes sense.

Goodluck

As for the appetite stimulants, if the cats are in the thick of HL these will often cause them to vomit more and can make them sicker,

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Are you talking about the transdermal form or tablets?

Originally Posted by lmunsie

I doubt it's hepatic lipidosis. Chances are she wouldn't eat period and she would be vomiting. However you probably want to have the vet do bloodwork and check the skin by her ears for a yellowish colour. It's excellent that you are force feeding her though when she stops eating, if she does get lipidosis this could save her life, so as stressful as this is keep it up.

I reccomend bloodwork though, this will let you know what may be going wrong. Orijens is a great food, keep it up, there may be nothing wrong with her, maybe she is a picky eater? but keep monitering her weight and eating and have a blood panel done......

As for the appetite stimulants, if the cats are in the thick of HL these will often cause them to vomit more and can make them sicker, they are only really useful if the cat is 'just being picky' and not, not eating at all..... if that makes sense.

Goodluck

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Thank you lmunsie! Today I saw that a bit of her food was gone from her bowl, but when it gets eaten overnight I can't confirm for sure if it's her eating it or my kitten. I did give her some more treats which she ate about 6 of the 8 and stopped. I'm hoping a simple appetite stimulate will get her eating again, but then we have to identify the underlying issue as well.

She has been battling with constipation issues for the last 6 months, but for the last 1.5 weeks that she's been on the Orijen, it hasn't been an issue. Since she hasn't pooped in three days now, it leads me to believe that she's not eating, but maybe she is just constipated again and not eating because of it. This is why I can't wait to go to the vet to get confirmation on something. I started the slippery elm last night so if it is constipation (or even an upset tummy) that should help. Otherwise she was out and about in the house all morning looking for scritches, getting a drink and watching the birds. It's the most active I've seen her in years. So strange!

that's excellent!!! keep it up!

You would know if this is hepatic lipiosis by checking her gums and looking for yellowing. If there is yellowing your cat would need immediate vet attention
The question is why is this happening? Are you still giving these meds and can that becausing this?
Have you tried quality canned foods like wellness or merrick which would be better then dry anyway?
Have you tried tempting her with chicken? coldcuts? babyfood no onions, any meats?
Best of luck. it

Originally Posted by optionken

You would know if this is hepatic lipiosis by checking her gums and looking for yellowing. If there is yellowing your cat would need immediate vet attention
The question is why is this happening? Are you still giving these meds and can that becausing this?
Have you tried quality canned foods like wellness or merrick which would be better then dry anyway?
Have you tried tempting her with chicken? coldcuts? babyfood no onions, any meats?
Best of luck. it

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Are you still giving these meds and can that becausing this? No, she is no longer on the medication.

Have you tried quality canned foods like wellness or merrick which would be better then dry anyway? Yes, she refuses all canned and I've tried about 50 brands. The switch to Orijen is our "transition" phase to get her ready for canned.

Have you tried tempting her with chicken? coldcuts? babyfood no onions, any meats? She ate a few bites of chicken but mostly liked it.


Okay so I took her to the vet and before I did she leaked urine while I was putting her into the crate. It was almost solid blood. Since this is now the 3rd time in about 5 months she's had this problem, the vet is thinking it's interstitial cystitis. He couldn't get a urine sample to confirm that nothing else is going on, but nothing has shown up in the other urinalysis when this first started. An x-ray has also been done which shows nothing. She's now on a short round of prednisone and will stay on supplements to help strenghten her bladder lining.

The vet also said she was not in a hepatic lipidosis state but that if she hadn't eaten in the next 24 hours to bring her back for a work-up. He said the prednisone would help with her appetite. It turns out she went straight to her food bowl when we got home and has been eating fine ever since. Hopefully the prednisone will clear this up for her quickly. I had never seen so much blood in her urine but I suppose this has all just been building for the last few months since it wasn't a bacterial infection. Otherwise the antibiotics would have resolved this by now. The strange thing is that she never shows any obvious signs of cystitis problems (i.e. straining, not using the litter box). She uses it just fine and always at the same time each day. So odd.