Hepatic Lipidosis? Home remedy of force feeding?

chrinsky · Dec 25, 2011

Thank you for all of your advice! I am trying SO hard to take it one day at a time. This is very, very hard for me because I'm a very logical, concrete person who likes deadlines and "knowing" what's going to happen...and with a situation like this you just never know and you have to take it one day at a time. She does SEEM to be getting better however. We hadn't seen her clean herself for a couple of weeks, and she's been cleaning herself the past couple of days. She's also using the litter box more frequently, which we hadn't seen in a few days either. I have seen her go over to the water dish and drink a good amount (even after subQ fluids). She'll also eat some bites of her food or treats randomly (which she wasn't doing at all). We're still syringe feeding her the A/D with some supplement mixed in every 3-4 hours (but not waking up in the middle of the night). I have a whole fluids bag system set up at home and give her subQ fluids myself now (first time all on my own this morning and it went great)-vet tech had me do it in front of her in the office yesterday too. She seems to be slowly become more and more like her old self (perky, interested, etc). I'm also finding hope in the fact that she has not run and hid somewhere to be by herself (which I know cats do when they're dying and want to be alone), instead she sleeps right next to me in bed and doesn't leave my side.

Thanks for suggesting Denosyl! I just ordered it off of Amazon and am going to try it as soon as it's delivered! Anything to keep my baby healthy!

Very glad that your baby recovered and is doing well!

KatKisses said:
-To get her some Denosyl, it is a liver supplment. I don't know if it was a coincidence but Bear steadily improved after taking it and he is still on it 1.5yrs later. I order it from Amazon through Entirely Pets. I HIGHLY encourage trying it. It is supposed to lower the ALT levels. Its only about $20-30 depending on where you order it.

chrinsky · Dec 25, 2011

She seems to be doing well. Using the litterbox, cleaning herself, drinking a bit of water on her own. She didn't eat any food on her own today, but she did a few pieces yesterday. So far today we've fed her 5 times and 1 oz each time. I plan on feeding her twice more today. It's been difficult to get in as many feedings as we'd like on xmas eve & xmas, but we're doing OK! I think once we get through the holiday weekend we can regulate and create a set schedule.

Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings, and Happy Holidays to all!

Carolina said:
Ohhhhh!!! I am SO glad you posted and SO glad to hear Bear is doing goood!

To the OP - how is your baby doing, and how were the feedings today?
Keep going hun, one day at a time!

Merry Christmas!

ldg · Dec 26, 2011

Hope you had a Merry Christmas! Yes, things will calm down now. :lol3:

And EVERYTHING you said is just GREAT to hear! Grooming, drinking water, perking up.... sounds like the best Christmas present!!!!! :clap:

I think situations like this are hard for everyone, but you guys are just doing SUCH a great job! Your baby is in fantastic hands, and obviously so very loved!!!! :heart3: :hugs:

:rub:

carolina · Dec 26, 2011

OMG...... My heart is floating with happiness! :clap:

You are doing SUCH an AMAZING job!!! :clap:

And your girl is responding beautifully!!!! :clap:

Keep going hun! Be strong, take one day at a time, just like you are doing - you are doing AMAZING :hugs:

You will both get there - you will see! :hugs:

mrsgreenjeens · Dec 26, 2011

This is all very good news! And did you see that picture of Bear (oh sweet Bear!!) Look how yellow his ears were! If you pulled up his thread, I'm sure you saw just how yellow his entire body was. And he lived, thanks to Katkisses's diligence! He is truly the inspiration for all HL kitties

Keep up the great work!

chrinsky · Dec 28, 2011

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

I just wanted to give a quick update in case anyone is following this thread and wondering about my little Meowzers!

She is seeming more and more like herself everyday. I'm giving her 150 ml of IV fluids everyday and a minimum of 6 oz of the critical care AD. I'm waiting for the Denosyl (suggested by KatKisses!) to arrive today and I will start her on that as soon as it comes. I did get her to eat maybe 6-8 pieces of her dry food on her own and one treat today (she doesn't go to the food yet, I still have to bring it to her). She has been moving off of her "sick spot" (the spot that she hasn't really left since this whole ordeal started...left arm of the couch) more frequently. She's been going under the Christmas tree and getting down to clean herself and we did find her under the couch one time (which doesn't alarm me as her hiding, because she used to do this all the time when she was healthy)...again getting back to her old self and being a little more exploratory. We've had a few guests over the holidays, but Monday night was the first time she's actually gotten up to greet someone on her own (which she normally always does)-she got up to say hi to my sister! So encouraging! Even when her favorite of my friends came to visit last Friday evening she didn't budge, so it's very encouraging seeing her get up to greet someone like normal. She does seem to throw up around the same time every morning, between 4-5:30AM, and she usually throws up at least one feeding throughout the day-the throwing up is hard to judge with her though because since she was a baby she's always been a "pukey" cat and I've always felt that she throws up a little more than normal cats, but when she was young all of her vet check-ups came back clear. The only hiccup in her medical history is that this past summer we had to get both of our cats de-wormed twice...they had tapeworms. Anywho, I'm rambling! All in all, she seems as though she is doing better, but we'll see after I bring her to the vet again either the end of this week or beginning of next!

Much love to all who have been extremely supportive and helpful with this situation!

Here's a picture of my little Meow from last night:

denice · Dec 28, 2011

Sounds like she is slowly getting better which is the way cats recover from this illness. The vet gave Denosyl to Patches when his ALT continued to rise even after he was feeling better. It did seem to help but the pills that the vet gave to give him were huge. She said he needed to swallow them whole because they have a protective coating to get them through the stomach so they are absorbed by the intestines. He was able to swallow them but I was kind of afraid of choking him, hopefully the ones you ordered are smaller.

denice · Dec 28, 2011

Denice said:
Sounds like she is slowly getting better which is the way cats recover from this illness. The vet gave Denosyl to Patches when his ALT continued to rise even after he was feeling better. It did seem to help but the pills that the vet gave to give him were huge. She said he needed to swallow them whole because they have a protective coating to get them through the stomach so they are absorbed by the intestines. He was able to swallow them but I was kind of afraid of choking him, hopefully the ones you ordered are smaller.

I got out the empty bottle, I kept it in case he got sick again and I knew what he took, and he was on s-adenosyl milk thistle tablets rather than Denosyl. Hopefully the pills of Denosyl won't be huge. If they aren't I will need to keep that in mind if I need something like that again.

mrsgreenjeens · Dec 28, 2011

chrinsky said:

Oh look...her eyes match her pillow! She's quite the looker!

Funny, she looks a little bit like Bear, and I have a feeling that she'll make a full recovery like Bear, too.

Thanks for the wonderful update. Keep up the good work.

chrinsky · Dec 28, 2011

Quick question to all who have been through this before! How did you get your cat to start eating on his/her own again? Or did (s)he just decide one day to stroll back over to their food dish and eat?

sugarcatmom · Dec 28, 2011

The 2 times I've dealt with HL, I just waited for my cat to start eating some food on his own and then very gradually cut back on how much I was force-feeding him to see if he would pick up the slack. I think in some cases, if kitty has otherwise returned to good health (blood work is normal), the vet might advise skipping a feeding now and then to try to get hunger to work in your favour. It can be a bit of a tricky dance. In both my situations, it took about 3 months before the cats were eating completely on their own and the tube could come out. Because you're syringe-feeding, that might change the dynamics a bit and you'll probably want to try to get him eating on his own sooner (I can't imagine trying to syringe food into a cat for 3 months!!).

Good luck! You're doing a great job.

dobutsu satori · Dec 29, 2011

So sorry your kitty is sick. I have had to syringe feed many times over the years and the best results I get by mixing - powdered kitten formula, pedilyte and either wet cat food or chicken in the blender to make a nice soup. Using chicken seems to spark their appetite faster. I also use acupressure on all my animals, its easy to do and recovery times seem faster since I learned to do it. Good luck to you.

mrsgreenjeens · Dec 29, 2011

Dobutsu Satori said:
So sorry your kitty is sick. I have had to syringe feed many times over the years and the best results I get by mixing - powdered kitten formula, pedilyte and either wet cat food or chicken in the blender to make a nice soup. What a great idea. I'm just trying to get my boy to gain some weight, not syringe feeding, but just trying to add extra nutrients to his food. Think I'll try this! But for syringe feeding, this sounds like a really good idea. I also use acupressure on all my animals, its easy to do and recovery times seem faster since I learned to do it. Reiki is good too...problem is, one must learn how to do one of both of these things first, and that takes time, and when your babies are already sick, you don't have much spare time!

carolina · Jan 1, 2012

Hi hun, Happy new year! :hugs:

Just checking on little Meowzers.... How is she doing? I hope all the feedings are doing well, and she continues to improve?
Please keep us posted, ok?
:hugs:

chrinsky · Jan 1, 2012

Happy New Year to you too! Thanks for asking about Meowzers!

I don't want to jinx anything, but she seems to be doing fantastic! We only had to force feed her once yesterday because she was grazing on her own food off and on all day. As I type this she is actually munching on her food! Since she's been sick she's spent most of her time on one arm of the couch, so I brought a mini food dish to her! We saw her go over to the water dish yesterday too after her one feeding and drink a lot (vet thinks we should still continue to give her 150 ml subQ fluids every day until her check up sometime next week). She seems "fuller" too...like she's put some of her weight back on. All fantastic things! I'm hopeful that we can fully rehab her and stop giving the subQ fluids and force feeding in a week or two, but we'll see! We force fed her once yesterday (40 ml) of the AD Critical Care because even though we saw her eating throughout the day, I'm afraid she's still not getting enough nutrition for what she's going through. As a whole though, she seems to be doing much, much better and I hope she just continues to improve!!

Here's a picture of my little momma's girl taken this morning! She never leaves me side!:

ldg · Jan 2, 2012

Couldn't ask for a better update than that!

Continued vibes :vibes:

for a full recovery. She sure seems well on her way! :bigthumb:

carolina · Jan 2, 2012

LDG said:
Couldn't ask for a better update than that!
Continued vibes for a full recovery. She sure seems well on her way! :bigthumb:

Wonderful, Wonderful, WONDERFUL news!!!!! :woohoo:

You have done an outstanding job mom! :hugs:

carolina · Jan 6, 2012

Hi momma

How is Meowzers doing? :vibes:

chrinsky · Jan 7, 2012

Hello, hello! Meowzers is continuing to do quite well! I really hope all this progress made stays for good! She is eating fully on her own (actually going over to the original cat dishes instead of just the dish I was putting in front of her face). We see her drinking more and more often out of the dish too. I've still been giving her daily IV fluids, but it's been getting harder because she's been getting more feisty! Bad because I can't give her all 150 ml, but GOOD because that is her normal self in a situation like that! She will gobble up treats like it's no one's business now where before she'd take a minute or two to eat it. She is no longer jaundice either! I am so, so, SO happy that her recovery has gone this far and she's done so well! I couldn't have done it without the help of everyone on here-seriously! You all helped me (and my kitty!) SO much!!! A huge THANK YOU from us both!!!

Carolina said:
Hi momma

How is Meowzers doing?

carolina · Jan 7, 2012

chrinsky said:
Hello, hello! Meowzers is continuing to do quite well! I really hope all this progress made stays for good! She is eating fully on her own (actually going over to the original cat dishes instead of just the dish I was putting in front of her face). We see her drinking more and more often out of the dish too. I've still been giving her daily IV fluids, but it's been getting harder because she's been getting more feisty! Bad because I can't give her all 150 ml, but GOOD because that is her normal self in a situation like that! She will gobble up treats like it's no one's business now where before she'd take a minute or two to eat it. She is no longer jaundice either! I am so, so, SO happy that her recovery has gone this far and she's done so well! I couldn't have done it without the help of everyone on here-seriously! You all helped me (and my kitty!) SO much!!! A huge THANK YOU from us both!!!

BEST NEWS EVER :clap:

Just wonderful to hear :heart3:
:woohoo:

That's just GREAT! Awesome!!! So glad it turned out this way.... it put a huge smile on my face! When are you going to check her liver values again? :cross: :vibes:

Hepatic Lipidosis? Home remedy of force feeding?

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