Liver Failure :-(

Hi, everyone. I was given the devastating news two days ago that my Rocky has liver failure and is jaundiced (I didn't noticed any yellow until the vet pulled his ears back). He is barely eating or drinking and has lost 3 lbs in one month. He is just shy of 11 years old and is the best cat anyone could ever ask for. So loving and caring, even protective like a dog (especially with our kids!). He was in such good health a month ago. He had his annual check up and vaccinations and the vet said he looked great. I am in shock with how fast he went from healthy to sick like this.

The vet said Rocky needed $200 worth of supplies (IV fluid, special cat food, antibiotics, and another pill I forgot its purpose). The office visit and blood tests were already $200 and I couldn't afford the supplies. I was a blubbering mess leaving that office. It is so painful not to be able to give my Rocky what he needs.

He drank water one time on Wednesday. Last night he licked the watery portion of a mixture I made with his dry food and water (warmed up). This morning he ate a very tiny portion of soft cheese. Earlier tonight he licked the gravy from one of those Fancy Feast dinners (wouldn't eat the meat). Offered him some more an hour later and again he licked the gravy. He went pee in his litter box once yesterday and once today. His activity level is low, but he's still walking around, just slower. He still purrs when being petted and talked to.

Has anyone nursed their cat back to health from liver failure simply with food and water? Are there any low-cost home remedies to try? Please, any advice is appreciated.

Welcome to TCS. I'm so sorry it had to be on these terms.

I don't know much about liver disease except when it comes to fatty liver (Did your vet say what kind of liver failure it was?), but the most important thing would be to keep him well fed. He needs at least 5.5oz of food per day if he is to pull through, so if he is not eating, force feeding is absolutely necessary.

TBH, I don't know if there is anything you can do at home to save him. Hopefully someone else will chime in.

Liver failure can have many causes and is not necessarily fatal. Were you told of the cause?

A big contributor is when they stop eating for some reason such as a cold. Unless they eat a certain amount of food each day, the liver will start shutting down. For now, do what Minka says and get some food into him ASAP. There are a number of posts here and information on the web. A good start can be found at:

http://www.felinecrf.org/persuading_cat_to_eat.htm

Check out the section on Syringe feeding.

I am nursing one of mine back from a cold and have been syringe feeding her since Christmas day. She is now starting to eat on her own after 9 days. I got a couple of 10cc feeding syringes from K-Mart and feed her Hill's a/d and Gerber's baby food (2nd stage Chicken). 

This post may help...

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/250863/...ment-advice-needed-diagnosed-saturday-11-3-12

Minka and Gooned, thank you so much for the advice and link. I called the vet this morning and the test results aren't in yet, so I'm not sure yet what kind of liver failure Rocky has. I bought some more of the Friskies canned food and he's still only licking the gravy. I will go out soon and get the feeding syringe and baby food. Thank you for suggesting this. My world feels upside down right now.

Here is a post that has a good video on syringe feeding...

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/227858/syringe-feeding-lucky-video-if-your-cat-is-not-eating

Thanks for that video on syringe feeding. Very helpful! 

I just got done syringe feeding Rocky and it took over half an hour. It started off very slow and it stayed a struggle. (Odd thing was, even though he was giving me a hard time with opening his mouth he started purring midway through the feeding.) Then near the end I accidentally dropped some food on his fur. Holy moly! He began lapping the stuff up, so I did that a few more times and then he started eating the food off of a spoon. Incredible!

Now he's done eating and is cleaning himself (something I haven't seen him do in a long time). I'm so happy and hopeful. You guys are the best!!!

Hi myrockymeister, and welcome to the forum!

It's a tough spot that you're in, but, with patience and persistence, you'll come out of this just fine.

In that video, the food being used is one only available from your Vet - this one: http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-feline-ad-caninefeline-critical-care-canned.html IF you could manage to get a few cans of that it would be for the best. Then you could alternate between that and what you have at home. The benefit of the Hill's is the high caloric count.

You may already know this, but in the interest of safety it's worth stating. You have to be super careful that Rocky doesn't aspirate - breathe in - the liquid food, and that can easily occur. Never put/squirt it straight down the throat. A few drops into the side/corner of the mouth and allow him to swallow it himself.

There is a supplement you can use - perhaps that was the tablet recommended by the Vet - it's Denamarin http://www.drugs.com/vet/denamarin.html and here it is available online http://www.1800petmeds.com/Denamarin+Tabs+-prod11008.html probably much cheaper than the Vet's price Denamarin is well recognized to speed liver recovery.

There's also a group of people online whose specialty is dealing with feline liver failure. There'll be lots of questions, I'm sure, and if I were in your position, I'd be joining up there: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Feline-Assisted-Feeding/

Do keep us posted!

Hee is a thread about a few cats recently diagnosed with Hepatic Lipidosis (basically Liver failure).  I think all these cats ended up having feeding tubes installed, but you may still find some helpful info in here in general http://www.thecatsite.com/t/246314/hepatic-lipidosis-anyone-have-experience-with-tube-feeding

It is a slow recovery,normally, but it can definitely be done at home with assist feeding, as you are dong.  Once he starts eating on his own, however, you really need to monitor him and if he isn't eatng enough, you'll need to continue to assist feed him as well. 

And it really is important, if at all possible to try to get some of the Hills A/D for him.  It is only available either at your Vet's office or by prescription at some of the Petsmarts (the one's with Vet Clinics inside) or on-line.  When our cat had HL, our Vet didn't carry the A/D, so we had to get a prescription from the Vet, then took it to Petsmart to buy it.  I think it was about $1.49 per 5.5 oz can.

Now, as far as fluids, did your Vet recommend you give sub-q fluids as well   I think that's probably what you meant by IV fluids.  Anyway, it's much, much cheaper to get the lactate ringers at Costco, Walgreens, on-line.  And the needles and IV-setups are definitely cheaper on line.  For instance, our Vet wanted $65 for an IV-setup, and I found it for $1.00 (yes, that's a ONE) on-line.  BUT, I don't think most cats with HL end up needing the fluids.  Mine didn't, and I don't think the ones in the above thread did.  As long as you are watering down the food, which you must do to assist feed,  Was he dehydrated when you took him in, and did they give him fluids during his visit?  Well, anyway, along with assist feeding , you can give him a little water in his mouth, as long as you do in inside his cheek slowly, as White Shadow mentioned.  And be aware that those syringes you use for assist feedings will start to stick quickly, so you will need to have plenty on hand.  Once they start sticking, you need to replace them, otherwise it's just too easy fo accidentally shoot the food or water in in one big blast!  That's a big no-no

I think sometimes cats just kind of forget about eating when they have been sick for a while which may be why he starting eating some on his own after syringe feeding.  When I was taking my cat to other vets that really couldn't figure out how to stop the episodes a vet tech showed me a trick that involves using your finger to put food on the roof of their mouth to stimulate them eating.  It was always hard to get Patches started eating again after he was sick but once he started he made up for the missed meals.

Rocky ate 4 ounces of baby food today (mixed with a little water). I gave up on the syringe after the second feeding because it wildly squirted out a bunch of food and I couldn't bear the thought of him possibly choking if it happened again. So I'm using a spoon at first to dab the food on his lips so he has to lick it off and then after doing that a few times he usually takes to eating from a plate.

I'll stick with the baby food for tomorrow since it's working. From what I've read it looks like baby food is only supposed to be a very short-term solution for cats, like 2 or 3 days. Something to do with taurine. Guess if that's the case, then I'll start blending the wet cat food to make it easier for Rocky to swallow everything and not just lick the gravy. Also got some milk thistle and made a liquid out of it. Poor Rocky does not like the taste.

Went to the vet and picked up the bloodwork results. Lots of out-of-range highs and lows.  The vet is out of town now, so I couldn't get any questions answered. Been googling my brains out to make some kind of sense of what the results mean, but it's probably for naught since the hemolysis was slight and icterus was moderate and that can mess with some of the results.

Rocky is such a trooper, still purring and nuzzling up next to me. And he went pee once in the litter box today. 3 for 3! Ha, funny how happy something like that makes me.

The main number that the vet watched with Patches was ALT.  It's an enzyme that the liver cells release when they die.  Normal is around 100, Patches number got up to 1200.  His continued to rise after he was feeling better and eating on his own then dropped really fast.  It's a good sign that he is eating on his own after some spoon feeding.  Two or three days on baby food is fine the important thing is that he is eating.

Rocky's ALT is in the normal range at 70. So that's a good sign, maybe? He ate about an ounce of food this morning, but then puked it up after I gave him the milk thistle and was too rough with the dropper. I didn't mean to be. I'm lousy at giving food and liquids to him orally.  Since then, he hasn't eaten but a couple licks of food.

So your Patches got better? That's fantastic! Always nice to hear when a pet survives illness.

If you can get someone to help you it may be easier. When you syringe feed him, make certain NOT to shoot the food to the back of his mouth. Instead, come in from the side and shoot 1 to 2 cc's at the roof of his mouth. Repeat when he has swallowed and seems ready for more - usually around 10 seconds or so. My cat can take about 20 - 30 cc's each feeding with a two hour break between feedings. Figure out how many calories he needs and try to get to that number each day. 

The first couple of feedings for my cat were a disaster. The food was everywhere and I thought she had aspirated by my shooting the food straight back. A couple of vomited meals later, she helped me figure it out. She seemed to actually look forward to it after a few days. 

Had a scare late last night when I woke up to see how Rocky was doing and he didn't respond to petting. I was so freaked out I just sat next to him for a while. I wasn't sure if he had passed away or was in a deep sleep. Turned out to be the latter. He woke up and was able to lick 2 teaspoons of food off a spoon. And then the coolest thing - he drank from his water bowl all on his own! He lapped away for at least a minute. This morning he had another 2 teaspoons of food and went strong again with the water. It's so nice to see him thirsty again. 

Odd thing is when I pet him I swear I don't feel his bones as much now, but the scale isn't showing any weight gain. I'm picking up some Nutrical paste tomorrow morning and possibly another syringe. There's supposed to be one at Walgreen's that doesn't get sticky.

Please get the syringe, teaspoons of food are nowhere near enough to get him back to health. he needs food and calories in his system. Glad he's drinking again, that'll help flush some of the toxins. But that also means he's probably dehydrated. 

I-ben-thru-this-twice.The-key-is-to-get-them-to-eat,and,keep-them-flushed-out.

The-good-news-is,the-liver-is-the-only-organ,that-will-repair-itself.You-want-to-watch-the-ALT(liver)value.Normal-is-10-100.Yours-is-70,so-that-is-within-the-normal-range,so-something-else-is-going-on-too.You-need-to-get-a-copy,of-the-blood-work-results,all-they-do-is-photocopy-it.It-will-show-what-values,were-tested-for,what-the-normal-ranges-are,and-what-your-kitty's-values-are.You-need-to-find-out-what-other-values-are-not-normal.You-also-need-to-know,if-the-blood-panel-was-done-in-house(at-the-vets)or-sent-to-Antech-or-Idexx,both-very-good-labs.

The-last-time-was-prob-3-yrs-ago,so-doing-this-from-memory.They-were-also-watching-another-value,forget-now-which-one,might-remember-it,if-its-one-of-yours-that-is-too-high.They-said-that-value-is-usually-too-high-too,and-hers-was-normal,which-also-further-stumped-them.Seems-too,and-again,doing-this-from-memory,lol,they-were-watching-her-Creatinen-and-BUN(kidney)levels,which-were-normal.

ALT-normal-value-is-10-100,hers-was-917.They-ran-3-seperate-samples,and-ran-them-3-times,at-Antech,to-see-if-it-was-an-error,came-out-917-each-time.So-they-sent-her-to-the-specialist,on-an-ER-basis,for-a-ultrasound,that-showed,liver-issues,as-the-test-indicated.

First-they-had-to-get-her-to-eat.She-was-given-Pepcid-AC.1/4-tablet,every-24-hrs,has-to-be-regular-strength,10mgs-tablet,CANNOT-be-extra-strength,and-this-was-stressed-to-me.That-settled-her-tummy.

Then-she-was-syringed-with-the-chicken-baby-food,Gerber-chicken-stage-2,mixed-with-water,so-its-like-a-broth,you-stand-paralel-to-her,facing-the-same-way-as-her.Then-you-put-just-the-tip-of-the-syringe,in-the-side-of-her-mouth,again-paralel,so-the-syringe-is-facing-the-front-of-her-mouth,not-across-the-mouth,and-never-towards-the-back,she-can-chock.

You-have-to-do-this-very,very-very-slowly,just-a-little-at-a-time,or-she-will-chock.I-had-to-wrap-her-in-a-towel.

After-about-24-hrs,ballpark,she-started-eating-the-baby-food,mixed-with-water,so-its-like-a-broth,out-of-her-bowl,as-much-as-she-would-eat,several-times-a-day,1-teaspoon-of-baby-food-at-a-time,or-even-start-with-1/2-teaspoon.

Couple,3-days-later,she-wanted-to-eat.They-said-give-her-wet,mixed-with-water,so-its-real-soupy,to-keep-her-flushed-out,twice-a-day.

They-also-gave-her-fluids-under-the-skin,at-the-ER,to-kick-start-her,as-she-was-dehydrated,which-would-make-her-not-want-to-eat.

They-tried-many-meds,changed-doses,tried-liquids,tried-pills,nothing-worked.My-vet-called-the-specialist.He-said-put-her-on-Denysol.That-worked,she-started-to-improve,and-her-values,which-had-to-be-checked-every-week,started-to-come-down.

If-the-blood-panel-was-done-at-Antech-or-Idexx,they-have-specialists-there,who-help-your-vet,with-diagnosis-and-treatment,your-vet-needs-to-call-them.

My-vet-was-right-on-the-phone-with-them,when-normal-tests-showed-nothing.

On-Monday-morning,get-a-copy-of-the-blood-panel,ask-the-vet-to-explain,what-the-values-are-that-are-too-high-or-too-low,if-he/she-won't,put-them-up-here,we-can-tell-you-what-they-are-and-what-they-mean,then-find-another-vet.

Ask-the-vet,about-the-Pepcid-AC,its-OTC,but-should-be-run-past-a-vet-first,and-ask-about-Denysol.

The-first-time,was-prob-20-yrs-ago,before-they-had-internet,before-I-knew,what-I-know-now,about-health-and-nutrition.

She-was-black-and-white-LH.You-could-see-the-yellow-on-her-white.Different-vet-back-then.They-had-her-hooked-to-an-IV,she-just-lay-in-her-cage,would-not-eat,very-despondant.I-visted-her-every-day-after-work.

the-vet-said-she-is-not-responding,put-her-down.

I-said-oh-hell-no,my-gut-said-no,I-said-give-me-my-cat,I-am-taking-her-home.

I-knew-I-had-to-get-her-to-eat,so-gave-her-tuna-fish-juice,then-when-she-would-eat,gave-her-tuna-fish,just-to-get-her-to-eat.She-lived-another-10-years.

If-she-won't-eat-the-Nutrical,smear-some-on-her-lips,or-smear-some-on-her-paw,they-don't-like-stuff-smeared-on-their-legs/paws.

Will-be-thinking-of-her-and-you,I-know-how-upsetting-it-is,please-keep-us-updated.(((((((((((BIG-HUGS)))))))))

It's okay to give baby food for more than a couple days if it's the difference between getting food in him or not. Yea, it is low in taurine, but he'll be okay for a few weeks. Just getting food in him is important. :nod:

If you can find bottled clam juice at your supermarket (It's usually near the canned clams, smoked oysters. It's a small bottle) you can add a spoonful to the chicken or turkey baby food to supplement some taurine. Still not a long term diet but it is useful in the short term.

My Dusty went thu liver failure in late teens.I'm not going to lie.Feed it whatever she will eat,and prep yourself.That is very words she said.[Vet,real vet] Love her and be thankful for every day left.Make her cozy as possible.I fed Dusty scambled eggs,chicken,tuna,juice, anything to keep her going.On day her appt.,She got out of bed and walked her last steps to me.Wrapped her in warm blanket and her last trip was purring in my lap on way to vet.She feel asleep in my arms at vet after shot.BEST TO YOU AND YOURS!!GOD BLESS!!

One thing that I didn't think of before there is one baby food that has onion in it and you need to stay away from that one.  I know the Gerber is okay.  Patches went through this two years ago and has been fine since.  His is caused by IBD and he is on a small daily steroid dose because of that.