Need any and all possible suggestions...

I have a two year old cat named Link.  About three weeks ago I noticed him acting wierd and it turns out he was blocked.  I got him to a Vet within a day of it happening and had him back home in 5 days.  

Since then however he has gotten worse.  He refuses to eat anything.  At first i thought it was just a symptom of him being so sick.  However as time went on he still wouldn't eat.  He has been drinking water and is urinating just fine, be it on his chair now.  He is so weak that he has trouble moving from spot to spot.  I think the only reason he is alive right now is due to me force feeding him tuna.  I have taken him back to the vet numerous times.  She was unable to get enough blood to run a full blood-lab but she was able to test his kidney vales, normal, his sugar, normal, and a few other things.  All were normal except his stomach acid which was high.  I am not sure if she was able  to run a test for his liver or not.  

It seems like his problems will be solved if only he would eat.... I have tried pain killers and an anti-biotic, Amoxicillin.  Nothing is working and I feel like I am just slowly watching him die.  He is one of my best friends and is an amazing pet so please if you have any suggestions I would be willing to try anything to help him.  It kills me to sit there holding him and having him shake in my arms.

Thank you very much.

I am so very sorry about your boy.

I am incredibly surprised that your vet did not tell you about Hepatic Lipidosis (Fatty Liver disease) and has not suggested a feeding tube!!!!

Unlike people, cats are not .... "set up," metabolically, to use "fat stores" when they don't eat. If they don't eat, fat can "flood" their livers giving them liver disease. THIS CAN BE FIXED - and the "cure" is FOOD.

There are many things that influence whether or not a cat will develop fatty liver inside of 24 hours or five days or three weeks - but it CAN happen that quickly, especially if a kitty is overweight.

Apart from the lack of nutrition, part of what you're seeing is kitty "eating" his own muscles. Cats have a very high requirement for protein, and their bodies cannot "downregulate" the process of metabolising protein - so if it is not eaten or ingested, their bodies literally use their muscles.

I'm just stunned that your vet has not said anything about any of this, quite frankly. I would be terribly upset, and I think a new vet is in order, because this is.... this is.... this is unacceptable AND was completely preventable if your vet had given you this information and told you what to do!!!!!

Here is more information:

http://cats.about.com/cs/healthissues/a/fatty_liver.htm

And information on a feeding tube, written by a vet: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=feedingtubes

The bottom line is that you must talk to your vet. You either need to syringe feed your cat critical care food (usually Hill's a/d), meant to be used in a syringe - start with 1/3 of his daily nutritional need, then 2/3 the next day, then the FULL amount of food he requires daily at his healthy weight.

Either that - or have a feeding tube put in so you can get the nutrition into him that he needs to recover without the stress of syringe feeding.

Of course, he may be too weak to complain about being syringe fed.

If it is not too late, he will slowly recover. You should continue to offer him food to eat on his own while you syringe or tube feed. It may take several weeks or a month - just search this forum for "fatty liver" to see how it's gone for others.

Hopefully not too much damage has already been done to his liver. :cross:

...but whatever you do, please do it ASAP, because so much time has passed. Thank goodness you've been at least getting some tuna into him - hopefully it's been enough to stave off the worst and you can save his life.

Did the vet administer fluids recently? Because he's also likely severely dehydrated at this point, and that not only affects his overall health and how he feels, but it has an extremely negative impact on his kidneys.

For more info in general: http://www.catinfo.org

Many vibes for you and Link. :heart2:

Please keep us posted.

     Thank you very much for the words of support.  I looked up and read a large amount of fatty liver syndrome and he does seem to have most of the symptoms.  I have only ever fed link dry food, and the occasional left over piece of meat, in a large food bowl so I am not certain how much I should be feeding him.  I am going to go the route of feeding him manually seeing as how I have already been doing this anyways and he seems to accept when I do it, not to say he doesn't resist, but once I put the food in he is chewing it and swallowing it.

I have two other cats, both younger, that love to play.  They only ever lay with link and give him the occasional loving licks.  However they have rolled onto him on a few occasions when playing.  Should I keep them away from Link to help shield him or should I just let them be?

Once again thank you so much for the help and support.

Hi,

LDG is totally correct.

However; I would add one more thing. Change vets immediately. Any/all vets know about fatty liver syndrome and from your vet's lack of even a suggestion of it as well as her somewhat "oh well" attitude, I would say she has put your cat's life in peril.

Believe me. I have been in a similar position. Changing the vet saved my cat's life and I got to love him for another 6 years!!!!

Do not delay!

It doesn't matter what he was eating. You cannot syringe feed him kibble, and you cannot expect him to eat on his own likely for a while. You can leave his kibble out, but the ONLY way to keep him alive is to feed him the amount of calories he NEEDS a day. Because his body is currently "starved" you cannot START at that level - you need to start with 1/3 of his daily need, then the next day 2/3 of his daily need, and then day 3 his daily need.

You will have to buy syringes and prescription food to use in them. The vet should provide the syringes with the food. The food you need is Hill's a/d , and the syringes the vet supplies are very difficult to work with, but you need SOMETHING right away. Truly - THIS IS AN EMERGENCY. I cannot emphasize this enough.

In the meantime, you can order these syringes to use - they're much easier to use because of the size, the tapering of the tip, and without the rubber stopper, they are MUCH easier to clean and don't become "sticky" while trying to syringe the food into your cat.
I would order at least 2 or 3 sets, because he is going to need this support for a while if you are not going to talk to the vet about a feeding tube.

I don't know his size, but most adult cats need one 5.5 ounce can of the Hill's a/d a day. That 5 of the 1/2 ounce syringes DAILY. Yes - it is a lot of work, but it is the only thing that will keep him alive.

Many vibes.

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

If you can't get the a/d right away. . .I have done the same with Fancy Feast kitten turkey-flavored canned food. It's very smooth so if you add water you can give it through a syringe. The kitten kind has more calories so it's good for a sick cat as well, and you can buy it just about anywhere. You could do this tonight, before getting to the vet tomorrow---the large plastic syringes/droppers (I prefer a large dropper as I find it easier to control) are sold in the baby medicine section (I go to Walmart but should be the same anywhere) and the Fancy Feast is sold at most grocery stores as well as Walmart. But, yes, it's very important that you get food and liquid into him ASAP.

    Thank you so much for all of your help everyone.  Words cannot express how thankful I am for all of this.  Link has always been drinking, not a ton on water but a decent amount.  I have ordered the cat food you specified and the syringes as well.  I really do hope that my boy will be able to recover from this.  He is a fairly large cat,  the last time I was at the vet he weighed 11 1/2 lbs even without having been eating.  

    Once again thank you so very very much from the bottem of my heart and my soul for all of the help.  I didn't realize how much they actually needed to live.  Hopefully I have not waited too long... only time will tell and no matter what happens you all are heros' for taking the time to help.

Thank you Willowy for the info on how Razgrize can start now!

Oh - and you do not *need* the cat bag to syringe feed. That's just to give you a general idea. I doubt Link is strong enough to struggle much. But there are youtube videos on how to make a burrito (wrap in a towel) if necessary.

And to fill the dropper or syringe, I always used a spoon, and just kind of "smooshed" it in there, little by little. It's messy but easy to clean.

You could also try chicken or turkey baby food. Beechnut brand is best if you can find it, but Gerber is OK (has corn starch). I'm not sure about other brands but whatever you use, make sure it doesn't have garlic or onions added (preferably nothing added, just meat and broth). Of course baby food isn't balanced like cat food but it'll do for a few meals. It's 70 calories a jar so 2-3 jars would be enough calories for a day, depending on the size of the cat.

And I use Pedialyte instead of plain water (mixed with the canned food/baby food) for extra hydration. Baby food and Pedialyte are my first line of defense for sick cats. Even if it's just a cold .

Ok well i got a decent amount of a smaller syringe in him.  He is still just laying there shaking,  also he has thrown up a bit today.  Does the shaking mean that serious damage has been done already or is it just something that is "normal" considering how sick he is?

Poor guy . It could be from the stress of being syringe-fed, or maybe his tummy hurts from getting food after not eating for so long. Vomiting is a symptom of Hepatic Lipidosis (Fatty Liver), you just need to keep getting small amounts into him frequently. Keep him warm as well, because sick cats have a hard time maintaining their body temp.

But if he keeps shaking for much longer you should try to get him to the emergency vet.

I agree with everyone above, the risks of Fatty Liver is high in your kitty.  You need to be syringe feeding a normal daily amount of calories to your kitty since he isn't eating.  I would get a 2nd opinion.  There are appetite stimulants such as Cyproheptadine and Mirtazapine that you can give your kitty to encourage eating.   The shaking could be a number of things such as low temperature, low or high phosphorus levels, lots of different things.  How did she know his stomach acids were high based on bloodwork?  your cat is in an emergency state and should see a veterinarian ASAP or you may lose him, you may lose him anyways with him not eating for so long.  Did the vet by chance switch his diet when he was blocked?  Is that why he isn't eating?  There has to be an underlying cause of him not eating.  I syringe fed my cat this weekend after 36 hours of him not eating.  I fed him his normal daily amounts over a period of several hours so as not to overload him, giving about 1/2 an oz each time so he got his 4.4oz (he eats raw).  An average 10# cat needs a 5.5oz can of food per day.  So definitely make sure you are doing this.

cls179 said:

Hi,

LDG is totally correct.

However; I would add one more thing. Change vets immediately. Any/all vets know about fatty liver syndrome and from your vet's lack of even a suggestion of it as well as her somewhat "oh well" attitude, I would say she has put your cat's life in peril.

Believe me. I have been in a similar position. Changing the vet saved my cat's life and I got to love him for another 6 years!!!!

Do not delay!

Click to expand...

I agree! A new vet is in order! Other than that, I think the others have it covered

Well so far today Link has been doing a bit better.  He has finally been able to keep from throwing up after I feed him.  The one thing I have noticed is that he has stopped peeing, this may be due to the fact that he is sicker than he was a few days ago or the fact that he stopped drinking by him-self.   He still tries and these past few hours has been trying to walk around a-bit so I am hopeful that he is finally on the road to recovery, last night for him was about as bad as it could possibly get.  

Razgrize said:

 
Well so far today Link has been doing a bit better.  He has finally been able to keep from throwing up after I feed him.  The one thing I have noticed is that he has stopped peeing, this may be due to the fact that he is sicker than he was a few days ago or the fact that he stopped drinking by him-self.   He still tries and these past few hours has been trying to walk around a-bit so I am hopeful that he is finally on the road to recovery, last night for him was about as bad as it could possibly get.  

Click to expand...

If he wasn't walking in circles and bumping into walls and jumping into thin air you have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA how bad it can get. Please get him to a QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL as soon as you read this.

cprcheetah said:

 
I agree with everyone above, the risks of Fatty Liver is high in your kitty.  You need to be syringe feeding a normal daily amount of calories to your kitty since he isn't eating.  I would get a 2nd opinion.  There are appetite stimulants such as Cyproheptadine and Mirtazapine that you can give your kitty to encourage eating.   The shaking could be a number of things such as low temperature, low or high phosphorus levels, lots of different things.  How did she know his stomach acids were high based on bloodwork?   your cat is in an emergency state and should see a veterinarian ASAP or you may lose him, you may lose him anyways with him not eating for so long.  Did the vet by chance switch his diet when he was blocked?  Is that why he isn't eating?  There has to be an underlying cause of him not eating.  I syringe fed my cat this weekend after 36 hours of him not eating.  I fed him his normal daily amounts over a period of several hours so as not to overload him, giving about 1/2 an oz each time so he got his 4.4oz (he eats raw).  An average 10# cat needs a 5.5oz can of food per day.  So definitely make sure you are doing this.

Click to expand...

Though the lack of peeing may be due to the lack of food/water intake, I would be at ANY vet, at this point, ASAP. He likely needs sub-q fluids at a minimum - and who knows what's up with his kidneys due to the lack of food or proper hydration for so long.

I'm SO glad you've been able to get food into him and he's feeling a bit better - but I have to agree with the others. He needs professional medical intervention immediately.

I am so sorry to let every one here know that at 5:28 this morning my baby boy passed away... He was doing awful all night and I could see it coming. I held him for over two hours then I laid him in his chair to use the bath room.. I came back and he was trying to vomit but to no avale... as I leaned in to nuzzle hus head he purred for me... on his dying bed he spent the energy to purr for me one last time... I knew then and I told him it was time for him to stop fighting that it was ok and that I would always love him and that one day we would be together again...and then he went to the rainbow bridge....I am heart broken and crushed...

Thank you all for the support you have given me....I was a fool for waiting so long and not doing enough to save him...Thank you for all of your help if I had come here earlier I would still be holding him

I am so sorry. I am heartbroken for you.

I am so sorry for your loss.
Should you decide to eventually get another fur baby please change vets.