Relapse? Fighting against fatty liver disease.

I know how you feel.  It's so hard when a kitty is very ill and don't really know whats going on with them.  Worrying about having enough money or room on a credit card to get them what they need really adds to the stress as well.  Even though he seems very sick right now I think there is a good chance to get him through this and figure out a way to keep things under control so he doesn't get this sick again.

nicolefrank117 said:

 
Yes I did read about the onions and garlic on another website but I appreciate the added reminder!!!

Honestly I am not sure that she "enjoyed" the dry food she was on. I stopped giving it to them when I realized she stopped eating and was throwing up more often. I switched to a grain free dry food and wet foods hoping she would try them and start to feel better. She refused everything from her old dry food to all of the new food and still does. For the past couple of weeks the only thing we could get in her or get her to try has been this a/d critical care stuff Makes me worried that once she is better if it will be hard to get her off of it.

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When I was trying to get Sebastian to eat on his own, the mindset was that he has to eat something. The very first foods he tried on his own were 9 Lives Real Flaked Tuna canned and Meow Mix dry. The vet actually sent me home with both of these when I brought him home from the hospital. They keep a supply on hand since they seem to help entice sick kitties to eat. From there, the next foods he ate were better - Natural Balance Chicken & Liver Pate canned and Merrick Purrfect Bistro Chicken dry. FWIW, Sebastian turns his nose up at foods like Fancy Feast, Friskies, etc. whether he feels good or not.

With Patches the last food he would eat before he stopped eating completely was the Meow Mix seafood cups.  I have a weak stomach when it comes to strong and to me obnoxious food smells and they were an ordeal for me.  I would try to hold my breath while I was getting it ready.

GoHolistic said:

 
When I was trying to get Sebastian to eat on his own, the mindset was that he has to eat something. The very first foods he tried on his own were 9 Lives Real Flaked Tuna canned and Meow Mix dry. The vet actually sent me home with both of these when I brought him home from the hospital. They keep a supply on hand since they seem to help entice sick kitties to eat. From there, the next foods he ate were better - Natural Balance Chicken & Liver Pate canned and Merrick Purrfect Bistro Chicken dry. FWIW, Sebastian turns his nose up at foods like Fancy Feast, Friskies, etc. whether he feels good or not.

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Yah that is my mind set as well. I have Healthy Choice in the house right now as I am trying to feed that to both cats. My other cat Ichabod will eat anything you put in front of her. Sabbath however has always been finicky. The only reason I don't want to give her any of the dry food that she was previously on is because I read the ingredients and I am nervous if it was making her sick. I don't want to make the situation worse. I tried to give her a different type of food.. beef Fancy Feast today and she was not having it. I also tried the soft loaf chicken from Natural Choice. Also a no go. I offered her the a/d food and she sniffed it.. she went to nibble at it but then stopped herself...??? It was like she was about to eat on her own and then changed her mind. I ended up syringe feeding her tonight. with the a/d and she did good. Didn't vomit any of it up. I offered her some boiled chicken and she tried to eat that. Did the same thing.. nibbled but didn't really eat it. I decided to syringe feed her something else to just get her use to different foods. I ended up using the Natural Choice soft loaf with some water to get it in the syringe. She didn't vomit that up either. When all was said and done I gave her a wipe down as she still doesn't seem to be cleaning herself. She purred the whole time. I also brushed her which she loved (as usual). The only thing that was disappointing was the fact that she didn't eat on her own again no matter what I tried and no matter how close she came.

Denice said:

 
I know how you feel.  It's so hard when a kitty is very ill and don't really know whats going on with them.  Worrying about having enough money or room on a credit card to get them what they need really adds to the stress as well.  Even though he seems very sick right now I think there is a good chance to get him through this and figure out a way to keep things under control so he doesn't get this sick again.

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Thank you. I sure hope so.

Had to syringe feed her again this morning. I attempted to try to convince her to eat on her own because later on last night she nibbled some off the plate after I did some finger feeding. Tried doing that again this morning but with no success so the syringe made it's appearance again. The good thing is she is pretty cooperative with the syringe feedings. It makes me wonder if its because she really does want to eat but can't bring herself to do it. The one thing I noticed this morning with each type of food I offered her.. she would sniff it.. sit there like she wanted it.. then she would start to lick her lips but to me in a nausea sort of way and then turn away from it. It's like she wants to eat but can't bring herself to do it. Breaks my heart. Especially because she was doing so well until now. 

On top of it one of the cats had a "pooping" accident on our blanket. We are not sure which one it was. Ichabod sometimes does things out of spite but then it could have been Sabbath because she is ill. Pooping accidents are not common in our home. The last time we had any accidents in the house was awhile ago when we changed their litter. Since we changed it back we have had not issues. My husband was wondering if Ichabod did it because Sabbath is being fed more often (in her eyes) and getting alot of one on one attention. But I am thinking maybe Sabbath did it because she is sick. Have you guys experienced this as an added "bonus"? I hope it does not mean her body is shutting down.

Personally I don't believe that kitty's do things out of spite but a lot of people who know and love kitties believe that they do.  I do know that constipation can go with IBD.  A lot of people including many vets believe that IBD always means diarrhea but that isn't true.  Constipation can cause a kitty to go outside of the litterbox.

The behavior of acting interested in food then not eating is common with nausea in kitties.  I haven't read it anywhere but I think it's the survival instinct causing them to act interested but then they can't because of the nausea.

I hear ya! I know my Ichabod would literally jump up on something and pee on it right in front of me before we got her fixed. She was marking her "territory". She has been the territorial type ever since. She literally thinks we all live in her house. I swear it ha ha. 

The food we took them off of when she started to get sick was Science Diet for Senior Cats - Indoor/Hairball forumla. It was suppose to have a lot of fiber and all that jazz in it. But she was throwing it up alot before we figured she was sick. The sad thing is we have tried numerous hair ball adult formula dry foods over the years that people have sworn by but we were still finding vomit messes all over the house. I have seen both cats vomit though so she was not the only one. Ichabod has a tendency to eat too quickly though. It makes me wonder if Sabbath has been suffering for a long time with something and we just thought it was hairball related. Make me feel rather aweful.

I have seen her pee in the litter box since we took her to the vet but I have not caught her pooping in there. Doesn't mean she isn't though. There has been poop in the liter box but we also have 2 cats so it's hard to tell. 

The irony of this all is that last year I had my large intestine removed. I had a total colectomy with anastamosis connection. I was in the hospital for months due to complications. Had to actually end up doing 2 surgeries. All because of a digetive motility disorder. My large intestine pretty much died and I was not going to the bathroom for weeks at a time. If she is suffering remotely with anything close to what I experienced it will kill me. I would never want her to feel the way that I did. Let alone be suffering all these years with it. 

It's better if you keep all of your questions and concerns in one thread rather than reviving older threads.  That way people who have experience and/or ideas see everything and can add them.

I did respond in the thread in nutrition about a blood test that is a very good indicator that a kitty has IBD.  The only definitive way to know is with a biopsy.  The blood test measures the absorption of B vitamins, my kitty didn't have it when he was diagnosed 3 1/2 years ago, my guess is it wasn't around.  http://healthypets.mercola.com/site...11/02/inflammatory-bowel-disease-in-pets.aspx   If you go down to the testing for IBD it explains the test.

I really think the relapse is caused by whatever the underlying issue is for the fatty liver.  Fatty liver is caused by not eating and kitty's liver not being very efficient at metabolizing the fat stores the body is trying to use.  

I have been trying to do some research on my own based on what others have experienced incase people did not see my post. Trying to pull together as much information that I can. 

Aw, I hope your kitty is better this afternoon. I had 5 cats and tons of puke and poop with extra to spare! :nod: We used to feed our cats a particular brand of food but as soon as we switched, bam the incessant puking went down by about 90%! It was amazing. We still buy it for the ferals we feed, but our cats love it so much they actually ate side out of the bag to get to it! It's a cheaper food and probably coated with animals fat and that's why they like the worse for you foods.

One of my cats is a stray (cute but long story) who has no tail. Poor thing. Anyway, his nerves "back there" are probably damaged so sometimes poo just falls out. It's really gross but he can't help it. I agree with Deniece that unlike us humans, animals are not spiteful. There is always an underlying cause, but we assign a human value to it

Have you given anymore thought to the ultrasound? It could help you tremendously diagnosing the reason for the fatty liver

I am waiting on my vet to give me a call back today. She was out yesterday and she is the one that has been with Sabby from the beginning so I want to get her opinion on things. I have a feeling we will be bringing her back in very soon if not tonight. It's putting a lot of strain even on my own health. I am a wreck. 

I am afraid that I will bring her in and the ultrasound will find something aweful and then where does that take us? Putting her down? She already seems so fragile and it breaks my heart. I am worried I am prolonging her suffering. That whatever this is has already got a hold on her.

By the way my new avatar is a picture of Sabbath (Sabby) from a while back (before she was ever sick). 

She is a cutie.  I know what you mean about being afraid of finding out it is something horrible but that isn't necessarily true.  Kitties with fatty liver are very sick and they look and act very sick.  It isn't necessarily something horrible.  It can be something that is easily taken care of and then controlled.

I pray that you are right. I really appreciate the kind words. My husband and I have talked and we think we are going to do the ultrasound.

Denice said:

The behavior of acting interested in food then not eating is common with nausea in kitties.

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  Definitely seems like nausea behavior.

I was a wreck, too, so I know how you feel.    The only thing that really helped was sleep. I would take an Advil PM and forgetta-bout-it.    Having a support team is important. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have the fine folks here on TCS to help me along. My parents were supportive of me, but they questioned how much I was doing for Sebastian.

It's natural to think the worst, but don't jump to conclusions just yet. When Sebastian had his first ultrasound, I asked the sonologist about cancer. She said while anything is possible, there was absolutely nothing on his ultrasound that indicted to her he had cancer. What a relief! That was 10 months ago.

Just be in tune with Sabbath. If she's still doing a lot of the things she normally does, there is hope.

Sorry got another question. I remember my vet mentioning before about keeping Sabby overnight and putting her on ivy nutrients or fluids if she got worse. Did anyone have success with this? I know it cost more but if it will help her I am willing to do the Care Credit and do it if people have had success with it!

GoHolistic said:

 

  Definitely seems like nausea behavior.

I was a wreck, too, so I know how you feel. 

  The only thing that really helped was sleep. I would take an Advil PM and forgetta-bout-it. 

  Having a support team is important. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have the fine folks here on TCS to help me along. My parents were supportive of me, but they questioned how much I was doing for Sebastian.

It's natural to think the worst, but don't jump to conclusions just yet. When Sebastian had his first ultrasound, I asked the sonologist about cancer. She said while anything is possible, there was absolutely nothing on his ultrasound that indicted to her he had cancer. What a relief! That was 10 months ago.

Just be in tune with Sabbath. If she's still doing a lot of the things she normally does, there is hope.

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Wow funny you should say that. I have been living off of Tylenol PMs for the same reason! The only way I can get any sleep. I can't seem to fall asleep faster on them because the thoughts are there but once I finally do I am out! Thank god. I also am glad I found this site. It was actually a message board similar to this one over at inspire,com that helped me get answers and referrals for my own life threatening digestive issues. It is amazing the power of people who are going through the same thing. I really really appreciate all of you who have commented with your stories, suggestions and thoughts and prayers. It really is being taken very seriously and to heart!!!! It does give me hope about Sabby as well. I have been so down in the dumps thinking this is the end. Even it if does turn out to be that way eventually atleast I know that I have tried everything I could do. That is why I turned here actually. Hoping to get some answers from people first hand. I have had more help from people for my own health then doctors so I thought this was a good route to take. Thank you again. I hope your kitties are doing well!!! 

Denice said:

The behavior of acting interested in food then not eating is common with nausea in kitties.  I haven't read it anywhere but I think it's the survival instinct causing them to act interested but then they can't because of the nausea.

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What scares me the most is that this was common with her at first. Then after the nausea and appetite pills it got better to the point we were able to get her off them. Then boom back to square one but not the nausea and appetite pills are no longer working.

Aw, don't think the worst. Lack of nutrition really does a number on our cats so with the ultrasound you'll be on the road to finding out the best way to help her instead of.just guessing aNd hoping for the best! Without knowing what's wrong you can't help her get better, so best to do it as soon as you can

Hang in there!

I don't know what your kitty is being given but to be honest none of it worked for Patches either.  I think how effective those meds are depends on the kitty.  Patches was never given cerenia for nausea though, a lot of people here have had success with that.