Second cat with possible Fatty Liver - Stressed & desperate

Hello,

I am a new member of the page.  Our house has 4 wonderful furry members, however one of them is possibly having the same heath scare that their sibling had about 4 years ago & lost him to.  I'm going into panic mode & would really like some support/guidance/words of wisdom from fellow guardians during this time.

We recently got a new house this past month & of course, it comes with some adjustment for all members of the household to the new place.  During the 1st weeks of being there, all were fine with moving in.  However, in the last week I have noticed that one of our females, Ino has had a 2lb weight loss, somewhat lethargic & will either hide or stay in 1 spot for long periods of time & hasn't eaten as normally.  Granted, she is the quietest of them, doesn't like alot of activity in the house to the point that she waits until all of us are settled down & then will come out and be social.  We also have her mother, who is the "alpha" cat of the house to the point she does be somewhat aggressive to our youngest cat & Ino will wait until her mom & the rest of the cats have eaten, then she will eat. She & her mom will have the occasinal hiss, but nothing more or actual fighting. 

After her brother's death, it was suggested by his vet, that I give them at least 1 can of wet food a day to help with getting water to them & prevent what happened to him.  Since then, I give them the wet food, 1st thing in the morning, each getting 1 can.   They also have a dry food feeder that is out all day & can eat from.  There is also a water feeder out as well.

With noticing her condition, I started to remember what had happen with her brother, Choji.  His fatty liver was due to me not having wet food available & getting outside 1 night with his "brother from another mother", Marley.  However, his issues were much worse & weren't caught in time. (the fact that this is happening around the same time as his condition may have started also has me VERY concerned)  They are all for the most part indoor cats.  We've moved from a mobile trailer with an enclosed porch, to a regular home.  They were all able to go out on the porch to sit, sun & get fresh air.  We have windows with screens here at the new house that they all can access to & I do leave the front & back screen doors open for them to get some air & get away from each other, but I think also that not being able to do this fully as they used to, might have some aspects to the current issue as well, since this was a place she could sit out for long periods of time & not have to deal with her mom or mom would go out & stay, with Ino remaining in the house, much more peaceful.

Here's what has happened & what we've done so far:

She has lost weight to the point where I can feel her spine & hip bones in her rear.  She has become non-social more than ever before, not even wanting to come out to the living room with humans.  Neither my daughter or I have seen her use the litter box (they all share 1, but my daughter cleans it every 2 days).  Neither of use have seen her drink water until yesterday(I saw her walking away from the water dish with a puddle around it, she may have used her paw to get water).  This friday, I gave her an open can of food, she licked the broth gravy & did eat some of it.  Then gave her a piece of deli chicken breast.  She ate all of that.  NO VOMITING at all during this, unlike her brother (thank Bast!)  Food seems to be kept down, but nothing that we've seen has gone out. She has been self grooming as well. ( as of just now, I have notice that her ears are slightly yellowish, waxy & warm, nose is wet though & gums are not yellow)   She has been sitting in windows & was taken outside twice on harness (once by daughter, she liked it, then by me, didn't move as much & meowed a bit)  Made appointment with vet for the next day.

Took her to vet on 8/16 & vet confirmed liver issues & did blood work on her.  Here are the results:

NO FEVER & NO INFECTION!!

BUN = normal range

Creatinine = 2.7 (on the graph it says that 0.8-1.8 is normal

Protein = 6.5

Glucose = 151 (vet said she's not diabetic)

ALT = 326 (on graph looks high)

ALP = 360

Total Bilirubin = 4.8 (I know that is very high due to what happened with her sibling)

Vet said that she is not "at death's door" and we did catch it somewhat early(I hope) & they gave her fluids, an appetite stimulant & the antibotic: Amoxicillin/Clavulanate.  She also recommened to get some gerber's baby food with the meats only(I got chicken & turkey).  She wanted to see if she would eat it on her own, but I remember what happened with her brother, so I went to a 24 ER vet to get syringes to assist-feed, just to be on the safe.  Vet would like to have a follow-up visit this Thursday to see how she is doing on the meds & check her weight, blood work & possible meds for the liver (can't remember what that was)  I admit that I should have asked her how or when I should feed her, but I just wanted to get her home as soon as I could, so I didn't. (really wished I did now)

When we first got home, I let her hide & then brought the baby food to her on a lid.  She didn't like it at all.  I then gave her some of her own food, she did lick it & then nibbled a bit.  Then gave her temptations cat treat & she at quite a few of them!  After a while I got out the syringes & started the feeding.  I warmed the food & gave her 1 full syringe (its a 6ml one) with a 2 hour break until the next one.  She then went to my daughter's room & daughter wanted to try the normal food again.  Opened a can, she did lick & nibble, but she seemed tired of all the fuss.  We also gave her 1 syringe of water, just to be on the safe side, with that, she seemed really wanting the water.  gave her 2 full syringes at the last 2 hour mark, she ate them & I let her go out to the living room.  She walked around a bit, went to the picture window screen & sat for a bit before climbing to the top of the couch & then jumping to the recliner where she is now, sleeping.

During all this, I am getting ready for a national workshop that I have to attend due to my work this coming weekend.  Daughter & I will be gone from Fri-sun, but boyfriend is here & will help. 

My main concerns are:

Did we really catch it in time?   With the results that I got today, the bilirubin & the ALT/ALP are the main ones I'm worried about.  Is that too high to come back from?    Her brother was had other symptoms (mainly with the vomiting), but it's just reminding of what we went through with him. With the meds that were given as of right now, will that help them go down as well??

Should I feed her more?  Right now I've given her 2 6mls of the baby food & 1 cat treat.  I did that at a 2 hour pace.  Should I give her more or get larger syringes? Maybe space out the times of the feedings with the larger syringes? 2 every 4 hours instead?   Maybe mix in the Hills A/D food to bulk it up?  I want her to get as much weight back as possible & enough strength to fight this, but at the same time I don't want her to get more adverse to eating.  I have also seen on this site that giving them Milk Thistle & N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine is very helpful in detoxing the liver.  Should I get her some now or wait until after the vet check up?  I was thinking that if I got it now, that would kickstart the liver detox/recovery process. Any info on dosage from those who have used it would be great, since I would like to try to keep the cost of meds down.

Should we assist-fed her water also?  I know that she isn't really getting all the water she needs & liked it when we did give her water.  Just don't want to overwhelm her with it & give her too much water after getting the fluids at the vet.

Should I let her hide?  I don't want to stress her out anymore that was has been, but I'm worried that if she hides(we also have a basement that we cannot close off), that I will find her gone(in the permanent sense).  I want her to get rest, but still be able to keep an eye on her. (right now she's on a recliner in our living room with the rest of our cats, sleeping)  If I do, the only place she could go safely is my daughter's room, due to it being close to litter, food, water & non-carpeted.  She was in our room, but it has deep carpet & a full size bed that is very difficult to get her from under if it's time for a feeding.

Is her mother in any danger due to her being the same breed?  Her mom has been eating & acting normally, but with 2 of her family members getting the same thing, should we be worried that momma is next?  They are Norwegian Forest cats so I'm not sure if this is a chronic thing with their breed.  Also, would the other 2 cats be in danger as well?  They are eating, drinking and are as normal as they usually are, but hindsight and all, right?

Should I just prepare myself & rest of the family to let her go?  Between what happened with her brother and dealing with that emotional spiral, and getting the new house, we're not really in a good financial place for any long term care that would require hospital stays or major surgery (we are open to getting a feeding tube, if needed)  I don't want her to suffer any more that what her brother went through.  She has been seeming resistant like her old self when I go to pick her up, climbing on things & windowsils, but at this point I'm looking at the long road of what will/could develop or goes worse, within the week ahead.

 I am trying to have hope & faith, but as we all know it's sometimes it is a battle.  Thankfully, it is the weekend & I don't work, so I can focus on her. It's just it's a road I don't want to put her or my family through again.  We leave for our trip this friday, so by Thursday, we'll have an idea of what to do. My daughter is also emotionally impaired, so I know she will take this very hard if that is our only option.  When we got Ino, her brother & her mother it was during a domestic abuse event with a former boyfriend, so we all were a bit damaged so to speak.  When we finally got out if it, my daughter, Choji & Ino bonded even more, so for her to deal with the loss of first the brother, then the sister, would crush her. 

Any help/support/good vibes/prayers is welcomed & much thanked for.  Going to try to get some sleep now, on the couch next to the recliner that she's in now.  Thanks again in advanced.

I went through fatty liver with one of my kitties and his ALT was much higher.  His got up to 1200 before it started coming down and he survived.  He had a feeding tube and I was giving him the A/D.  As much food as possible should be given.  I was giving 60 mil of the A/D four times a day.  It was diluted half and half with water so it was actually 30 ml of the food four times a day.  I started him on the liver supplement because his ALT wouldn't come down and I think the supplement helped.

Thanks for the response.  I just got back from PetSmart and got her some of the Royal Canin recovery food.  Got a bigger syringe, but it was too messy.  She fought me a bit when we started, so there's some fight in her left!  Although, before I left there was a plop of clear fluid & a bit of fur in our office.  I think that might have been the water I gave her.  Talked to a vet tech there & she suggested not to give her water that way.  I think I'll just mix it with the food.  How long before you found out about the ALT's did you noticed his issues?  I'm really hoping since hers are low, that her recovery chances are better.  Would you say that the A/D would be a better option for her right now??  My vet is closed & they didn't give me a script for it, they wanted me to try to give her the baby food & see if she'll eat real food.  She even ate some dry bits last night!!  *crossed paws*

I think Recovery is the Royal Canin version of A/D.  I don't really know about the Recovery other than it is chicken and the A/D is pork.  Patches was very sick when I took him to the vet.  He was having flares of what I now know is IBD and I had been doing the vet hopping thing.  I was pretty jaded about vets and waited too long before trying another vet.  His ALT was what the vet watched the closest.  It started in the 600s and continued to rise for quite awhile after starting the feedings.  Giving water by mouth is tricky because of the risk of choking.  I know dehydration is also a concern but giving water will fill him up but supply no calories.  I don't know what the consistency of the Recovery is.  A/D was supposed to be syringe ready without water but it seemed a little thick for that to me anyway.

I don't know how much syringe feeding you have done.  The main thing is to use the side of the mouth rather then shooting it straight into her mouth and go slow.  Just a little, let her swallow it and then a little more.  I know it will be time consuming but it is the safest way to do it.

Recovery is my food of choice for ailing cats that aren't eating. I mix the Recovery with Pedia Lyte and Nutri Cal to a baby food consistency and syringe feed 3-4 times a day. Feed as much as the cat will tolerate. Some advice, wrap the kitty in a towel and have one over your lap as well (it's a pretty messy job!) Have a damp washcloth to wipe up the cat's face. Go slowly, to prevent aspiration pneumonia, and place the syringe in the corner of the mouth, not straight back. I hope your kitty recovers. Best of luck!

I just gave her a 20cc syringe of the royal canin at 11:48 est. The new syringe was a bit messy than the smaller ones, so might change to those instead.  Was thinking of giving her a 2nd dose at 2pm est.  Right now I have out with the rest of the cats, she's a bit grumpy, since I've closed off mine & daughter's bedrooms.  She walked to the screen door and looked out.  I got one of our old moving boxes out & she's sitting in it.  We've done the syringe feeding before, so I know of the mess!  We're doing the side of the mouth for sure!

Just gave her the antibiotic & another 30cc's of the recover, mixed with pedilyte to help with the fluid loss. Still haven't seem her pee or poop yet though....

Keep up the good work @venus2869! It is definitely a challenge to have to syringe feed your kitty. Sending you and your baby some good vibes!

Ty! She's out with us now, snuggled on the couch, half-asleep. She did some self cleaning & there was less yellow on her nose!

Update: gave another 30ccs of food, but it ses that when we feed her, she gets more tired & still hasn't gone potty yet... Getting really worried now

She may be constipated.  I know that would happen with Patches when he would have IBD flares.  I would call the vet tomorrow and tell them about it.  The constipation will add to the nausea.  She may be peeing just less than normal, it would be hard to tell with the shared box.  With a female there isn't the worry about a urinary blockage like there is with a male.

I'm not sure if it's that but we have not seen her pee or poop since this whole thing started that's what really has me concerned, fact that I'm putting all of these fluids and solids into her and nothing is coming out . she doesn't seem like she's in pain but every time I feed her she seems to be getting more and more sleepy I'm concerned if I stop the feeding that the jaundice in the liver will flare up worse. I can call the vet tomorrow but I have to going to work unfortunately I wanted to get the liver medicine from them on sat, but I don't get paid until Thursday unfortunately

And since this morning she has not vomited so nothing is coming out of her mouth either.

I'm thinking we've over fed her. Her next feeding is at 10. I'm going to have my daughter do the night feedings at every 4 hours. UPDATE: as of 10:10est, she pooped! It was very hard, no blood thankfully! And it had hair in it. I'm hoping that with this passing, it will help her get more out & digest the during food better!

It does sound like she is constipated and that could have been the root cause of this.  Hopefully now that things have started moving she will come out of this.

Never think that you are feeding her too much!  Food is what will heal her liver and it's important to get as much into them as possible.  You could try some mashed pumpkin for the constipation.  It helped my cats when they were backed up.

Daughter just woke me to show me she peed at 2:10am est. the pee is bright orange. Could that be due to the jaundice? And i don't think that it's too much, I just thought that the feedings were too often for her & her system wasn't having enough time to digest the food. Now with the poop & pee going, things will be better.

Jaundice will cause the urine to have a brighter color.  

Figured as much. We think she went poop again, but 1 of our other cat went before her so I couldn't tell. Going to see if we can get a appointment in this morning before I go to work, get bloods drawn & make some decisions on what's our next move.

UPDATE: Just got off phone with vet & they will see her at 9:30est.  Her regular doctor isn't in until 10, but I start work at 11, so I got the earliest appt I could get.  Told the receptionist about what was going on & what she would need when we came in.  Going to have them run 2nd round of blood work & exam to tell us where to go from here.  And to add more to my plate, now her momma is throwing up clear w/some fur.  She is still eating and pooping normally, for now.  I just hope that it's stress related and not the same thing as her daughter has.  I really hope that it isn't contagous or genetic since Ino has had 1 litter & my boyfriend's sister owns one of her kittens (he's about 2 years old now).  Here's a pic of her:

: 
Kind thoughts, prayers, healing vibes & other hope & faithful thinking is welcomed!