Hepatic lipidosis - our new struggle :(

Hi everyone,

I am not one to post on message boards but I've read a lot of posts here and it seems like a great place to interact with other cat lovers/owners and get some good advice and support.

I lost my 11 year old Frodo to hyperthyroid in May. I still have an 11 year old tabby named Princess (we call her Pcess). In late June, we adopted a tabby kitten named Max. While Pcess was not jazzed about his arrival, she's accepted him and things were mostly peaceful.

In June, we took Pcess to a new vet (I had moved and didn't want to keep driving to my old one). The vet told us what we (my bf and I) knew, which was she's obese. She put her on a diet and recommended all wet food, sent us home with a Royal Canin brand. Pcess wouldn't touch the wet food, or any wet food we offered. We tried so many brands, including Blue Buffalo, which our kitten Max eats (we feed him kitten formula and her mature). We then gave her dry food as we knew she needed to eat. She ate a little bit for awhile not enough though. Then she stopped eating the "good" dry food so we switched her back to the crappy Friskies or whatever JUST so she would eat SOMEthing. She refused.

Tuesday (Sept 2) I took Pcess to the vet as she hadn't eaten anything since Saturday (I don't think). The vet confirmed what we feared, hepatic lipidosis (we got definitive test results the next day from her blood panel). She gave fluids under the skin, an "appetite stimulant" and syringe fed her a bit. Pcess even ate a bit on her own of Royal Canin "recovery." We were prescribed the appetite stimulant pills, told to syringe feed small amounts 3-4x a day (impossible, since bf and I work full time jobs and are gone at the same times of day for 9-12 hours depending on the day) and give her the appetite pills. The vet showed us how to pill her and made it look soo easy!

It's been a couple days. Bf has gotten her pill down once successfully. I've been watching tons of Youtube videos showing techniques-- blow on the nose, rub the throat, grab the cheekbones and lift up- mouth will open on its own--not the case. Pcess jaw is always clamped like a clam and will NOT open, if we get the pill in her mouth at all she salivates and spits it up. Syringe feeding is obviously a battle as well. You probably can imagine- messy and a very unhappy cat, time consuming, and I doubt she's getting enough food.

Money is a concern for us at this particular time, the initial visit cost me almost $300. An ultrasound was suggested (we are going to bypass that since we basically know she got HL bc of the new cat and sudden forced diet change) and of course the esophogeal feeding tube. That is a pricey solution but apparently effective, so we know we will turn to that if we're not having luck with force feeding.

In the meantime I've ordered a "piller", some Denemarin (milk thistle? good for treating liver issues, according to the reviews I've read), and some greenies pill pockets. I doubt she'll go for those but- just in case. (Frodo used to love them to take his hyperthyroid medicine)

I've heard of various things to get her to eat/tempt her with. Baby food, sardines, tuna/tuna juice, salmon, etc? Right now we're just giving the recovery food via syringe and we have left out a small bowl of her old "junk" dry food because she used to like it- she has the option to eat while we are gone, at least, although I doubt she does. But we give her the chance to, anyway.

Whew- sorry for the long post. Any suggestions you can give would be helpful

I have a kitty that had hepatic lipidosis and he did survive.  He had the feeding tube.  There is no magic with a feeding tube it just makes the feedings easier.  You can also crush up all but the Denamarin, mix it with the food and give it through the feeding tube.  Getting enough calories in to stop the cycle that is hepatic lipidosis is what the kitty needs to recover, rather it is by syringe or by feeding tube.

No amount of temptation will get a kitty with hepatic lipidosis to eat.  They simply are not hungry and are nauseated.  Appetite stimulants won't make them eat either, they have to be fed either with a syringe or through a feeding tube.  They need enough calories to stop their bodies from trying to use their fat stores.  When Patches had it I was feeding Hills A/D.  I was giving 30 mls a day of food mixed half and half with water.  The dilution is necessary for it to go through the tube.  A 5.5 ounce can of the Recovery a day should be enough.

Thank you for your reply Denice because the syringe feeding was not working really at all, we ended up going to the emergency clinic and Princess is there currently for a 24-hour intensive. Fluids, ultrasound to rule out other problems, and if all goes well, the feeding tube. We got an update this morning saying she is doing well so far - I am optimistic!