Update To "Need Help Food problems" - hepatic lipidosis and feeding tube

I have had some success in finding a food most of my cats will eat ( 6 out of 7 ). But the one cat I was worried about, well that's another story. I tried all of the suggestions without any success. Things started to go down hill very fast & I had to start force feeding every meal by 11/01/14 but she was still acting fine, not vomiting, up walking around being her normal little princess Smokie self. On Monday when I returned home from work  I knew I was not being overly concerned. I found her sleeping on the floor which she NEVER does, so I took her to the vets & her blood work showed her liver panel was high on every level, (Hello hepatic lipidosis .) My vet then informed me to rush her to the specialist 1 hour away, so off we went.  After explaining to the vet of the food change & what a brat she is when she does not get her way & how she has been very healthy up to this point, he said well there has to be an underlying problem. I politely informed him that I did not believe this to be true because when I say she is not your normal cat I mean she is not Normal in any since of the word. But I let him run his test just so we could work on the problem at hand. He ran every test to man kind & everything came back normal except for hepatic lipidosis. We both agreed she needed a feeding tube so that same day 11/3/14 she became my feeding tube baby. While he was doing the surgery he took a biopsy of her liver because he truly felt she had some form of cancer. Smokie returned home the next day & well we have been dealing with it since then. She is cancer free, nothing wrong with her but hepatic lipidosis it only took $4100.00+ to be able to say to the vet I told you she is the most extremely stubborn cats you will ever know. 

 As of 11/10/14 we returned for a check up & things are turning around fast, her blood work is close to normal & she even put on a little weight. Our only problem is now she always feels Nausea with some Vomiting. I can't get her to touch any food, but we are working on it. I'm sure this post is not the easiest to read, I've only had 4 hours of sleep in the last 48 so not much makes since to me right now.

When I've had some sleep & can see straight I'll post the specifics of meds, type of tube, feeding times & any question anyone has.

Thanks

-Kimber & Princess Smokie

My apologies that your thread was not answered sooner. :shame: How is your kitty today? I am so sorry about the diagnosis of Hepatic Lipidosis. Does she still have the feeding tube? I found this in another thread about feeding tubes and not sure if it will be of any help to you but does mention about nausea too. http://www.mygracevet.com/downloads/Esophageal_Feeding_Tube_Care.pdf I have no experience with this but thought I would pull that link up - may be moot at this point in your kitties regime.

Hoping that bumping up your thread will then get some more replies of firsthand experience from member's. I really hope that Smokey is doing better and so very sorry about what you are going through. Please, if you see this, update when you can.

Thank you for your kind reply. I have to admit after a few days of know reply's I had all but given up on  this website. I figured either people did not have first hand knowledge of this situation or maybe they felt I was a troll  looking for a handout. Either way I remember what it was like when I was part of the feline diabetes board we had lots of situations like this, I just did not want to feel like that, again thank you for your reply.

 Update, Smokie is doing good. She is still vomiting but not as much the last few days, I added a pepcid 10mg once a day to her diet & it seems to be helping. I've also started warming the food above room temp but not to warm as this could burn her stomach. She is finally starting to sleep on the bed again & has been off the floor for about two days now, for princess Smokie this is returning to normal . I am still working on getting her to eat on her own but either she hates the food (which is how we got to this point) or she is just full 24/7 from the 4 feedings a day. We have another vet appointment on Monday & I am now hoping the blood work is even better then the last one. She may have lost some weight since I lowered her feeding dose to 40 cc every feeding. The vet agreed with me when I lowered the dose from 60 cc because of her vomiting & lack of trying to eat on her own. The only food she will even try right now is blue buffalo wilderness chicken, so long as she is trying I am happy.

 The supplies are a little crazy right now The cost is through the ruff & I can't get enough of them. Right now I still need to get another neck collar for her feeding tub & Kitty Kollar is the only place that seems to have the best ones plus it's the only one the vet says to use. So if anyone has a kitty with a feeding tub Kitty Kollar is really the best place to get it from. Syringes don't last long but I have found that the O-ring syringes are the best to use & they last a bit longer then the normal rubber syringes. The special cat food, well that's off the chain, they can charge what ever they like because they know I have to have it.

I am very hopeful that Smokie will recover from this situation & return to her normal self.

Thanks again

-Kimber & Princess Smokie  

I am SOOOO happy you came back to check your thread. We do care so very much and I feel so bad that there were no replies. I think sometimes people just don't know anything about a certain condition and may not know what to say. Regardless, the GOOD NEWS is that you came back AND that princess Smokey is doing better. I am really quite happy to hear this. I have no clue on the supplies needed for a feeding tube but can imagine it is quite an undertaking and expense. I am not sure on the feeding collar either. wish I could be of more help in that area. I do know about the expense of the special food though. They do have us there, right??!!! :slant: Knowing we HAVE to buy it. Wish the price would reflect compassion.

Certainly, I will be keeping watch on your updates and wishing for a full recovery of Smokey. You are doing all you can for her, bless your heart AND her little heart. It is SO great that she is sleeping on the bed again - returning to feeling better and acting more normal. Keep the updates coming. :nod:

Those vibes are coming your way !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rub: for Monday's bloodwork.

I, too, am sorry you didn't get any replies to your post.  I have no experience with hepatic lipidosis so I can't speak to any of that--but I did want to post and say I'm so glad to hear Smokie is doing better.  I will keep my fingers crossed that the blood work on Monday is good!  

I  don't have any experience with hepatic lipidosis but wanted to let you know that I will be praying Smokie starts feeling better soon. I know there are several people on here that have experience with this and maybe they have over looked this threat. Hope you get some good news on the blood work.

I don't have any experience with hepatic lipidosis either. But here are my thoughts: regarding supplies, if a 'prescription' is needed for, for example, special foods, I believe the vet is required by law to give you the prescription and then you have your choice of where to buy it from. (Certainly, that is the case with humans and eye doctors.) Drs. FostersSmith has been around a good amount of time.
I understand you need to feed a cat small amounts of food, frequenly, to help them recover from hepatic lipidosis. Egg yolks are nutritious and calorically dense--maybe see if Smokie will lick that up. (If you really want to spoil her, try quail eggs.)
Good luck, and do keep us posted with updates.

I have a kitty that survived hepatic lipidosis.  It took a while for him to start eating on his own.  He had the feeding tube for about a month.  He had been eating well on his own for about a week before the vet removed the feeding tube as a precaution.

My boy stopped eating when his sister was really sick (she had emergency surgery for a furball obstruction and a second emergency surgery when she got an infection).  It was very traumatic.  He got really skinny-he's normally about 16.5 pounds.  He lost about 5 pounds.  I thought I was going to lose him--it was a very traumatic time.  I'm so blessed that they both made a full recovery.  Fortunately, I did not have to give him a feeding tube.  

I think your vet can probably give Princess Smokie something for her nausea (and an appetite stimulant, which I think can cause nausea too).  Check on that.  As for your vet, it's really frustrating to have a doctor or vet who does not listen to you. It's awful.  I'm so sorry you're having such a rough time.  Maybe when Princess Smokie is doing better, you can find another vet.  

I buy prescription food online, which saves me a lot of money.  Both my babies have IBD.  As for now (check with the vet on this because I don't know if there is a specific reason for the prescription food), I think it's more crucial that Princess Smokie starts eating.  My vet told me to try whatever worked, whether it was tuna, boiled chicken, treats, cat food containing gravy, such as (but not necessarily) Tiki Cat (no onions or garlic, including both, which contains them or the powder form).  Also, you can try putting parmesan or crushed up treats on her food.  

Check this out too.  Some helpful tips on getting a cat to eat.  

http://www.felinecrf.com/managd.htm

As discussed at:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/288200/homemade-treats-for-cat-with-kidney-disease

No onions or garlic, including broth containing them. 

Check out this thread, which contains lots of helpful info and links on feeding and hydrating.  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/262642/help-cat-hasnt-been-eating-for-one-week

See this link for foods that are toxic to cats:

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/cat-behavior/foods-are-hazardous-cats

Keeping Princess Smokie hydrated is crucial.  I read that you can buy sub-q fluids online for less money.  I have not done that--maybe you're already getting them online.  

Hang in there Kimber! 

How's princess Smokie doing?  I hope she's doing better.  

ForrestMeows said:

How's princess Smokie doing?  I hope she's doing better.  

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Yes - any update on that blood test from last week? :cross: