Liver Disease Questions

Our kitty has liver disease right now. We are syringe feeding her right now; no fun..but will be having the feeding tube put in on Friday. She too was backed up and it really made her sick. She had x-rays, ultrasound, blood work; the works because originally the vet thought she might have a blockage. I think it was because she became so constipated that she just stopped eating altogether. We didn't notice that she had stopped eating because her bowl would be empty. Turns out our other cat was eating hers too. Now we really have to make sure they are going to be separated. Of course thats going to be when she starts eating again. Right now she is eating a/d. She has never liked soft food; she's only eating it because we're syringe feeding her,  so I'm not sure what we will feed her afterwards. I think I will ask the vet about the LD. Is that a soft food and/or does it come in a dry version? This is so heartbreaking to see her like this. I am committed to doing what it takes to get her health back and maintain it. It looks like a long road ahead, that's for sure. What's the name of the medicine? 

fatcat5 said:

 
Our kitty has liver disease right now. We are syringe feeding her right now; no fun..but will be having the feeding tube put in on Friday. She too was backed up and it really made her sick. She had x-rays, ultrasound, blood work; the works because originally the vet thought she might have a blockage. I think it was because she became so constipated that she just stopped eating altogether. We didn't notice that she had stopped eating because her bowl would be empty. Turns out our other cat was eating hers too. Now we really have to make sure they are going to be separated. Of course thats going to be when she starts eating again. Right now she is eating a/d. She has never liked soft food; she's only eating it because we're syringe feeding her,  so I'm not sure what we will feed her afterwards. I think I will ask the vet about the LD. Is that a soft food and/or does it come in a dry version? This is so heartbreaking to see her like this. I am committed to doing what it takes to get her health back and maintain it. It looks like a long road ahead, that's for sure. What's the name of the medicine? 

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I'm sorry for your cat's illness.  What's the name of what medicine?  Can you be more specific?

This is exactly what happened to our Pippen about 7 1/2 years ago. 

He was backed up all the way to his stomach.  This caused a series of things to go all kinds of wrong... 

• With that kind of back up, the food had no where to go but back out the way it came.  He was vomiting and losing weight. 
• Also, his bile had nowhere to go, so it started flowing backward... toward his liver.
• Since everything was at a standstill, the bacteria in his colon started proliferating exponentially, and guess where it headed?... back up the system to the liver. 
• 5 enemas in 2 weeks, that's what it took to get him cleaned out.  The flushing was also most likely a factor in sending bacteria to places it shouldn't have gone (backwash)

The only reason we found out the bacteria was in his liver was because we did a biopsy.  It turned out to be a good thing we did, because the bacteria was particularly nasty and resistant to most antibiotics.  We had to use an especially strong antibiotic, and it took two rounds to finally get rid of it. 

Eventually, we put Pippen on a regimen of liver support medications.  Did you know the liver is the only organ that will regenerate and heal itself?... that is as long as any damage is relatively minor.  It's actually pretty cool, but Pippen's liver was so badly scarred, he will most likely be on meds for the rest of his life.

• Sam-e (Adenosyl) helps support the liver function.  Bonus is that it also helps with mood.
• Milk Thistle (Marin/silymarin)  helps the liver regeneration.  BUT it also has to be processed through the liver, so it can cause ALTs to read high.  Dosage is important to keep a good balance.
• Ursodiol helps keep the bile flowing in the right direction.  It also helps to minimize scarring.
• Prednisolone helps keep inflammation down.  Right now we are on a relatively low "maintenance mode".  However, we've gone through rounds where we've needed to raise the dosage until his system calms back down. 

While Pippen was recovering from the enemas and the biopsy, he was also fitted with a feeding tube.  He had lost quite a bit of weight, so the tube was an absolute necessity.  For a while we were really afraid he might not pull out after all that effort.  But he did.

Another thing that I changed was his food.  Why?  Because he didn't have any constipation issues until I started feeding a certain food that I discovered was packed with corn and other fillers.  I ended up researching commercial food quite obsessively at this time, and came to a decision to start feeding a raw diet.

Now, I'm not going to tell you that a raw diet is the be all, end all, cure all diet; but I will tell you that Pippen started eating more on his own and recovered more quickly when I made the switch.  That's just my experience and observation.

Remember, this happened to Pippen 7 1/2 years ago, he's still with us.

This last summer, we had a bout of high ALT readings, so we did another biopsy.  Pippen's liver is still badly scarred and showing signs of necrosis.  It seemed that his immune system had been triggered into high gear and was actually attacking it.  This was one of those times that we had to raise the Pred dosage for a while to "re-set" the system. 

Even so, the vets were amazed, considering the biopsy results, that Pippen was still kickin'.  Personally, I believe the species appropriate diet is easier on his system over all, so his organs don't have to work as hard.  But again.. that's just my theory based on the research I've done on my own.  And I also know it doesn't mean Pippen will live as long as our other cats.

All this is to say, stick to it, do some research of your own; become educated on the liver and how it works in conjunction with other body systems and organs... 

Take care of your baby, take care of yourself (don't let her see ya sweat).  

We'll send good vibes and prayers that she pulls through.  

I assume you are talking about hepatic lipidosis or fatty liver.  My kitty went through it 4 years ago and he did survive it.  It does have a long recovery period.  Patches had a feeding tube for about a month and he actually recovered faster than most.  He still takes prednisolone and gets blood work every 6 months to check his liver function.  

In addition to a steroid most vets give Denamarin which contains SamE and milk thistle.  The pill has to be given whole because it has a protective coating so that it breaks down in the intestines rather than the stomach.  Patches was also on an antibiotic called metro, brand name Flagyl.  The flagyl and pred can be crushed up and put through the feeding tube which is good because the metro is very bitter.

It will be quite awhile before he will eat on his own and it's good to keep the feeding tube in for a little while after he is eating well on his own as a precaution.  You wouldn't want to have it replaced if he relapses.  Make sure your vet xrays him after putting the tube in to make sure the placement is right.  We have had a few kitties here who had issues with the feeding tube because the placement was off.

FatCat, I am sorry it took so long to reply! I feel for you and your kitty so much!! Also, I think that your kitty is much sicker than mine was. He never stopped eating, but was super backed up. He had so much poo in him that my first vet thought he was riddled with tumors. He had misdiagnosed my moom's dog earlier that year, and so I got a second opinion- thank God I did.

Anyway, she did x-rays and blood work and discovered issues with his liver. She fixed it with the Liver Diet cat food (that he still eats today) and meds (that he was on for less than a year).

He was diagnosed about six years ago and so I do not remember the exact name of the meds, but it was something similar to Metronidazole which is sold under the name of Flagyl. It was super bitter and my cat cannot be pilled, so my vet had it put into treat form. 

Please update soon, I would love to here how she is doing! The good news is that this disease is totally beatable. Unfortunately, my kitty also developed hip dysplasia  and according to my vet, that is going to kill him long before the liver disease ever will.