My poor baby

I have a cat, well 2, that are almost 13. The one had an anal gland issue about a month ago and was antibiotics. During those visits, we realized that he had lost weight - I don't know how quickly it had happened. I hadn't noticed - I have an 8 month old and 3 year old and have been busy and sleep-deprived over the last few months. He was down to 9.5 lbs from 12 lbs. While on antibiotics, he started vomitting and stopped eating his food. We decided to change his food to a senior diet with higher calories to get his weight back up. The vomitting subsided and he was eating again. Monday he started vomitting again and stopped eating. Tues I took him to the vet and did bloodwork. The results were okay, other than his ALT - grossly abnormal. They ran the test 3 times, then sent it off to a lab to check. His ALT was 2300-something. Top end of normal range was like 150. My vet said she's never seen a reading that high. It's a reading they would expect with trauma like being hit by a car. He's an indoor cat, so not possible. His weight was dropped to 8 lbs in slightly less than a month. They suggested X-rays, and tests for IBL, kidney disease, liver function, which could also lead to ultrasound. I've spent $555, and the other tests are $780, plus another $200- something for an ultrasound. I'm on mat leave, so I'm on a reduced income as it is and am worried about money. My sweet kitty has stopped eating again (only Thurs) and was hiding in the basement. I have this bad feeling that I'm too late to help him. If his ALT is that bad, how can we get him better? I could spend another $1000, for them to suggest biopsy and/or surgery to find out that I just can't make him better no matter how much money I spend. I'm so sad. What is the right decision?

Does he go outside EVER ?  Could he have ingested some toxin or another that could have effected his liver?  Did the Vet explain that this reading is associated with his liver?  Did they give you any pills to try to help with his liver, like Denamarin?  Or give him any antibiotics?

My old girl who recently passed on used to get elevated ALT (although not THAT high) about every other blood test, and each time she would get an antibiotic and it would go back within normal ranges.  We never knew what was going, but it "righted" itself for awhile.  We tried to give her Denamarin, but she was impossible to pill .  (BTW, she did NOT pass on from this issue, she had other health issues as well)

Before giving up, would definitely try either or both of the above, after discussing with my Vet.  I know it's hard, but you may need to force feed him with a syringe until he starts eating again.  Not eating can actually make his liver worse....MUCH worse.  Your Vet can give you somehigh calorie, very nutritious food that blends well with water so it works well in syringe feeding. 

It could possibly be lymphoma but that can't be confirmed without a biopsy. My cat Chessy who is 14 has recently had very high ALT and my vet said it might be lymphoma. In my case she didn't recommend doing a biopsy because we had just been through a LOT with our other cat Mia. My vet put Chessy on a low dose of prednisolone and he has been doing pretty well. He's also on pepcid and subqs for kidney disease. Just thought it was worth mentioning, you may want to consider that.

No, Winston has never been outside other than in a cat carrier. I don't have plants because learned in early days that they'll chew them. His brother Wally chewed a piece off a computer cord in the early days and needed surgery to remove. I'm careful about what we leave out. Plus needed to baby proof for my kids, so I think we're fairly safe.

The Vet has no idea. They tested it 3 times in house, then sent away to be tested again. Said she's never seen a reading that high. You would expect it with trauma like getting hit by a car. I can't possibly think how he could have gotten hurt that bad in the house! They gave him a shot of anti nausea meds, and something to coat esophagus, and something to settle his stomach. It didn't work that well.

They want to run more tests - IBL, liver function, early kidney disease, X-rays - a cost of almost $800. Then I'm betting an ultrasound for any abnormalities.

He suddenly perked up at dinner time, so I fed him his brothers canned food (it was a weight loss formula, but it was all I had). He refused to eat the dry we recently switched him too. Went back to vets and picked up a few cans of a gastrointestinal formula and he's eaten at 8 pm, 10 pm, 330am (was up with the baby), 630am, 730am. If he's bugging I'm going to feed him. We took back the dry he wouldn't eat and picked up a grain-free organic formula just in case of a food insensitivity. We will try that once I think he can handle it.

He came for a cuddle last night. He was rolling over for a belly rub and was purring away. It made me sad because he's all skin and bones - I can feel ribs and hip bones. I can't believe how thin he was and I don't know when this started to happen. I feel bad that I didn't notice sooner.

We couldn't fit in X-rays this weekend because of plans we've had for months. If he's not great Monday, we'll consider taking that step. If we don't, we'll rerun blood tests in a few weeks. Is it possible he's allergic to amoxicillin and caused a reaction/damage to his liver? My husband and I have spent hours researching possibilities.

That's what I'm wondering too because of his symptoms and what I've read. Yeah to check for that would be X-rays, then ultrasound, then possibly biopsy as you mentioned. Who knows what that'll cost! Plus, if it was, I would do surgery, chemotherapy, etc. I don't think I could put him through that just to extend his life for a few months. I couldn't afford it and with two young children, it'd be so hard to give him the attention he would need. I'm trying food and see how that goes, in case it's a food issue. Retest his blood and see what to do from there. If he's still really unwell on Mon, we'll proceed with X-rays.

A kitty's liver values will go out of whack from losing weight quickly.  Although your kitty's ALT is very high I question a vet saying they had never seen a reading that high.  When my kitty had hepatic lipidosis his ALT went over 3000 before it started coming down.  That is the main value the vet was watching when he was very sick.  The question for my kitty was what is the underlying cause.  For my kitty it was undiagnosed IBD.  He had been having flares with anorexia and vomiting bile starting at 18 months old.  I took him to a new vet, one of many while vet hopping to figure out what his issue was, and he had gone into hepatic lipidosis.

 yes, cats can definitely have a bad reaction to antibiotics, just like humans.  One of my cats had a note in his file that he could never take Clavamox because of his bad reaction.  And I did read that amoxicillin, if given in too large a dose, CAN be toxic and cause liver damage.  Hopefully your Vet prescribed the correct amount based on Winston's weight at the time of dosing, not his "normal" weight, since that's how they figure out the amount to give. 

OR, like Denice said, this could be Hepatic Lipidosis, but with him beginning to eat on his own, doesn't really sound like it.  Is he yellow at all, say in the area between his eat and eye...that spot where the fur is thinner?  Or are his gums the least bit yellow.  HL causes jaundice. 

I remember when we were at the vet, I had asked about fatty liver and they hadn't seen any yellowing of eyes and skin.

Poor little guy was on antibiotics a month ago for an anal gland issue. He was 9.5 lbs at the time and we really noticed him not being well on the antibiotics and at day 7 we stopped giving it to him (supposed to take for 10 days). He started puking and refusing food. So we stopped and bought him new food. It eased up a few days later, then it flared up again. Earlier in the week, he was down to 8 lbs. We used to call him "finicky fussy face" because he was a pukey cat and didn't react well to his shots. At one time we had to take him back and they had to give him an appetite stimulant. We've had to change foods many times over the years because he's refused to eat - and been through many brands because they'd make him sick. Maybe he had an underlying condition that we never realized. Hadn't heard of IBD until this week.

Now today, he can't seem to eat enough, but his butt (anal glands) are irritated again - he's licking himself raw. Grrr. Maybe because of the lack of food, fiber, maybe constipated and they weren't draining. Not sure what to do about this issue - back to the vet? My husband and I are reluctant to put him back on any antibiotics because we're wondering if that has contributed somewhat to our sick cat.

I appreciate having some fellow cat parents contributing their thoughts/ideas to our situation. Thank you!

I had a cat with a RUPTURED anal gland once, and that required antibiotics because it caused a pretty large open wound.  Now, some cats need to have their anal glands "expressed" once in awhile, some even need that done regularly.  Is that what you mean by him havng "issues"...that perhaps they need to be expressed?  My Vet did say that can be caused from just what you said...bowel issues of different types.  If a regular stool doesn't pass by regularly to express those glands normally, then there CAN be issues.  OR, because he didn't finish the round of antibiotics, maybe there is a slight infection down inside that is causing him to be irritated, and that could be BAD news.  I would definitely take him in to have that issue checked out.

since you have mentioned that he's always had an issue with food, I would check into IBD.  Unfortunately, it's fairly common among cats it seems.  There are many, many threads here on TCS about it.  Some cats have more bowel issues, some have vomiting issues, and many have both.  Food is a major factor with IBD, grains in particular.  You want to stay away from them!  And I think many IBD cats end up on low dose  steroids, which seem to help immensely.  But first, you need to determine if that's the problem.  The only REAL way to diagnose it is via biopsy, but often a Vet will diagnose it thru symptoms and then if implementing changes in diet and adding certain meds helps, that's what they go with.  Sometimes that change in diet IS a prescription diet, but normally a HYPOALLERGENIC one that using just one protein source that is totally new to the cat.