Desperate for advice on sick cat/ hepatic lipidosis!

Hi, 

I'm very new to this site as I found it when I was doing research on fatty liver disease. Okay so a bit of a backstory, I recently adopted am 8 year old kitty from a local rescue mid September. They told me she didn't eat much (even though she's a fair size cat, weighing in at 12 lbs). So I took her home, she adjusted quite well as it was just me and her. Originally named Lady Di, I shortened it to Lady. I got a baggie of the food they were feeding her so I could titrate the food into the Hills Science Diet I bought her. Her food was a big mix of all kinds of brands because obviously, a rescue gets variations of food from donations. First few weeks off, she's doing fine. But I do notice she really does not eat much at all, her food bowl never empties. I figured maybe she didn't like the food, they gave me a soft food they told me she loved, but she had no interest in it whenever I tried to give it to her. Fast forward to mid October, and my boyfriend told me she threw up but nothing came up while I was at work. So I  start to monitor her, think possibly a hairball because she's has quite a lot of fur. So over a period of about 4 days she continues to throw up and nothing comes up, and she's not eating, no urine or stool in the litter box and she starts hiding away all day. So as soon as Monday rolls around I call the vet, because I know somethings up. They examine her, she looks fine, no issues with kidneys or anything. She's lost 4lbs, and has a slight yellow tinge to her. They do blood work and it comes back. She's jaunice. So they tell me she has fatty liver disease. So they gave me 2 options with her care which was either hospitalization for a couple days or daily IV fluids and syringe feeding at home. I pick the latter because it's a major price difference and I'm already $300 in with no money left. So we do that, and she looks better, starts acting normal. I take her to my Mom''s because she offered to help with the care as I work almost 50 hrs a week. So she's been at my Moms and now she's acting normal again but after 2 weeks of medication (I forget what it's called but it's an appetite stimulant), IV fluids every other day and daily syringe feeding with A/D Urgent Care and she still shows no interest in food or water. She has a bit of interest in cat treats but will not eat them. The vets want me to bring her back in, which I cannot do for another couple weeks because I can't afford to. I barely made rent having to pay in total $420 in her vet care just last month. If anyone has any advice on food that might get her interested or anything that could help I'd be so grateful! I'm just stressed to the max with all this happening right after I adopt her, and having lost my other cat to an unknown illness a few weeks before I adopted Lady which also put me $400 in debt. I was heart broken losing my other baby after having her since she was a kitten and she was 9 when she passed. Lady was to help cope but now she's sick so I'm just feeling awful and I'm trying so hard to fight for her because I can't lose her too. Please, any advice would be great, thanks! I will insert a picture of my Lady, I'm not entirely sure of her breed. The rescue told me she's a Ragdoll but I find her face is more like an than Ragdoll, but I don't know breeds very well as she's the first cat I had that wasn't a domestic short hair.  

She is a beautiful cat.   One of my kitties had fatty liver almost 6 years ago and he is still here and doing well.  I did have a feeding tube put in.  There is nothing magical about a feeding tube it just makes the feedings easier, he also was getting the A/D.  Recovery from fatty liver can be and often is a slow process.  All you can do is continue doing what you are doing.  She won't show an interest in food until the fat deposits on her liver are used and her liver begins to recover.

The real question is 'why did she quit eating in the first place.'  Not eating enough is the cause of fatty liver.  Since she was in the shelter she may have quit eating due to stress and she was going into fatty liver when you brought her home.  Once it starts appetite lessens until they quit eating all together.  That sets up a vicious cycle which is why assist feeding is necessary.  Enough food is the only 'cure' for fatty liver.

I totally agree with everything Denice has said.  I also had a cat with Fatty liver, although mine was about 20 years ago.  He also had a feeding tube put in, and we fed him through that for almost four momths. So, by my way of thinking, two weeks is nothing.  Even when Lady starts eating on her own, you will still probably need to Assist Feed her for a long time in order to make sure she is getting ENOUGH to sustain and evengain back what she lost. 

Are you giving her any liver supplements in her feedings.  You could give her Sam-E, or just some plain Vitamin E if you've got it (my Vet said just one or two drops of the lowest iu's you can find), milk thistle, Vitamin B.  You could call your Vet and ask about any and all of these to see how much, etc. to give.    Denamarin is really the best thing for Liver Support, but it needs to be given as a WHOLE pill, so you can't give it thru the syringe.  If you have trouble pilling like I do, then that might not work. 

Thank you both for your replies. The only story I got on her from the rescue that she and another cat of the same breed named Elton were rescued together. Apparently their original owners took them to the vet to get put down simply because of their age, so obviously the vet got a hold of the rescue and they were able to get them signed over. I was supposed to take Elton but the woman who was fostering them both (she's the co-owner of the rescue) decided to keep him because he was extremely frightened. I think Lady got sick because she likely went from living in one home her whole life and then next thing you know she's put in this home with all these cats and then once she started to get comfortable she got moved to me. I think all the moving and having to leave Elton stressed her out (I think the two should have been kept as a pair but that wasn't my choice to do so). My Mom said she's having a big interest in food now (I wasn't updated this week until today) but still doesn't touch it. I hope the medication will help with that. The vet did not recommend any supplements at all so I will look into it! I had my Mom add pureed pumpkin to her food as I noticed the one day she was straining and I read somewhere that it's a good idea to add it because her body would bind up after going so long without proper nutrition.  While I'm on here can anyone give any tips on how to make IV fluids easier? She's a pretty easy cat to handle but now that she's feeling better she's starting to struggle and my Mom is having troubles doing it all by herself. 

Awe....her life has just been turned upside down.  I find it so hard to believe her previous owner would do that   Thank goodness for that Vet, huh?

Glad she is showing interest in food.  That's a good sign! 

On the fluids, the are actuall call Sub-Q fluids, and here's a link to a site that gives some tips on how to make them as easy as possible.  I've had to give them to my kidney cats before.  It's also good that she is starting to struggle (in a way) because it does mean she is feeling better   http://www.felinecrf.org/subcutaneous_fluids_tips.htm

What a gorgeous kitty! So glad to hear she is a bit better now. I believe she is a seal point Himalayan. Those eyes are so pretty!

I figured I'd give an update on here, so over the last week she's had an interest in food but still hadn't eaten on her own, but on the weekend I noticed she was REALLY interested, and I noticed her head would shake when she was sniffing treats. Last night she finally took treats from my Mom AND drank water on her own! I'm so happy right now, hopefully we can move on to canned food soon!

I was glad to see your update and that your kitty is feeling better. I agree with a previous poster that she is a Seal Point Himalayan. Gorgeous!  I have had a lot of cats over the years, my own and fosters, and have been involved in rescue, and if I were you, I'd try feeding baby food - get the kind that is ONLY chicken and broth. No salt or onion or anything else should be added.  You might even ask your vet about syringe feeding the baby food. Sometimes all it takes is finding something enticing to get a cat interested in eating again, and they'll be back into a regular routine of eating.  I have also had some success with freshly cooked boiled chicken served a little warm (not hot!). You don't want either of these foods to become a permanent diet, as they are not nutritionally complete for a cat, but they can help spur some interest in food.

The stress of so much upheaval and change is rough on cats.  It's too bad the pair couldn't have been kept together, but being in rescue, I know it's not always possible.  Good luck!

There's always Forti-flora, a probiotic made by Purina.  It's used more as a topper to entice kitties than for the probiotic properties, which I understand is not well thought of here at TCS.  My own experience with Forti-flora is pretty much similar to everyone else's here.  I'm not really sure if it did any good for them or not. BUT,  I can say that it is good as an enticer.  You can order Forti-flora online cheaper than you can get it at your vet's office.  

Those white paw tips make me now think she is a mix.  Surely she has Seal Point Himmy in her, but maybe her granddaddy was a Tuxedo?  

I'll have to make a trip to the grocery store then for some baby food! I noticed she never had an interest in chicken or soft treats so trying to find something she likes is difficult. I do believe she enjoys tuna flavoured food because she loves her tuna Temptations and a tuna can of Purina soft cat food. So maybe I'll start with seafood flavoured food. I've never heard of Purina Forti-flora, is it American? I live in Canada so we don't have a lot of the same things. As to her breed, I kind of was leaning more towards her being a Himalayan because her face is somewhat brachycephalic. I've never been into breeds though because my Mom and I do a lot of rescue so all our cats for the most part have been DSH. But I do admit that she is beautiful, and her fur is the softest thing I have touched. I will attach another pic, although it's blurry because I accidentally deleted the good one instead of the bad one, this was taken with my Canon instead of my phone so hopefully it's a better quality. 

You can get Forti-flora for cats online.  I've never found it in the stores.  Here's a link:  

https://www.chewy.com/s?rh=brand_fa...ts&utm_term=fortiflora&utm_content=Fortiflora

No, FortiFlora is not sold in any store because it is a veterinary product. You can buy it from the vet or online from places like Amazon. Amazon's Canadian web site sells it:

No other tips or suggestions since the members have given you such good advice.  I just wanted to add that Lady is absolutely gorgeous and I wish you the best of luck with her recovery.   Please keep us posted on her progress.

My cat didn't have fatty liver problems but she did go through a phase of not wanting to eat because of a serious bacterial infection. I found a brand of food called Soulisitic at my local Petco and she loved it. It's a wet food so it's easy to eat and they have lots of fishy flavors. You can also find it online too.