My baby has elevated liver numbers and on feeding tube

I have an 8 yr old black short hair that is the baby in the house. A couple of weeks ago, not sure exactly when, he started not eating much. I took him to one vet that indicated that he had ear mites, gave me ear mite meds and then when he was itching, they said he had fleas and got me to put Activyl (?) on him and a spray for my carpets. This is an indoor cat, hardwood floors with areas rugs and NO Fleas. So, I did this and my cat went from being a great energetic cat to my pitiful sick baby.  I tried feeding him just about everything that I thought he would like. He just started eating less and less. Last week I took him to another vet, we were told to bathe him and he had a yeast infection in his ear, no mites, so, next day he was worse and about $2000 later, he is on a feeding tube. He has elevated liver numbers and is listless, moves some when he has to go pee, but no bowel movement yet (giving him A&D and on my own, after reading a bunch of stuff online here, and researching some, giving him KMR with his food and water. I have also given him a little bit of pumpkin in his water to see if that helps the pooping. 

The Dr here (I'm in WV) indicated the other day that his liver numbers were still high, (test done the day after feeding tube put in and original test done on the day of...) and that we need to discuss our options after a couple of DAYS. After reading what I am reading, I am not sure that is the correct answer. I am willing to do this for as long as it takes if it is something that has a chance of being reversed.

I have been reading some stuff on here and really am looking to see what I need to do. My boyfriend came over today and the cat has lay down next to him all day. Little purring, and just relaxing. He has a cat crush on my guy, so I may have to hold him hostage here when he comes back over. I have been having to try to fish him out from under the bed most mornings to give him his meds and again at night. I think I have the hang of the feeding tube thing, esophogeal, but I worry that I am feeding him too fast. It only takes a few minutes, max, and he is not regurgitating it up at all. The doctors office had him too full and he was drooling badly and vomiting when they did it. So far he has not thrown up at all, but I am giving him smaller amounts more often. My biggest worry is the not pooping and how long does it take for the liver numbers to come down? 

I miss my baby Shadow and am anxious that I am doing this wrong, but I don't have a lot of faith in a Dr that is telling me to discuss options after two days. 

kkjenners said:

 
I miss my baby Shadow and am anxious that I am doing this wrong, but I don't have a lot of faith in a Dr that is telling me to discuss options after two days. 

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Do you have a specific diagnosis? Fatty liver disease (Hepatic lipidosis)?

Nothing specific at this time. He is NOT jaundiced. His liver numbers are elevated, but I hope I caught it before it became something massively more serious than it already is. I called and went over this morning to get more Hills Diet, he gave me Reglan for his tummy instead of Cerenia... which is fine with me. He is less groggy. Still had a growling cat to drag out from under the bed, he has taking to hiding. He was in basement last night but this morning came up on his own steam. I am giving him Hills, the kitten supplement KMR(?) and some little bit of pumpkin baby food (water and pumpkin only and only 1/4 to 1/2 tsp in his water to get him to poo. I think it worked.) Other than that, I am reading about what it could be online and just trying to figure it out. Since my Dr is a small animal clinic, I think he mainly is with small dogs etc. I live in a Race horse community, so most of the Drs here are for larger animals too. Cats seem to be a minor feature in most of the training here. I do know I am not a nurse or Dr and really am struggling to make sure he gets fed, (I've lost 13 lbs.... whooo hooo, not how I wanted to do so, but hey, who cares right?!) He is not super active, but is moving around and just grumbling if someone does something he does not like.

I am feeding him smaller doses, ie: instead of 40ml each time, I am going with 25-30 and giving him food every 4 or so hours and alternating water the other two, same amount. He is also getting water when I feed him food. I am giving him about 1 tbsp. of the kitten milk supplement and 1/4-1/2 tsp in the water every other watering. I do not feed him at all over the night, but I think I need to at least get something in him at midnight or so, then again at 6. This going all night is part of the problem I think. By morning he is empty and doesn't want to be bothered. He is not going after water on his own, but was interested enough to come upstairs when I was in the kitchen, when he saw the syringes, he went under the bed. It was another two to three hours before I finally bit the bullet and dragged him out by his back paws. He was not happy and I have rug burns on my elbows... lol... but he is fed.

He seems more alert today. Moving some more, but still not my normal baby. Dr wants to do blood work again on weds. After reading stuff online, I do hear that the numbers may not always go down immediately, but nutrition is key to recovery.

K

kkjenners said:

 
Nothing specific at this time.

I do hear that the numbers may not always go down immediately, but nutrition is key to recovery.

K

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Well the treatment does benefit from a diagnosis, and it seems like you don't have one.  Higher liver values and appetite loss is not enough to always come up with a diagnosis, which could include other things like pancreatitis.. So full blood work has been done (?), urinalysis (?), how about some imaging of the liver like ultrasound?

Hi Stephen,

The X-ray showed healthy organs, no feline leukemia,  elevated liver numbers, decreased white blood cells, he's on antibiotics,  reglan for nausea now, however, he hasn't thrown up in days. Dr felt he hasn't gone into full blown fatty liver disease, but was definitely extremely close possibly. I didn't understand exactly what he was saying. Most of it was over my head, but sick, feeding tube, no incurable disease at this time, that he could find, was what I heard.

Good news though, he came out on his own from under the bed, let me feed him, lay up next to me and was purring and stretching while napping comfortably. Not sure exactly what it means, other than he is feeling better. I plan on getting up before midnight and giving him at least water or something small to eat so he is not so empty in the morning for the antibiotics.
K

Hey Stephen,

I'm sorry I did not answer your question. They did a full blood workup, no leukemia, but he said the liver numbers were really high. The white blood cells were low. However, even with the antibiotics the next day bloodwork showed that the white cells were dying almost as fast as they were going up and the liver numbers were still high. Now, he wants to do another one on Weds, but feels that he may be getting over some sort of hump and might actually reverse itself. Originally, I think it was toxins and we bathed him as soon as he started feeling really bad, at the Dr's advice. At this point, he seems to be closer to his normal self. He was curious to go to the window and watch the birds and his tail was twitching like he wanted to get at them. (He's inside, ain't happening.)

K

I now have a diagnosis, sort of. 

I took Shadow to an Internal Med Vet. 

Working diagnosis is Acute Hepatopathy, likely hepatic lipidosis with no primary cause noted yet. 

We had ultrasound, chest xrays, with pending urinalysis, pancreatitis test pending and review of chest xrays pending. 

So, 

$3000 dollars later, they tell me he has a 50/50 chance. Original Vet said we would discuss after the weekend other "options" for his comfort, and when the blood work came back, his numbers were still high, but I had them lowered by whatever I am doing. Then he agreed with me regarding the internal med vet. However, I am now at almost a week and a half and being told that it could be almost 8 weeks to get him back to something, but they are not telling me normal. So, am I just prolonging something that has the potential to be painful or no quality of life for my pet? I am doing the researching and not hearing much back from the Vets. No one wants to give you any info over the phone, but to actually go there is another several hundred dollars, and frankly, I am not made of money and hopefully we will get to the bottom of it before it gets to the bottom of me. 

He is on: 

Vitamin E, 100IU's every 24 hours

L-carnitine, every 24 hours

taurine every 24 hours

danamarin every 24 hours... that one is a bear to get in him, it has to be orally, he does not like that at all. 

cobalamin B12 shot every 7 days

thiamine every 12 hours

famitodine every 12 hours

mirtazipine every 72 hours

and now a different cat food, max cal, she did not like the hills diet. 

Still waiting to hear back regarding the results, was supposed to get a call today. At this time, he is good at about 9pm, he gets energy and moves around and purrs and rubs against you and is just like he has always been except he has a feeding tube, tonight he grumbled when I fed him and every morning he grumbles when I have to get him out from under the bed. This is frustrating. 

Any info out there? 

Karen

It really depends on what the primary cause is.   My cat Patches had hapatic lipidosis six years ago and he is still here and doing well.   The underlying cause for Patches was at that time undiagnosed IBD.  He has been on a steroid since to control the IBD and is fine.  We have had cats here that quit eating as a result of something that stressed them out.  It takes really very little time for a cat to go into hepatic lipidosis.  Recovery can be very slow.  Patches had a feeding tube for a little over a month and he had I believe a quicker than average recovery.  Until and unless you get some kind of dire and terminal diagnoses just keep doing what you are doing.  The main number that my vet was watching was the ALT.  Patches ALT continued to rise even after he was eating well on his own again.  When it started dropping it actually dropped very quickly.

Thank you for that comment. I am very discouraged since I don't know what actually caused it and today he has grumbled at everything I've done and has not been purring as much. He actually licked a bowl of food, but did not eat any, not sure how to get him to eat vs. the feeding tube. That is the hardest part. I don't know if he is in pain or just fed up like me, lol. I own my own business and am a single mom, so, financially I am almost at the bottom of the piggy bank. However, if he has a chance, I am willing to take it. The making little forays out of the house to do business and having to run back asap is really killing me. Most of my business is in other states and more than an hour or so away, so I have to make sure I use my time wisely to get back and feed him when I know he needs to be fed. I really need to focus on feeding him and keeping the nutrients in him, that is the most important part. The vitamins are supplements, so they are secondary if I don't get the food in him. That has been my mantra for the last couple of days. I do believe that next time, I will definitely make sure I watch what is happening with his food etc. K

kkjenners said:

 
Thank you for that comment. I am very discouraged since I don't know what actually caused it and today he has grumbled at everything I've done and has not been purring as much. He actually licked a bowl of food, but did not eat any, not sure how to get him to eat vs. the feeding tube. That is the hardest part. I don't know if he is in pain or just fed up like me, lol. I own my own business and am a single mom, so, financially I am almost at the bottom of the piggy bank. However, if he has a chance, I am willing to take it. The making little forays out of the house to do business and having to run back asap is really killing me. Most of my business is in other states and more than an hour or so away, so I have to make sure I use my time wisely to get back and feed him when I know he needs to be fed. I really need to focus on feeding him and keeping the nutrients in him, that is the most important part. The vitamins are supplements, so they are secondary if I don't get the food in him. That has been my mantra for the last couple of days. I do believe that next time, I will definitely make sure I watch what is happening with his food etc. K

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I'm sorry for the delay in responding, i'm so sorry for all this. My vet told me that milk thistle powder is a decent alternative to denamarin as i couldn't get denamarin in my cat at all. The powder is tasteless and when dissolved in water or a baby food/water slurry can be added to food or just mixed in.  Dosage per vet, but mine turned out to be about a pinch 2x a day.

Thank you Stephen, Shadow seems to be having a down day today. Yesterday evening he felt warm, this morning he feels fine, however he is now hiding as soon as I open my bedroom door and I have a devil's time trying to get him out from under the bed! I'll fish him out before he is due to be fed again. I have been reading about thistle milk and wondered. So far I managed to shove, yes shove, one pill in him, and it has to be done daily. This is no fun, I have scratches from yesterday and I am thinking of putting booties on him or something when I have to give him meds. I have a picture that I put in place for Shadow, he was about 3 years younger and he was 15 lbs then, now 12... however, when stretched out he is almost 4 ft long... big guy, I am hoping to get him turned around here. He has been wobbling around the house today a little before he discovered my bedroom door open, using the bathroom regularly and he has not thrown up at all with the feeding tube. I give him smaller doses more often, that helps. He has always been a grazer and not a cat to just eat two or three times a day. I am not used to being tied to the house in this manner, as a business owner, it is really restricting, but I am in this for the haul here. Let's see what the next few weeks bring. I have been hearing encouraging stuff from others. I think sometimes the failure stories are not because the cat died, but because the owners gave up financially and emotionally, unfortunately. This is definitely a bank breaker.

K

kkjenners said:

 
Thank you Stephen, Shadow seems to be having a down day today. Yesterday evening he felt warm, this morning he feels fine, however he is now hiding as soon as I open my bedroom door and I have a devil's time trying to get him out from under the bed! I'll fish him out before he is due to be fed again. I have been reading about thistle milk and wondered. So far I managed to shove, yes shove, one pill in him, and it has to be done daily. This is no fun, I have scratches from yesterday and I am thinking of putting booties on him or something when I have to give him meds. I have a picture that I put in place for Shadow, he was about 3 years younger and he was 15 lbs then, now 12... however, when stretched out he is almost 4 ft long... big guy, I am hoping to get him turned around here. He has been wobbling around the house today a little before he discovered my bedroom door open, using the bathroom regularly and he has not thrown up at all with the feeding tube. I give him smaller doses more often, that helps. He has always been a grazer and not a cat to just eat two or three times a day. I am not used to being tied to the house in this manner, as a business owner, it is really restricting, but I am in this for the haul here. Let's see what the next few weeks bring. I have been hearing encouraging stuff from others. I think sometimes the failure stories are not because the cat died, but because the owners gave up financially and emotionally, unfortunately. This is definitely a bank breaker.

K

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Have you tried pill pockets, the hollow soft treat that you can hide pills in? For some cats this works.  For other cats a really tempting treat of another kind might work, like i used to make tiny raw hamburger meatballs for my cat with the pill inside and he gobbled them down.  A pill gun is another option but getting into a war with your cat isn't going to go well, and that brings up the question of is he hiding because he feels unwell or because he has become afraid of you?

What's the pill he is taking?

Hi Stephen,

He is taking the denamarin. I used the pill gun, that did not go well. Right now he is not taking anything by mouth. I can put water in his mouth via an eyedropper but he still is not eating orally. I have a surgically installed into the esophagus tube and leaving water down and a little of his favorite snacks or food when it is time to feed him. So far, looking but not interested. I will keep working on that and getting better at giving a pill too. Everything else is something that can get crushed and into his food. I have pill pockets, but again, he is not interested in any food at all right now. I understand it is early days yet.

K

I think he is hiding because he does not feel well. He is under my bed and comes out during the day and hangs out, cuddles up with us, or just sits next to us and purrs his little face off. Today he sat by me while I worked at the computer. I did drop the leaf down on the desk and push the chair under it so it gave him a sense of hiding while being in plain site. He is grumbling when you pet his tummy area. I said something to the vet, I will reiterate it on Monday when she calls with his results.

K

Just a note, he was under my bed earlier when he saw the door open, ugh, however, he just came out and is on the couch with my son and looking out the window. I think he is feeling better and it's almost feeding time, so he may be getting used to the schedule he is on also. No meds for this feed.

K

I lied. He was out for a few minutes, I forgot to close my door, now he is back under the bed and he is growling when I try to get him out. The saga continues.... lol...

kkjenners said:

 
I lied. He was out for a few minutes, I forgot to close my door, now he is back under the bed and he is growling when I try to get him out. The saga continues.... lol...

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I'm so sorry.  So he's being fed entirely through a feeding tube, yes?

Hi Stephen,

Yes, he is on a feeding tube exclusively. Right now he is sleeping. I took him to the Vet ER this morning, he was limping and growling every time I touched him, and he had a fever. We are back on antibiotics and a painkiller for every 8-12 hours. I am hoping to get him past this to see where he can get to.

I read the info on the Thistle Milk. I am hoping to talk to my vet tomorrow about it. She was supposed to let me know what his test results were on Friday but was unable to to give me the results since she did not have them.

Today at the vet er, same place, they said pancreas numbers elevated, liver they knew about, but today his heart was beating quickly and he is having problems with his hind leg. (He got off the couch last night and was growling as he was getting down. He had a dislocated hip several years ago and they removed the ball, was not sure if that was bothering him since he is not moving as much). This vet was hesitant to tell me anything, just talk to my vet tomorrow. More $$ and they gave me pain med and antibiotic but no warm fuzzies here.

I just gave him the denamarin and he is taking something for appetite every 72 hours, a lot of vitamin B's and other stuff listed above. I decided to back off some of the vitamins and just make sure the prescripts are in him and see how he handles that for now. I am really frazzled by his pain. I am a firm believer that I am the caretaker of his wellbeing and have to make decisions that are for his well being/quality before I can decide to make it for the quantity that I want him to have. I am really heartbroken over how he is doing. I keep wondering if I did something, could I do more, did I do too much.... no answers.

At this time, he is on the couch, but his back legs are trembling, like he is worried about moving them. I am going to give him the pain med at 9 and see what happens. So far, he has lay on the couch and not moved, I put him on the floor next to his litter box and he pee'd, but no poo since yesterday. His rib cage is flared but his abdomen is concave, so I am worried about stuff moving in there.

As you can see, today is an emotional roller coaster for me, I have one cat, 8 years, no major illnesses and only go to vet for shots or "earmites" that he did not have. The car accident determined me to make him an indoor cat, so he has been isolated from the illnesses and accidents that can occur for outside cats, unfortunately, it has spoiled me into thinking that I would have him forever and he would never get sick, since I controlled his environment. Ha! Fooled me.

For now, I am just worried that he has more on top of the liver problems. I hope not. I know pancreatitis is something that can be cured, I am hoping the antibiotics kick in soon, he is miserable and so am I.

K

Hi Stephen,

Yes, he is on a feeding tube exclusively. Right now he is sleeping. I took him to the Vet ER this morning, he was limping and growling every time I touched him, and he had a fever. We are back on antibiotics and a painkiller for every 8-12 hours. I am hoping to get him past this to see where he can get to.

I read the info on the Thistle Milk. I am hoping to talk to my vet tomorrow about it. She was supposed to let me know what his test results were on Friday but was unable to to give me the results since she did not have them.

Today at the vet er, same place, they said pancreas numbers elevated, liver they knew about, but today his heart was beating quickly and he is having problems with his hind leg. (He got off the couch last night and was growling as he was getting down. He had a dislocated hip several years ago and they removed the ball, was not sure if that was bothering him since he is not moving as much). This vet was hesitant to tell me anything, just talk to my vet tomorrow. More $$ and they gave me pain med and antibiotic but no warm fuzzies here.

I just gave him the denamarin and he is taking something for appetite every 72 hours, a lot of vitamin B's and other stuff listed above. I decided to back off some of the vitamins and just make sure the prescripts are in him and see how he handles that for now. I am really frazzled by his pain. I am a firm believer that I am the caretaker of his wellbeing and have to make decisions that are for his well being/quality before I can decide to make it for the quantity that I want him to have. I am really heartbroken over how he is doing. I keep wondering if I did something, could I do more, did I do too much.... no answers.

At this time, he is on the couch, but his back legs are trembling, like he is worried about moving them. I am going to give him the pain med at 9 and see what happens. So far, he has lay on the couch and not moved, I put him on the floor next to his litter box and he pee'd, but no poo since yesterday. His rib cage is flared but his abdomen is concave, so I am worried about stuff moving in there.

As you can see, today is an emotional roller coaster for me, I have one cat, 8 years, no major illnesses and only go to vet for shots or "earmites" that he did not have. The car accident determined me to make him an indoor cat, so he has been isolated from the illnesses and accidents that can occur for outside cats, unfortunately, it has spoiled me into thinking that I would have him forever and he would never get sick, since I controlled his environment. Ha! Fooled me.

For now, I am just worried that he has more on top of the liver problems. I hope not. I know pancreatitis is something that can be cured, I am hoping the antibiotics kick in soon, he is miserable and so am I.

K

So, yesterday was bad. Grumble Gus, Shadow's new name, had to be taken to the litter when he had to go, he did not get up on his own. He grumbled when he got in the litter box, but did his pee'ing, no poo still. I am going to get the kitten KMR and add that to the food to see if it loosens anything up.

This morning, I put Mr. Gus into his box, he pee'd, grumbled while doing it, got out of the box, followed me into the kitchen where I was making his tube feed and walked to the bowl of his regular food I had out and ATE three bites!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You have no idea how exciting this is.

He let me pet his hip and legs this morning without growling, so I am hoping that is on the mend, whatever he did there.

I am back on the upswing with him. I cried for the last two nights wondering if this is normal or not and how much more he or I could take. I have only heard a couple of people tell me their pets pulled thru, and this is not a pet to me, he's my baby, so I am very worried.

I have a son that is 6'5" at 16, he sat and cried last night too, he can't stand the thought of not having his fur baby any more.

So, today is a better day, I did change from the Max Cal greasy crap back to the Hills A&D. He seems to do better on that. I also put the KMR in his food last night. He has been taking the denamarin, but it is a battle royale to get it in him, I am going to look into the Thistle Milk. At this point, he has a 50/50 chance, I will do what I can to give him the upper 50 vs the lower 50.

K