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catladyboo

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I have a six year old tortishell who recently was just prescribed Clomicalm after a few years of innapropriate urination. It was ruled to be behavioural I'm also positive it is) by our vet. The peeing has stopped, thankfully. I also just bought a house and I believe the medication helped ease her stress.
We've been living here for just over a week, and a few days ago I noticed some strange behaviour. There's been 3 times I've noticed her just sitting in her litter box, but I've related it to stress as it's always been times where my bed has been inaccessible, and that's where she spends the majority of her time.
The thing that has me worried is her appetite the last 2 days, yesterday she didn't eat much at all. This morning before I left for work she ate a decent amount (wet food), maybe nibbled during the day and had a very small amount when I got home. I've also noticed her licking her lips more often.
I know I'm hyper sensitive after having a very ill cat over a year ago (cancer), now every little thing worries me and makes me want to make a vet visit. I'm not sure if this warrants one right now as she is still eating, although not much... I wonder if its side effects from the medication? (She's been on it for about 3 weeks).
Sorry for the long post, any advice would be really appreciated.
 

greypaws

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Personally I'd get her to the vets ASAP in the morning, unless you see something else tonight that you feels warrants an EVet trip. My vet said first sign of problems is unusual litter box usage, ie not using, walking in & out of it but doing nothing, or just sitting there & nothing happens. Keeping our paws crossed this is but a small problem, easily resolved.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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Often those types of meds cause changes in cats.  Is she still urinating normally?  Sitting in the litter box is a bit unusual, but if she's still urinating, that's a plus.  Licking her lips could mean she's nauseated or possibly has dry mouth.   You could always call your Vet and discuss what she's doing and see what they say. 

Here's an article on different anti-anxiety meds that you might find interesting:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/anti-anxiety-medication-for-cats
 
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catladyboo

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Just a quick update. Boo was hospitalized this evening due to fatty liver disease. Hoping for the best and that she pulls through.
 

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Keeping both of you in my prayers. Hope the next update that Boo is better and home recovering.
 
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catladyboo

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Received a bit of an unsettling update from the vet this morning. Boo's liver levels didn't go down like we had hoped, so they're no longer thinking it's fatty liver disease. We're starting antibiotics to rule out a bacterial infection, though I'm really hoping that's what it is at this point. If this doesn't work there's talks of a biopsy as a tumour is a possibility. Hoping for the best.
 

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I can't offer any help, but I can offer my sympathies and my best wishes for a speedy, complete recovery for Boo. all of us here know how hard it is to keep our beloved cats out of harm's way. We are all hoping for the best for you and Boo!
 

mrsgreenjeens

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With Fatty Liver, the liver enzymes don't go down instantly.  It takes lots of time for to get over that, and often the levels actually go up as the cats improve.

How's Boo doing at the moment.  Still in the hospital?  Did she stop eating?  That's normally what happens with Fatty Liver.  (I had a cat with that about 20 years ago.  He had to be put on a feeding tube for several months)
 
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catladyboo

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Update - I think Boo is on the road to recovery!! It's been a long two weeks with lots of ups and downs. When I brought Boo in for the first time her liver level was at an astronicmal level of about 1500. Second blood test a week later they dropped to 1200, and her ALT levels were still high. I have her on 2 antibiotics and a liver support medication, the vet also prescribed an appetite stimulant in combination of force feeding. Yesterday I had a bit of a scare as she was more lethargic, didn't really want me petting her stomach and would give me a tiny bit of a cry if I picked her up. I ended up rushing her to the vet before close and they ran more blood work - it's improved!! Liver level down to 500 and some, all other levels have dropped and most are in the normal range. She's not out of the woods yet but there's major improvement in both blood results and behaviour. I believe the appetite stimulant is still lingering in her system, but I haven't had to force feed for over 24 hours. We're still doing an ultrasound next week. Biopsy is still a possibility, but we're trying to do everything we can before going the invasive route.
We still don't know the cause of all of this though the vets are still contemplating the idea that the anti anxiety medication she was on (Clomicalm) may have caused it.
It's been an incredibly hard and trying waiting game. I'm hoping for good results when it comes to the ultrasound though I know from prior experiences that they can come back inconclusive. Will update again when I have more info - thanks for the well wishes!
 
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catladyboo

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Also, she's back to allowing me to pet her stomach! I think it was a bit of constipation (got some prescribed stool softener into her) and she was up all last night throwing up hair balls (tortishell with decently long fur). Once that was all out of system she felt better.
 

pharber-murphy

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Hurray! We're all so happy to hear that Boo is getting back to normal - thanks to your good care and attention
We still keep you both in our thoughts since you don't feel she's out of the woods yet, but it sounds like she's made tremendous improvement. Well done!
 
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catladyboo

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Boo started to decline again a few days ago, mainly just lack of appetite. I force fed her yesterday and she was doing great afterwards - super playful. She also ate a bit on her own this morning before I took it away as she had a scheduled ultrasound.
Currently waiting on the results which should be in tomorrow afternoon.
I've scared myself pretty good by reading a ton of forums on here - now extremely worried it's going to be lymphoma. Trying to stay positive but it's hard.
She's also quite upset about the ultrasound. They had to sedate her to get a proper reading.. when that was over they gave her something to counteract the sedative but she's been a little off all day. She's not really wanting me to pick her up or touch the shaved part of her belly.. I'm not sure if it's her not feeling good or just upset about the whole ordeal.
 
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catladyboo

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Other than her not really eating she seems to be good, still playful, not lethargic (like she was a couple of weeks ago), still sleeping beside me and not hiding. She seems to be hungry and she'll eat a few pieces of the hard food (I also have wet food out for her), but after eating a few pieces which seem to be painful she stops. I wondered if it was a tooth problem as well, but as I mentioned above - after reading all these different forums I'm really started to doubt that. The vet also took a quick look at her mouth before and said she didn't see anything that would cause her not to eat, or anything wrong in general with the mouth.
 

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catladyboo,

Ask your vet if there could be associated health conditions going on, secondary to the hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease), or primary, such as triaditis (a condition where the liver, pancreas and intestines together are affected) - moving and relocation are the #1 cause of hepatic lipidosis - stress leads to anorexia, weight loss and liver degeneration.  Hepatic lipidosis can be treated successfully, but it takes an aggressive nutritional treatment approach, fluid therapy, antibiotic therapy, and the treatment must remain CONSISTENT (consistent nutrition with appropriate calories and protein are crucial - the feeding schedule must be consistent with no lapses or deviations).  Your vet has available, the proper prescription diet for this purpose and should be prescribing this and monitoring her treatment carefully.  Intermittent eating of kibbles is not going to be effective in treating hepatic lipidosis.

Likewise, pain, nausea, vomiting, anorexia could be intestinal issues such as inflammation or IBD, so please have your vet rule this out, and rule out triaditis (or even pancreatitis alone, ask her about the feline PLI, it has to be sent to an outside lab)

If hepatic lipidosis is still the suspect even after ultrasound results, again, it's imperative that your vet construct a nutritional support treatment and that you follow it to a T. 
 
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catladyboo

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Thank you cat-tech for the info! I will definitely bring all of this up if the ultrasound results come back negative/inconclusive.
Boo was on 2 different antibitoics (we just finished the other day) and she's still on the liver support medication. If she isn't eating enough on her own I do syringe feed as I'm trying my hardest to make sure she's getting enough calories and nutrients.
The sedative wore off and she's been acting like a kitten all morning! Running around and playing - it's really nice to see. She also ate a little bit of wet food on her own this morning, not enough so I will force feed when I'm home from work in just a few hours.
 
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mrsgreenjeens

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Keep us posted on the results of the Ultra Sound.  Try to stay away from Dr. Google while you're waiting
 
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catladyboo

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Great news!! Ultrasound results came in TOTALLY clear! They have no concerns or questions about anything - everything looked great!! I'm honestly in a bit of shock.
Next step is taking her back for more blood work next week to see where the liver level is at, hopefully back down in the normal range. The vet doesn't see a need for a biopsy unless Boo keeps "relapsing" into sick behaviour. I'm going to continue force feeding a bit unless I see she's ate enough on her own.
This morning Boo was doing so great - when I woke up she was extremely playful, running all around the house. When I got home from work I noticed she'd eaten the 1/4 can of wet food I left out for her - that was amazing in itself as I wasn't around to have to stick it right in front of her. Hoping she finishes off the rest of the can this evening on her own.
If everything keeps getting better we're pretty much ruling it out to be either the Clomicalm she was on for 3 weeks or that she got into something at the new house or the last one while I was packing/cleaning.
I still wonder if stress had at least something to do with all of this. She was already an anxious cat to begin with (I believe she was abused from the home I got her from) and while I was living with my parents it was a very hectic house hold. Now that I'm in my own home she's more sociable and not peeing on anything.

Sorry for the long post - thanks so much to everyone for the well wishes. Will keep this thread updated as this progresses!
 
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