Help for Java. Hepatic lipodosis

Hi. I'm new here. My cat's name is Java and I'm pretty sure she has hepatic lipodosis. I use to pet sit Java and her brother Mocha. Mocha got hepatic lipodosis and the owner thinks it stemmed from emotional issues due to a major move across state and a change in her work schedule where she was gone st nights. Mocha was a big boy compared to Java and he stopped eating, but Java didn't. His owner had him in the hospital with a feeding tube, meds etc. He had to go back a second time, but just gave up and he had to be put to sleep.

Fast forward, Java was given to me. She's always been a picky eater and after a few months of me having her I had found the one food she would gobble down. I ran out, and discovered that purina discontinued that particular flavor. So, I wasn't able to transition her slowly to fancy feast and she started to not eat. I got lacyed ringers from the vet and got her eating again, buy she got picker with food and was eating enough (so I thought..about 2-3 cans of fancy feast a day. This took place 8 months ago.

Last week she started eating less and pretty much went into hepatic lipodosis. I got more lacyed ringers and have been force feeding her. She started eating again which I was thrilled. I opened a milk thistle capsule and put just a teensy amount in her food and.. wow! Her appetite really grew and she was becoming her old self again. That night I put a slightly larger amount of the milk thistle (although still an extremely small amount) and she was almost ravenous when she ate.She was hiding around corners wanting to play, with more energy that she even had before so I was thrilled. Then an hour later, I gave her fluids and later she started crying at threw up. She did this 3 tines in the next 2 hours, so I'm pretty sure she couldn't handle the larger dose of milk thistle.

Unfortunately, the vomiting so much really set her back again. This morning I heard her crunching her kibble for a little why, but she threw that up after I gave her fluids. She went to her food bowl and really wanted to eat, but couldn't. I decided to force feed her 3 hours after her morning feeding and that calmed her down and she slept for several hours without vomiting. But, now she seems depressed somewhat with an angry look on her face and is worried that I'm going to keep gabbing her to be force fed. She is a Siamese and she really hates it.

Ok..so I have some questions for you who have gone through this with your beloved kitties. What kind of sub q fluids did you give your cat? Was it the saline kind, or Lacyed Ringers? I've been reading that the lactic acid in the Lactate Ringers could cause a problem, or acidosis for a cat with liver problems. It seems to depress Java somewhat. It always perked up my former kidney cat.
Also, Did any of you only feed mornings and evenings and overcame this, or do you feel feeding more is necessary. Java doesn't have jaundice, her eye whites are white.

And, did any of you give milk thistle and see a difference? I'm will be ordering a liquid milk thistle for cats (pet or pure wellness?). The reviews said it saved their cats lives. Anyone use that?

I know it's only been a week but I'm so afraid I'm might lose her. There's no way I could afford a feeding tube unless I can get some financial aid. Do you feel the stress of the vet visit, surgery and tube in them outweighs or equals the stress of force feeding at home. Whenever I take Java anywhere she literally screams, salivates..I've never heard anything like it in my life!!
Thanks so much[emoji]128150[/emoji]

Ps. I am so sorry for all the typos. For some reason my phone is messing up.

One of my kitties had hapatic lipidosis six years ago, his not eating was the result of then undiagnosed IBD.  I didn't give him subq's and i don't know anything about them.  He did have a feeding tube.

Your kitty really needs to be seen by a vet and get as much in the way of diagnostics, complete blood work and if possible an ultrasound as you can afford.  Kitties with chronic digestive issues will often seem to be very picky.  They feel ill and they associate it with the last thing that they ate and won't eat that food again.  Over time they will seem to be very very picky.  Blood work can also give a strong indicator as to whether your kitty is in hepatic lipidosis or not, the liver enzyme numbers will be off on the blood work.

Thank you Denice. I've suspected IBD at times. Can I ask you a few questions? How often did you feed in the feeding tube and how long was it that you kept it in? Did you have to assist feed at all after the tube was removed? And what treatment did he receive for IBD and is your kitty still struggling with issues? Thanks[emoji]128570[/emoji]

He had the feeding tube for about a month.  It wasn't taken out until he was eating well on his own.  I was giving him a prescription food from Hill's called A/D, it is for critically ill animals.  The Royal  Canin version is called Recovery.  I had to dilute it half and half with water to go through the feeding tube.  I was giving him 60 mls of the diluted food four times a day.  He has been on a steroid called Prednisolone since.  He has had only one mild flare in the six years since he had the hepatic lipidosis.  He has had unexplained weight loss twice since then.  We increased his Pred dose to 5 mg daily the first time.  The second was just recently and he is now getting B12 injections.  

The vet can run a test to see what the liver enzymes are. That will say whether it is hepatic lipidosis.  Regardless, I too would recommend Hills A/D. Since your cat is eating some, the A/D might be something she will eat on her own. If not, the recipe to mix 1/2 water with the food is good for getting it to go through a feeding syringe that you would administer by hand since a feeding tube isn't an option.  The food is high calorie and appealing to a cat.  If you have a yogurt container, or a shallow plastic food storage dish, it makes it easier to mix the A/D with the water and then provides enough room to suck it into the syringe.

You might also want to try some plain Gerber chicken baby food too. All manner of kitty can hardly resist, even if they aren't feeling 100%. That way you are getting calories in to her---which will avoid a full blown case of Hepatic lipidosis, hopefully. A jar has 100 calories.

The vet can provide the A/D and the syringe. The goal would be to get at least a 1/2 can into her twice a day. Just put the syringe to the side of her mouth, and squeeze a bit of the syringe at a time so she has time to swallow.  It probably won't take but a couple of days for the food to make her feel good enough to eat again.

It could really be a number of things going on that leads to the vomiting, so a full panel of tests might be worth while. 

I'm not sure I understand how she is getting fluids. Is she just drinking water on her own, and then vomits? 

Thank you Laura. I've been giving her Sub Q fluids ( Lactate Ringers ) every day. Normally, she has rarely vomited which is good, but it's more that she's just not eating hardly anything. Sometimes she'll want food in the kitchen, but sniffs food and buries it and walks away. This morning she did eat some both wet and dry, but not the amount she needs. Sometimes Ive noticed that her fur/body has a pungent/bad smell, but that's not all the time, and a couple mornings in last 2 months her breath has about blown me over. She has no problem actually crunching down hard food or snacks. I've found her occasionally licking her lips, and got her Pepcid AC but not sure if it's helping. The milk thistle really increased her appetite and energy level, I was amazed, but she vomited 3 times that night, so I'm assuming I gave a tad bit to much for her. Thanks so much for your info and about the Hills AD/Recovery.
I love her so much, but I became semi disabled last year and selling my personal items on ebay just to buy her food and make rent. I'm heartbroken.

Thank you again Denice, that gives me a better idea of what I might expect with this.

Ps. She has had a shedding problem since I got her (1 yr ago), which has gotten worse over last week. She's also always has a slight cheesy/bacterial smell coming from her bum. She also sneezes occasionally with a tiny bit of conjunctivitis from one eye, but nothing really bad. Her former owner had blood work and a tooth pulled before she gave her to me and the blood work was normal. Also she has made a slight gulping sound when she swallows that I've always wondered about. I asked the vet to put her antibiotics, but because there was no fever, she didn't give them.

javi3 said:

Ps. She has had a shedding problem since I got her (1 yr ago), which has gotten worse over last week. She's also always has a slight cheesy/bacterial smell coming from her bum. She also sneezes occasionally with a tiny bit of conjunctivitis from one eye, but nothing really bad. Her former owner had blood work and a tooth pulled before she gave her to me and the blood work was normal. Also she has made a slight gulping sound when she swallows that I've always wondered about. I asked the vet to put her antibiotics, but because there was no fever, she didn't give them.

Click to expand...

A  bunch of little issues can equal allot of stress/depression for a cat,

turn into more serious issues in no time...

Shedding most likely stress related

Sneezes

Odor from her rear

Bad seeping eye

Discomfort  (I added) when swallowing making noises.

Fatty liver disease

Plus the other issue you mentioned on other thread  

Blood work,stool urine tests will ease your mind. When cats are older

the blood work can change every year,  they can fall apart very quickly.

Thanks. I appreciate all your help[emoji]128522[/emoji]