Saladina's Hepatic Failure...

She wasn't eating, (She had lost all appetite and actually was rejecting food I gave her), and she was having extreme levels of thirst and she hasn't been playing anything. I got too worried when she went to the point of getting in the bathtub while I was having a shower trying to find water to drink. I then called a friend of mine who told me if I had checked her ears, when I saw them yellow I went running to the vet yesterday.

The blood tests: She's anemic, and she has hepatic failure of the liver (a form of liver disease)... they are not fully sure what might it have been... it could have been the fact that she wouldn't eat, or perhaps some poison she ingested (I don't leave any poison easy to eat... but I do leave cockroach traps).

I had to leave her hospitalized with the vet, and I am supposed to pick her up today in the evening... she's on IV fluids, and medications... they claim she can get better...

And I am worried sick about her.

Originally Posted by yoviher

She wasn't eating, (She had lost all appetite and actually was rejecting food I gave her), and she was having extreme levels of thirst and she hasn't been playing anything. I got too worried when she went to the point of getting in the bathtub while I was having a shower trying to find water to drink. I then called a friend of mine who told me if I had checked her ears, when I saw them yellow I went running to the vet yesterday.

The blood tests: She's anemic, and she has hepatic failure of the liver (a form of liver disease)... they are not fully sure what might it have been... it could have been the fact that she wouldn't eat, or perhaps some poison she ingested (I don't leave any poison easy to eat... but I do leave cockroach traps).

I had to leave her hospitalized with the vet, and I am supposed to pick her up today in the evening... she's on IV fluids, and medications... they claim she can get better...

And I am worried sick about her.

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Aww Sweetheart, she CAN get better, I'm so sorry that you're having to deal with this.
there's actually a large number of kitties that have suffered it with various successes. you may want to talk to Pat&Alix abot this, as she has a kitty that i think deals with this regularly, and Sierra, as well i think has at one point.

also do a forum search and a web search for "hepatic lipidosis" that should help, or fatty liver disease.

sending prayers and hugs!

Originally Posted by turtlecat

Aww Sweetheart, she CAN get better, I'm so sorry that you're having to deal with this.
there's actually a large number of kitties that have suffered it with various successes. you may want to talk to Pat&Alix abot this, as she has a kitty that i think deals with this regularly, and Sierra, as well i think has at one point.

also do a forum search and a web search for "hepatic lipidosis" that should help, or fatty liver disease.

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Well, I have been reading the article that Mary Anne wrote on the disease... My main issue is how long it took to actually figure out she wasn't eating... I free feed the cats, so its real tough to figure it out when one of them is not eating, because she might as well be eating when I ain't watching. And she was jaundiced by the time I figured out that something was wrong. I feel SO guilty right now about that.

Oh Victor, honey I am so sorry you are going through this I am keeping you and Saladina in my prayers. Your vet is right though, she can make it through this. Just make sure you do everything the vet tells you to do. Please keep us updated on how she does.

Originally Posted by squirtle

Oh Victor, honey I am so sorry you are going through this

I am keeping you and Saladina in my prayers. Your vet is right though, she can make it through this. Just make sure you do everything the vet tells you to do. Please keep us updated on how she does.

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Victor, I couldn't have said it better and I'm also sending lots of positive prayers and vibes your way. Let us know how Saladina is doing

Hi Victor,

I wish I could say I'd dealt successfully with this, but it's Chronic Renal Failure that I've been dealing with the past 3+ years with Patrick (and that is also the concern re Stephanie's Sierra).

I hope the article links I sent you via PM were helpful? Please keep us posted...the key as I said is aggressive treatment.

Okay, We picked her up... She is more alert and with a certain more energy... The vet gave me a can of a special prescription food (The brand is Hill's), and I am supposed to have her eat it. The vet tells me to see if she will eat it. If she doesn't, force feed her the thing, and if I manage it sucessfully go back to him to get a hold of more of that food. I also have a strange paste I must give to her once every four hours... and a series of pills I must give her once a day... Once the pills are gone I must take her back to test her blood again.

Let me list all the stuff I have and its intructions, for its confusing thinking it all together.

1 can of Hill's Prescription Diet a/d dietary food... the dose is "All she can eat"

1 tube of Felovite II with Taurine, which says on the box "A palatable vitamin mineral supplement for cats". Once every four hours.

1 box of pills, "Denosyl" brand, and its generic name is "S-Adenosylmethionine" and its 90 miligrams. Once a day.

She is right now back in her hiding spot in the back room... I am going to a bit later in the evening get her out for some of the paste and the food.

Originally Posted by yoviher

1 box of pills, "Denosyl" brand, and its generic name is "S-Adenosylmethionine" and its 90 miligrams. Once a day.

She is right now back in her hiding spot in the back room... I am going to a bit later in the evening get her out for some of the paste and the food.

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S-adenosyl-L-methionine is also known as Sam-e used for a variety of things, including depression, and arthritis. I believe it was listed as a supportive medication in the marivista vet article I sent you.

The Hills A/D has a soft almost pudding consistency, can be pulled up into a feeding syringe should you need to assist feed her. It's a very high cal, packed food that is used post surgery, stress and situations such as this.

I will be keeping her in my thoughts, I really hope she begins eating and eating very well...if not, don't hestitate, get right on to feeding her.

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

S-adenosyl-L-methionine is also known as Sam-e used for a variety of things, including depression, and arthritis. I believe it was listed as a supportive medication in the marivista vet article I sent you.

The Hills A/D has a soft almost pudding consistency, can be pulled up into a feeding syringe should you need to assist feed her. It's a very high cal, packed food that is used post surgery, stress and situations such as this.

I will be keeping her in my thoughts, I really hope she begins eating and eating very well...if not, don't hestitate, get right on to feeding her.

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I have done the first feeding session... I gave her like a full third of the can, and managed to put some milk as well through an eyedropper. At first I tried to put it on front of her. When I saw she didn't even took notice of the food, I started doing the old method of taking some of the food in my fingers, opening her jaws, and putting it down her throat. Then wait a few minutes, and do it again. After that I gave her some milk with an eyedropper, to add a bit to it all. Its been messy and tortuous, but she's swallowing it all, so its a step forward.

I haven't got a feeding syringe with me... Can I try using the eyedropper for the food? Its so soft, it might just work...

Victor, ask the vet for a 10cc syringe (no needle) and then snip the tip near to mid way to make a larger opening - that will work better, but yes, you may be able to pull up some a/d with the eye dropper.

Okay, this is what has happened.

Prior to my getting up in the morning, she threw up a bit, and my mother gave her an additional tablespoon of food, and the pill. When I woke up, Saladina was looking out the window, very weak... She wasn't there because she got up there... my mom had placed her there and she isn't resisting anything we do. She is VERY weak.

After that, she went into something strange... she started spewing a strange brown saliva through her mouth, like not being able to control it... and then she threw up... the pill.

I am really fearing her stomach is so bad she is throwing up everything we are giving her. We are gonna give her another pill within a while and see if we can keep feeding her.

A change, is that she is no longer dehydrated... at least, she ain't desperately trying to drink water.

Victor, have you done a test for dehydration by checking whether a fold of her skin stays up or springs back into place when you pinch it gently? If it stays up then she is dehydrated, whether she is drinking or not. Good luck with her - I hope she recovers soon.

I´m so sorry to heard this Victor and I´m worried for the lovely Saladina...

Deseo con todo el Corazón que tu Hermosa Gatita se mejore, Te envio mis mejores Deseos and mis oraciones para ella Victor!
Por favor, mantenme en contacto de su evolucion! Gracias!

Originally Posted by jennyranson

Victor, have you done a test for dehydration by checking whether a fold of her skin stays up or springs back into place when you pinch it gently? If it stays up then she is dehydrated, whether she is drinking or not. Good luck with her - I hope she recovers soon.

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It springs back into place. It takes several seconds to do so, though.

Rigel... desde el fondo de mi alma, gracias.

I am not sure if this is relevant or not, but I had a cat with hepatic lipidosis. For a few days the vet I was with tried to get me to feed her with a syringe and give her subQ fluids, but it did not help because she could not keep anything down. If there is no food in the stomach then the cat continues to break down the fat, which in turn continues the cycle of toxicity. Luckily, our vet got wise and sent us to the UW emergency clinic and they put in a stomach feeding tube. It was gross, and it took a few weeks, but... long story short, she is upstairs and is now 17 years old.
I guess my suggestion is, if you are unable ot get food into her you need to get her to a vet, and perhaps one that can put in a feeding tube. A friend of mine who is a vet told me that before this procedure, almost every cat she saw with hepatic lipidosis died, and now they have a 75-90% sucess rate.

I agree Victor...as is in both the articles I gave you links to, this has to be treated very aggressively...if you can not get her to keep anything down, don't wait long before getting back to the vets and asking for that next step of a feeding tube being inserted.

Sending wishes for her to get better,

Sending hugs and prayers

After we last gave her food, I carried her, and I let her go as I have always done: Release her above the ground and she jumps and falls feet first. She didn't. She actually fell head first, and didn't even get up. She is right now so weak she is barely walking. She also started coughin, and for those few seconds where she was coughing, she couldn't get up on her four feet without my assistance. I am honestly starting to think of calling the vet right now about it all, to see if we can do the feeding tube...

Originally Posted by yoviher

After we last gave her food, I carried her, and I let her go as I have always done: Release her above the ground and she jumps and falls feet first. She didn't. She actually fell head first, and didn't even get up. She is right now so weak she is barely walking. She also started coughin, and for those few seconds where she was coughing, she couldn't get up on her four feet without my assistance.

I am honestly starting to think of calling the vet right now about it all, to see if we can do the feeding tube...

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I would do so, don't wait Victor.