Any help would be appreciated

I just received this email from a friend oof ours and instead of just telling you the symptoms I'm including the message below. Please if anyone has any suggestions let me know and I'll pass them on. Thanks so much all. Mupcat

Just wanted to tell you that our little Lucy is in the hospital sick with an unknown disease, probably a liver disease. She had been vomiting bile for a couple weeks and when I took her to the vets, her liver panels were outrageous, so we had to take her to a specialty hospital where she was shaved and given a liver ultrasound. She was diagnosed with Fatty Liver Disease, and a tube was put in her esophagus for feeding. She's been there since Wednesday. We went to visit her today and the fairly lively cat we took in is now extremely ill. We don't know why, so they increased her meds and the method of feeding (she's also on intraveinous fluids). She was very groggy and had diahrea and is still vomiting. The bill so far (not including today forth for the hospital) is $2250. The doc said she might need to do a biopsy Monday to see what's wrong with her liver, but we're not sure that is such a good idea. She might have cancer or lymphoma, but only a biopsy can tell. It's all confusing and really depressing. Monday we will probably have to decide whether to put her down because if she is not responding to treatment, then it means she has something awful. Bad news huh? Thought I'd let you know cuz you are a pet lover. If you know anything about this, let me know. She was vomiting, then stopped eating, etc.

I am so sorry for your friend. Fatty Liver Disease or hepatic lipidosis occurs in several instances, the most common when the cat does not eat for 3 days. The liver fills up with fat and the cat cannot break down the material and starts to develop problems . Here is a website with some information about it.

Fatty Liver Disease

Hissy,

Thank you so much for your quick reply. I've taken the liberty of sending your message on to her and hopefully there'll be something in there that will offer her some hope and that along with some good veterinarian help plus some well placed prayers and perhaps her baby will have 8 more of her 9 lives left to live.

Barbara

Not a problem Barbara, it is what I am here for. One of our members recently had to deal with this illness and because of that I went searching for information on it. That is when I found the website I posted here.

Good morning everyone,

I've just received the following message from my friend with the very sick cat that MAY ( yes, they now say--may--) have FLD . The reason I'm including the latest is I think she's going to need some support in making a decision that I certainly don't want to tell her to do. This is so personal that I just think she needs support. Her name is Berrie and I'll pass any and all messages on to her.
Thanks all, Here's her latest.
Barbara


What's so frustrating is that the diagnosis is PROBABLY FLD, but they can only be sure by a liver biopsy which costs about a grand; and then they say that FLD is a secondary disease to something else. We really feel like we're being gouged by this hospital which is the very best in SD and the one our vet referred us to. I think I told you, we have spent $2250 in three days of care, but we have no choice. Each day is at least another $400 with all her meds and care. YIKES, we're in the wrong business. I'm not sure what course of action to take because if she isn't improved on the eight medications plus intravenous fluids plus continual tube feeding, then there is something definitely wrong. FLD should respond, but she keeps throwing up which sez there is something else making her throw up. We'll see tomorrow and Monday. It's so sad though. She was so sick and shaved in so many places and so many contraptions coming out of her.

Sometimes the best thing to do, is the hardest of all. Unfortunately no one can make the decision but your friend. It is evident that she cares for this cat, but sometimes, it just goes beyond our control to heal them.

Thanks Hissy,

That's so true. Although I know there's probably no miracle answer or cure and I don't even know if any vets ever read these forums, I just thought it was worth a try. You never know---someone else may have had the very same thing happen to their baby and found an interesting and effective cure. Certainly worth a try.

Thanks again for your reply.
Barbara

Barbara,

I just sent you a PM, it should be there shortly. I hope the link I am sending will help your friend.

Great Hissy.

I'll look forward to it. Thanks, Barb

Hissy,

Just thought I'd let you know, I haven't received your message yet. I'm new here so not sure if this comes in the form of an E-Mail or some other way. Don't mean to be impatient just thought there may be something wrong.

Barbara

Hissy,

Just thought I'd let you know, I haven't received your message yet. I'm new here so not sure if this comes in the form of an E-Mail or some other way. Don't mean to be impatient just thought there may be something wrong.

Barbara

Barbara - just in case you haven't gotten Hissy's message yet, you check for PMs (private messages) at the very bottom of the Forum's main page, where all of the different forums are listed. I didn't know where these were and didn't know I had a message for about a month.

Oh Heidi thanks so much. I would never have figured that out and since I haven't heard from Hissy I just assumed she hadn't had a chance to send it. I'll go right now and do a check.
Barbara

Oh duh Heidi--I feel so stupid. I looked at the bottom of the front page and it says I have one unread message in my "folder"---would you mind telling me where my "folder" is? I clicked on my name but that's just a profile.

Thanks, hate being one of the "new kids" on the block.
Barbara