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- Apr 17, 2015
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Hi there,
I'm looking for any advice or guidance on dealing with liver issues in a senior cat. Our cat, Phoenix is a 21 year old female, of slim build, and in excellent health considering her age, most vets have thought she looks and appears around 11 on examination.
She had a check up in December and her weight noted,I took her in 2 months later to have her nails trimmed and also to be reweighed, as in December they thought she was underweight somewhat, and wanted to follow up.
December weight was 2.89kg, February weight 2.80kg... April weight 2.70kg
She has always been a small eater, and there seems to have been no real change in that department. I was advised to bring her back for a weigh in, which I did this week. Her weight was 2.70kg on Wednesday. The vet was concerned and ran a blood test, showing high liver count - 330, they asked me to bring her back today.
She was given a B12 injection, and an anabolic steroid injection to reduce inflammation and liver scarring. I was also given a daily dose of denamarin to start her on, as well as advised to put her on a prescription diet for liver disease. We've ordered her new food, a mixture of hills and royal canin prescription diets, which should be here by the beginning of the week.
I will be trying her with the denamarin tomorrow morning, I'm concerned about giving her pills, I forsee her being very difficult with it, the tablets look FAR too large imo, for a cat, and of course, cannot be broken or split.
I've done some reading on denamarin and it seems it can cause some vomiting and/or diahorrea, which is a concern, because basically we were told she has to gain or at least maintain her weight, by our next scheduled visit in 6 weeks. I've read a little about milk thistle, and wondering how many people have found that a viable option to denamarin? I'm just looking to have options for her in case we need to go down that road.
I'm also concerned that the lack of variety and limited range of foods on the prescription diet are going to make her life miserable. She is old, I know that, she has a good quality of life, and has pleasure in the range of foods she enjoys, I don't want to make her miserable. I've looked into some recipes for making homemade cat foods for liver conditions, and wondering if any one has experiences of this, or any advice too?
She is to have another anabolic steroid injection in 6 weeks when she returns for her weigh in, I'm anxious in the knowledge that she HAS to put some weight on, otherwise they were saying she'll be so underweight that euthanasia will be a likely outcome. It breaks my heart because she appears and acts in good health, I just want to give her the best fighting chance I can, to ease the pressure on her liver.
I'm looking for any advice or guidance on dealing with liver issues in a senior cat. Our cat, Phoenix is a 21 year old female, of slim build, and in excellent health considering her age, most vets have thought she looks and appears around 11 on examination.
She had a check up in December and her weight noted,I took her in 2 months later to have her nails trimmed and also to be reweighed, as in December they thought she was underweight somewhat, and wanted to follow up.
December weight was 2.89kg, February weight 2.80kg... April weight 2.70kg
She has always been a small eater, and there seems to have been no real change in that department. I was advised to bring her back for a weigh in, which I did this week. Her weight was 2.70kg on Wednesday. The vet was concerned and ran a blood test, showing high liver count - 330, they asked me to bring her back today.
She was given a B12 injection, and an anabolic steroid injection to reduce inflammation and liver scarring. I was also given a daily dose of denamarin to start her on, as well as advised to put her on a prescription diet for liver disease. We've ordered her new food, a mixture of hills and royal canin prescription diets, which should be here by the beginning of the week.
I will be trying her with the denamarin tomorrow morning, I'm concerned about giving her pills, I forsee her being very difficult with it, the tablets look FAR too large imo, for a cat, and of course, cannot be broken or split.
I've done some reading on denamarin and it seems it can cause some vomiting and/or diahorrea, which is a concern, because basically we were told she has to gain or at least maintain her weight, by our next scheduled visit in 6 weeks. I've read a little about milk thistle, and wondering how many people have found that a viable option to denamarin? I'm just looking to have options for her in case we need to go down that road.
I'm also concerned that the lack of variety and limited range of foods on the prescription diet are going to make her life miserable. She is old, I know that, she has a good quality of life, and has pleasure in the range of foods she enjoys, I don't want to make her miserable. I've looked into some recipes for making homemade cat foods for liver conditions, and wondering if any one has experiences of this, or any advice too?
She is to have another anabolic steroid injection in 6 weeks when she returns for her weigh in, I'm anxious in the knowledge that she HAS to put some weight on, otherwise they were saying she'll be so underweight that euthanasia will be a likely outcome. It breaks my heart because she appears and acts in good health, I just want to give her the best fighting chance I can, to ease the pressure on her liver.