Jaundice, Weight Loss & Recovery

[Ladams215]

Hi all,

nice to meet you all, looking for a little reassurance after a tricky week. Any thoughts and guidance welcome.

background:

Came back from holiday on Saturday after 2.5 weeks away with the cats being looked after by a cat sitter. Cat was noticeably thinner, lethargic, no interest in food and generally unhappy. I took him to the vets immediately who recommended he stay in over night to rehydrate. Cat had a fever that was waxing and waining. Liver tests showed nothing out of the ordinary and after a night on a drip seemed much better. By Wednesday he’d got a little better, then a little worse so took him back to the vet he noticed some jaundice (by this point he was very lethargic and uninterested in food).

he has spent the night at the vets again in more fluids with a plan to do an ultrasound and feed him through a tube today. He has high bilirubin levels.

can provide more detail if requested but those are the key findings.

update: ultrasound suggests he has a large amount of fluids accumulated in his abdamon.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hello, hang in there with this-- you'll want to communicate with your vet all throughout the treatments and tests so that you know what they're thinking, planning and diagnosing/determining.

 

[fionasmom]

Welcome to The Cat Site! What is your vet recommending at this point? Certain interventions are in place, but are they planning to drain the fluid? Fluid in the abdomen is a symptom of another condition, not a disease in and of itself.

Given that your cats sound as if they are house pets, I am assuming that he does not have an infectious disease. Other causes of fluid in the abdomen and hyperbilirubin are related to liver specifically and I wonder if this is hepatic lipidosis from your description of the weight loss and possible disinterest in food. Do you know if he stopped eating while you were away?

It sounds as if your vet is treating him for this as per the use of a feeding tube.

The blood test showed no other elevated liver values? Has your vet suggested another diagnostic of any kind?

 

[IndyJones]

Have they looked at her heart at all?

Fluid in the abdomin was pretty much the only sign Kabuto had of HCM. A diuretic can be perscribed to drain it.

I would also have a t4 test done.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

You definitely need a diagnosis first off. If it IS hepatic lipidosis, you may need to have a feeding tube inserted. I'm thinking your Vet may be going to insert a tube through his nostril just to get some food into him, but this is a temporary solution and you would not do that at home. An E-tube is the way to go for at home assist feeding. Makes it so easy. But before doing that they need to figure out that abdominal fluid situation. Is he currently in an Animal Hospital for more testing, along with the feeding?

As far as recovery, it all depends on what is causing it and how bad it is. If it is H/L and it was caused by the fact that he simply didn't eat enough while you were gone and not by any underlying health issues, and his liver values aren't too high, he should be able to recover. But there are a lot of variables there. It will take a lot of time and energy on your part to help him out here. He will need to be assist fed for awhile (my guy was on a feeding tube for four months), possibly receive sub-q fluids, take medications, etc.

Please keep us posted as you get more info from your Vet.