This may be a long post...
Two months ago, one of my cats (Sally...6 years old and inside only) was diagnosed with Hepatic Lipidosis (through bloodwork, x-rays, an ultrasound, and a biopsy). She has always been tubby, so the diagnosis wasn't surprising, even though she had always been healthy. To make a long story short, she is almost completely recovered thanks to a feeding tube and a bunch of medications.
Here's the strange part- About 3 weeks ago, another one of my cats (Cory...also 6 and inside only) started acting "funny". Low energy, not grooming himself (or me, for that matter!), seemed a little shaky when walking; he was eating for a few days and then stopped. He has never been overweight and has had no health problems. As soon as I saw that he was not eating I took him to the vet and had bloodwork done. The results came back as nearly identical to Sally's. No other abnormalities were mentioned. I immediately had a feeding tube put in and he was prescribed the same types of meds as Sally (Metronidazole, Clavamox, and Denosyl), but I didn't have all of the diagnostic tests done. My concern is that he doesn't seem to be recovering as quickly as Sally did, even though he didn't seem as sick as Sally did at the beginning. His jaundice is improving, but he still seems shaky, and "off". He walks around the house periodically and he purrs and rubs his head up against my hand, but he is nowhere near as affectionate as usual. He hates being fed...big surprise, but only vomits occasionally. This has been going on for three weeks and I'm not sure what to do.
Okay, here are my questions:
1. How long should I wait before expecting major improvement? He doesn't seem to be declining, but he isn't improving by leaps and bounds.
2. Do his symptoms sound familiar to anyone as something other than Hepatic Lipidosis? He hasn't officially been diagnosed with HL...the vet and I are going on the similarity of the bloodwork results to Sally's.
3. I have noticed that he salivates and licks his lips when he sees his food syringe or the pill gun. I know that drooling is a sign of nausea (he's always had a sensitive stomach), but could this be a symptom of something else?
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Emily
Two months ago, one of my cats (Sally...6 years old and inside only) was diagnosed with Hepatic Lipidosis (through bloodwork, x-rays, an ultrasound, and a biopsy). She has always been tubby, so the diagnosis wasn't surprising, even though she had always been healthy. To make a long story short, she is almost completely recovered thanks to a feeding tube and a bunch of medications.
Here's the strange part- About 3 weeks ago, another one of my cats (Cory...also 6 and inside only) started acting "funny". Low energy, not grooming himself (or me, for that matter!), seemed a little shaky when walking; he was eating for a few days and then stopped. He has never been overweight and has had no health problems. As soon as I saw that he was not eating I took him to the vet and had bloodwork done. The results came back as nearly identical to Sally's. No other abnormalities were mentioned. I immediately had a feeding tube put in and he was prescribed the same types of meds as Sally (Metronidazole, Clavamox, and Denosyl), but I didn't have all of the diagnostic tests done. My concern is that he doesn't seem to be recovering as quickly as Sally did, even though he didn't seem as sick as Sally did at the beginning. His jaundice is improving, but he still seems shaky, and "off". He walks around the house periodically and he purrs and rubs his head up against my hand, but he is nowhere near as affectionate as usual. He hates being fed...big surprise, but only vomits occasionally. This has been going on for three weeks and I'm not sure what to do.
Okay, here are my questions:
1. How long should I wait before expecting major improvement? He doesn't seem to be declining, but he isn't improving by leaps and bounds.
2. Do his symptoms sound familiar to anyone as something other than Hepatic Lipidosis? He hasn't officially been diagnosed with HL...the vet and I are going on the similarity of the bloodwork results to Sally's.
3. I have noticed that he salivates and licks his lips when he sees his food syringe or the pill gun. I know that drooling is a sign of nausea (he's always had a sensitive stomach), but could this be a symptom of something else?
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Emily