Weight loss in hepatic lipidosis

[enzymebehavior]

Hello, my cat is 8 y.o. and was diagnosed with HL on 01/11. We tried syringe feeding him but were unable to meet the calorie requirements and ended up getting a feeding tube on 01/30. Since the feeding tube his energy is getting better and he hasn’t hid in the closet in over a week now. He is still not eating much, maybe half of a 3oz can sometimes more. He is fully reliant on tube feeding for now. My main question is for people who have experience with HL in cats, when did you start noticing weight improvement or weight stabilization? I weigh him every morning and he continues to lose weight. On 01/11 and 01/30 he was ~12.4lbs but he has been gradually declining in weight. Today, he weighed 11.6lbs. Although his energy levels are better, this concerns me as I am not sure if we are meeting his calorie requirement. I keep finding contradicting information. Right now, we are aiming for 350ml of A/D on top of whatever he manages to eat by himself. Is that enough? Should we be concerned that he is losing weight or does weight gain happen after liver enzymes have returned to normal values? We are going to get his liver enzymes checked tomorrow. Thank you!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I think he should be at least stabilizing in his weight if not gaining at this point. Are you giving the amount the Vet said to give? Remember that if you thin it out with water, you are losing x number of calories, so if you just go by mls in, that doesn't equate to calories in the can. Does that make sense? You might try thinning the A/D with something like KMR or goats milk for added calories. Someone else also added in a little bit of Nutrical to their cats syringe feedings, so I don't see why you couldn't add that through a feeding tube as long as you make sure it's well blended into the A/D so it doesn't get sticky in the tube. Or see if he'll lick it off your finger.

When you go in for his re-check tomorrow, ask your Vet whether or not you should be feeding him more since it's now been a little over two weeks on the tube. They should give you a schedule of how much to give at what points along the way. We had to feed out guy every four hours, for months, but I can't remember how much...seems like to was either 30 mls or 60 mls each time. Sorry, it was over 20 years ago so my memory isn't that good.

 

[enzymebehavior]

Thank you for replying!
We have gotten mixed information from the two vets that are following him. We go to an animal hospital and they don’t always have the same vet on duty. When he got the tube, they instructed two cans but the Hills A/D feeding guide suggests way more. So we were feeding him 350-370ml. A couple of days ago the other vet called to check in and she suggested that 2 cans is not enough(as the other vet had suggested) and she recommended 2.5 cans to 3 cans which would mean 375ml to 450ml. We tried feeding him 380ml yesterday and he vomited. I will admit that we did large feedings to meet that number and he seemed to tolerate it well during the feed until a couple of hours later when he vomited.
I am scared to feed him over 350ml/day now and the contradicting information has left me very confused. Did you feed your cat in the middle of the night? That’s one thing we haven’t done but maybe we need to in order to meet the calorie requirement?

 

[Antonio65]

Did you understand the reason why your cat stopped eating to the point he went into HL?
Probably you wrote it before and I missed it.

This reason could hide other issues like malabsorption or something that prevents him from gaining weight.

The amount of A/D you are feeding him should be more than enough to make him gain weight. According to his past weight, around 12.5 lbs, he should take at least 250 kcal a day, and the 350 grams of A/D give around 380 kcal, which is more than he should need.

So, I wonder if there's anything else that I am missing.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

We DID feed our guy in the middle of the night. EVERY four hours, 24/7. Luckily there are two of us so we could split up the feedings, and at the time, I worked days and my spouse worked nights, so someone was always available. And yes, if you give too much at one time, it will come back up. I did that once, but it came back up immediately, not a couple hours later. You need to mention that to the Vet today. Is he on any medications? He might need an anti-emetic, plus meds for whatever caused the H/L in the first place, plus liver supplements.

Let us know what they say today.