Advice For Force Feeding Hepatic Lipidosis Kitty :(

[ramziboy3]

My boyfriend and his cat recently moved to a new apartment and since the move he has slowly stopped eating. He went from 15 lbs to 9 lbs in about a month. We took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with hepatic lipidosis. The vet didn't recommend to force feed at home but we're both students so it is not in our budget at the moment, sadly. We have been syringe feeding Friskies for about a week now. He was getting about 2 15mL syringes per feed with 3 feedings a day, and how now moved up to 4 feedings per day. He was doing ok with the feedings at first and seemed to gain some of his energy back but now is starting to do bad again. Throwing up almost everyday (even after given zofran) and his personality has completely changed and is now down to 8 lbs. Any advice on how to stop vomiting or tips on force feeding or hp would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[neely]

Welcome to TCS although I'm sorry your cat's health problem is what brought you here. I hope we can help by giving you some information and support. Here are several threads you can refer to regarding Hepatic Lipidosis:
Hepatic Lipidosis Help
Hepatic Lipidosis - Recovery Timeline
Feline Hepatic Lipidosis Help Please!

Sending special thoughts and healing vibes to you.
Please keep us updated on your cat's progress.

 

[Hugospal]

I got into this situation after spending thousands at the vet for a vomiting kitty with no appetite.

Can you afford to see the vet for an anti nausea injection? Those are typically more powerful. He also might need fluids if he hasn't been drinking and that shouldn't be too expensive at a regular vet. Understanding that you don't have money for a feeding tube or in hospital supportive care, a vet should still be able to work with you and your budget.

Also, go into a pet supply store and find a higher calorie food. Wellness comes to mind when i was looking although we went with Hill's A/D which needs prescription. Kitten food also tends to be higher calorie.

My cat wasn't terrible for the feedings. I just squirted a little at a time and waited for him to swallow. As he got better, the food stopped going everywhere and he ate more of it easily.

 

[weebeasties]

I dont know what the calorie count is, but Tiki Cat makes a pouch food that is mousse that might go through the syringe more easily.
I would definitely see if the vet could give the longer lasting anti nausea injection. If she needs fluids, you can get lactated ringers and do it at home. It seems daunting at first, but it's really not. Just have the vet show you the first time.
Sending lots of good vibes and please keep us posted.

 

[ramziboy3]

I got into this situation after spending thousands at the vet for a vomiting kitty with no appetite.

Can you afford to see the vet for an anti nausea injection? Those are typically more powerful. He also might need fluids if he hasn't been drinking and that shouldn't be too expensive at a regular vet. Understanding that you don't have money for a feeding tube or in hospital supportive care, a vet should still be able to work with you and your budget.

Also, go into a pet supply store and find a higher calorie food. Wellness comes to mind when i was looking although we went with Hill's A/D which needs prescription. Kitten food also tends to be higher calorie.

My cat wasn't terrible for the feedings. I just squirted a little at a time and waited for him to swallow. As he got better, the food stopped going everywhere and he ate more of it easily.

Yes I'm going to try to get a cerenia injection for him to help with vomiting and i've been adding water to the syringes, would that be a good amount of fluids or would he need more? i've heard wellness is good so I'm going to the store today to get some, and i use a kitten probiotic to help with digestion. Thank you so much!

 

[ramziboy3]

I dont know what the calorie count is, but Tiki Cat makes a pouch food that is mousse that might go through the syringe more easily.
I would definitely see if the vet could give the longer lasting anti nausea injection. If she needs fluids, you can get lactated ringers and do it at home. It seems daunting at first, but it's really not. Just have the vet show you the first time.
Sending lots of good vibes and please keep us posted.

Is it a calorie dense food? We don't have an issue with it going through the syringe, just him keeping it down. And I used to be a vet tech so I'm no stranger to giving LR, the vet didn't think it was necessary but I'm going to bring him back in and request it, will keep you updated. Thank you!

 

[silkenpaw]

Nothing sad about being a student or even penniless, but it does put a cramp in the treatment options for your cat. You want to choose the most calorie dense food that you can still get through a syringe. Many pet food companies have the information on their web pages. You can also find a lot of the info here. For comparison, Hills a/d, a recovery food often recommended for tube feeding, has 180 Cal/5.5 oz. (by the time you dilute it enough to get through a syringe, there is 1 Cal/ml or 30 Cal/oz).

If you can give the cat subq fluids, that’s a much better way of getting fluids into him and you can concentrate on just calories orally.

The vet can prescribe you an injectable antiemetic, and you can probably beg some syringes and needles from him. That works much better than oral drugs.

What were the cat’s liver labs, just out of curiosity?

You’ll get a lot of information and support on this site. I wish you the best of luck with your kitty. Please keep us updated on how he’s doing

 

[mikameek]

TikiCat Mousse is not calorie dense. The highest calorie is 81 calories per pouch. This is what I used AFTER my cat was eating on her own and not needing force feeding anymore.
Look into kitten food, it is typically smellier and has many more calories than regular cat foods. I would keep offering him food outside of the syringe feeding so that he can attempt to eat if he wants. All of this is trying to get him moving towards eating on his own.

Furballsmom has a really awesome list of things you can offer him to try and keep the food available and interesting so that he might eat.

I went out (and I don't know that its available in all places) and got a powder that was full of extra nutrients and calories that I mixed with water. I would give that to her on her days that she didn't eat much at all on her own WITH her food. I also added probiotics to her feedings.

Nutro has really soft loafs of foods (there are kitten ones) that should be easy to put a little water in and syringe feed. Look at giving as many calories as possible in the day. Calories are your best friend. For a 15 lb cat, you need to be feeding 300 calories daily. Thats why kitten food is so important. COUNT YOUR CALORIES!

Kitten replacement milk is also really awesome. It can be served like water but also has calories in it. Towards the end when I just needed to give my girl a little boost on her calories, I would give her KRM with probiotics added in the syringe.

I did this without a feeding tube and if you have the motivation and determination to do it, you will be able to. HOWEVER, at some point, if you cat does not want to eat food on its own and you're unable to get most of his calories in (300 is a lot, I totally admit that), you will NEED to get a feeding tube.

This is such a hard thing to get over. I'm so sorry you're dealing with this and your cat is so sick. You are NOT alone though. There have been tons of people who have dealt with fatty liver on this site and we'll all be here to help you.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - I'm sorry to hear your baby is going through this!!
Heating his food a little bit, or take some pate and add a tablespoon of warm-to-hot water, stir it up (a shot glass works well for this). Another member mentioned that a little ground chicken got their cat to eat.
Also, here is a list of things...

see if anything here, on his food or separately, will entice your cat to eat;

• Chicken or beef flavored baby food such as Gerber Stage 2 - make sure there is no garlic or onions in the ingredients

• Tuna and/or the juice, a low mercury brand is called SafeCatch

• Salmon
• Mackerel

• Sardines (make sure there are no bones)

• boiled cut up chicken or turkey with no seasonings

• canned kitten food any brand - it's usually smelly. See if it's eaten on its own, then maybe mix it in or put on top

• Try mixing in Kitten Milk Replacer - there are recipes on the internet

• Fish, tuna or BBQ flavored canned wet food (I personally have never seen BBQ flavors, but...)

• Lickable cat treats or pouch treat gravy poured over the food

• kitten glop (recipes are on the internet, look for some with goat milk)
• Bonito flakes
• fortiflora

• goat milk, or no lactose cow milk
• whole cooked eggs (the white must always be cooked) or raw egg yolk now and then
• broth with no salt and no garlic or onion or seasonings of any kind
• There are also commercial toppers, Applaws is a brand that can work well as a topper
  you could crumble treats onto the wet food, Purebites, Orijen, Meowtinis, Meowables

 

[ramziboy3]

I greatly appreciate all the advice! We've decided to call around to find the best pricing for a feeding tube and go ahead with that, we can't watch him lose any more weight and it will be worth it if it saves his life, hopefully we can get it placed friday, I'll let you know how it goes

 

[Furballsmom]

Sending you all the very best wishes for a good outcome!

 

[laura mae]

I sure hope the feeding tube works well. It really is the only way to get enough calories into your kitty. Hills A/D is the way to go at least until your cat is eating on his own. You should try to get him to eat 1/2 a can a feeding at least. That's a long time to syringe feed when you dilute with enough water to get into the syringe.

The vomiting could be because it's too much food per syringe full. Even with a feeding tube, it will be important to deliver the food slowly or else he'll just vomit it up. It could also be due to him just feeling crummy. Hopefully the anti nausea medication will help.

It could take a while for him to feel good enough to eat on his own. Stick with it and come back here for encouragement.

 

[martinavb99]

Hi,
I want to start by saying how sorry I am that you’re going through this and I know how hard it is as my girl recently got a similar diagnosis. She’s on a long list of meds, some of which I specifically requested as my aunt is a vet specialized in treating cats (unfortunately she lives too far away or Nala and I would be seeing her). The nausea is a huge problem and we had Nala put on Cerenia for that, but you can also try picking up Pepcid AC 10mg tablets from your local drug store and cutting the pills into quarters that you give twice a day(a much cheaper option than Cerenia).She’s also on an appetite stimulant called Apo-Mirtazapine which is supposed to be helpful in terms of getting her to eat on her own again. The pill that I really had to put my foot down to get is called Zentonil which is specifically meant to support liver function, it’s slightly expensive (85$) but you get a big pack of thirty tablets and give your cat half a tablet a day. Is your cat vomiting after or in the litterbox because dehydration can cause constipation in cats and when they strain themselves to poo it can cause them to throw up.

Food is also important, we use A/D which is prescribed by our vet and runs at $4 a can and now that I’m feeding her a can a day it’s getting pricy, but any cat food with the most calories possible will work.

We were doing syringe feeding and honestly it wasn’t as horrible as I’ve heard from others, as Nala was fairly well behaved during the feedings, but it was definitely emotionally stressful on both of us and in the end her weight wasn’t changing after three weeks so we hospitalized her and she was given IV fluids and a feeding tube. I’m a student as well so that’s the reason I’ve been including the price in everything because I know that when looking into treatment for my cat I did have to consider this. In total for 24 hours of hospitalization and feeding and the IV plus feeding tube it was around $1,200. If you already have meds for your kitty bring them with you if you go this route and they won’t need to charge you for those!! If you’re able to find a way to pay for the feeding tube I would definitely reccomend it as it’s much less stressful and easier to get the calories into your cat.

I wish you and your kitty the best of luck and hope everything goes well!

 

[ramziboy3]

I sure hope the feeding tube works well. It really is the only way to get enough calories into your kitty. Hills A/D is the way to go at least until your cat is eating on his own. You should try to get him to eat 1/2 a can a feeding at least. That's a long time to syringe feed when you dilute with enough water to get into the syringe.

The vomiting could be because it's too much food per syringe full. Even with a feeding tube, it will be important to deliver the food slowly or else he'll just vomit it up. It could also be due to him just feeling crummy. Hopefully the anti nausea medication will help.

It could take a while for him to feel good enough to eat on his own. Stick with it and come back here for encouragement.

Do you know what a good ratio is for feeding through a tube? like food to water?

 

[ramziboy3]

Hi,
I want to start by saying how sorry I am that you’re going through this and I know how hard it is as my girl recently got a similar diagnosis. She’s on a long list of meds, some of which I specifically requested as my aunt is a vet specialized in treating cats (unfortunately she lives too far away or Nala and I would be seeing her). The nausea is a huge problem and we had Nala put on Cerenia for that, but you can also try picking up Pepcid AC 10mg tablets from your local drug store and cutting the pills into quarters that you give twice a day(a much cheaper option than Cerenia).She’s also on an appetite stimulant called Apo-Mirtazapine which is supposed to be helpful in terms of getting her to eat on her own again. The pill that I really had to put my foot down to get is called Zentonil which is specifically meant to support liver function, it’s slightly expensive (85$) but you get a big pack of thirty tablets and give your cat half a tablet a day. Is your cat vomiting after or in the litterbox because dehydration can cause constipation in cats and when they strain themselves to poo it can cause them to throw up.

Food is also important, we use A/D which is prescribed by our vet and runs at $4 a can and now that I’m feeding her a can a day it’s getting pricy, but any cat food with the most calories possible will work.

We were doing syringe feeding and honestly it wasn’t as horrible as I’ve heard from others, as Nala was fairly well behaved during the feedings, but it was definitely emotionally stressful on both of us and in the end her weight wasn’t changing after three weeks so we hospitalized her and she was given IV fluids and a feeding tube. I’m a student as well so that’s the reason I’ve been including the price in everything because I know that when looking into treatment for my cat I did have to consider this. In total for 24 hours of hospitalization and feeding and the IV plus feeding tube it was around $1,200. If you already have meds for your kitty bring them with you if you go this route and they won’t need to charge you for those!! If you’re able to find a way to pay for the feeding tube I would definitely reccomend it as it’s much less stressful and easier to get the calories into your cat.

I wish you and your kitty the best of luck and hope everything goes well!

This was definitely helpful thank you! he's on the app stimulant now which doesn't seem to be helping but we still give it every other day as the vet said. I will definitely try pepcid if its cheaper than cerenia! As for the liver supplement, I heard vitamin E is supposed to be very helpful. Do you know anything about that or would you just suggest going straight to Zentonil? He is doing fine with the litter box, the vomiting occurs immediately after the feeds which is extremely frustrating!! It is emotionally draining and its affecting the relationship we have with him which is why we think the feeding tube will definitely be worth it and we'll take your advice and bring our own meds to keep the cost down thank you!

 

[ramziboy3]

This was definitely helpful thank you! he's on the app stimulant now which doesn't seem to be helping but we still give it every other day as the vet said. I will definitely try pepcid if its cheaper than cerenia! As for the liver supplement, I heard vitamin E is supposed to be very helpful. Do you know anything about that or would you just suggest going straight to Zentonil? He is doing fine with the litter box, the vomiting occurs immediately after the feeds which is extremely frustrating!! It is emotionally draining and its affecting the relationship we have with him which is why we think the feeding tube will definitely be worth it and we'll take your advice and bring our own meds to keep the cost down thank you!

Keep me updated on your Nala, I hope she's doing better !

 

[laura mae]

Do you know what a good ratio is for feeding through a tube? like food to water?

I didn't really measure it that closely. I had a blender set aside specifically for the A/D and added a little water and then a little more to make a slurry. I wanted it to be enough water to be able to easily go through the syringe (that went into the feeding tube) without stopping up. Once it stops up, you have to withdraw the syringe and clear the stoppage).

When I had to syringe feed Scooter a few years back, I did the same thing and just kept adding water until it was milkshake consistency (so sorry for the visual).

 

[silkenpaw]

The ratio of a/d to water is 15 ml (1 tablespoon) of water per 5.5 oz can of food. I give it a whir in the blender to get all the lumps out. The resulting food contains 1 Cal/ml and there are 180 ml/can. A cat needs about 20 Cal/lb of body weight to maintain weight.

When prepared like this, the a/d is pretty easy to push through a 20 ml syringe. Don’t be tempted to use a larger syringe, it will be harder to push through. Also, be aware that plastic syringes aren’t meant for multiple uses and they do become very hard to push through and have to be discarded. You can test a syringe by just moving the plunger down in an empty one; you can tell the difference between a fresh and an old one. So get a bunch of syringes. My vet usually just gives them to me or you can get a prescription. I used to get them from Amazon but they don’t seem to have them any more. You want 20 ml (20 cc) Luer lock syringes.

I warm the food to body temperature (about 100℉) but room temperature is OK. The cat will vomit if the food is refrigerator cold or given too fast. I feed 20 ml at a time, not too fast (your cat will tell you) and leave 10-15 minutes between syringes.

Good luck with Nala. Please keep us updated

 

[halfbreed]

I sure hope the feeding tube works well. It really is the only way to get enough calories into your kitty. Hills A/D is the way to go at least until your cat is eating on his own. You should try to get him to eat 1/2 a can a feeding at least. That's a long time to syringe feed when you dilute with enough water to get into the syringe.

The vomiting could be because it's too much food per syringe full. Even with a feeding tube, it will be important to deliver the food slowly or else he'll just vomit it up. It could also be due to him just feeling crummy. Hopefully the anti nausea medication will help.

It could take a while for him to feel good enough to eat on his own. Stick with it and come back here for encouragement.

I've been dealing with a case of HL in a recent adoptee, and I feel I must disagree. We have syringe-fed a petite senior girl from 5.5 lbs. back up to the 7.5 she was when we got her on June 1st. The vets in my area vary wildly in competence (to be charitable) and the one I might allow to perform surgery was booked and her office evasive. We had no choice but to syringe-feed. It worked, and I am grateful this one time for the limitation. She is finally starting to eat from a spoon but it's been a really rough trip as so many of you know.

The highest calorie foods I found were Wellness Core in "smooth" duck & turkey, also chicken & liver, and Instinct patés were fairly high and preferred by our patient. I thought I'd never feed any of my cats Royal Canin (carrageenan, by-products, wheat???) but initially she wouldn't eat anything other than Babycat, very low in calories but with that certain texture that whipped up well with raw goatsmilk and egg yolk. All approved by my natural vet, who has done wonders for our sweetie with occasional seizures.

An e-tube is a good option for many, but for us the syringes were both necessary and, ultimately, the best solution. I give a lot of credit also to the raw goatsmilk and various appetite stimulants from the doctor, also milk thistle. And raw egg yolk!

Thanks to everyone who posted their experiences with tube and syringe feeding. It kept us going when a vet we use only when necessary for small emergencies told us we should give up and adopt another cat! Seriously! Would she be that cavalier about a patient if she were a pediatrician?

 

[silkenpaw]

a vet we use only when necessary for small emergencies told us we should give up and adopt another cat! Seriously! Would she be that cavalier about a patient if she were a pediatrician?

Honestly, some people! What was she proposing you do with the current one? Hissssssssss.