Cat’s Liver Disease

[Dgunth]

My 15 year old Tabby cat has been diagnosed with fatty liver disease and IBD. He originally lost weight and wasn’t eating his food. The vet took blood work and they also did a biopsy. His liver enzymes were high and went up on the second visit. Since we brought him home from the vet (and they told us to just make him comfortable: almost like hospice care) he has started eating normally again! and he seems to have energy. He is sleepy but still acting almost like normal again. I am concerned that he may have been mis diagnosed. He gets very sick when driving in the car so Im not about to take him back to that vet. Should I get a second opinion? Has anyone had this issue with a vet before?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I had a cat with Fatty Liver disease, and he definitely would not eat. We had to have a feeding tube installed. I have never heard of a cat with Fatty Liver who eat on their own, at least in the beginning. Does your cat have yellow gums and yellow skin (on the inside of his ears where the fur is less?) With Fatty Liver, they are normally VERY yellow!

I can't say for certain that this is a misdiagnosis, but sounds like it. Elevated liver enzymes don't always mean Fatty Liver. There are all sorts of liver issues. Do you know which enzymes were elevated. One of my cats used to have one particular enzyme go high, they would give her antibiotics and it would go back into normal range again for several months before the cycle would repeat.

 

[Dgunth]

I had a cat with Fatty Liver disease, and he definitely would not eat. We had to have a feeding tube installed. I have never heard of a cat with Fatty Liver who eat on their own, at least in the beginning. Does your cat have yellow gums and yellow skin (on the inside of his ears where the fur is less?) With Fatty Liver, they are normally VERY yellow!

I can't say for certain that this is a misdiagnosis, but sounds like it. Elevated liver enzymes don't always mean Fatty Liver. There are all sorts of liver issues. Do you know which enzymes were elevated. One of my cats used to have one particular enzyme go high, they would give her antibiotics and it would go back into normal range again for several months before the cycle would repeat.

Thank you for your response. He does not have yellow skin or gums. His eyes are a darker color then before but not yellowish. He seems to be hungry quite often now and we started feeding him pate rather then dry food. ( He would not eat the dry food early on so we switched over to the wet.) His weight went down from 13.5 to 10 but he is holding steady at 10 now. I do not know which enzyme is high but will check on that. I seem to remember the vet saying the number doubled in the week between visits. We are monitoring him now but just glad that he seems to be eating better and hopefully he will be with us for much longer.. thank you