Fatty Liver Disease Experience

[kriiton]

Hello All,
I'm new here and am looking for some help from those of you who have successfully nursed your cat through Fatty Liver Disease.
About me: I've had Pets my whole life and have accumulated a lot of experience treating and caring for sickness and injuries from minor to severe. IE: Corona, Parvo, Broken Bones, Gun Shot wounds etc just to name a few. But Fatty liver is new to me.
My 3yr old cat Romeo was diagnosed a little over a week ago. He's displaying the typical signs IE: Jaundice, keeping to himself etc. This was brought on by IBD. He's improving but is on a roller coaster relative to the improvements IE: Eats and drinks on his own 1 day then wont for a couple days. Still wants to keep to himself which isn't completely atypical. His alertness is back, no more head droop, still moving slow but staring to exhibit some of his old habits and routines.
I'd like to know what others have experienced with their cats during the road to recovery. Progress steps, time frames etc. so I can get a feel for whats normal/typical and what I can expect along the way. The vet hasn't been all that helpful.
Romeos being force fed 1 1/2 - 2 cans per day of Royal Canine "Recovery" Food broke up into 3 feedings. I'm also supplementing 200mg per day of liquid Milk Thistle divided into the 3 feedings. I'm confident that this supplement has/is helping him with recovery. He still has the slight Yellow color also which I'm wondering how long will last.
Thank you in advance for any help. I really appreciate it and am looking forward to talking with all of you.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I've had personal experience with Fatty Liver, also called Hepatic Lipidosis. If you do a search on this site, you will find saveral threads on this topic. I would say that the majority of cats with this issue end up getting a feeding tube simply to make it easier for the feedings. My cat was on a feeding tube for FOUR months, and we needed to feed him every 4 hours. With H/L, I won't lie, it's very deadly health condition. I would say the chances are only about 50/50 for survival.

For liver supplements, many people give Denamarin, which contains Sam-E and Milk Thistle, or you can do it the way you are, using the Milk Thistle, but it would be good to use Sam-E too, or some Vitamin E (our Vet said just a drop or 2 of 100 iu, which is hard to find these days). Also, Ursodial is good to help the Liver heal.

 

[babiesmom5]

I am so sorry your Romeo is now ill with Fatty Liver brought on by IBD. This is a serious illness and you are wise to learn as much as you can about it. While I have not dealt with Hepatic Lipidosis, I have traveled the rocky road of IBD and have found a website that is helpful; www.ibdkitties/fatty liver. If you go on the site under organs and then go under liver you will find a lot of information. Also there are many links contained which refer you to other helpful information on Hepatic Lipidosis.

I would also advise you to seek out a good Internal Medicine Specialist Vet. As you have found, many generalist Vets are just not that well versed on Fatty Liver disease because that is something that is usually referred on to a specialist. Good sources are Veterinary schools and/or Emergency and Specialty hospitals.

 

[denice]

My IBD kitty had fatty liver about 6 1/2 years ago. It took him a little over a month to recover. It was a good two weeks before he started eating a little on his own. He is 14 now and is still here with me and doing well. He has been on a steroid since he had fatty litter and has only had one very mild, very short flare since having the fatty liver.

 

[laura mae]

I am familiar. When she was 3, my cat Hazel ended up with it. She eventually recovered and lived to age 19. She was quite sick. It was brought on by a bug fumigation that my landlord at the time did on the apartment without letting me know. Hazel did not eat for several days and ended up with Hepatic Lipidosis. She had a feeding tube for a couple of months. I whirled up Hills A/D with water and fed it very slowly several times a day through her tube (which was place in her side, directly to her stomach). She was the 2nd cat in vet history to get this feeding tube, apparently (At Purdue University). The tube had to come out a little sooner than I wanted, but she started eating on her own fairly soon after the tube was removed. That was 1987, I think.

Hazel was quite the handful of a cat. I don't think she would have survived without the tube. As she got better, it was harder to feed her this way.

 

[kriiton]

UPDATE:
Thank you all for sharing your experience. It was helpful.
I'm happy to report that Romeo is recovering nicely and doing better by the day! His Jaundice has pretty much cleared and his urine is back to normal color. He's still weak in his hind quarters but is gaining strength daily. I've learned a lot about his liver condition over the last 2 weeks. I'm still feeding him the canned diet but am varying the qty to encourage him to continue eating more on his own, which he's doing more of by the day. At the rate he's going, I'm betting that I can stop syringe feeding him within a week, but we'll see.
In case it could be helpful to someone else. I'd like to share the diet that he's been on:
1 1/2 - 2 cans of Royal Canine "Recovery" per day, broken up in 3 meals for the first 1 1/2 weeks then changed to 2 meals per day as he started to recover. Each meal was supplemented with 10 drops of Milk Thistle Extract 1:3 ratio. Initially I use the Reduced alcohol version just to get him started on it then switched to a non-alcohol type once I found some. I'm not convinced that the minute amount of alcohol he was getting at first would be a problem. It was more to keep his liver from having to work on anything but healing.
The last 3 days I've also supplemented 10ml per meal of High Calorie Nutritional Gel mixed in his food. You could tell that this gave him some needed extra kick.
I also discontinued the appetite enhancement medicine that the vet gave me after the 4th day. I've found to much experience from others that this doesn't seem to help until maybe later in the game when eating is resumed and it was just one more thing for the liver to have to work on besides healing.
Lastly, I strongly encourage everyone to self educate on this condition or any ailment/injury for that matter. It's the only way that you can make an informed decision and understand whats going on. Don't rely solely on your Vet for information. While they are a good source, they aren't able to know everything no matter how hard they try. Also, don't panic when you get the initial evaluation and hear all the horrible things that could happen. Remember that a Vet, just like an MD will often give you the worst case scenario to get you to be compliant and proactive. Just keep calm and use common sense and you'll do your furry pal right.

Once my little buddy has completely recovered I'll post a final update with a break down of time frames of his healing process and a few tips for some things to look for and beware of that will hopefully help the next person.

Have a Great Day All!

 

[denice]

I am so happy that he is recovering well.

The vet that treated Patches was also very upfront about Hepatic Lipidosis when he was diagnosed. It is a serious illness and not all cats survive. I think it is good for a vet to be upfront rather than painting a rosy picture that minimizes the seriousness of the illness.

 

[goblinsmom]

Thank you so much for posting your experiences. My Goblin just had blood work done for the first time after several say of anorexia and vomiting. His ALT is in the 400s. The vet said he doesn't think it's fatty liver but could be due to IBD. I've really been panicking about it. He just started taking denamarin, but it seems to possibly make him nauseated, as he was eating great for a few days, and now has stopped again. The vet said we may have to start him on an appetite stimulant.

He didn't present with jaundice at his exam, but where would I look for that? In the eyes and ears?

 

[Norachan]

Hi goblinsmom My cat started showing signs of jaundice after just three days of not eating properly. This was in spite of the fact that I'd been syringe feeding her and she had been taken to an ER vet and put on a drip.

Our vet just parted the fur at the back of her neck to look for a yellow tinge. It's easy to see inside the ears too.

You can tell he feels nauseous if he starts drooling or smacking his lips together. How long has it been since he last ate?

 

[goblinsmom]

Hi Norachan !

I could tell he was nauseated when the sickness first started, as he would lick his lips a lot before and after vomiting. At the vet visit, he was given a shot of depo medrol and for three days, he ate voraciously without any vomiting. Today was his first dose of Denamarin, and he's eaten about 1/4 of a 5.5 ounce can. He keeps getting up and walking to his dish, takes a bite and licks at the gravy, and then walks away. He's not licking his lips anymore like he was before. He sometimes just lays his ears back like he's irritated.