Feline Hepatic Lipidosis Help Please!

[amwil]

Hi everyone, our 4 year old DSH Rory was recently diagnosed with FHL. We had recently moved to a new home and he seemed to be adjusting fine. He hadn't been eating as much even before because we switched our cats food to help with both of their hairball problems. It wasn't until he was gagging that we took him to the vet immediately. Upon blood tests and a physical exam, they concluded it was FHL.
We had caught it rather early, however, the vet was not very helpful and wasn't pleased that we decided to treat him at home. We're doing SQ fluids, a steroid, and an antibiotic but we aren't really sure where to go from here. He ate a bit of deli turkey today and hasn't been gagging but other than that doesn't seem any different.
Does anyone have any suggestions going forward? Any food recommendations? Even anything homemade would be appreciated so much! The more we read the more worried we get

 

[Willowy]

Hepatic lipidosis is what happens when a cat doesn't eat enough, so you have to figure out WHY he wasn't eating enough. A food change can do that for some cats, but there may be some other underlying issue too.

So, assuming there are no underlying health issues, you just have to get enough calories into him so that his liver starts to work again and can clear the toxins out. He needs to get at least 10 calories per pound of his ideal weight, but 15-20 calories per pound would be better. So if he should weigh 12 pounds he would need at least 120 calories, 180-240 would be better. I wouldn't recommend deli turkey, though; too salty. He probably won't eat enough on his own so you'll have to assist-feed him with a large feeding syringe. Meat baby food (no spices added), pureed meat, smooth canned cat food, anything that you can get into the syringe. There is a Hill's prescription food that's smooth and made for syringe feeding, ask the vet for a/d canned food. You can also get Royal Canin Babycat canned food, it's also very smooth.

I have one cat who once stopped eating because she didn't like the new food, and I didn't notice in time and she ended up with HL. I had to syringe-feed her for a month before she started eating on her own :/. But she's fine now so it is something that can be fixed with enough time and patience.

You might want to ask the vet for an anti-nausea medication and an appetite stimulator. Maybe a painkiller too---HL isn't as painful as pancreatitis but I think it must be at least a little uncomfortable, plus painkillers can stimulate appetite too.

 

[amwil]

Thank you so much for your advice! We think he stopped eating because we'd recently switched his food because of both our cats' hairball problem. Then a couple weeks later we moved houses so I'm sure that didn't help. Our vet was not very helpful after we told her we'd like to treat him at home since we couldn't afford to keep him there to get treated. Thank you so much for helping!

 

[orange&white]

If you are treating him at home, you do need to feed him with a syringe. You didn't mention assist-feeding in your list of home treatment. As Willowy mentioned, you'll need to make sure he gets at least a minimum number of calories per day. If you can't get calories into him by mouth, the next step would be to have the vet insert a tube. I'm sorry. I also had a cat go through HL and assist fed him (by mouth) every 2 hours for several weeks (about 6 weeks before he ate on his own).

 

[amwil]

Thank you!! The vet pretty much stopped helping us once we said we'd like to treat him at home so she didn't even mention syringe feeding, just gave us a prescription for Royal Canin GI dry food, which seemed odd. Do you have any food suggestions? Either store bought or a homemade concoction?

 

[orange&white]

I would get a pate-style canned food. Mush it about 50/50 with water. If you have a mini-food processor or blender, that will work. If you don't have a way to puree, smush the food through a strainer as the gritty bits can clog a syringe. Most retail store pharmacies will give you a handful of oral syringes for free if you tell them that you are needing to feed a cat who won't eat.

 

[orange&white]

Also look at canned food labels for kcals/can. If you buy a high-calorie food, that is less you need to syringe to meet your kitty's calorie requirements.

 

[Willowy]

The smoother the better. Gerber chicken baby food has 100 calories a jar and plenty of protein. It's not a complete diet so you want to try to get some real cat food into him too, but meat is good. And it's an easy 100 calories, which leaves only a few calories to make up some other way. He may lick it off your finger or a spoon and that would save the stress of syringe feeding.

And, like I said, Royal Canin Babycat and Hill's Prescription a/d are very smooth too. If you can't get those, run a regular canned food through a Bullet blender (or similar) with some water to make it smoother.

 

[mewcatmew]

There is a supplement called Nutri-Cal gel, you can find it in petsmart/petco, etc and it is a high calorie, nutrient dense gel you can give by syringe to supplement some of your cats daily calorie/nutritional needs.

 

[cheeser]

You can also use meat broth to mix in with wet cat food for syringe feedings to provide a little extra nutrition and calories rather than just plain water.

When we've had to syringe feed our pets, I tried whenever possible to see if I could get by without adding any water or broth at all (or at least as little as possible) so I could cram as many calories as I could into every drop. I'd just set the blender to 'liquify' and blend the crap out of it. Some brands and flavors work better than others for that, so you may need to experiment a bit and see what works best for you and your kitty. Oh, and if a syringe just doesn't work out for you for whatever reason, you can also use those little nursing bottles you can buy at places like Petsmart.

If at all possible under the circumstances, I'd highly recommend that you try to get your cat to eat *something* on his own to supplement what you syringe feed him so he doesn't forget how to eat. Our cat had to have a tube put in when she had HL, and by the time she had recovered enough for the vet to remove it, she had forgotten how to eat.

Is it possible for you to see another vet who is willing to help you take care of your cat at home?

 

[sparkie]

Hi! I lost my beautiful kitty Thor (my profile photo) to hepatic lipidosis. We had to feed him by tube, but even after his numbers were in normal range, he wouldn't eat on his own anymore. Our vet had us buy cans of Science Diet wet cat food - it was something like liver flavored and was really calorie dense. It smelled awful but it helped him put some weight back on.

Otherwise I'd suggest taking whatever your cat really loves -- tuna, turkey, etc. and warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds to make it smelly. Cats have really sensitive noses and smelling food sometimes makes them hungrier so they're more apt to eat it. I really hope this helps and I wish you all the best that your fur baby has a speedy recovery!!

 

[foxxycat]

Kitten food is high in dense calories-any canned kitten food will work. Blend it with some meat babyfood like chicken/turkey to give it the stinkiness to entice the appetite. Also ask for Cerenia as often nausea is a factor for why they won't eat. if you have issues pilling ask for it as an injection. If you are doing sub fluids you can do injections. Cerenia injection is given once a day. It's so much easier than pills. and in 30-60 min should see some effects to wanting to eat. Do NOT give appetite stimulants without treating for nausea. As we know-when we have an upset stomach then take something to make us eat-it makes us feel even more yucky. Fluids are good. Dehydrated cats won't eat. Good job trying to treat at home.

 

[amwil]

Thank you all for sharing you've helped so much! We've been doing about 100ccs of fluids a day to keep him hydrated. Our vet gave us some Hill's a/d which has been AMAZING and gave him a big ole shot of Zofran to help with the vomitting. We've been syringe feeding him that about 5-6 times a day. He's already getting a little stronger! He really isn't a fan of us feeding him but he also won't eat anything else right now. Props to all of you who have done this, it's crazy stressful!

 

[cheeser]

That's awesome! I'm so glad your kitty is responding well to the syringe feedings.

We usually indulge our kitties with a little treat of some kind after we've had to do something they don't like, such as a goodie, a brushing, a cuddle, a play time session, etc. And sometimes I need a treat for myself. Okay, maybe lots of treats, especially chocolate!

 

[foxxycat]

chocolate is a good thing!!!

 

[sparkie]

Yes! A/D was the stuff they had us give Thor. I don't know why I thought it was Science Diet. A/D is like kitty crack. I don't know if they put mice guts in it or what but cats find it irresistible. I'm so glad your baby is on the mend!