Gallbladder Sludge 3 Yr Old Female Cat

mikameek

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As a last stitch effort I am reaching out to this community to see if I can find some answers or other people who might have had cats going through similar things. My 3 year old cat, Mika, is a tortie domestic shorthair. I’ve had her for just a little over a month and 2 weeks back she stopped eating. I took her to the vet who told me her liver values were very high. Her skin was yellowing (I hadn’t noticed at that point) and he told me that was because her bilirubin levels were at a 9 (Supposed to be at a .5). At this point he sent me home with antibiotics and something to help make her bile system flow. She continued to worse so 3 days later I admitted her to an animal hospital. They aspirated her liver and gallbladder which the testing of found nothing. They noted that what came out of her gallbladder was incredibly sludgy. They tried to culture it but nothing grew. While she was in the hospital her values all went down and she started eating again. They allowed me to take her home and continued antibiotics and the gallbladder medication at higher levels and put her on pain medication. Yesterday (4 days after taking her home) we had a check up that revealed her liver values were back up and some were worse than before. They suspected an obstruction but an ultrasound found nothing. The vet concluded that her biliary system is so sludgy that it is acting like an obstruction and put her on the highest dose of the gallbladder medication she can. The vet told me she had absolutely no idea why things weren’t getting better or what was really going on to cause all this. They mentioned removal of the gallbladder but I don’t have the money to afford that (and my vet told me the surgery comes with lots of post complications). My cat is back to barely eating and only licking her food. She is horrible about her oral medication as she thrashes about, slobbers and actively spits out anything put in her mouth. I suspect because the medications were originally given through an IV is why her values got better in the hospital. I was hoping to get advice on 1) how to give her medication with her being as fussy and stressed about the medication she is (I have 5 medications to give so I NEED to figure something out) and 2) If anyone has gone through something like this that has any sort of suggestion or advice on what it might be.
 

duckpond

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I am sorry, i dont have any advice, or experience. Just wanted to say i am sorry you guys are going through this, and i hope it gets better soon. Bumping this so hopefully someone with experience with these issues will reply soon.

Best wishes to you guys, keep us updated. i will worry about your girl! :grouphug2:
 

mrsgreenjeens

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I don't have any idea what it might be, other that what your Vet already stated, but Gallbladder sludge sometimes goes away all by itself. Now as to the issue with her meds AND the issue with her barely eating again, what are her meds? Is one of them a pain pill, because from what I've read, she might be in pain from this :frown:. And nauseated as well. So I can see why she doesn't want to eat. And cats who don't eat enough are at risk of developing more issues, specifically Hepatic Lipidosis, which is really NOT what you want to hear, since it's related to the liver, and she's already got liver issues going on. So...you probably need to assist feed her if you aren't already. If you do that, then you can crush her meds (hopefully) and give them to her through the syringe that you feed her with. Another option is a feeding tube, which may be necessary depending on how long it may take her to recover. My boy who ended up with HL needed to be fed through his feeding tube for four months! If we had NOT had a feeding tube it would have been disastrous trying to hold him down and syringe feed him directly into his mouth.

Other options for pilling her are to buy empty gelcaps and put all the meds together in one gelcap (or however many you can combine) and try using butter or something to help make it slippery, or use a pill popper since I don't think you'll be able to hide it in yummy food if she doesn't have an appetite. Most medications can also be compounded into transdermal gels or even injectibles, which are much easier to give. Pricier, but easier.

If you are pilling her, check YouTube and see how other people do it. There are hundreds of videos out there, many by Vets who have some good hints about how to get them to open their mouths, hold still, etc.

:vibes::vibes::vibes:
 
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mikameek

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I don't have any idea what it might be, other that what your Vet already stated, but Gallbladder sludge sometimes goes away all by itself. Now as to the issue with her meds AND the issue with her barely eating again, what are her meds? Is one of them a pain pill, because from what I've read, she might be in pain from this :frown:. And nauseated as well. So I can see why she doesn't want to eat. And cats who don't eat enough are at risk of developing more issues, specifically Hepatic Lipidosis, which is really NOT what you want to hear, since it's related to the liver, and she's already got liver issues going on. So...you probably need to assist feed her if you aren't already. If you do that, then you can crush her meds (hopefully) and give them to her through the syringe that you feed her with. Another option is a feeding tube, which may be necessary depending on how long it may take her to recover. My boy who ended up with HL needed to be fed through his feeding tube for four months! If we had NOT had a feeding tube it would have been disastrous trying to hold him down and syringe feed him directly into his mouth.

Other options for pilling her are to buy empty gelcaps and put all the meds together in one gelcap (or however many you can combine) and try using butter or something to help make it slippery, or use a pill popper since I don't think you'll be able to hide it in yummy food if she doesn't have an appetite. Most medications can also be compounded into transdermal gels or even injectibles, which are much easier to give. Pricier, but easier.

If you are pilling her, check YouTube and see how other people do it. There are hundreds of videos out there, many by Vets who have some good hints about how to get them to open their mouths, hold still, etc.

:vibes::vibes::vibes:
She has been on pain meds but they're so hard to get into her. It's a liquid pain medication that has to be put under the tongue or on her gums (NOT SWALLOWED). This is so difficult with her because she HATES having anything put in her mouth.

We were prepared for a feeding tube before but when she was put in the hospital, she began eating on her own (and apparently, very well for them). Therefore it was taken off the table.

I don't live near a big town so I haven't seen any pharmacies that would do this and the few that I checked couldn't do anything with the medications she is on.

I do have an update for her though.
 
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mikameek

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Over the time from when I created this post to today has been chaotic for myself and my family. Some personal things have kept me from updating this.

After my emergency vet upped the medication on everything, I made an appointment with my general vet to check her out. There were at least good news in this appointment. All her liver values had gone down and some (especially the one associated with the gall bladder) returned to normal. However, her bilirubin level rose again. My vet told me that this score typically is a lagger. It will rise after things are getting bad and will go down after everything is getting better.

They found she had a UTI which the bacteria of was resistant to the antibiotic she was already on. I was given a new antibiotic that was shown to be what the bacteria in her bladder was susceptible to. I was informed that UTIs are particularly crummy for cats and that might be responsible for her real issues with acting sick and not eating.

I have had her on the antibiotic for 4 days and her appetite hasn't improved much. If anything she has gotten more finicky. She will only eat something once but she isn't even finishing one whole 3 oz can of wet food yet.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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I have a cat that isn't eating right now too, although the Vet gave him a thorough "look see" including blood and urine tests and nothing is wrong with him at all that they can find :sigh:. I just keep trying different foods, and every once in awhile I'll hit the right one and my guy will chow down. it's just weird. Hopefully the same thing will happen with your girl. All I can say is just keep trying with different foods and maybe something will work.

Is she on any appetite enhancers and/or anti-nausea pills, just in case? Also, did you try feeding her whatever she ate at the Vets? How about asking for a different pain medicine that doesn't have to be given the way you described? I know there are different types out there.
 
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mikameek

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Is she on any appetite enhancers and/or anti-nausea pills, just in case? Also, did you try feeding her whatever she ate at the Vets? How about asking for a different pain medicine that doesn't have to be given the way you described? I know there are different types out there.
She does have an appetite enhancer the "Entyce" brand but my vet told me that it's 50/50. The first time I tried it she didn't even eat to look at food. Now, while I will admit that this was back when she was still feeling really bad, I hate trying to give it to her because she hates taking her medicine.

I don't want to force more on her than I have to. I have no idea about the pain meds. I was originally giving it to her only when she completely refused to eat. Now that she is eating something small at least, I haven't been giving it to her. She was originally on an anti-nausea but it did basically nothing for her.
 
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mikameek

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I definitely meant to put didn't even eat or want to look at food*
 

mrsgreenjeens

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I understand. I've never even heard of Entyce. My guy was given an appetite enhancer, Mirtazapine. This is the same drug our last cat was given on a consistent basis, and we had it compounded into a transdermal gel. I checked with our compounding pharmacy, and they don't even list Entyce on their formulary. Maybe you could check with your Vet and ask for something else? Here is a link to the compounding pharmacy that we use: https://www.roadrunnerpharmacy.com/media/1225/prod_svcs_guide-052417-20page-web-110717.pdf Of course, I don't know if you are in the United States or not, and they may not ship outside of the U.S. BUT, I do know that you could use either Mirtzapine or Cyproheptadine, and both of those could be compounded into transdermal gels. BTW, that pharmacy is just one of many compounding pharmacy that does mail order.
 
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