Hepatic Lipidosis - Recovery Timeline

[Emily3250]

Hello!
My cat stopped eating in November. A trip to the vet showed elevates liver enzymes and bilirubin. An ultrasound suggested triaditis. We got started with prednisone, denamarin, and zeniquil. When he still wouldn't eat, we began tube feeding with an esophageal tube. After a month of tube feeding, he has gained a little weight, but his liver enzymes have slowly increased. His bilirubin has gone down, but only slightly. The vet seems unsure as to what is going on. My cat seems to be feeling well; he is still playful and cuddly...but he still won't eat on his own. We have tried an appetite stimulant, but he won't take more than a few bites a day. I've tried different brands, wet food, kibble, etc.
How long did your cat need to be tube fed? Did the liver enzymes come down quickly? Is there hope that he may come around? I just don't understand why the liver enzymes are going in the wrong direction.
Other than the liver values, his bloodwork is unremarkable.
Thanks for any insights that may help me with my guy.

 

[furmonster mom]

It all depends on what is the actual cause of the liver distress.

The liver is an amazing organ, actually. It is the only organ that can self repair. In fact, when functioning correctly, it is in a constant state of self repair from the damage it takes just doing its job.

However, there can be things that make its job so difficult that it simply cannot repair fast enough, so it needs some extra help.

Our angel-kitty Pippen had liver damage from a double bacterial infection that we only discovered by doing a biopsy. Once discovered, we had to put him on some serious antibiotic regimens as well as liver support supplements.

Prednisolone is good for anti-inflammatory, but should be given in small doses. It can actually cause ALTs to rise slightly.

Marin (milk thistle, silymarin) is an excellent liver support supplement. However, in our case it turned out the veterinary dose was too low. After consulting with our vet, I bought some "clean" (no additives) milk thistle with high silymarin percentage and gave Pippen about 1/8 of a human dose. This definitely made a difference.

Another supplement that we used for a while was s-Adenosyl (SAM-e). Again, with the blessings of my vet, I got as clean a supplement I could find and gave 1/8 of a human dose.

Again, the supplements were only to help the liver recover and get back into its self repair mode. But the real work was done by the antibiotics which fought off the infection that was causing the problem in the first place.

As for tube feeding, every cat is different. Pippen had his tube for a couple months, until I switched to a raw food diet. That was a real turning point in getting him to eat again, and we never looked back.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Should you decide to try raw feeding, there are several threads on it in this forum, Cat Nutrition. There are also articles here, Cat Food & Feeding | TheCatSite, including one on how to get a cat to start eating again!

 

[denice]

Patches had a tube for about a month but it varies from cat to cat. The main number that the vet was watching was the ALT. His ALT continued to rise even after he was eating well on his own. The vet didn't understand why that was happening but she said there comes a point where you start treating the cat and not the numbers. When his ALT finally started dropping it did drop fast.

 

[Emily3250]

Thanks for your responses. My cat has started eating on his own again as of this past weekend. I found a natural food by Ziwipeak - air dried lamb. He loves it, but I'm a bit concerned because it has a higher fat content and I don't know if this is a good idea considering that his liver is compromised. I have a call in to the vet to inquire about this. I'm thrilled he is eating something, though...