I have 3 cats. Two are seniors. Dottie is 16 years old. She is a long hair domestic. She had a recent visit with the vet. He looked gave her a good physical, laughed and said she was perfect and would probably outlive us all! Good news.
My other senior is Bleu. He is 14 years old. He is a beautiful flame-point with gorgeous crystal blue eyes. Bleu's sleeping pattern changed in February. He started sleeping all the time, and socializing much less. I attributed this to aging. I hadn't noticed he had stopped eating. By the time I realized he was sick, it was May. A vet visit showed he was severly dehydrated, jaundice, and critically ill. His blood chemistry was positive for liver disease, with ALKP of 1806, ALT of 283, CHOL of 243, GLU of 190, and TBIL of 4.7. Other indicators that something was wrong was a LYM of 1.23, MONO .91, HCT 47.3%, RBD 10.77, RDW 19.0% and MCHC 28.6. Abdominal x-ray showed that the stomach was "j" shaped, probably from an enlarged liver and/or pancreas. Needless to say, his prognosis was poor. Forced feedings, sub-q treatments, and a shot of depo medrol helped bring him around. He is eating and drinking again, socializing more, and putting on weight. Today he weighed 11 pounds(of his former 17 pound self); a 1/2 pound gain this week. I feel encouraged by his good progress, but I keep one eye on him all the time. I understand that a cat can have relapses with this disease. I want to make sure that if he lapses I know it immediately. He is now fed separately from the other cats so I can monitor his eating and drinking.
I don't have any specific questions. I mostly just wanted to get the story out there about Bleu's struggle with hepatic lipidosis. It seems that not enough people consider this disease when a cat becomes anorexic and lethargic.
My other senior is Bleu. He is 14 years old. He is a beautiful flame-point with gorgeous crystal blue eyes. Bleu's sleeping pattern changed in February. He started sleeping all the time, and socializing much less. I attributed this to aging. I hadn't noticed he had stopped eating. By the time I realized he was sick, it was May. A vet visit showed he was severly dehydrated, jaundice, and critically ill. His blood chemistry was positive for liver disease, with ALKP of 1806, ALT of 283, CHOL of 243, GLU of 190, and TBIL of 4.7. Other indicators that something was wrong was a LYM of 1.23, MONO .91, HCT 47.3%, RBD 10.77, RDW 19.0% and MCHC 28.6. Abdominal x-ray showed that the stomach was "j" shaped, probably from an enlarged liver and/or pancreas. Needless to say, his prognosis was poor. Forced feedings, sub-q treatments, and a shot of depo medrol helped bring him around. He is eating and drinking again, socializing more, and putting on weight. Today he weighed 11 pounds(of his former 17 pound self); a 1/2 pound gain this week. I feel encouraged by his good progress, but I keep one eye on him all the time. I understand that a cat can have relapses with this disease. I want to make sure that if he lapses I know it immediately. He is now fed separately from the other cats so I can monitor his eating and drinking.
I don't have any specific questions. I mostly just wanted to get the story out there about Bleu's struggle with hepatic lipidosis. It seems that not enough people consider this disease when a cat becomes anorexic and lethargic.