How To Keep Food Down In A Cat Who Has Hepatic Lipidosis?

[sami4488]

My cat Pacey has Hepatic Lipidosis. We sent her blood work out about 5 days ago, got shots, and sent home with an IV bag. Her blood results came back and she has this. They suggested a feeding tube but I cannot afford a feeding tube to be put in her as the blood work, urine tests, shots, IV bag and hills A/D was $630. I had another cat die from this on Dec. 5th. We didnt know what it was at the time and by the time we got her to the vet it was too late. I picked up the signs on Pacey pretty quick that she was getting sick and not eating. I've been force feeding her about 6 times a day and less than 25mL each time because she cant keep down anything else. I know she needs to be getting about 5oz. a day but she wont keep that down. She throws up late at night but managed to keep the earlier doses down that I gave to her during the day. She has another dose later tonight in about 2 hours and I hope she'll keep it down because she didn't keep the last 2 down. Any suggestions about how I get her to keep the food down? It's Hills A/D urgent care food. It's hard to have hope when I think she's going to die just like my other cat with this awful disease did. Please help.

 

[sami4488]

Would also like to add that she is slowly getting Jaundice, and shes getting 100 mL of fluids through and IV bag every other day. Is there a certain point in which I should stop force feeding and put her down? or should I just keep pushing forward and force feeding no matter what?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! I'm sorry to hear you are going through this!
Can you try syringing more slowly and with smaller amounts each time, while still ending up with the total being the correct t amount?

 

[Antonio65]

I'm sorry to read about your cat. I've been there before, and I say that if you want your cat to live you need to force feed her the minimum amount for her weight, and even more if you can.
If you are seeing signs of jaundice, then it's quite late and you need to be quick in your action.
The feeding tube is the only option, believe me, an E-tube or a PEG-tube (the latter is even better).

Give her some supplements for liver too!

 

[sami4488]

Hi! I'm sorry to hear you are going through this!
Can you try syringing more slowly and with smaller amounts each time, while still ending up with the total being the correct t amount?

Good new! I can get her to keep the food down during the day. I've given her quite a bit already. I suppose she just can't keep it down at night. She was also acting more herself today and even came out of hiding to come to a window I had open.

I'm sorry to read about your cat. I've been there before, and I say that if you want your cat to live you need to force feed her the minimum amount for her weight, and even more if you can.
If you are seeing signs of jaundice, then it's quite late and you need to be quick in your action.
The feeding tube is the only option, believe me, an E-tube or a PEG-tube (the latter is even better).

Give her some supplements for liver too!

I got her to keep quite a bit of food down this morning. I was also able to work something out with a new vet who should be able to put in the feeding tube for a littler cost. It's such a relief as I had been stressing so much lately. What liver supplements would you suggest?

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh, these things are wonderful to hear!!

 

[Antonio65]

What liver supplements would you suggest?

I used Milk Thistle. I think it's the only good supplement in such a situation.
In my country it comes in pills.
I also used a juice, Aloe Vera and Carrots Juice, that according to the producer was an excellent supplement in cases of liver and pancreas diseases.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to see any results from this kind of therapy... My cat left me after a few days.
As I told you earlier, when you see signs of jaundice it might be too late...

 

[sami4488]

I used Milk Thistle. I think it's the only good supplement in such a situation.
In my country it comes in pills.
I also used a juice, Aloe Vera and Carrots Juice, that according to the producer was an excellent supplement in cases of liver and pancreas diseases.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to see any results from this kind of therapy... My cat left me after a few days.
As I told you earlier, when you see signs of jaundice it might be too late...

I've got some milk thistle. I was able to drop her off at the vet today and they're performing the surgery to put a feeding tube in. It was quite expensive at about $2,100 for everything, but I worked something out. Thank you so much for the suggestion. She took some of it down before I dropped her off.

 

[Antonio65]

I'm always stunned at the costs of vet surgeries in US.
My God $2,100 for a E-tube is crazy to our standards!
Anyway, I'm so glad that you were able to sort things out
Hopefully your cat will be able to get the right amount of food.

Have the vet explain you how to manage this procedure.
Feed him a food suitable for tube feeding, I'd recommend Royal Canin Recovery, it's the food with the highest calories content on the market. This way you can give him fewer meals throughout the day.