Jaundice in cat!

Prella

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
26
Purraise
13
I noticed today that my cats gums are yellow so I took him to the vets asap and they're currently doing blood tests. I'm very concerned about him because I know this is serious. Initially, I took him to the vets yesterday because he was throwing up his food that was mainly digested and wouldn't eat much. He had a temperature of around 39 ish (not too sure), but it was high and he was drinking a lot of water. He was given an anti-inflammatory and anti sickness injection and showed improvement, but only ate 4 small meals of boiled chicken (some mixed with yoghurt because he wouldn't eat it dry). Other than that, he didn't want to eat anything until this morning when he had some yoghurt and a milk treat.
Basically, solids seem to be too much effort. He had his first dose if Noroclav this morning with the yoghurt. His temperature has gone down which is great, but it doesn't explain the jaundice. I don't know what other tests would be essential and what this could be? He's also making a grinding noise with his teeth when he's chewing. Any help or advice would be great!
 

Spookymoo

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
68
Purraise
121
How old is your kitty? It could be a number of things, but most likely connected to the liver. Hopefully whatever it is is treatable, and great he's at the vet getting the help he needs. Fingers crossed kitty is OK.
 

jefferd18

Ms. Jeff's Legacy
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 2, 2019
Messages
2,269
Purraise
2,067
I noticed today that my cats gums are yellow so I took him to the vets asap and they're currently doing blood tests. I'm very concerned about him because I know this is serious. Initially, I took him to the vets yesterday because he was throwing up his food that was mainly digested and wouldn't eat much. He had a temperature of around 39 ish (not too sure), but it was high and he was drinking a lot of water. He was given an anti-inflammatory and anti sickness injection and showed improvement, but only ate 4 small meals of boiled chicken (some mixed with yoghurt because he wouldn't eat it dry). Other than that, he didn't want to eat anything until this morning when he had some yoghurt and a milk treat.
Basically, solids seem to be too much effort. He had his first dose if Noroclav this morning with the yoghurt. His temperature has gone down which is great, but it doesn't explain the jaundice. I don't know what other tests would be essential and what this could be? He's also making a grinding noise with his teeth when he's chewing. Any help or advice would be great!

I am so sorry. Grinding teeth can suggest kidney problems, but jaundice suggest liver issues.

I rescued a cat ten years ago that was just lying lethargically in my neighbor's yard. I put him on my screened in porch and just kept an eye out for him the rest of the afternoon. By 3:00 he had taken a turn for the worse, by 3:10 he was at my vets and by 3:20 he was the color of a golden delicious pear. His gums, the insides of his ears, his throat, the pads of his paws, were a deep golden color. My vet gave him a double antibiotic injection and showed my how to administer fluids under his skin. By this time, 'Louie' was in a coma. I took him home and gave him his fluids every twenty minutes all night long, and FINALLY, at two in the morning he was sitting up, looking bright and alert. The towel under him was soaked with a dark golden brown color. The fluids had pushed the poison out of his body.

Louie didn't have a bad liver but he had ingested something that was causing his liver to shut down. Please bring this up to your doctor.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

Prella

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
26
Purraise
13
Wow, that's incredible. You're an absolute hero for saving that poor kitty when it had no one! It's been confirmed that my poor kitty has anemia and liver issues (that explains the jaundice. However, the results are very poor, but he's better than you'd imagine. His liver levels are over 1000 when the normal should be 100 or under, so I'm just trying to be optimistic while being realistic. He's on an IV drip so hopefully that will help, but again, I don't even know.
I'll see whay the vets say because it's our of hours, hope they can save my baby. Thank you
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

Prella

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
26
Purraise
13
How old is your kitty? It could be a number of things, but most likely connected to the liver. Hopefully whatever it is is treatable, and great he's at the vet getting the help he needs. Fingers crossed kitty is OK.
Hi! He's 6 going on 7 now. It's been confirmed now that he's anemic and it's his liver hence the jaundice. The liver levels are very poor since they're over 1000 and it should be 100 or under - about 10x the normal levels. I've been told to prepare and be realistic, but we've decided to keep him on IV fluids overnight since he's got an appetite for his milk lick - e - Lix treats and some milk (no dry food though) and he doesn't seem to be suffering or in pain. I don't want to be selfish, so I've told the veg to notify me asap if anything changes during the night so my baby is okay. All I can do is believe I guess
 

Spookymoo

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
68
Purraise
121
Aww, he's still young and I have everything crossed for you he pulls through. Sending lots of positive energy and strength your way...you're doing everything you can for him and he's lucky to have you.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

Prella

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
26
Purraise
13
Aww, he's still young and I have everything crossed for you he pulls through. Sending lots of positive energy and strength your way...you're doing everything you can for him and he's lucky to have you.
Thank you so much. I'm just staying positive for him so that I can help as much as I can, but I hope he's got it in him to fight this. Thank you for your kind words!
 

daftcat75

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 7, 2018
Messages
12,641
Purraise
25,128
You didn't say which liver value it is that's gone high.

My Krista had an ALT reading over 1300 in Jan 2019. She also had an IBD flare-up, an ear infection that ruptured her eardrum, and she needed dental extractions. No wonder her liver was freaking out! And she was 14 years old. So she was older and potentially had (a lot) more going on than yours. But after 10 days on IV fluids, that 1300 came down to a 140. Still high, but not so high that she needed to remain hospitalized. She eventually made a full recovery from that episode.

I can't say for sure. I'm not a vet and I don't know his case. But cats are remarkably resilient. Still. I would expect your guy to be on IV fluids for at least a few more days.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

Prella

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
26
Purraise
13
You didn't say which liver value it is that's gone high.

My Krista had an ALT reading over 1300 in Jan 2019. She also had an IBD flare-up, an ear infection that ruptured her eardrum, and she needed dental extractions. No wonder her liver was freaking out! And she was 14 years old. So she was older and potentially had (a lot) more going on than yours. But after 10 days on IV fluids, that 1300 came down to a 140. Still high, but not so high that she needed to remain hospitalized. She eventually made a full recovery from that episode.

I can't say for sure. I'm not a vet and I don't know his case. But cats are remarkably resilient. Still. I would expect your guy to be on IV fluids for at least a few more days.
I'm glad your kitty ended up okay! It definitely sounds like a complicated case, but that comes with the age I guess. Mine's quite young (he's 6 and a half ish) and apparently they considered things like poisoning or ingesting something harmful that caused this, but I don't know.

I can't remember what value it was! I was just so shocked at the results that I forgot, but I'll ask them when they call. You see, they made it sound deadly pretty much. So, being offered euthaniasa and saying that there is a very low chance he will recover from this meaning it's basically over, but I don't think it is - I'm holding onto hope. I would keep him on IV for as long as I can if it would help, but the way they make it sound makes me think I'll be making him suffer for selfish reasons if he doesn't improve.
 

jefferd18

Ms. Jeff's Legacy
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 2, 2019
Messages
2,269
Purraise
2,067
Wow, that's incredible. You're an absolute hero for saving that poor kitty when it had no one! It's been confirmed that my poor kitty has anemia and liver issues (that explains the jaundice. However, the results are very poor, but he's better than you'd imagine. His liver levels are over 1000 when the normal should be 100 or under, so I'm just trying to be optimistic while being realistic. He's on an IV drip so hopefully that will help, but again, I don't even know.
I'll see whay the vets say because it's our of hours, hope they can save my baby. Thank you


I am glad he is on fluids and under a vet's care. I still think it would be worthwhile to bring my story up to your vet; yes, your cat has liver issues but what is causing that- is it something that can be treated? If it is an infection then he needs to be on antibiotics. Your baby is awfully young and I will be praying for him.
 
Last edited:
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

Prella

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
26
Purraise
13
I am glad he is on fluids and under a vet's care. I still think it would be worthwhile to bring my story up to your vet; yes, your cat has liver issues but what is causing that- is it something that can be treated? If it is an infection then he needs to be on antibiotics. Your baby is awfully young and I will be praying for him.
I did mention that to the vet and he told me that their goal is to flush it all out of his system with the IV and other fluids, but they can't tend to him as much as you did eith the kitty since emergency only. They're obviously concerned about his levels, but I'm hoping that everything will be okay. It's his liver enzymes I was told that are bad, so I'm not sure why they're so high. Thank you so much. We need all the prayers we can get!
 

fionasmom

Moderator
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
Jun 21, 2014
Messages
13,117
Purraise
17,350
Location
Los Angeles
I am so sorry that you are facing this. ALT is usually the one discussed as it is the major indicator of liver problems but other enzymes will give more specifics. These should all be available to the vet through the blood test and it would help you decide what exact condition you might be facing and what can be done.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13

Prella

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
26
Purraise
13
Thank you for your kind words. I did ask the vet/nurses what the values were and they vaguely explained, but they are operating on emergency only so phone call was brief. They did tell me the enzyme was the worst one, but other values were low too (most of them I believe). At The moment, they're just following withthe IV so fingers crossed for improvement.
 

Spookymoo

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
68
Purraise
121
Any news? I hope he is responding positively to the IV and you can get some more information today.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #15

Prella

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
26
Purraise
13
There's no chance at the moment, but they're keeping him in for another 12 hours so that we know if there's going to be any change. I guess they just want to give him a chance. He's still not eating. If he just ate some food we would know there's a chance, but I don't want to be selfish. Hoping for anything at this point!
 

MissClouseau

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 20, 2019
Messages
1,733
Purraise
2,126
Location
Istanbul, Turkey
OK first, if he's not eating they can just syringe feed him or even get a feeding tube inserted. If they are not doing that, I would take him to another vet clinic immediately. Are they giving antibiotics? What is their diagnosis? "Liver levels are high" isn't a diagnosis but a symptom.

Liver problems are usually secondary to another problem. The first main problem could be even something like infection that is easily treated with a course of antibiotics. Hydration and food are very important so it's important to keep giving IV fluids and syringe feeding or feeding tube. Liver itself is good at healing even after numbers going very high although it might take some time for things to go back to normal.

There is missing information so we can't say much. Like the other blood levels are important to try to guess the main problem. If anemia means infection-related anemia, "anemia and liver issues" don't say nearly enough but just two symptoms. If antibiotics aren't working, they would need to do ultrasound and/or other image tests to check the situation to make a diagnosis.

My own cat was hospitalized with jaundice in 2019 and for her it was infection presumed to be hairball or gallstones blocking the way, causing infection and/or pancreatitis. She was treated with IV fluids and antibiotics at the clinic. She was also not eating .They syringe fed her. When antibiotics started to do their work, she started to eat on her own.
 

Spookymoo

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
68
Purraise
121
I'm sorry to hear that, and I really hope that something changes positively for you :( As it's now normal hours for them at the vets they will hopefully be able to give you some answers so at least you know why this is happening.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #18

Prella

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
26
Purraise
13
OK first, if he's not eating they can just syringe feed him or even get a feeding tube inserted. If they are not doing that, I would take him to another vet clinic immediately. Are they giving antibiotics? What is their diagnosis? "Liver levels are high" isn't a diagnosis but a symptom.

Liver problems are usually secondary to another problem. The first main problem could be even something like infection that is easily treated with a course of antibiotics. Hydration and food are very important so it's important to keep giving IV fluids and syringe feeding or feeding tube. Liver itself is good at healing even after numbers going very high although it might take some time for things to go back to normal.

There is missing information so we can't say much. Like the other blood levels are important to try to guess the main problem. If anemia means infection-related anemia, "anemia and liver issues" don't say nearly enough but just two symptoms. If antibiotics aren't working, they would need to do ultrasound and/or other image tests to check the situation to make a diagnosis.

My own cat was hospitalized with jaundice in 2019 and for her it was infection presumed to be hairball or gallstones blocking the way, causing infection and/or pancreatitis. She was treated with IV fluids and antibiotics at the clinic. She was also not eating .They syringe fed her. When antibiotics started to do their work, she started to eat on her own.
Well they said they've been trying to feed him different foods and I even left some stuff there for him, but he isn't touching it. He had an appetite for his treats and that's it. No talk of feeding tube as the prognosis is so poor, they just don't think he has any chances. The liver enzymes are through the roof, white blood cell count is extremely low and everything else is low too, but they don't know why. He has antibiotics for a possible infection with very high fever a day or so before the jaundice appeared. It's so strange to me because he was eating 2 days ago and 3 days ago eating completely normal.

Ive asked about other tests, but like i said, they don't think it's worth prolonging his "suffering" as other cases have extremely low chances of survival, let alone any recovery. I had a cat, Bella, of similar age that went through the exact same thing (slightly worse) in terms of symptoms and results and she passed. I'm starting to think it may be a genetic thing since it was his mother. I syringe fedher for days at home and took her to the vets continuously for tests and IV to help and she passed within a week. I'm glad your kitty ended up okay. I don't really know what else can be done unless a small positive change appears in his overall behaviour like trying food or regaining his balance since it's very poor.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #19

Prella

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
26
Purraise
13
I'm sorry to hear that, and I really hope that something changes positively for you :( As it's now normal hours for them at the vets they will hopefully be able to give you some answers so at least you know why this is happening.
It's technically still Sunday hours because it's Bank Holiday in the UK so he's still at the emergency vets. He needs to eat or show signs of any improvement before they even consider doing anything else ad the prognosis is so poor. I'm just hoping, but I want him to be okay more than anything.
 

Spookymoo

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
68
Purraise
121
Ah yeah, I'd forgotten it was bank holiday :( It's great that you are putting him first, and I hope he shocks everyone with a miracle recovery and that he is safe and calm and not in any pain.
 
Top