My cat's ALT was thru the roof

Lola84

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Hi! I am new to this site (but not new to cats!)
My cat Lola had to go to the E-vet a couple nights ago. She had been kind of slowing down and showing mild lethargy for a few weeks. Then she suddenly stopped eating and wouldn't move. She stayed in a hunched up position and slept a LOT. So we took her to the vet since she hadn't eaten in two days and was declining fast. We had also noticed over time that she had begun to look skinnier.
Her ALT was 3,032. Her bilirubin was also elevated. The vet told us that there were things they could do to hopefully help her. But that even then,it would not be a guarantee. She ate high quality food, no people food and never ate things she shouldn't. But the vet said that the ALT number was the highest she'd ever seen. She was clearly in a LOT of pain so I chose to put her to sleep. Any ideas at all as to what would cause an ALT *that* high? Thank you.
 
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Lola84

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Hi! I am new to this site (but not new to cats!)
My cat Lola had to go to the E-vet a couple nights ago. She had been kind of slowing down and showing mild lethargy for a few weeks. Then she suddenly stopped eating and wouldn't move. She stayed in a hunched up position and slept a LOT. So we took her to the vet since she hadn't eaten in two days and was declining fast. We had also noticed over time that she had begun to look skinnier.
Her ALT was 3,032. Her bilirubin was also elevated. The vet told us that there were things they could do to hopefully help her. But that even then,it would not be a guarantee. She ate high quality food, no people food and never ate things she shouldn't. But the vet said that the ALT number was the highest she'd ever seen. She was clearly in a LOT of pain so I chose to put her to sleep. Any ideas at all as to what would cause an ALT *that* high? Thank you.
ps she was 8 years old and spayed
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. I am so sorry for your loss. Did they do an ultrasound to look for some sort of injury to Lola's liver? That is the only thing that crossed my mind, given how quickly this seems to have come on.

RIP little Lola :angel:.
 

silent meowlook

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It could have been hepatic lipidosis brought on by not eating for any variety of reasons.
In specialty hospital with those numbers, and I assume she was jaundice, there would be additional testing done, hospitalization with aggressive fluid therapy and a feeding tube placed. That’s for starters. Even doing that death could be the outcome. Then you still don’t know what caused the decline in appetite.
It sounds like you made the best choice for your and your cat’s situation.
I am sorry you lost your friend.
 
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Lola84

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It could have been hepatic lipidosis brought on by not eating for any variety of reasons.
In specialty hospital with those numbers, and I assume she was jaundice, there would be additional testing done, hospitalization with aggressive fluid therapy and a feeding tube placed. That’s for starters. Even doing that death could be the outcome. Then you still don’t know what caused the decline in appetite.
It sounds like you made the best choice for your and your cat’s situation.
I am sorry you lost your friend.
Yes, she was jaundiced. She had already lost some weight, so I'm sure she had been sick for a while before the physical symptoms showed up. She must have hidden it very well.
 

Catmom1234567890

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I'm very sorry for your loss. You have given her good home and care during her life. Our late kitty passed same way. She threw up dinner on Sunday evening, Monday, would not move or eat. Tuesday, her liver enzymes was in thousands. She was transferred to critical care, found fluid in the abdomen and needle aspirate contained blood. Ultrasound didn't reveal much. The vet suggested exploratory surgery. Her prognosis was very guarded at the time. We had to send her to heaven. She was only 7.

We are still perplexed with rapid decline. My vet thinks it is because we fed raw meat and maybe she had viral infection that infiltrated to liver. Do you guys think this is plausible. I brought it up to raw feeding group and of course I received plenty hate comments.
 
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Lola84

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I'm very sorry for your loss. You have given her good home and care during her life. Our late kitty passed same way. She threw up dinner on Sunday evening, Monday, would not move or eat. Tuesday, her liver enzymes was in thousands. She was transferred to critical care, found fluid in the abdomen and needle aspirate contained blood. Ultrasound didn't reveal much. The vet suggested exploratory surgery. Her prognosis was very guarded at the time. We had to send her to heaven. She was only 7.

We are still perplexed with rapid decline. My vet thinks it is because we fed raw meat and maybe she had viral infection that infiltrated to liver. Do you guys think this is plausible. I brought it up to raw feeding group and of course I received plenty hate comments.
We were blindsided. Lola only ever ate her cat food. We gave her very small bits of ppl food but she never had much interest in it. I think sometimes they must have no reason at all. You are not at fault. I know other ppl who feed their cats a raw diet w no issues. I'm so sorry you received hateful comments. Ppl can be so cruel in our times of bewilderment and sadness. We had another cat that developed liver disease too. It was awful. She occasionally ate ppl food. In any case, sadly, we have to sit and wonder if we did something wrong or not. I'm certainly doing that. You aren't alone. I'm so sorry you lost your kitty. Please don't blame yourself.
 
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