Hello my fellow cat lovers!
One of my cats (Target) recently had signs of liver disease, I got his health back to normal and wanted to share the signs and the treatment that I went through in case anyone else is going through the same (stressful) thing. Apologies for the book I typed, but hopefully it's informative.
In about 2 months he lost about 6+ lbs (he was wasting away), I never noticed that he wasn't touching his food (dry at the time), because his bowl was usually empty when the next feeding came, but turns out his brother (Tigger) was eating the rest of his food as it was going untouched. I started carefully observing him during feeding time and he wouldn't even touch his food, he would meow and go into the usual routine of wanting food, he would smell it and walk away. He hardly was drinking any water (I tried to have the water from the bath facet on as he enjoys that, from a cup, from a different bowl, different locations).
After trying to give him any kind of food to make him eat (wet food that's junkie, organic wet food, ANYTHING) for a week it was a struggle to get him to eat more as he would just lick the gravy or liquid part of the wet food. He would however, chow down on his Tempation treats so I would give him handfuls of that just to get anything in his stomach. He would also puke up bile and wasn't going poo for days (he would struggle and poo outside of the litter too, I know he was doing this to tell me something was wrong). He looked so uncomfortable in a crouching position when sitting or resting too. I thought !@#$ this is it for him.
I took him to one vet (a cat clinic) that they usually go to for their annual check ups (they are indoor cats btw), the vet said it's probably liver failure, took blood samples (her lab said everything was fine), she hooked him up to an IV to hydrate him for only 5 minutes, then suggest the only way to know what is wrong with him cut his stomach and do a liver biopsy. Target is 14 years old, I said I can't do that to him but would think about getting him an endoscopy or ultra sound instead. She suggested in the meantime I get him Restorolax - to help with his "constipation". So I go home, do the steps with the Restoralax, I bought a plastic syringe to syringe him water to hydrate him. ZERO signs of improvement after a week.
I then took him to a new vet as I wanted to get another opinion and exhaust all other options. I got an amazing vet who has a cat herself. She was so concerned because he looked severely dehydrated (I know it may sound like I wasn't caring for my cat, I was, his health was just deteriorating). She said the reason he isn't going to his litter and pooping isn't due to constipation, it's solely because he's not hydrated, because he's not hydrated, he's not eating, because he's not eating nothing wants to push through. MAKES SENSE! She told me she wants to keep him for 1/2 the day as I go back to work, during that time, she force fed him wet food, hooked him up to an IV drip for a much longer time than my other vet. When I picked him up he had a sparkle in his eye, I just KNEW he felt better it honestly made me relieved as I was preparing for the worse. She sent me home with an IV to hydrate him at home, appetite enhancer, milk thistle (the most important thing). The next week I had Target in for an ultrasound (his cute shaved stomach!) and the conclusion was: possible hepatomegaly with lipidosis. Only a biopsy will confirm the definitive diagnostic but the treatment is the exact same no matter what the outcome was.
I started on the treatment. Every day I was syringing Target a mixture of appetite enhancer and milk thistle as well as plain water. During this time I would hydrate him (with the IV) when need be (only two times in total) as he started eating the wet food I bought him and would start eating the homemade wet food I made too (I would put more water in his wet food too). He started drinking from his water dish. I monitored his stool and he started to leave larger (less hard and less droplet) stool.
It has been 4 months after the initial scare of what was going on with Target and I can say that he is back to his normal health, eating consistently, drinking lots of water (he loves his new cat fountain), pooping and peeing perfect stools (not too hard, not too soft). He purrs, he's more vocal and very loving again. I haven't been syringing him the appetite enhancer for 2 months now, but will keep up with the milk thistle as I do believe in this for liver health (for both pets and pet owners).
What I learned: The treatment is the most important step (all factors for Targets diagnosis were possibilities based on his appearance/behaviour and ultrasound, the treatment process would be the same even if I completed the biopsy). Patience is also key, syringing a cat isn't easy, but when it's a MUST, then you just force yourself to do it, despite the struggle and fight your cat will put up. I learned that hydration helped get things moving and helped to get him better. Lastly, monitoring your cats stool and pee can be a visual warning if there's something wrong.
It's strange, Target used to run at the sight of his cat carrier (when going to the vet), he now sleeps in there sometimes as I think he associates that to when he started to feel better (of course just me and my thoughts).
When I first noticed signs of Targets health failing I would research articles and forums all day, so hopefully this would help someone going through a similar thing, but take your cat to the vet for further answers and immediate help if need be.
One of my cats (Target) recently had signs of liver disease, I got his health back to normal and wanted to share the signs and the treatment that I went through in case anyone else is going through the same (stressful) thing. Apologies for the book I typed, but hopefully it's informative.
In about 2 months he lost about 6+ lbs (he was wasting away), I never noticed that he wasn't touching his food (dry at the time), because his bowl was usually empty when the next feeding came, but turns out his brother (Tigger) was eating the rest of his food as it was going untouched. I started carefully observing him during feeding time and he wouldn't even touch his food, he would meow and go into the usual routine of wanting food, he would smell it and walk away. He hardly was drinking any water (I tried to have the water from the bath facet on as he enjoys that, from a cup, from a different bowl, different locations).
After trying to give him any kind of food to make him eat (wet food that's junkie, organic wet food, ANYTHING) for a week it was a struggle to get him to eat more as he would just lick the gravy or liquid part of the wet food. He would however, chow down on his Tempation treats so I would give him handfuls of that just to get anything in his stomach. He would also puke up bile and wasn't going poo for days (he would struggle and poo outside of the litter too, I know he was doing this to tell me something was wrong). He looked so uncomfortable in a crouching position when sitting or resting too. I thought !@#$ this is it for him.
I took him to one vet (a cat clinic) that they usually go to for their annual check ups (they are indoor cats btw), the vet said it's probably liver failure, took blood samples (her lab said everything was fine), she hooked him up to an IV to hydrate him for only 5 minutes, then suggest the only way to know what is wrong with him cut his stomach and do a liver biopsy. Target is 14 years old, I said I can't do that to him but would think about getting him an endoscopy or ultra sound instead. She suggested in the meantime I get him Restorolax - to help with his "constipation". So I go home, do the steps with the Restoralax, I bought a plastic syringe to syringe him water to hydrate him. ZERO signs of improvement after a week.
I then took him to a new vet as I wanted to get another opinion and exhaust all other options. I got an amazing vet who has a cat herself. She was so concerned because he looked severely dehydrated (I know it may sound like I wasn't caring for my cat, I was, his health was just deteriorating). She said the reason he isn't going to his litter and pooping isn't due to constipation, it's solely because he's not hydrated, because he's not hydrated, he's not eating, because he's not eating nothing wants to push through. MAKES SENSE! She told me she wants to keep him for 1/2 the day as I go back to work, during that time, she force fed him wet food, hooked him up to an IV drip for a much longer time than my other vet. When I picked him up he had a sparkle in his eye, I just KNEW he felt better it honestly made me relieved as I was preparing for the worse. She sent me home with an IV to hydrate him at home, appetite enhancer, milk thistle (the most important thing). The next week I had Target in for an ultrasound (his cute shaved stomach!) and the conclusion was: possible hepatomegaly with lipidosis. Only a biopsy will confirm the definitive diagnostic but the treatment is the exact same no matter what the outcome was.
I started on the treatment. Every day I was syringing Target a mixture of appetite enhancer and milk thistle as well as plain water. During this time I would hydrate him (with the IV) when need be (only two times in total) as he started eating the wet food I bought him and would start eating the homemade wet food I made too (I would put more water in his wet food too). He started drinking from his water dish. I monitored his stool and he started to leave larger (less hard and less droplet) stool.
It has been 4 months after the initial scare of what was going on with Target and I can say that he is back to his normal health, eating consistently, drinking lots of water (he loves his new cat fountain), pooping and peeing perfect stools (not too hard, not too soft). He purrs, he's more vocal and very loving again. I haven't been syringing him the appetite enhancer for 2 months now, but will keep up with the milk thistle as I do believe in this for liver health (for both pets and pet owners).
What I learned: The treatment is the most important step (all factors for Targets diagnosis were possibilities based on his appearance/behaviour and ultrasound, the treatment process would be the same even if I completed the biopsy). Patience is also key, syringing a cat isn't easy, but when it's a MUST, then you just force yourself to do it, despite the struggle and fight your cat will put up. I learned that hydration helped get things moving and helped to get him better. Lastly, monitoring your cats stool and pee can be a visual warning if there's something wrong.
It's strange, Target used to run at the sight of his cat carrier (when going to the vet), he now sleeps in there sometimes as I think he associates that to when he started to feel better (of course just me and my thoughts).
When I first noticed signs of Targets health failing I would research articles and forums all day, so hopefully this would help someone going through a similar thing, but take your cat to the vet for further answers and immediate help if need be.
