Would you please send some PS dust for my kitty...

[isaku5]

Sammy, our 11 year old kitty was diagnosed on Monday with Fatty Liver Disease. Our only clue that something was very wrong was on Sunday when he refused to eat. First thing Monday morning we took him to the veterinary hospital ( where he normally goes for his rabies shots etc.). The vet examined him and said that he was 'a little jaundiced' and that blood work would have to be done. The results were in the same day. Since Monday he has been force-fed little bits of food and liquids via syringe every half hour.

I call every day for an update and while he has eaten a little on his own, he doesn't want to eat anything today and, in fact, had vomited twice this morning. The nurse told me that with a diagnosis of FLD, the cat becomes anorexic, and unless they can get him over that 'hump', the prognosis is not good.

I feel terrible that he's going through this, but can't make myself believe that his chance of a complete recovery is sounding remote. Has anyone else had a cat with FLD? If so, please tell me the result (good or bad).

My baby needs dust and whatever else you think might help.

 

[Blackpaw]

Oh Isaku im so so sorry for your LO im sending thoughts, prayers and {{{DUST}}} his way for a successful recovery. poor angel, im afraid i dont know much about the condition but dont give up hope for him yet, im sure he wants to make it through even more than you want him to...can you spend time at the vet with him? its such a stressful place for him it may not be helping...

Hugs for you...

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

Don't give up yet. They said if you make it over the hump, things may very well improve. Give it a few days, I find stomach stuff, although the worst, often also recovers the quickest. As the owner of a newly tailess, but also cancerless cat, I know how hard this is. you might look at some of Steal's old threads. Her avatar baby was very sick and everyone only thought she had days left, but she rallied and has been doing well since, and that was about a year ago as I recall.

If your baby is having trouble hydrating, can they give an IV so it wouldn't go to the stomach? In any case, lots of face rubs and fluffy dust from Odin, Maggie (what's left of her )and my PS self.

 

[Laila619]

Aww, poor little Sammy. Tons of ***DUST*** going his way for a full recovery. Hugs!

 

[Hest88]

Oh, I'm sorry. Throwing tons of dust Sammy's way!

 

[isaku5]

Thanks so much for all your **dust** and helpful advice.

Since this particular disease was new to me too, I wanted Sammy to have the best possible start with a vet present to catch red flags. Before all this happened to him, he was scheduled to stay at the vet's starting tomorrow afternoon until Sunday while we have our yearly family reunion at our daughter's cottage. Once we're back and if the vet gives us the green light to take him home, he'll be looked after by us. If it was any other weekend during the year, we'd be home.

Sammy has been given the area which is the least noisy at the vet's and we want to drop in and have a visit with him tomorrow. If he seems too stressed to me, I'll bring him back home and stay with him here.

I proposed that idea to DH tonight and he was not on board with it at all. He maintains that Sammy should be with the professionals right now.

 

[LAJennifer]

Isaku - I'm sorry to hear about your kitty. Please hang in there. As long as he is accepting the feedings, I believe he will make it. Usually, this disease is caused by not eating for a while. Do you know the details of his blood work? Do you have his liver count numbers? Sending lots of *dust* to your precious kitty. I will be thinking about you.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

Sending lots of dust and hopes for a quick recovery.

 

[RhubarbPie]

I'm sending so much dust and good thoughts to your sweet little baby! I hope he makes a full recovery and is back to his oldself in no time!!!!!

 

[siamese3]

Sending lots of kitty "dust" your way. I don't have any experience with this particular kitty problem, but I hope your Sammy will be okay. It is so very hard when a special little furry is sick. My heart goes out to you.

 

[isaku5]

Isaku - I'm sorry to hear about your kitty. Please hang in there. As long as he is accepting the feedings, I believe he will make it. Usually, this disease is caused by not eating for a while. Do you know the details of his blood work? Do you have his liver count numbers? Sending lots of *dust* to your precious kitty. I will be thinking about you.

I just phoned the vet and got the following numbers:
ALP 149

ALT 1292

Bilirubin 80.7

These numbers were from this past Monday, July 26.

She also gave me the reference numbers and unfortunately, Sammy's numbers are 'off the chart'. She did mention that with the forced feeding every half hour, the numbers 'could' have improved and the liver 'could' be healing itself, but he still won't eat on his own.

 

[Tuckins1]

Poor kitty!!

Lots of *DUST* coming your way!

 

[Blackpaw]

Oh poor sammy im so sorry, Isaku, but he wants to make it im sure, just give him some time and this will just be a bad memory.

Hugs and {{{{DUST}}}}

 

[mrscushion]

Oh, no! That sounds awful. I hope your kitty gets better and "over the hump" quickly. Sending dust!

 

[tyty333]

Sending ****healthy kitty dust***** and powerful thoughts ****eat Sammie eat, eat Sammie eat****.
Keep us posted.

 

[isaku5]

We decided to bring Sammy home for awhile in the hope that familiar surroundings might tempt his palette. He's full of energy exploring all of his favourite places and lying in the sun.

When you look at him, he looks extremely healthy - lustrous coat, bright alert eyes, and full of energy. I so hope that this will work for him.

 

[LAJennifer]

Isaku - I'm sorry to hear about your kitty. Please hang in there. As long as he is accepting the feedings, I believe he will make it. Usually, this disease is caused by not eating for a while. Do you know the details of his blood work? Do you have his liver count numbers? Sending lots of *dust* to your precious kitty. I will be thinking about you.

I just phoned the vet and got the following numbers:
ALP 149

ALT 1292

Bilirubin 80.7

These numbers were from this past Monday, July 26.

She also gave me the reference numbers and unfortunately, Sammy's numbers are 'off the chart'. She did mention that with the forced feeding every half hour, the numbers 'could' have improved and the liver 'could' be healing itself, but he still won't eat on his own.

Hang in there - Sammy will make it. Just continue the forced feedings.

I just thought of something (don't know how much it would help, but it sure couldn't hurt). My cat, Seth, sometimes has issues with his liver count - the ALT runs a little high. My vet suggested adding Milk Thistle to his food. Doing this has brought his ALT down within the normal range.

http://www.petwellbeing.com/products/ca ... se#reviews

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?a ... wonderherb

 

[LAJennifer]

We decided to bring Sammy home for awhile in the hope that familiar surroundings might tempt his palette. He's full of energy exploring all of his favourite places and lying in the sun.

When you look at him, he looks extremely healthy - lustrous coat, bright alert eyes, and full of energy. I so hope that this will work for him.

Great news! Ok, I would get the milk thistle supplement ASAP! You can order some that is especially for pets (check the link in my previous post), or you can get some at your health food store. If you opt for the health food store - make sure it is alcohol free (if you are getting a liquid). You can also get in capsule form - just open up and mix into the food (or with baby food and feed in a syringe). I think the dosage is half the human dose.

excerpt taken from previous link: "Because of its excellent safety record and lack of adverse drug interactions, when I'm treating a very sick animal with advanced liver disease, I do not hesitate to use the full human dose--up to 200 mg per 10 pounds of body weight--of milk thistle extract daily. For most purposes, however, one-third to one-half of that dose is more than adequate. (Animals with liver disease typically will not eat, but it's a simple matter to open up a capsule, mix the appropriate amount of powdered herb with a little blenderized food or baby food, and feed by syringe.) Too high a dose can cause an upset tummy, gas, or mild diarrhea; these are easily resolved by giving less."

 

[iheartscience]

My friend's cat just had this not too long ago. She took the cat home and force fed her for 2 weeks and the kitty made a full recovery. So fingers crossed for Sammy!

 

[movie zombie]

had one cat that had this twice. the answer was a tube through his throat and down into him. i would syringe the food into the tube. also had to do this every several hours so he was at work with me. additionally, one of those "elizabethean collars" was necessary to keep him from pulling it out. he came through it fine. this type of intervention is necessary once the cat quits eating for several days and has this diagnosis.

mz

 

[lulu]

I think he'd prefer to be at home with his people. I'm not surprised he rallied. Good luck!

 

[Haven]

I'm late to the thread, but very excited to read that things are looking up!
DUST for continued improvement!!!!

 

[yssie]

I'm late to this thread too, but I'm SO glad to hear Sammy is improving!!!

 

[Dandi]

Yayyyyyy!! Sending more healing vibes Sammy's way, I really hope he continues to improve!

 

[CJ2008]

Dust Dust Dust

Hoping Sammy gets better

Get better Sammy!

Would love to see a picture of this wonderful kitty so we can have him in mind when we send the dust!

 

[risingsun]

I'm sorry I'm so late to your thread. A truckload of dust is on its way to you and your kitty. May he continue to improve...

 

[isaku5]

This is just a little update on the Sammy saga:

To make a very long story short, Sammy was admitted to a 24 hour Emergency Veterinary Hospital about an hour's drive from herelast Thursday evening. We are in touch with them twice a day. Today, he had an ultrasound of his abdomen to find out whether any of his other organs have been compromised. Good news from that - it's 'only liver disease'. Tomorrow we are to pick him up before noon and bring him home. He's still being force-fed by syringe and we will continue to follow instructions when he's at home.

Thanks to all of you who wished him well and especially to LAJennifer for her suggestion of the Milk Thistle. We will get some tomorrow and hope it helps him.

I must be a 'crazy cat woman' as his stay at the hospital is going to cost over $2k, but I had to do the best thing for Sammy in order to quiet my conscience. We love that little guy!

 

[yssie]

"only liver damage" - I can't think of another time when that was good news, but it's good to hear isaku!


I hope he keeps getting better, I'm sure that being back in a familiar environment will do wonders for him

 

[isaku5]

The PS dust is working!!!!

Sammy was released today from the Vet Hospital The first place he went was his food dish. I put just a bit of his usual food in it and he gobbled it up in no time. I repeated the procedure a few times and each time he was right there in a flash.

I got a call from one of his doctors last night saying that he was going to try an appetite stimulant and I'm guessing that's what finally did the trick. I just hope he continues to thrive; that's why we need a little more DUST, kind PS'ers

PS: We had a provincial holiday today so no Milk Thistle until tomorrow..

 

[yssie]

Our boy was very ill with hepatitis, and the initial prognosis was poor, but a year later he's right as rain with no residual damage, so it certainly can and does happen isaku!