My cat has hepatic lipidosis and won't eat after surgery. What now?

Hepatic lipidosis in cats typically develops secondary to long-standing inappetance, liver disease, or neoplasia (cancer). These cats are generally very ill and require medications to treat the primary cause in addition to trying to get them to take in enough nutrition for their body. To start from home, you can try syringing a canned food to Gimli; if needed you can mix a little water in with it in a blender to get to a consistency that is easy to push through the syringe. Unfortunately, many of these patients do not do well with syringe feeding and a feeding tube (esophagostomy tube) is needed to get enough nutrients to them. The bright yellow urine could be due to increased bilirubin content, which is common in cats with hepatic lipidosis. I would strongly recommend getting him to a primary care veterinarian to determine what the primary cause is for the inappetance. Thorough bloodwork (complete blood count, serum chemistry, FeLV/FIV test) should be performed to begin to look for an underlying cause. Abdominal x-rays or additional bloodwork may be recommended based on these findings. The liver is very good at recovering from an injury if it is caught early and treated appropriately and aggressively. I hope Gimli feels better soon.

Hepatic lipidosis is a very severe condition in cats and takes weeks to recover from. You should contact your vets office and advise them of the slow progress being made as further investigations for underlying causes and triggers may be warranted if she is not responding to the feeding. Hepatic lipidosis and jaundice generally occurs in cats that were well conditioned or overweight which then lose their appetite and the body starts to sue the fat reserves in the liver triggering a crisis. In most cases refeeding resverses the symptoms and the original trigger resolves itself but furhter investigations into underlying causes may be required

Expected recovery time is typically 6-12 weeks, with an average time of eight weeks. The lethargy should start to improve before then but may take 7 to 10 days dependent on how sick your kitty was at diagnosis. Also it will depend on why your kitty developed hepatic lipidosis in the first place. If there was a disease process to treat then this will have to improve as well prior to improvment in clinical symptoms. These kittys need a lot of supportive care so hopefully your vet gave you medications for nausea, to treat infection, etc. Also you should have been provided with a feeding schedule with the volume of food to feed and how many times a day. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hello, thank you for your question about Sweetie. Fatty liver disease, or hepatic lipidosis, can become a serious life threatening condition. It occurs when cats suddenly stop eating, which leads to abnormal fat accumulation in the liver. The most important aspect of treatment is to ensure that the cat is eating, as this prevents further fat accumulation. Many cats with the severe form of this condition become very dehydrated and develops other symptoms such as vomiting, lethargy, etc. Many cats who are severely affected due require hospitalization and often placement of a feeding tube. If Sweetie has no sign of other symptoms and has already regained her appetite and is starting to feel better, I think it is ok to continue to monitor her at home. If you notice that she stops eating, develops any vomiting, or other symptoms I would recommend having her rechecked and consider in-patient therapy. Hope this helps!

Without knowing the course of his illness, test results, etc. it is difficult to give accurate advice. It does sound serious enough that your cat likely needs a feeding tube surgically placed so that you can give him the necessary amount of food each day. It is quite difficult to force feed a cat who is sick and doesn't want to eat. The feeding tube is often needed in these situations. You should discuss this option with your veterinarian and inquire about having it done asap. It may also be necessary that your cat remain hospitalized for more intense supportive care including IV fluids. Please consult with his doctor right away.

Lord fluffy needs to be evaluated by your veterinarian as soon as possible. They will likely run blood work, place him on fluids, antinausea medications, and an appetite stimulant. Cats can get fatty liver syndrome if they do not eat. This can make them very sick and they can potentially pass away from it if not treated appropriately.

Hi there. It sounds like Miss Bella has hepatic lipidosis. This is a serious problem. You need to take her back to the vet and get a feeding tube placed. She will not get better unless she eats. If she won't eat by herself then you have to provide nutrition via the feeding tube. This article will give you a lot of information. http://www.2ndchance.info/hepaticLipidosis.htm Here is a link to an article about tube feeding: https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/tube-feeding-in-cats Honestly, this is serious and she needs to get back to the vet and have that tube placed if you want to give her the best chance at recovery. Hope this helps. Best wishes.