My cat has hepatic lipidosis. Why is she still so tired after feeding?

Unfortunately it can take a long time - weeks to months - to recovery from hepatic lipidosis. I typically recommend a feeding tube because feeding the appropriate number of calories is most important and it can be difficult to get enough calories in with syringe feeding alone. If you have other concerns for questions about her care you should check in with your vet and be sure to follow up for all recommended rechecks.

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!

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.

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!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am so sorry for the loss of your cat P! Cats are very good at hiding illnesses until they are very sick. Jaundice in cats can be from: 1) destruction of red blood cells. They tend to be anemic on blood work. This can be from blood parasites, cancer, immune problems 2) Liver disease: cancer, infection, toxin, inflammatory conditions or fatty liver disease (hepatic lipidosis). Fatty liver is a secondary condition. Prolonged anorexia is usually the cause. Anything that makes a cat stop eating for more than 3 days can cause fatty liver disease and 3) Gall bladder, biliary or pancreatic disease: infection, cancer, gall stones, biliary obstruction. P didn't die from an overactive thyroid. She died from whatever disease caused her to stop eating, that could have been liver disease or another disease that caused fatty liver syndrome. She sounded like she was very sick. I hope this provides some insight. Again I am sorry for your loss.

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.

Hello there. Sorry to hear that Penny is not feeling well. I honestly have not heard of treating fatty liver disease at home unless you are feeding her at home through a feeding tube that was surgically placed into her esophagus. Was that done? Are you giving medications? Usually they do stay pretty icteric for quite a while and we don't really gauge if they are getting better or worse on how yellow they are looking. We usually gauge how they are doing based on how they are doing clinically like their activity level and whether or not they are eating on their own, etc. And we also use their bloodwork (liver values) - like are they going up or are they going down. So, I don't think you can really say much about how she is doing based on her color. I hope this helps. Best wishes to you and Penny. Dr. Amber