Why is my cat still jaundiced after a year, despite eating well?

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.

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.

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.

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

I am so sorry for your loss. I don’t see your kitty’s age, but if he/she was older, I would be most suspicious that he/she had cancer somewhere. Even though FeLV negative, it’s still possible that cancer developed in her bone marrow due to an unknown cause. (Which unfortunately is usually the case with cancer). When all of the blood cells are low, primary bone marrow disease (cancer, immune mediated disease) may be to blame. It’s also possible that there was cancer elsewhere and the bone marrow stopped working due to either spread of the disease or because of what we call a “paraneoplastic syndrome”, which is just a fancy way to say that unfortunately cancer sometimes does whatever it wants. I am so sorry again for your heartache. It sounds like you did everything you could have for your cat. Thanks for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Please let us know if we can help you further.

Poor Roxie! I'm sorry to hear that she isn't feeling well. The yellowish tint to her nose and skin is actually a very concerning sign - this is called icterus or jaundice, and usually indicates either severe liver disease or a dangerous blood disorder such as IMHA (immune-mediated hemolytic anemia). This indicates that she has a life-threatening problem that really needs veterinary care as soon as possible. I would recommend taking her to the vet today for an exam - he/she can do blood work and other testing if needed to help diagnose the problem and get her started on appropriate treatment right away.

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