Fatty liver prognosis?

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alisont - 01 Oct 2007 17:56 GMT

My sister's cat, Niles, has been diagnosed with fatty deposits on (in?) his
liver after he stopped eating. She has been force feeding him through a tube
in his stomach for a couple weeks now. The vet has him on an appetite
enhancer so he is eating some but still getting most of his nourishment from
the tube. The vet estimates Niles is between 7 and 9 years old.

What is the prognosis for this? She lost her husband just last year and
would be devastated to lose Niles.

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Rene S. - 01 Oct 2007 20:24 GMT

Without knowing the entire situation, it's hard to give a full
prognosis. My guess is that he will come through this fine, but it
will take time and patience. Fatty liver is very dangerous for cats,
even moreso for overweight cats. I would recommend this to your sister
once Niles has fully recovered:
1. Get him on a high-quality canned food diet
2. If he is overweight, have him (very slowly) get down to a proper
weight.
3. In the future, recognize the danger of a cat that stops eating. If
this ever happens again, bring him to a vet immediately and force feed
him if necessary.

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Dick Ballard - 01 Oct 2007 21:22 GMT

We had a cat with that problem some years ago and he also had a
stomach tube for a while. Took a lot of patience over several weeks
duration doing the tube feeding, but he did eventually recover. His
problem was allegedly caused by a bout of pancreatitis which was kept
under control for several years afterward using prednisone.

Dick Ballard
ballardr@att.net

>My sister's cat, Niles, has been diagnosed with fatty deposits on (in?) his
>liver after he stopped eating. She has been force feeding him through a tube
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>What is the prognosis for this? She lost her husband just last year and
>would be devastated to lose Niles.

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Paul M. Cook - 01 Oct 2007 21:45 GMT

> My sister's cat, Niles, has been diagnosed with fatty deposits on (in?) his
> liver after he stopped eating. She has been force feeding him through a tube
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> What is the prognosis for this? She lost her husband just last year and
> would be devastated to lose Niles.

Buddy was diagnosed with FLD and cholangiohepatitis about 4 years ago. He
spent 5 days in the vet hospital getting IV nourishment and liquids. He
pulled through but it took a long time. I had to give him appetite
stimulants and prescription cat food for about 2 weeks. But he did pull
through and his liver numbers were almost normal a month later. The PEG
tube is great, I had a cancer cat on one for months. Keeping the cat well
fed is the key to recovery so the tube will go a long way to insure that.
I'd think the outlook is very optimistic for the cat.

Paul

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Cheryl - 02 Oct 2007 03:20 GMT

> My sister's cat, Niles, has been diagnosed with fatty deposits
> on (in?) his liver after he stopped eating. She has been force
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> What is the prognosis for this? She lost her husband just last
> year and would be devastated to lose Niles.

My Shadow had fatty liver about 5 years ago now, and he had a PEG
tube for feeding, too. He had the tube in him for a total of 8
weeks, but he started eating again at about 5 weeks. We left it in
to make sure he really was on the road to recovery. Shadow didn't
eat anything at all on his own for that 5 weeks. I think it is a
good sign that Niles is eating some on his own, and it will be no
time before that tube can come out. Is he on other medication for
his liver? Shadow was on a SAMe-type medication, but I can't
remember the name now. If the appetite enhancer is working, it
doesn't seem that there is an underlying reason for the anorexia
that started this.

Let us know how it goes?

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Cheryl

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Cheryl - 02 Oct 2007 03:22 GMT

> Is he on other medication for
> his liver? Shadow was on a SAMe-type medication,

Denosyl

http://www.denosyl.net/

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Cheryl

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alisont - 02 Oct 2007 16:21 GMT

He is on other medications but I'm not sure what. My sister mentioned that
it is a lot easier to give him his medicine with the stomach tube. He was on
medicine for a while before he got the appetite enhancer. I think he had the
tube for about two weeks before the vet even tried it.

She is the perfect person to give him TLC. She is a very good cat slave who
dotes on him completely. I'm so glad to hear that the prognosis sounds good.

>> My sister's cat, Niles, has been diagnosed with fatty deposits
>> on (in?) his liver after he stopped eating. She has been force
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
>Let us know how it goes?

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Cheryl - 03 Oct 2007 04:22 GMT

> She is the perfect person to give him TLC. She is a very good
> cat slave who dotes on him completely. I'm so glad to hear that
> the prognosis sounds good.

That's good to hear. I have to emphasize something here that wasn't
apparent from my post. Shadow died 2 years after his fatty liver
disease was healed, but it wasn't because of it. He had
complications from all of the treatments, and his underlying
condition was more than his body could handle. But he recovered fully
from the fatty liver (hepatic lipidosis).

Best wishes to your sister and Niles.

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Cheryl

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