Cat has fatty liver syndrome - seeking advice

Hello. My name is Carole and my cat Amber is currently in hospital
being treated for fatty liver syndrome, aka hepatic lipidosis. If all
goes well I will be bringing her home on or before Friday July 7th and
continuing her treatment myself. If anyone out there has been through
this and would be willing to share their experience with me and/or
offer advice I'd be most grateful.

Some data points:

Amber is only 5 years old and was in very good health prior to the FLS.
There are no apparent underlying problems - ultrasound, biopsy, blood
tests all negative for cancer etc.
She is being force fed via stomach tube every 4 hours and has an
intravenous drip for hydration and to provide KCl. When she comes home
she will not have the drip.

I understand the mechanics of the ongoing treatment I will have to
provide -feeding via the stomach tube 4-5 times per day until she
regains her appetite - but I don't know what to expect in terms of how
she will respond. The hospital staff naturally don't know much about
the home-care version, and much of what is available on the internet is
clinical. For example, how active is she likely to be, should I keep
her isolated from my other cats (her twin brother Smoke and her
play-buddy PK), what signs should I look for positive and negative.

I have spoken to only 2 people who have tried this, one successfully,
the other not. Please, any advice from folks who have actually been
through this would be much appreciated. If you can suggest another
forum I might try that would be good too.
Thanks
Carole

wrote:
Hello. My name is Carole and my cat Amber is currently in hospital
being treated for fatty liver syndrome, aka hepatic lipidosis. If all
goes well I will be bringing her home on or before Friday July 7th and
continuing her treatment myself. If anyone out there has been through
this and would be willing to share their experience with me and/or
offer advice I'd be most grateful.

Some data points:

Amber is only 5 years old and was in very good health prior to the FLS.
There are no apparent underlying problems - ultrasound, biopsy, blood
tests all negative for cancer etc.
She is being force fed via stomach tube every 4 hours and has an
intravenous drip for hydration and to provide KCl. When she comes home
she will not have the drip.

I understand the mechanics of the ongoing treatment I will have to
provide -feeding via the stomach tube 4-5 times per day until she
regains her appetite - but I don't know what to expect in terms of how
she will respond. The hospital staff naturally don't know much about
the home-care version, and much of what is available on the internet is
clinical. For example, how active is she likely to be, should I keep
her isolated from my other cats (her twin brother Smoke and her
play-buddy PK), what signs should I look for positive and negative.

I have spoken to only 2 people who have tried this, one successfully,
the other not. Please, any advice from folks who have actually been
through this would be much appreciated. If you can suggest another
forum I might try that would be good too.
Thanks
Carole



My cat Fluffy was 8 years old when she got this disease. I didn't
know anything
was wrong until I noticed she was not eating anymore and was losing
weight.

Took her to the vet and they figured it out. I fed her by the stomach
tube but she
just was not getting better so I eventually had to have her put down.

I don't know what to tell you other than keep trying and hope for the
best. I'm not
sure what the survival rate is for this. I wish my experience was
positive but that
was not the case for me Good luck and I hope your cat will pull
through.