Getting my cat to eat - Feline hepatic lipidosis

Larumbelle

Thank you for your incredible kindness, paddypaws, I have PM'd you back :-)

Well, we had a bit of a turbulent evening and morning. He ate a tiny amount, then I heard retching and my poorly boy projectile vomited across the living room. He brought up the largest hairball I have ever seen. He settled down immediately after but when I went to do his final tube feed of the evening, he started resisting as soon as the first drop went through the tube. So I stopped right away and arranged to bring him to the vet's this morning instead of this afternoon.

His tube had slipped when he vomited, so the vet had to remove it. The vet who he saw was a really nice one who helped look after him when he was first admitted and seems to have built up a bit of a bond with him. She said she still wouldn't have left the tube in after today even if it had not slipped. I asked why, she believes that the risk of complications increases the longer they are left in, such as clogging and infection, and as the cat becomes more active again the risk of it being caught and causing injuries etc increases. Also she thinks it can encourage cats to rely on passive feeding which can actually delay their return to feeding on their own. So it did make more sense when she explained her reasons.

His weight seems okay and has only dropped a tiny amount, his condition is good considering, and she is surprised at how well his surgery wound has healed. There was no mention whatsoever of PTS this time, he is back at the vet on Thursday but that is to remove his stitches. She made a point of telling me which vet he'd be seeing, so I do wonder if there was perhaps a difference of opinion with the first vet? But she did say that he had to start eating soon because we can't let him refuse indefinitely. I asked about appetite stimulants but she said they don't use them at that surgery so she couldn't prescribe them.

So now it is all on him now to feed. Easier said than done! You can't convince a cat to do anything that they don't want to. That's one of the reasons I love them so much! So I guess that all I can do is keep trying everything I can think of. I asked about catnip as a lot of websites say it stimulates appetite. She said she'd never heard that about catnip but it couldn't hurt to try. So once he has had a little rest to get over this latest escapade, I think I will try giving him that.

Thank you everyone for the support. I felt a lot more confident asking questions today (and went in ready to refuse to their decision if I didn't agree, though luckily it didn't come to that). That is all down to people who have posted here, so thank you :-)

Person_one

That all sounds very positive, well done for asking why, and it sounds like the answers made sense.

Fingers crossed he finds his appetite soon.

calicocat

Good for you.

A friend of mine had her cat shot, was told that he/she wouldn't urinate on her own again, wouldn't live long, wouldn't walk etc........she's totally fine now and living a full and long life (indoors now). Good job she didn't let the vets give up on her. Plus, I guess everyone makes mistakes.....best to not give up too early though as we can see from her story and yours.

Fingers crossed he picks up even more and starts eating better soon.

Mrs_Z

Hi,
I cannot offer any practical advice but I'm hoping that now that the hairball is out, he might well start eating as that might have been the cause - fingers crossed.
I know from experience how distressing it is when your cat is not eating and you've tried everything under the sun. We had to go through that with one of ours but it was related to an underlying condition and unfortunately it was the beginning of the end for her
Keep us posted how it goes,

spookylukey

I can highly recommend Royal Canin Exigent - savour sensation 35/30 (they do two other types).

My cat suddenly went off his food and was barely eating, he refused both human and cat foods, including Dreamies/Temptations :eek:

There was no obvious reason for it and he was otherwise happy, interested in food but just wouldn't eat it. He had numerous tests and ended up seeing a specialist with no cause found.

The only food I could get him to eat from the dozens I bought to try and tempt him was the RC exigent, quite literally a life saver.

They sell it at Pets at Home / Jollyes etc as it sounds like there's no time to wait for Amazon...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Royal-Canin-Exigent-Savour-Sensation/dp/B000T5G730/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459798571&sr=8-1&keywords=exigent

If it works and it's something you switch to long term, I find the cheapest place for it is Zooplus.

WeAreGhosts

So glad your experience was more positive this time around

Hopefully with having the hairball out of there he'll feel more like eating - fingers crossed!

missbiggles1

spookylukey wrote: »

I can highly recommend Royal Canin Exigent - savour sensation 35/30 (they do two other types).

My cat suddenly went off his food and was barely eating, he refused both human and cat foods, including Dreamies/Temptations :eek:

There was no obvious reason for it and he was otherwise happy, interested in food but just wouldn't eat it. He had numerous tests and ended up seeing a specialist with no cause found.

The only food I could get him to eat from the dozens I bought to try and tempt him was the RC exigent, quite literally a life saver.

They sell it at Pets at Home / Jollyes etc as it sounds like there's no time to wait for Amazon...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Royal-Canin-Exigent-Savour-Sensation/dp/B000T5G730/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459798571&sr=8-1&keywords=exigent

If it works and it's something you switch to long term, I find the cheapest place for it is Zooplus.

That is absolutely brilliant stuff, I started buying it for my cat who'd had all his teeth out because of stomatitis. Unfortunately, the other three got a taste and they won't look at any other dry food so now I have to buy it for all four of them!

Larumbelle

Thanks for the recommendations of Exigent - he had a different Royal Canin before (the diet one) and really liked it. I am literally round the corner from Pets at Home so I will get one of the small bags tomorrow and try him on it. He has eaten tiny amounts today, but nowhere near enough! He seems to like the smell of foods, and even starts purring if it is something he likes, but after a mouthful or two he stops. But we will get there, even if it is one mouthful at a time ;-)

Thanks, as ever, to all who have taken the time to read and help :-) I think I would have gone mad by now without you

happyshopper

My cat had feline hepatic lipidosis a couple of years ago. After a week of tube feeding, the vets finally got him eating with some specialist tinned cat food which was essentially just shredded chicken. I can't find the name of it, have been looking at my old vet's bills. Once I got him home, he would also eat chicken cooked just in some water, and then shredded, although only if I fed it to him by hand. He eventually succumbed to something else, but he did get over the hepatic lipidosis. If I can remember the name of the food brand, I'll post it later. Very best of luck. Hope yours pulls through, it's a horrible condition.

HS

GwylimT

Thrive and cannagan both produce a complete food which is shredded chicken, the thrive tins are available in petsathome.