Hi

I'm new here so would firstly would like to say hello, I have a ten year old cat called Sam, who is a boy, though when we are trying to irritate him, we use a girls name "Pam".

Last wednesday he was diagnosed with Liver disease, I think at first the vet thought it was worse as she was talking about it being a long life in the wild etc, and she was very concerned and we should be prepared for the worst.

Anyway, we took him back the next day for blood tests and got a call from the vet in the afternoon. Apparently Sam-Pam has "significant" liver disease, though his heart, blood tests etc were all fine. They kept him in on a drip to see how he reacted for the night and then called the following day to say he had responded well and was eating (he never stopped in actual fact, he still purrs when he eats.) He's now been home two days, we have some natural tablets "hepatosyl" to give him and some other tablets to help his skin which is dry and jaundiced. I've also bought a syringe to give him some water as he doesn't seem to be drinking, coupled with the fact we have just moved so he isn't going out.

We are still uncertain what is going to happen, we have to take him back tomorrow for the vet to look him over. It's really stressful though as he doesn't seem keen on eating his food with the tablets crushed in (we are using extra fishey stuff) and he hisses everytime I try and put water in his mouth...

Has anyone else had a cat with liver problems, my first reaction was to bawl my eyes out and I was going to have to have him put to sleep, but he still seems relatively lively and the vets mentioned that the liver can regenerate itself... One minute I'm optimistic and the next I feel really sick and sad

Firstly hi and welcome Cheetsey,Sam/Pam I'm afraid i have no medical advice to give you,sorry. But totally understand how you must be feeling in the circumstance that you are both in, it sounds optimistic that his liver with your care could well recover and even if not if he's happy and in no pain and able to live with medication well that has to be goodWe have cats that we sometimes have to medicate with tabs and trust me a scared cat can be just as dangerous as an angry cat,ours won't take them lightly either,i usually scruff our worst cats firmly by the scruff of the neck and hold them in a way that they have to tilt their neck and gently push the tab in the middle of their mouth on top of the tongue(so they can't hide it or hold it to spit it later)if i don't manage it 1st time i leave them and try again later-so far so goodIt's only natural for your head to be in bits and to feel up and down,take as much of the positive from your trusted vets opinion and go with that,Sam will more than likely surprise you in no time and he'll settle into his new home and be getting up to all his old tricks and probably invent new ones,as long as he is getting some water don't worry to much as he'll get hydration from his food,to check if you need to rehydrate him just scruff his fur near his neck,if it's slow to fall he needs hydrating if it falls as your skin does he's fine-this way you only have to hydrate him with a syringe when you have to thus less distress for him,hope i've helped a littleBear in mind also that vets are like doctors in that they mostly give you the worst case scenario til they've all the facts,a standard practice

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Dogs have owners, Cats have slaves

Burnthwaites Siamese

Hi
thanks for this, we took him back to the vet tonight and it's still inconclusive. They have sugested we leave him on the antibiotics and liver stimulants for the next week and then look at having him scanned. One minute they were positive, the next they were talking about making a decision if he takes a turn for the worst while we are away at the weekend and he is in the cattery..

Hi there,

Not a Cat I'm afraid but out late Scottie Dog had Liver Disease he lasted 12 months after being diagnosed by the vet with daily visits to the vet for an injection. Looking back I think perhaps maybe we kept him going a couple months longer than what we should have.

No doubt totally different for a cat.

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Fiona.

“Attitudes are contagious. Is yours worth catching?”