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Hello- My 10yr old male cat is suffering and I feel so helpless. Please help us! The story is his appetite has majorly depleted and I noticed that he hadn't pooped in about four days so I took him to the vet even though he was behaving fine, but this is a cat who has always loved to eat and poop. They ran some blood tests and did an xray of his colon which had some poop in it, but the most interesting thing was that his colon dipped a little so she wanted to schedule an ultra sound to see if something was pushing on it. Home we went and though he still wasn't eating much or going to the bathroom his mood was fine. The next day the vet called and said that most of his blood work was normal but that he had some elevated levels pertaining to his liver and/or colon (she kept talking about bile) and wanted to give him an enema to clear things out to try and get his track reset in hopes it would jump start his eating. My husband was in the room with the cat while the vet manually extracted some poop with her fingers and then administered the enema. He says that she was a little rough and basically had him doing headstands while she poked around. The vet sent us home with cyproheptadine to give him twice a day to stimulate his appetite. Well, ever since we got home from this visit the cat has been terrible. He is behaving like he is massively drugged, very lethargic (he is like clay and will stay in whatever position you put him in), he just has zero life to him and is waaaay out of it. Plus when he does move on his own he is moving very gingerly, almost limping, and favoring his back end. Plus he still isn't really eating very much, no matter what we try to give him. I feel like that second trip to the vet made everything 100times worse and I am afraid that she damaged my sweet cat. I have stopped giving him the cypro in hopes that the doped up behavior clears. Does anyone have any advice? Is it normal for him to be in pain after an enema or are my worries that he got hurt by the vet rational? Does anyone have any experience or familiarity with cypro and it having this effect on their cat? I'm worried that there is a big issue, related to why I brought him to the vet in the first place, that is getting increasingly worse and that nothing productive is being done. I'm such a worried Mom right now, any advice would so be appreciated. Oh, and, he is doing this strange thing with his mouth where he isn't really closing it and being a little droolly...ugh!
THANKS from me and Mister.
I'm sorry your cat's having a rough time. I would get a second opinion. I don't think he should be limping after an enema. Sending good vibes your way.
I'm so sorry your kitty has been put through this. I add my thoughts that another vet should be consulted, that kind of rough handling is just not on.
I took care of an elderly kitty with megacolon for many years, and never did an enema cause her any pain or lasting trauma.
I am concerned about the dose size of cyproheptadine, it sounds like he is getting too much.
I would stop the meds, and if symptoms worsen today get him to an ER vet. If he is okay, find another vet tomorrow and start fresh for your poor boy.
The talk about bile is liver related. Cats can go into liver failure if they go too long without food. Three days max. Please keep us updated on your beloved boy.
He checked into the hospital today. It looks like he's got the (we're hoping) early stages of Feline Hepatic Lipidosis or Fatty Liver Disease. It looks like from our research, if treated in time, the recovery rate is about 90%. He ate a little last night and little bits a few times during the day yesterday but not too much. My big question, after research into FLD, is what is the point of no return? Everything says 'when treated soon enough' but there is no indication or symptoms of what 'too late' is. He's a little jaundiced but that is a very new development. I mentioned that he has not completely rejected food (yet). Any thoughts? Did we get him in in time?
I'm sorry to hear your boy has FHL. The good news is the liver is a regenerative organ, and much can be done if it hasn't gone too far.
I hope this is a different hospital, or at least a different vet than the one you saw first.
Treatment may include adding a daily supplement called Denamarin. Denamarin consists of milk thistle and sam-e, both which help support the liver in growing new cells, each in their own way.
Possibly Denosyl (which is sam-e without the milk thistle), but I think in this case Denamarin will be more beneficial. I am not a vet but do have some personal experience with feline liver damage.
I'm glad he's being treated at the vet now. Since he didn't completely stop eating I would take that as a good sign. I'm sorry he's going through this, poor kitty.
Is he at the same vet who was rough with him? If he is I would make sure to visit him a lot so you can keep an eye on his treatment. Keeping my fingers crossed for the both of you. Keep us posted and don't forget to take care of yourself too.
Hello- Our boys name is Mr. Beast and thank you for your support. We did take him to a new wonderful vet yesterday and we have the utmost faith that she will do everything under the sun to take care of him. It was a really, really bad day though. She could tell right off the bat that he was in the throws of Fatty Liver disease so she started him on fluid and meds right away. After x-rays, ultrasounds and blood and urine tests we have learned that he has a number of nodules on his liver but that his liver enzymes are reasonable, he has crystal in his bladder and his pee is orange and cloudy but he is passing it and his urine tests were ok, his kidneys are misshapen but are functioning properly, he has a thickened wall in his small intestine and his heart is enlarged and has a slight murmur. So, there is a whole lot going on but it's really unclear what exactly. It is possible these are all being caused by a spread of cancer but he is too sick right now to do the biopsy of the liver. I believe they are gonna go ahead and put in a feeding tube because he did not eat over night even with all the fluids. We are still hoping that if we can get him eating and stop the erosion of his liver we can comfortably prolong his life but we are aware of how grim this all sounds and we don't want to torture the little guy. Please continue to send us your best wishes and we'll update you with any news.
I'm so sorry Mr. Beast is ill. Fingers, toes and paws crossed for you both.
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I would get a second opinion. I don't think he should be limping after an enema. Sending good vibes your way.
I'm sorry he's going through this, poor kitty.
