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Feline liver failure :(
I have an 11 year old Calico domestic short hair. She has had a history of UTI's, and two years ago had suspected Hepatic Lipidosis. By methods of anti nausea meds, Denosyl, IV fluids, and syringe feeding, she made what I thought was a full recovery. When I had first taken her to the vet in 2010, her liver enzymes were around 700. Just recently she started to lose weight again, and continued the all too familiar constant vomiting. I took her in again, and although she didn't look as sick as she did two years ago, her liver enzymes are now over 1300. I started crying knowing that now, she is in liver failure. She is now back on Denosyl, anti-nausea meds, prednisone, Ursidiol, Clavimox, and 100 cc's of fluids 1x daily administered at home. I don't want to let her go unless her numbers can be altered by the Denosyl. My heart is shattered, and I cannot believe we are down this road again.
Has anyone been through this before, or is currently treating their cat currently for liver failure? Have you seen a positive outcome? I know there is no cure, but I am holding onto a hope of thread that her numbers will improve with treatment.
Re: Feline liver failure :(
First of all, I'm so sorry you and your kitty are going through this.
We battled hepatic lipidosis with one of our cats several years ago. Our care regime sounds very similar to yours and it took months before she was 100% herself again. We never had liver problems reoccur (although we battled a couple other serious illnesses in her later years), so I can't speak to that aspect of it.
In your shoes, I'd probably do what you're doing... pursue treatment and take things week to week. Her appetite will probably not improve for a while, but getting some food and some fluids in her should help bring her energy and spirits up a little. Give her a little time to respond to the treatment and hopefully her prognosis will become a bit more clear and help you make the decisions you need to make.
Best of luck!
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I don't have any advice/experience to share, but just want to send you (((hugs))) at a difficult time. I lost my heart-cat to kidney failure in 2009 and I'm definitely still not over it, and never will be.
A thought - now, this is a product that has been developed for chronic renal failure, but supposedly it is helpful with a variety of inflammatory diseases and illnesses, in case the liver failure is an inflammatory response. There's a product called Astro's CRF oil (I know, funny name) - but it has gotten rave reviews for helping to calm immune response and help cats with chronic illnesses have better quality of life and lower symptoms. I wonder if it would be helpful in your situation. You should google it, check out the website, and see if it might be worth a shot for your cat.
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Thank you for your kind words.