Cat with feline hepatic lipidosis (FHL): what to do?
December 22, 2008 11:39 AM   Subscribe

What should we do with a cat with feline hepatic lipidosis (FHL)? We've been force-feeding her for a week since diagnosis, but the vet is scaring us with worsening liver test results. (That may be due to not feeding her enough, though.) I'm scared out of my mind for my furry feline daughter, and we've been selling stuff left and right just to afford some measure of veterinary care.

My wife and I have three cats: Melpomene ("Kitty"), Hamilton ("Hammy"), and Moscow ("Mozzy"). Kitty is a little over three years old; the others are several months younger. The week before last, we noticed Kitty was vomiting clear fluids and didn't seem to be eating (which isn't easy to tell right away when you have three cats). Since we hadn't found a new vet here in Chicago yet, I called our old vet back in Lawrence KS; they recommended we bring Kitty to a vet immediately, so we did, that same day (Friday, December 12). Kitty was diagnosed with feline hepatic lipidosis; apparently, when cats stop eating for some reason, their liver is overwhelmed trying to burn fats and goes haywire. She is actually jaundiced, which we didn't notice until we saw the vet.

We took her to an emergency clinic that evening and had her hospitalized, with an estimate of $1000-$2000 (after blowing $400 at the vet). My wife and I are in a weak financial position, basically living month to month, and we already maxed out our CareCredit (a special health/vet credit card) at the vet visit; I wasn't about to let my daughter die, so I put it on my debit card (taking out money meant for rent) and resolved to sell everything I owned if I had to. A vet at the emergency clinic took pity on us when she found out just how financially strained we were, and held the weekend costs down to $800; even so, that was $1200 we didn't have gone in just three days.

It was recommended that Kitty remain hospitalized until she recovered, but we simply couldn't afford that; we've been force-feeding Kitty at home with a syringe since then, mostly at first (and then entirely) with Iams Maximum Calorie food. She has thankfully kept most of it down, but a visit with a different vet this past Friday (December 19) scared me; her liver test results have actually worsened since her initial results at the first vet (on the 12th), and she's lost a little bit more weight (a couple of ounces, not pounds ... but, still). The vet strongly recommended that Kitty be hospitalized, but, again, this isn't an option; we've already sold most of our electronics (an HDTV, a PS3 and all that goes with it, and hopefully a Wii today) just to get us this far, and we don't have any savings or credit left available. We stepped up the force-feeding schedule over the weekend, and started to inject subcutaneous fluids; I'm crossing my fingers that she hasn't worsened by the time she has another appointment tomorrow morning. I suppose my (immensely long-winded) question is: if she has worsened, what should we do?

The vet has recommended we at least have an esophagostomy tube placed for feeding for around $800 at the cheapest they can cut it without overnight care, while letting us know that this wasn't the ideal treatment (the ideal being a stomach tube and a liver biopsy, but that runs into thousands of dollars). I'm not sure I see the point of a feeding tube; I have force-feeding via syringe practically down to a science at this point. I don't know if the vet is trying to scare us into expensive-but-pointless treatment; I think the reason her values worsened between tests was that we weren't feeding her enough (the recommended 1.5 cans a day), and we've been correcting that. I have five days off from work starting Wednesday anyway, and I can play nurse constantly during that time; my wife and I have even discussed having her take a leave from her part-time job just to play nurse until Kitty recovers. The hardest time of day is between around 2pm until 7pm, three days a week; these are times we're both working and can't feed her.

Oh great CatFilter, I realize this may be one of the messiest questions posed to you thus far; can I get any feline-hive-mind advice covering anything above? (And in case you haven't guessed: euthanasia is not an option; our cats are our kids, I'd have us in poverty before letting Kitty die.)
posted by korpios to Pets & Animals (31 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Re: the financial dilemma, see if the vet will work out some kind of payment plan with you. I recently had a $3000.00 bill with my vet for a week of intensive care, and they let me post-date checks and leave them to be cashed over a period of time. This saved my cat AND me.

Sending good thoughts you and your kitty's way... hope you'll find she's better, not worse, at her next visit.
posted by OolooKitty at 11:54 AM on December 22, 2008


A feeding tube would probably be less stressful and more effective. I would go that route. The condition is reversible if caught early, but you are going to have to mentally prepare yourselves for possible euthanasia, because if she can't be treated, you would not want her to suffer needlessly.

It is my understanding of the condition that force-feeding can go on for weeks before there is improvement. You would need to coordinate your schedules to cover the afternoon. The feeding tube would be really helpful in this situation.

Talk to your vet about maybe setting up a payment plan. Email me if you need more info.

Again, please realize that it may not be the issue of poverty vs. euthanasia, but rather that her body has given up the good fight. I'm sorry to give you that info, but it is a reality.

Good luck.
posted by bolognius maximus at 12:04 PM on December 22, 2008


I had one cat die of this, and one recover. They were both on feeding tubes. The one that recovered was younger and is in fine health now. The one that died was fatter to start with - how overweight is your baby? That is the major factor, usually. If she is a very fat cat, it is a very dangerous condition. It doesn't just matter if she is taking in food, but if she is processing it properly. Do what the vet says. You don't want to sell all your stuff just to have her go anyway...
Good luck. My hopes are with you!
posted by mdn at 12:11 PM on December 22, 2008


Hang in there. Don't give up hope. There are resources that can help you get through this.

I am listing them according to what they offer -

first financial help with veterinary bills


Yahoo Support Group for FHL

Yahoo Group to Discuss Feeding of Special Needs Cats

What you need to know about this illness

WHOLECAT - Will be able to offer you support and some new insights on how to care for your kitty during this time and after care


Do check out all the various organizations that offer financial assistance with vet bills. Something will pan out. Keep positive thoughts. Wishing you all the very best of health and recovery.
posted by watercarrier at 12:12 PM on December 22, 2008


I am so sorry. We recently went through this with our boy last January. It was a long road, but we got him through it. We just kept force feeding him 5 times a day for a little over two weeks or so. Then one day, I heard him chowing on his dry food in the back. The vet also prescribed a med to help stimulate his appetite but I can't remember what that was.

So, if I were you, I would keep on the force feeding. It isn't the most pleasant thing, but it can be done. I wouldn't worry about the hours between 2-7. Set up the schedule so you feed him right before you leave and right when you get home. If you are feeding him as 5-6 times a day, that should be doable. Don't give up one of your sources of income when you don't have the cash to spare.

Keep going. I am not sure what else a vet could do for you at this point that you aren't doing yourself, as long as you are getting food down when force feeding, other then running in I.V. fluids, which shouldn't be a problem as long as you are getting water down with the food.

Good luck! If you think of any specific questions I can answer send me a message.
posted by Silvertree at 12:22 PM on December 22, 2008


My friend's cat recently had and survived the same thing. She was on a feeding tube for at least two, if not three weeks. She required full-time supervision. Good luck - I cannot begin to imagine the hell you are going through.
posted by Medieval Maven at 1:20 PM on December 22, 2008


Been there. I'm surprised they keep pressing for hospitalization...as soon as our vet realized that I was up to the challenge of tube/force feeding, they sent her home because it's much less stressful for them to be in their usual, comfortable environment.

We did start with the tube, which we did for several weeks...I think it does better because they seem to have a better chance to absorb calories in case they puke later (ours did...a lot), but if yours is keeping her food down, then I can't see the difference. Then I had to syringe feed her for about 6 weeks after that. Not a quick recovery, but it was worth it...once she got better, we had another 2 great, healthy years with her before she died from an unrelated illness.
posted by kattyann at 1:44 PM on December 22, 2008


Response by poster: Some more information:

- The only good thing to come out of this is that Kitty makes the cutest "NOM NOM NOM" sound when we're force-feeding her. ::sigh::

- At this past Friday's visit at the latest vet (thankfully only a five-minute drive from home, unlike the other clinics), they taught us how to administer subcutaneous fluids. Since cats have loose skin, you can actually load them up with water under the skin that they'll absorb and stay hydrated with. They sent us home with a couple of bags of liter IV bags of 0.9% salt solution and needles; it was very weird doing it ourselves the first time (especially me, actually handling the needle), but I felt markedly less squeamish the second time around. The vet made it clear that this wasn't the ideal treatment (the "ideal" being IV fluid administration), but that it was much better than nothing. (They're actually helping us do something on our own at least, and not really harping too much on the "ideal" treatments, considering that we made it clear that we were actually struggling financially to handle just what we've done so far.)

- At the above-mentioned past visit, she also apparently had a fever; we were sent home with antibiotics in case there was an infection. (The odd thing is that her original blood tests at the very first vet visit didn't indicate an infection.)

- The main thing I'm balancing mentally is the cost of an esophagostomy tube vs. the potential reduction in stress for Kitty. As I said, I'm force-feeding her fine, and my wife is doing a decent job, too; furthermore, we don't see how a tube would help us feed her more often if there are times we can't be around at all (that 2-7pm slot 3x/week). But it might reduce her stress level if I'm not always hunting her down every couple of hours, pulling her our from her cube / under the bed / in a bin, carrying her over to a couch, flipping her on her back and cradling her on my lap, holding her head taut and facing up with one hand, and squeezing food into her mouth with the other. (At least we've learned by now to prepare multiple syringes in advance so we don't have to pause partway, making the whole ordeal take even longer.) I still don't know if a tube would help with medication; there's a whole assortment of medication we're currently giving her (which I'll list next). If a reduction in Kitty's stress would help her get better faster, the surgery might be worth it; I just don't know. (And we're supposed to decide soon, since they're ready to do the surgery tomorrow following our morning appointment if we want it.)


We've been instructed to give her the following:

- 1.5 to 2 cans a day of Iams Max-Cal. (Meeting this is very hard; doing the math just for 1.5 cans, that's 7-9 feedings of 3-3.5 syringes a day!)

- 150-200ml of subcutaneous fluids, once or twice a day (as mentioned above).

- Sam-E: a half pill once a day, IIRC. Unfortunately these pills are huge and the half-pills have hard, almost sharp edges, so we grind these up with the food when we can. We haven't been feeding these pills much because of that. :-/

- An antibiotic, Flagyl, 1/2 pill every 12 hours. This is awful to administer, because it's extremely bitter and Kitty will start foaming at the mouth and spitting if she even slightly tastes it, and then starts chomping wildly ... making things even worse as it crushes up the pill on her tongue. I've started dipping this in the Max-Cal and shoving it into the back of her throat as fast as I can, which has worked well so far (last two administrations).

- Another antibiotic, Baytril, 1 pill every 24 hours.

- An antidepressant, Mirtazapine, 1/4 pill once every three days. This is supposed to have a side effect of stimulating appetite. (This replaces another appetite stimulant we were originally given by the first vet that had the same awful foaming/spitting effects as the Flagyl.)

- An antiemetic, Reglan, 1/4 pill every 12-24 hours as needed. We've started administering this every 12 hours since Friday evening, but Kitty vomited regardless yesterday evening. (Thankfully just once so far since the last vet visit, and IIRC twice total at home since the original very first vet visit and diagnosis.)

- Plain old Pepsid, 1/4 pill every 12 hours.
posted by korpios at 2:10 PM on December 22, 2008


Good luck. My cat had this about two years ago, and I successfully cured him of it through force feeding because I caught it early enough. I don't think there's much more you can be doing than what you already are short of hospitalizing your cat.
posted by TrialByMedia at 2:31 PM on December 22, 2008


In 2003, my cat had the same thing, and I too could not affort the stomach tube option at the specialist veterinarian.

And I knew my cat well enough to know that she would find the vet hospital environment to be stressful in itself. So I asked to care for her at home, knowing that it might not end the way I hoped.

My vet had me feed my cat Hill's Prescription Diet L/D canned food. I didn't do it with a syringe, but by putting some on the end of my finger, putting it in her mouth, and stroking her throat till she swallowed. I did this three or four times a day. It took a long time each time to do this. Fortunately, she was able to keep the food down. Then one day, as Silvertree said, kitty slowly made her way over to the dish of dry food (she was formerly a dry-food eater), and ate some.

When she could eat for herself, she was on the road to recovery. For five years after that, I kept her on the dry Hill's Prescription Diet L/D until the vet suggested it was no longer necessary. These days I feed my cat both wet and dry food.

I hope your Kitty feels better soon.
posted by apartment dweller at 2:42 PM on December 22, 2008


Buy some empty gelatin capsules at the drugstore (very cheap) and put all the pills for one time slot in one or two capsules. Grease one end with butter and it will slide right down her throat. The gelatin keeps the cat from tasting the pills and it keeps the pills together and easier to find (and rescue and re-administer) if they get yakked up. It will definitely help with the Flagyl and the Sam-E.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
posted by acorncup at 4:14 PM on December 22, 2008 [2 favorites]


But it might reduce her stress level if I'm not always hunting her down every couple of hours, pulling her our from her cube / under the bed / in a bin, carrying her over to a couch, flipping her on her back and cradling her on my lap, holding her head taut and facing up with one hand, and squeezing food into her mouth with the other.

If you're really getting all the food into her, it seems like the only part of this that would definitely change if you had the tube would be that you would be squeezing the food into a tube instead of her mouth. Plus you'd have the added stress and discomfort of having the tube always in place. Maybe you could avoid flipping her over, too. That will pretty much depend on your cat's temperament and how strong/weak she is now, though. The tube sounds like a solution for difficulty getting the food into the cat, not anything to reduce the stress involved in the process.
posted by dilettante at 4:23 PM on December 22, 2008


I have absolutely no good advice for you. But you have my respect for the love and care you're showing to this feline daughter, and the best wishes of me, my five cats, and one bad dawg.

Hang in there, you're in all the thoughts of all the mefits with kitties...

and, if a few $$'s will help, e/mail me...
posted by HuronBob at 4:24 PM on December 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


I don't have specific cat-related advice, but I wanted to offer a tip on the meds. (Check with your vet first, of course.) When I had to give my silky terrier a nasty-smelling antibiotic, I ground it up with his food, and later, into his syringe. I did the same with the giant vitamin pill. This wasn't ideal, but it was a lot easier than getting him to swallow it.

However, on preview, the gelatin capsule is an awesome idea as well.

Oh - something else - if you go the L/D route, that food (at least, the dog version) is chunkier than normal food, so don't sell your coffee grinder. That's what I used to make it a smooth enough consistency to mix well enough with some water to fit through a syringe.

My little guy just passed last week, after a long battle with liver failure. I am so familiar with what you are going through with the fluids and the pills and the special diet. Good luck to you and your family, both human and feline.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 5:58 PM on December 22, 2008


Response by poster: A question to those of you who have had cats with FHL and were force-feeding: how many ml of food were you giving them per feeding, and how many feedings per day? Maybe this depends on their weight, so it might not translate perfectly; our cat is currently a bit over 11 pounds (and that's her being thin from not eating).
posted by korpios at 6:30 PM on December 22, 2008


You might want to re-evaluate the food you're feeding. Iams is NOT the best food to be feeding her -

Read 1

Read 2

Food is medicine. Please remember this. Iams is low-grade commercial food - no matter what the vet says.
posted by watercarrier at 6:38 PM on December 22, 2008


What follows is 100% anecdotal and I was hesitant to write it at all but I am offering it FWIW.

We were in exactly same boat as you. Laid done a couple grand at the vet and force-fed our eldest kitty 3x a day for over a month with once a day IV fluids. He was not getting better.

We had been wait listed for some time at a holistic vet center, DVMs who also practice "alternative medicine". I am/was skeptical but they called and had a spot open and we took him in. He got poked with 11 acupuncture needles. We came home. He started eating. His body changed back to normal in the space of a few hours.

Part of me still thinks it must have been a coincidence but his response to the treatment was so instantaneous and dramatic that I can't help but believe his healing was either caused or stimulated by the acupuncture. I have since heard from others with similar stories that cats often do really well with it. He took the needles without fuss. He's still with us three years later at age 16. We've taken him in a few times since, whenever he gets fussy with his food, and he always comes home more energetic.

It seems crazy but I'm just saying it might be worth a shot if this an option available to you where you are. The best $150 we ever spent.

I wish you and your kitty the very best. Clearly a lucky cat to be so well cared for.
posted by quarterframer at 7:15 PM on December 22, 2008


Response by poster: watercarrier: Based on everything I've heard and read, the most important thing that a cat with FHL needs is calories. The Iams Maximum-Calorie prescription food is pretty dense calorie-wise, and that's exactly what we need when every feeding counts. Nothing else matters right now but getting as much calorie intake into her as possible; unless there's a denser food that I can squeeze through a syringe into her mouth, the Max-Cal seems like a decent choice. (It also doesn't hurt that it's only $2/can from the vet, considering that we're not exactly on stable financial ground right now.)

You linked (earlier and just now) to several pages regarding homeopathic treatments for cats; while I greatly appreciate the sympathy and support right now (and that goes for everyone! Thank you!) ... I hate to sound ungrateful, but I largely consider homeopathy to be bunk. That doesn't mean that I consider traditional medicine to be perfect — far from it! (For one thing, it concentrates far too much on treatment and a baseline of "not sick" than prevention and aggressively pushing the upper boundaries of optimum health.) I'm a transhumanist (hmm, am I a transfelinist too?), translating here to taking what works, discarding what doesn't, and doing my damnedest to keep my family alive indefinitely. The name of the game right now looks to be calories (and keeping the food down, hence the antiemetics), and I'm pushing that as far as I can go. The use of Sam-E does look to have support in the medical literature, so I should be administering that more frequently (and thanks for the gelcap tip, acorncup — we'll definitely be trying that!); as far as homeopathic remedies go, though, I'm afraid they largely don't have corresponding data points to back them up.

On preview: quarterframer, that's one hell of a weird tale (especially following what I just wrote above). :-) Acupuncture is one of the "alternative medicine" fields that I genuinely wonder about; while I'm certain they have their model wrong ("qi" and whatnot), part of me holds that it might just be plausible based on the physical neural mapping in the brain bringing parts of the body "together" that aren't necessarily physically proximate. (Of course, reading stuff like this reinforces doubts I've already held.) If we get desperate (or feel that we can spare the fee for a long shot), we might give something like that a try, as your story (while, as you admit, anecdotal) is compelling; maybe your cat decided that eating was preferable to getting 11 needles poked in him. ;-)
posted by korpios at 7:44 PM on December 22, 2008


I hope you seriously consider the esophagostomy tube. It is great that your kitty is tolerating the force feeding pretty well so far, but that might not always be the case. Sometimes the force feeding becomes very stressful to the cat as well as the owner. She might feel less stressed overall if feeding her is easier, and it may be easier for you, since you can administer the meds through the tube as well. Often, cats with hepatic lipidosis need to be force fed for so long that it is impractical for the cat/owner combo to keep it up for the duration--it really can take weeks to see improvement.

Mefi mail me if you have more questions. Good luck!
posted by MagicDolphin at 10:13 PM on December 22, 2008


I've nursed chronically ill cats. It's hard work and I applaud you. I'll keep you and kitty in my thoughts.

You mentioned you were in Chicago... That's about 2 or 3 hours south of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. They've got a top notch veterinary medicine program there with a teaching hospital. How about contacting the UW and seeing if they'd take your kitty on a reduced-fee basis?

I've never done it and I don't know if they'd be amenable, but it's worth a shot. Here's the link: UW Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.

Good luck.
posted by luminous phenomena at 10:35 PM on December 22, 2008


Meeting this is very hard; doing the math just for 1.5 cans, that's 7-9 feedings of 3-3.5 syringes a day!
The big difference that you would see with an esophageal tube would be the ability to feed her larger quantities of food less often. It would also solve the foaming mouth, difficult to pill problem as the tube bypasses the taste buds, which is actually quite important since Kitty needs her meds. One more reason to do it, as you mentioned above, stress. Cats are very sensitive to stress and the less stress the better. The more your cat is hiding in fear of another force feeding/ pilling session, the less likely she is to return to her normal schedule i.e. eating normally. The veterinary specialist hospital that I work at frequently requires syringe feeding through an esophageal tube. We typically feed 4 to 6 times a day (keep in mind that this is 24 hour care and some of these feedings are at 1am and 4am). I have fed cats around about the same weight as your cat as much as 30mls at a time. You do have to work up to feeding such a large amount at one time. Another reason to consider getting the tube placed, is that while your cat may be tolerating feedings now, that doesn't mean that it will always be so. As some of the people above have stated, the forced feeding schedule may have to go on for quite a while. That being said, if you are reasonably sure that you can accomplish it, and your cat is holding her food down, and you are able to feed the recommended quantity of food then force feeding could work. If you choose to go this route, then ask your vet for larger syringes. Force feeding with 3.5 ml syringes is not going to get you anywhere but frustrated fast. One last note, if you are only feeding 3.5 ml of food at a time, your cat may have tolerated that just fine, but it may be completely different story when it comes to 15 or 30 ml at a time. One tip about max cal, sometimes there are little chunks that get clog up the tip of syringe as you are feeding, heating the food before loading the syringe helps a lot with this (just make sure to test the temperature before feeding), even better, stick the food in the blender prior to use. Hope this helps and the best of luck.
posted by citizngkar at 2:57 AM on December 23, 2008


Response by poster: Just to follow up quickly before the vet visit: we're feeding 30 to 35 ml of food at a time, not 3.0-3.5! ^_^
posted by korpios at 6:52 AM on December 23, 2008


I was feeding 5-6 times a day. I divided the can up into fifths (most of the time), scooped out one part, added a little water, mixed it up, and fed him. I don't think it really matters how much you are feeding at a time, as long as you don't over feed your cat and nauseate them so they throw up. Perrin was able to tolerate that feeding schedule pretty well. He was about 12 lbs at his lightest.
posted by Silvertree at 9:50 AM on December 23, 2008


Response by poster: Okay, post-vet follow-up:

- Kitty gained a pound since Friday! (!!!) The vet was amazed, and we were thrilled. (Right away she asked if we had fed her or given her fluids this morning before the visit, but no, we hadn't.)

- Kitty appears much more hydrated to the vet (thanks to the subcutaneous fluid administration).

- Her bilirubin values, while still way high, dropped quite a bit; it was 20 on Friday, and it's 12 today.

- There was a liver-damage value that was increased since Friday, but the vet didn't seem too surprised at this.

- The vet said gelatin caps are a fine idea, and sent us home with a 100-pack (but they look huge and long to me, so I might look for smaller ones).

- The vet is generally very pleased and agrees that as long as we keep up the force-feeding and fluids, and Kitty largely keeps her food down, that there's no point to the e-tube surgery. She agreed that the e-tube wouldn't help us at all with scheduling feedings; it's just to ease administration of the food, but we've got that going well enough where it wouldn't offer any benefit.

- Bonus: It looks like they're open to bartering; I'm a professional web developer, and their website is very plain (seriously — plain black text on a white background with just contact information), so last visit I asked if they might be interested in some web-for-vet trade. Today they said yes, so we'll work a fair value out; while we're hopefully avoiding surgery, we're going to need weekly checkup visits for the time being, and those run nearly $200 each (due to bloodwork and whatnot). If we can hold the costs down there (and put the remaining money we made from selling stuff into a feline catastrophe fund of sorts), it won't feel like the end of the world the next time we need to rush one of our furballs in for medical care.

So ... YAY! We're not out of the woods yet, but at least it looks like our compass is working. ^_^ Thank you again, everyone; you've been wonderful during what has been one of the most stressful times of my life. I'll post back as things progress — but feel free to drop any more advice our way, of course. :-)
posted by korpios at 10:48 AM on December 23, 2008


Response by poster: Oh, also re: the confusion with citizngkar over how much we feed at once: by "3-3.5 syringes" I meant "three to three-and-a-half syringes (that are 10 ml each) at a single feeding, for a total of 30 to 35 ml each time". We keep three 10 ml syringes filled and ready to go right before feeding, so we don't have to pause to refill; I think I'd lose my mind if I was trying to use a 3.5 ml syringe. ;-)
posted by korpios at 10:52 AM on December 23, 2008


You can tailor the gelcaps to some extent, just use a very sharp scissor to trim the long half.

That's great Kitty is doing so well. She is a lucky cat to have you.
posted by acorncup at 10:10 PM on December 23, 2008


Oh, also re: the confusion with citizngkar over how much we feed at once: by "3-3.5 syringes" I meant "three to three-and-a-half syringes (that are 10 ml each) at a single feeding, for a total of 30 to 35 ml each time".
Whew! That is great to hear. Sounds like you are doing very well then. Congrats and I hope that she continues to improve. It's always great to hear about pet owners who are willing to go the extra mile for the sake of their loved ones. In veterinary medicine it's a rare thing to see people who are really willing to be hands on and participate in the recovery of their pet. I commend you and your spouse. It can be very difficult, and I know this not only as vet tech but also as a pet owner, to be able to afford the very best care or whatever the suggested care is that your veterinarian recommends. Sometimes we can only afford so much and it really does help to be as involved as you guys are being. Have a Merry Christmas and hopefully a very good new year for Kitty.
One last thing.. in future, consider switching your cats to meal feeding, just to be sure that you never have a repeat of this. It isn't easy to do, but I honestly believe it is the best thing for cats as well as dogs.
posted by citizngkar at 2:32 AM on December 24, 2008


re: meal feeding - we have our cats on two small meals and a limited amount of free-choice kibble during the day when we're gone - they love meal time. So it seems hard but they get into the routine really fast.
posted by Medieval Maven at 8:07 AM on December 24, 2008


Yay! Glad kitty is better.
posted by OolooKitty at 5:05 PM on December 24, 2008


Glad to hear your efforts are working! Yay!
posted by SuperSquirrel at 9:36 AM on December 26, 2008


Response by poster: A final follow-up: at Kitty's most recent checkup this past Friday, all of her blood-test values were back to normal. She's definitely a bit skinnier than before this ordeal, but she's healthy! (Now we just need to get her to stop hacking up hairballs.) ^_^
posted by korpios at 4:11 PM on February 9, 2009


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