January 30, 2010

Greetings, everyone!

Last week, I wrote an article about how dangerous it can be when a cat stops drinking. I received an email from Jeanie, who most of you know from Friends of Felines, who reminded me how dangerous it can be when a cat stops eating, as well.

Jeanie told me about a particular cat that had been adopted from Friends of Felines. The owner brought the cat back because it had stopped eating a week earlier. The man believed that the cat would eat when it got hungry. Unfortunately, by the time the cat was brought to Friends of Felines and was seen by a vet, it was severely jaundiced and had to be put to sleep.

That particular cat had an upper respiratory infection, which in many cases will cause a cat to stop eating simply because it can not smell its food. The cat had developed hepatic lipidosis, or "fatty liver."

Fatty liver is an accumulation of fats in the liver tissue. Fatty liver is currently considered to be idiopathic, meaning there is no known cause, but most experts believe it may result from the manner in which a cat's body metabolizes fats and proteins.

In most cats, the progression of fatty liver follows a common path. The cat, for whatever reason, will stop eating. Since there is no food being processed for energy, the cat's body will respond by sending fat cells to the liver to be processed into lipoproteins. Since a cat's body is not designed to efficiently process fat cells, much of the fat is stored in the liver cells. This can cause the liver to fail, leading, so many times, to the death of the cat.

Fatty liver can be accurately diagnosed through a series of tests, which is why I always tell my readers to get their cat to a veterinarian at the very first sign of trouble. I can't say that too many times!

The symptoms of fatty liver are fairly standard. A cat, usually overweight, will suddenly stop eating. The cat will lose weight, leading some people with overweight cats to, at first, believe that is a good thing. Many people with overweight cats want them to lose weight. But, if your cat does start losing weight, you need to find out why!

Other symptoms include vomiting or excessive salivation, and most cats will be lethargic. Some will become jaundiced, showing yellowing of the skin and eyes.

Is there a treatment for fatty liver? Yes, but only if the problem is detected in its early stages! For fatty liver, the best treatment starts with force-feeding. The idea behind force-feeding is to get enough nutrients into the cat to reverse the metabolic malfunction that first caused the problem. Normally force-feeding is done via a tube inserted into the cat's stomach by a veterinarian.

A special food mixture is prepared and fed into the tube using a syringe. This is not a difficult procedure and can easily be done by the cat's caregiver right in the home. After a few weeks many cats will start to eat on their own, but the force-feeding may need to be continued for several more weeks just to be sure the cat is out of danger. Force-feeding can also be done via the mouth, though you must be careful when doing this not to force food into the cat's lungs by accident.

Any time an animal stops eating or drinking, something is seriously wrong. A cat can not tell you in words that it is sick, which is why humans must watch carefully for changes in behavior. If you see something that is not right, remember the magic words: Get to the vet!!! Quick action on your part can save your cat's life and give you a lot more happy years together!

Thanks for the email, Jeanie!
Your friend,
Obie

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On Monday, I am moving to Kanab, Utah, where my human daddy has been working as a Cat Caregiver at Best Friends Animal Society. I don't know when he will get internet connected at the house, so I can't say when my next column will be out. Oh, the ways humans will inconvenience us cats! Until I am back on line, please love one another and enjoy each day!

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Cats rule!
-Obie