I would love for people read this article on Fatty Liver Disease ( Hepatic Lipidosis ), so they know
not to give up even if the vet says to! Fatty Liver Disease ( Hepatic Lipidosis ) is reversible.
I used to volunteer at a very stressful shelter. My first two fatty liver disease
cases came
from there. I believed that they stopped eating because of stress. I brought
them home
to treat them.
The second two were in a home of a woman who was mentally ill, and she
starved them. Three were dead by the time Animal Regulation went in. They
allowed
me to rescue the rest (They were so freaked out, that many of them had to be
trapped).
Two were very sick with hepatic lipidosis.
The last one was abandoned outside (de-clawed...grrrr). My friend rescued
her. By the time that she realized the cat was sick, she was very jaundiced
and drooling constantly from nausea. I took her in then, as I have
experience with fatty liver disease.
I was told by every vet treating these cats that they wouldn't make it, and
should be put them to sleep, due to their condition and blood panels.
Every cat lived. Fatty liver disease is reversible! I
gave 100 cc's of sub-q fluids twice a day. I had to force feed 5 cc's at a
time of AD all day, because they would throw up, if I gave them any more.
It is important that you get enough
calories in them. It depends on the cat's size, but it should be 1 1/4- 1
1/2 cans of AD a day. There are so many things that I did. I gave them 125
mg
of L-Arginine, L-Methionine and L-Carnatine
daily. I gave them milk thistle to strengthen, and dandelion to cleanse the
liver (1/8 the human daily dosage). I gave them vitamin C and B shots,
Coenzyme Q-10, and lecithin. I also gave each one a different homeopathic
remedy.
For the liver I have given several, depending on the guiding symptoms. In
Tanya's
case (The drooler) it was nux vomica. Jambie and Dutchess were phosphorus.
Cola was lycopodium.
Sampsie I couldn't figure out, so I did a general homeopathic liver remedy.
Lastly, I did a daily warm compress over the liver with Dandelion Dynamo.
It has dandelion flower essences in it, and caster oil. I truly believe that
this helped to bring the cats around.
Two of these cats could barely move. They were bright yellow-orange. Not
only their ears and eyes, but their whole body. They didn't produce a bowel
movement for days, and couldn't keep down food. When a bowel movement came
out it was green. Diarrhea rotated with constipation. I actually had to give
an enema to Sampsie. They moaned in pain, and everyone thought that I was
cruel to try and save them. Every one of them has had a perfect blood panel
since, and the vets have asked me what I did! Three of them have been
adopted. I still have Sampsie and Tanya, although they are up for adoption.
It takes a
long time to reverse fatty liver. When they start to get well, they may lose
some fur.
I believe that it is part of the detoxification process.
The urine will be green or bright orange-yellow, and they will have diarrhea
as a part of this process also.
When the cats started to show any interest in food, I gave them a drug
called cyproheptadine
It is an antihistamine that, for some reason stimulates the appetite.
I did not have a feeding tube put into these cats, as I felt that they
were too weak to be put under anesthetic. We aspirated the liver for
diagnosis, instead of doing a biopsy, for the same reason.
Don Hamilton's Homeopathic Care for Cats and Dogs
was key to helping me with
the last three
cases. It is the best book out there, in my opinion, for holistic care.
Tanya is still up for adoption..please click here for information-it takes you to her page on petfinder.org
Sampsie is still up for adoption..please click here for information-it takes you to her page on petfinder.org
A woman wrote me about her beloved T.C.:"But the truth is that one of the
tragedies of liver disease is that sometimes it seems to get better right
before everything falls apart. No matter what you do, your friend may still
die. Although some cats do survive, my understanding is that the mortality
rate is much greater than the information provided on the internet would
suggest."
I asked her if I could copy her whole response to me but did not hear from her so I decided to just include the quote above..
Dietary L-carnitine gathering from the following research abstract might play a safe and protective role in reducing your kitty cat's weight and in turn reducing the risk of feline hepatic lipidosis. It appears that it should be given when your kitty cat has already developed feline hepatic lipidosis. Please print out the research abstract and present it to your vet.
1: J Nutr. 2002 Feb;132(2):204-10.
Links
Dietary L-carnitine supplementation in obese cats alters carnitine metabolism and decreases ketosis during fasting and induced hepatic lipidosis.Blanchard G, Paragon BM, Milliat F, Lutton C.
UP de Nutrition, Ecole Nationale Veterinaire d'Alfort, 94704 Maisons Alfort, France. blanchard@vet-alfort.fr
This study was designed to determine whether dietary carnitine supplement could protect cats from ketosis and improve carnitine and lipid metabolism in experimental feline hepatic lipidosis (FHL). Lean spayed queens received a diet containing 40 (CL group, n = 7) or 1000 (CH group, n = 4) mg/kg of L-carnitine during obesity development. Plasma fatty acid, beta-hydroxybutyrate and carnitine, and liver and muscle carnitine concentrations were measured during experimental induction of FHL and after treatment. In control cats (CL group), fasting and FHL increased the plasma concentrations of fatty acids two- to threefold (P < 0.0001) and beta-hydroxybutyrate > 10-fold (from a basal 0.22 +/- 0.03 to 1.70 +/- 0.73 after 3 wk fasting and 3.13 +/- 0.49 mmol/L during FHL). In carnitine-supplemented cats, these variables increased significantly (P < 0.0001) only during FHL (beta-hydroxybutyrate, 1.42 +/- 0.17 mmol/L). L-Carnitine supplementation significantly increased plasma, muscle and liver carnitine concentrations. Liver carnitine concentration increased dramatically from the obese state to FHL in nonsupplemented cats, but not in supplemented cats, which suggests de novo synthesis of carnitine from endogenous amino acids in control cats and reversible storage in supplemented cats. These results demonstrate the protective effect of a dietary L-carnitine supplement against fasting ketosis during obesity induction. Increasing the L-carnitine level of diets in cats with low energy requirements, such as after neutering, and a high risk of obesity could therefore be recommended.
Here is a research abstract that probably should be read by companions with hefty kitty cats.
1: Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract. 2005 Jan;35(1):225-69.
Feline hepatic lipidosis.Center SA.
College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, PO Box 33, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. sac6@cornell.edu
We have come a long way in understanding and managing the FHL syndrome since it was first described nearly 30 years ago. Increased sensitivity of clinicians for recognizing the syndrome has improved case outcome by arresting this metabolic syndrome in its earliest stages. Simply ensuring adequate intake of a complete and balanced feline diet can rescue cats just developing clinical signs; however, full metabolic support as described herein provides the best chance for recovery of cats demonstrating the most severe clinicopathologic features. It remains possible that adjustments in recommended micronutrient and vitamin intake for healthy cats may pivotally change feline susceptibility to FHL over the coming years.
PMID: 15627635 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
J Feline Med Surg 2003 Apr;5(2):69-75 :
S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) in a feline acetaminophen model of oxidative injury.
Webb CB, Twedt DC, Fettman MJ, Mason G.
Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, 80523, Fort Collins, CO, USA
S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) is reported to have hepatoprotective and antioxidant functions. Acetaminophen (paracetamol) was used to induce oxidative damage in cats, and to then determine the effect of SAMe treatment on erythrocyte morphology, PCV, liver histopathology, thiobarbituate reacting substances (TBARS), reduced glutathione (GSH), and oxidised glutathione (GSSG).Cats receiving acetaminophen had a significant increase in methemoglobin and Heinz body production. A significant effect for the interaction of time and treatment was found for Heinz body production and changes in PCV. No significant changes were found in blood or hepatic TBARS. Blood GSH increased significantly in all cats, while the blood GSH:GSSG ratio tended to increase the most in cats given acetaminophen only. The hepatic GSH:GSSG ratio tended to increase in cats given SAMe and decrease in cats given acetaminophen, but this effect was not significant.SAMe protected erythrocytes from oxidative damage by limiting Heinz body formation and erythrocyte destruction and maybe useful in treating acetaminophen toxicity.
Liver glutathione concentrations in dogs and cats with naturally
occurring liver disease
OBJECTIVE: To determine total glutathione (GSH) and glutathione disulfide
(GSSG) concentrations in liver tissues from dogs and cats with spontaneous liver
disease. SAMPLE POPULATION: Liver biopsy specimens from 63 dogs and 20 cats
with liver disease and 12 healthy dogs and 15 healthy cats. PROCEDURE: GSH was
measured by use of an enzymatic method; GSSG was measured after 2-vinylpyridine
extraction of reduced GSH. Concentrations were expressed by use of wet liver
weight and concentration of tissue protein and DNA. RESULTS: Disorders included
necroinflammatory liver diseases (24 dogs, 10 cats), extrahepatic bile duct
obstruction (8 dogs, 3 cats), vacuolar hepatopathy (16 dogs), hepatic lipidosis (4
cats), portosystemic vascular anomalies (15 dogs), and hepatic lymphosarcoma (3
cats). Significantly higher liver GSH and protein concentrations and a lower tissue
DNA concentration and ratio of reduced GSH-to-GSSG were found in healthy cats,
compared with healthy dogs. Of 63 dogs and 20 cats with liver disease, 22 and 14
had low liver concentrations of GSH (micromol) per gram of tissue; 10 and 10 had
low liver concentrations of GSH (nmol) per milligram of tissue protein; and 26 and 18
had low liver concentrations of GSH (nmol) per microgram of tissue DNA,
respectively. Low liver tissue concentrations of GSH were found in cats with
necroinflammatory liver disease and hepatic lipidosis. Low liver concentrations of
GSH per microgram of tissue DNA were found in dogs with necroinflammatory liver
disease and cats with necroinflammatory liver disease, extrahepatic bile duct
occlusion, and hepatic lipidosis.
CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Low
GSH values are common in necroinflammatory liver disorders, extrahepatic bile duct
occlusion, and feline hepatic lipidosis. Cats may have higher risk than dogs for low
liver GSH concentrations.
Links*Dietary L-carnitine supplementation in obese cats alters carnitine
metabolism and decreases ketosis during fasting and induced hepatic
lipidosis.
" Increasing the L-carnitine level of diets in cats with low
energy requirements, such as after neutering, and a high risk of obesity could therefore be
recommended."*Southpaws news letter re fatty lipidosis
"Presentations including frequent or intractable vomiting in affected
cats carry with them a much more guarded prognosis.
Early treatment of cats with sAME (Denosyl SD4) seems to increase
survival and speed recovery (if this oral medication is tolerated)."
-"The singlemost important determinant of successful outcome is the
tenacity and dedication to followup of the pet owner (and the
clinician). As with the treatment of diabetes mellitus, not all pet
owners are up to treating this disorder"
hepatic lipodosis
"Hepatic lipidosis occurs when a cat stops eating for any reason. This
causes the cat's body to begin to use fat stores as fuel. Cats are
inefficient users of fat (their livers are not good at transforming fat
into energy). Because the cat doesn't utilize the fat well, it begins to
accumulate in the liver cells, eventually interfering with their ability to
function. Cats that have this condition will die, in most instances,
without appropriate treatment"Dr. Mike's site should definitely be visited
for his large write up on hepatic lipidosis.
Canine and feline liver disease
"Hypokalemia may develop due to inadequate potassium intake, vomiting, polydipsia and polyuria, magnesium depletion, and concurrent chronic renal failure. Hypokalemia is present in about 30% of cats with severe hepatic lipidosis.9 Hypokalemia was significantly related to nonsurvival in this group of cats. Hypokalemia is dangerous because it may prolong anorexia and/or exacerbate expression of hepatic encephalopathy. See Tables 2 and 3 for recommended potassium levels for dogs and cats with liver disease.
"hypokalemia-low potassium
vetinfo-descriptions and medications for cat liver disease
fatty liver in cats
"Fatty liver, also called hepatic lipidosis, is a relatively common liver disease in cats. Why
cats get fatty liver syndrome is unknown. It appears to be a fat metabolism disorder that
results in large quantities of fat accumulating in the liver. "
Hepatic Lipidosis Is a Real Danger to Your Cat
"Cats that get hepatic lipidosis are generally obese," says to Dr. Sheila McCullough,
community practice veterinarian at the University of Illinois Veterinary Medicine Teaching
Hospital at Urbana. "However, not all obese cats have lipidosis and not all cats with
lipidosis are obese." " Three common diseases that have similar signs include:
1.Hepatic Lymphosarcoma - This is a form of cancer.
2.Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) - It is a viral infection in cats.
3.Cholangitis-colangiohepatitis - It causes inflammation of the liver and surrounding
tissues. It is often associated with a low-grade pancreatitis. "
