RE: UPDATE:Dukee's Vet Appt

[Diane Rosenfeldt]

Kayte, the "cure" for fatty liver (hepatic lipidosis) is quite simply getting food into the kitty -- as much high-calorie but not-too-fatty food as you can, along with flushing the toxins out with fluids.  When a cat stops eating for whatever reason -- sore mouth, URI, tummyache, cancer, you name it -- its body starts processing for nourishment the fat stored in its cells, the way a camel processes the moisture it stores in its humps when it can't drink.  The sheer volume of fat overwhelms the liver which processes nutrients.  With a formerly fat cat, like my Luc, this is even a bigger danger since there is soooo much fat.  So you need to get really rich high-protein food in there so the liver has something to work on besides fat that will also strengthen the little dude.  The feeding tube enables you to feed the cat more than he'd eat on his own, with less stress, and you can grind up supplements in water and shoot those into him as well, and it buys the liver time to regenerate itself, which it will amazingly well.  So yes, if Terri can go this way with Dukee, and his system hasn't been too weakened, this will make him better while not being too hard on him.  I have heard of cases where the cat was too weak and stressed to survive the procedure, which is really just cutting a very small hole into the esophagus but does involve anesthesia.  But my housemate Gail and I got Luc out of fatty liver, and a few years ago we also nursed two of our other kitties, Missy Moo and Phoebe, out of it (though we didn't know then what it was called).  We don't know what caused it, we suspect they got into some unknown toxin that the others miraculously didn't.  Phoebe had a recurrence the next year and went to the Bridge, but Missy is still with us.   I hope this explains it a little, Kayte.   Diane R. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, October 27, 2006 9:52 PM To: Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: UPDATE:Dukee's Vet Appt Hi Terri I am soooo sorry so many problms are happening. I am very dense when it comes to sickness...luckily the worst I have had to deal with was an URI. Anyways I am a little confused with fatty liver and things. Will doing these things make Dukee better? If he is losing weight maybe a tube feeding is needed at least he wont starve...Are these tests done to rule things out or fix his sickness. Sorry if these are silly questions...I am just a little confused. And your vets estimate is off by her/his own calculations. And sales tax 1 % only? I hope this new vet isnt trying to over charge you. I dont know the prices of the procedures others probally do! I would follow my heart and if I was in your situation I probally would want Crackers to be comfortable..that's our own personal battle the what ifs and what should i dos that ground us but also drive us insane:0 May you and Dukee come to this personal decision what is truly best for this horrible situation. kayte and crackers