One of my approx. 7 year old rescues has lost weight (formerly over-weight), isn't interested in food, has jaundice, and we did blood work per vet to find she is in liver failure? The values appear to indicate that this is not a symptom of something else but rather maybe something like liver cancer?

I left a message earlier at the vet office asking how much it costs for the liver biopsy to see WHAT is causing this (after reading online about cats being force-fed for 6 weeks and recovering from some liver issues).

Anyone here had this experience before with liver issues? I don't want to give up on her unless she's terminal. I mean if I have to tube feed her for 6-8 weeks to get her through a temporary condition I can do that until she gets better and regains her normal appetite.

Im sorry I cant help but I wish you good luck and I hope kitty recovers. Its so sad when one of our babies is sick.

and it's very hard to get vet care on a holiday weekend too - I even posted on some of the online groups for feline liver disorders and had no replies yet - you'd think it was Christmas, not just Labor Day, sheesh. All of the information I gathered since Saturday has been from online searches. I really hope it's something that I can get her through.

I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help her - she's had such a rough life that after we got her back from a failed adoption (adopter almost took her to shelter when she broke up with her boyfriend) that we decided to keep her to make SURE her life was decent (originally found her starving). The adopter said she didn't have the gas money to meet me half way, so I met her at a gas station in her area and filled her tank with gas so I could get the cat back.

I know what you are thinking - money well spent - it WAS! Now I just have to see what I can and can't do for her to help her. She's so sick she isn't even purring or anything! She Always purrs! So I know it's bad.

Im sorry I cant help but I wish you good luck and I hope kitty recovers. Its so sad when one of our babies is sick.

Well vet said liver biopsy would cost $800-$1,200 and she was in bad shape and may not make it through the surgery. I guess this does make it sound like she's terminal then (being in such bad shape)?

Well vet said liver biopsy would cost $800-$1,200 and she was in bad shape and may not make it through the surgery. I guess this does make it sound like she's terminal then (being in such bad shape)?

I'm really sorry. This doesn't sound too good. Did the vet offer any options? Did the vet recommend the tube feeding? Can you syringe feed the kitty yourself?

Well vet said liver biopsy would cost $800-$1,200 and she was in bad shape and may not make it through the surgery. I guess this does make it sound like she's terminal then (being in such bad shape)?

:huggy:

So sorry to hear the news about your kitty. :huggy:

I am waiting and watching her - she is still drinking some water but I'm not sure on whether she's eating or not. I don't want to isolate her from the other kitties just to see if she's eating at all as isolating her would stress her. For now she's still hanging in there and just seems to sleep a lot.

I would put her down but I'm not convinced yet that this is the end. I want to afford her every chance to make it if she can. I did force feed her a couple days but it was a fight. So instead I began using some of that high calorie nutrition stuff to smear on her paw so she would lick it off. She's not happy about that, and some of it ends up stuck to the bed sheets (oh well), but she DOES eat some of it thankfully.

The vet game me steroids to give her 1 X per day which I have been, and I offered her some really smelly canned food that I heated to make it even smellier for her but she's not interested. The newer rescue devoured it pretty fast after I realized she wasn't going to eat it.

I've had dozens of critter losses in my lifetime (mostly rescues) but it never gets any easier to handle.

I'm really sorry. This doesn't sound too good. Did the vet offer any options? Did the vet recommend the tube feeding? Can you syringe feed the kitty yourself?

when my cat wouldn't eat i went and got some stuff from the vet for cats that had either been burned or seriously injured and that stuff she loved. I can't remember the name of it its a prescription diet food. I think it's a/d.

Yes someone told me about a special food - she won't eat any canned food right now. Thank you for mentioning it.

when my cat wouldn't eat i went and got some stuff from the vet for cats that had either been burned or seriously injured and that stuff she loved. I can't remember the name of it its a prescription diet food. I think it's a/d.

I saw Sunshine eating dry food yesterday - waa hoo - I am feeling more optimistic about her chance for survival as long as the turn-around isn't just due to the steroids? The vet did say the steroids may make her better in the short term.

I did get some information from a few Yahoo lists, and the response was that her blood work values did not seem that high, but that the physical exam by the vet may have been the major player in the vets opinion that Sunshine didn't have much hope for survival. I can get her to purr off/on so it's not time to put her down yet by how she's acting - slow but not ready to go yet. In case I didn't post it yet, here's her picture.

I saw Sunshine eating dry food yesterday - waa hoo - I am feeling more optomestic about her chance for survival as long as the turn-around isn't just due to the steroids? The vet did say the steroids may make her better in the short term.

I did get some information from a few Yahoo lists, and the response was that her blood work values did not seem that high, but that the physical exam by the vet may have been the major player in the vets opinion that Sunshine didn't have much hope for survival. I can get her to purr off/on so it's not time to put her down yet by how she's acting - slow but not ready to go yet. In case I didn't post it yet, here's her picture.

Pretty kitty! Just a couple of things to note..steroids will make her hungrier but that could be a good thing for her. Purring is not a sign they feel better..often cats in pain will purr.

Yes I understand about the purring - she's acting more interested in what's going on around her, but like I said that could just be the steroids?

I was once on steroids and I gained 20 lbs in a month! Yikes.

Pretty kitty! Just a couple of things to note..steroids will make her hungrier but that could be a good thing for her. Purring is not a sign they feel better..often cats in pain will purr.