Feline hepatic lipidosis.txt

Feline hepatic lipidosis

Symptoms
Anorexia always precedes liver disease, with the cat refusing to eat enough food for days, or weeks. This may be amplified by frequent vomiting when the cat does choose to eat. A lack of appetite causes the cat to refuse any food, even after it has purged its system of all stomach contents. Severe weight loss proceeds as the liver keeps the cat alive off body fat, causing a yellowing of the skin (jaundice). When the cat runs out of fat to process, severe muscle wasting (cachexia) takes place as the body converts protein into energy. Eventually the body cannot give the brain enough energy to function properly and the cat dies from malnutrition. In addition, an overworked liver can eventually fail causing total system collapse.
Early Stage
Late Stage

Diagnosis
Feline hepatic lipidosis shares similar symptoms to other problems, including liver disease, kidney failure, feline leukemia, Feline infectious peritonitis, and some cancers. Diagnosis requires tests that target the liver to make an accurate diagnosis. Jaundice is highly indicative of the disease. Blood tests and a liver biopsy will confirm the presence of the disease.

Treatment
Untreated, the disease has a mortality rate upwards of 90%. Cats treated in the early stages can have a recovery rate of 80–90%.  Left untreated, the cats usually die from severe malnutrition or complications from liver failure. Treatment usually involves aggressive feeding through one of several methods.
Cats can have a feeding tube inserted by a veterinarian so that the owner can feed the cat a liquid diet several times a day. If the cat stops vomiting and regains its appetite, it can be fed in a food dish normally. The key is aggressive feeding so the body stops converting fat in the liver. The cat liver has a high regeneration rate and the disease will eventually reverse assuming that irreparable damage has not been done to the liver.
The best method to combat feline hepatic lipidosis is prevention and early detection. Obesity increases the chances of onset. In addition, if a cat stops eating for 1–2 days, it should be taken to a vet immediately. The longer the disease goes untreated, the higher the mortality rate.