Symptoms And Treatment Of Fatty Liver In Cats

fatty liver, also called hepatic lipidosis, is a rare liver disease in cats, although it is more common in those that are very homey, and it is difficult to diagnose. It can appear regardless of whether the cat is female or male and, although it usually happens in cats older than five years, it can occur in a cat of any age.

This problem happens when the cat stops eating or eats very little, and starts losing weight. When this happens, the body sends the fats it gets to the liver for processing, but as the cat loses weight, the liver receives more and more fats until it is unable to synthesize all of them, which it produces the liver collapses due to the accumulation of so many fats. Because of this liver problem, which ends up producing liver failure, it will be possible to observe that the cat is low on energy and will increasingly lose its appetite, so you should take your pet to the vet if you see that it is listless and does not eat. It is very important that you do not put your cat on a strict diet, you can give him a good quality food that is low in fat but contains all the necessary nutrients.

It is very important to control your cat’s weight as well as provide a balanced diet. Yes, the cat is obese and for some reason, either because he doesn’t like food or has hated it, because something in his environment stresses him out or for any other factor he loses his appetite and begins to lose weight, anorexia will appear and, as a consequence, he will It causes liver failure, which can lead to fatty liver.

There are other causes of fatty liver in catslike some diseases that cause fatty liver in cats secondarily, because there is first a prolonged loss of appetite:

• long-term gastroenteritis
• pancreatitis
• Diabetes

In addition, if your cat has any problem that prevents him from eating, such as a blow to the jaw or an infection and when he tries to put food in his mouth it becomes painful, he will refuse to eat and in the long run, if this basic problem is not treated, can produce a hepatic lipidosis in the cat.

Any eating disorder will cause your cat to stop eating, so it is important to have fixed times when you are going to feed the feline and that they are always the same.

Symptoms And treatment of fatty liver in cats

Once you have known the causes, let us discuss what are the Symptoms And treatment of fatty liver in cats.

Usually, hepatic lipidosis occurs in obese cats that begin to lose weight due to certain factors and although it can also occur in non-obese cats, it is very rare.

The symptoms of fatty liver or hepatic lipidosis in cats They are:

• Anorexia due to a loss of appetite.
• Diarrhea or other types of change in bowel movements.
• Jaundice (yellowing of the skin, the whites of the eyes, or the gums) due to an increase in bilirubin that occurs when the liver is failing or vomiting together with dehydration.

All these symptoms also cause the cat to lack energy. If you observe these signs in your feline, you should go quickly to a veterinarian so that he can carry out the necessary tests, as well as a palpation and an X-ray, where he will check the size of the liver that tends to increase when suffering from this disease in order to apply the best treatment as soon as possible as the cat’s life could be in danger.

Cats with fatty liver are often dehydrated, so they will need fluid therapy and, for this, they will remain hospitalized for a few days so that the veterinarian administers fluids along with the appropriate medication and a liquid food supplied with a syringe so that, in this way, the cat regains strength and returns to eating on its own.

Most cats refuse to eat even after this, so the vet will take care of putting a Gastric tube through the nose or through the neck, the latter will go directly to the stomach. He may need to be catheterized for days or even months, so if you don’t want him to be hospitalized until his final recovery, your vet will give you instructions on how to do it yourself at home.

The treatment must be maintained until the veterinarian indicates and, in addition, follow up with it until the cat no longer has fat accumulated in the liver.

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