Need some help! Cat on prescription diet temporarily

[Paws&Tails]

Without going into detail because I am just so exhausted right now and don't feel like typing out a novel....I've had a horrible week that just got worse.

Rocky (cat) has fatty liver disease and I'm having to force feed him Hill's A/D with L-Carnitine, Taurine and Vitamin E added every 3 hours through syringe until he's eating well on his own as well as amoxicillin twice a day for 14 days. Then we have a check up and more testing to figure out the underlying cause, which is making me nervous because I heard cancer mentioned.

Anyways, I hate having to feed him Hill's but it's supposed to be used because it's "highly digestible ingredients and extra calories to help during recovery, highly digestible proteins to help wound and tissue healing, preserving lean body mass and promoting a healthy immune system, increased level of potassium to help avoid depletion, highly palatability with a soft consistency aids acceptance by inappetant pets and gives flexibility in feeding."

Anything I could replicate at home with better ingredients? Or should I stick with this? I am not taking risks with this, if I need to stick with this I will.

[Maxy24]

I was under the impression that the main thing is that the cat is getting calories. So any high calorie wet food would work. Of course you'd want it to be a consistent pate style so it can be easily force fed. But I'm no expert. I'm very sorry you are going through this, I hope Rocky heals completely and is back to normal in no time! Is he an overweight cat? Usually when I hear about fatty liver it's an overweight cat who stopped eating or started eating significantly less. I hope it's nothing serious.

[Paws&Tails]

I was under the impression that the main thing is that the cat is getting calories. So any high calorie wet food would work. Of course you'd want it to be a consistent pate style so it can be easily force fed. But I'm no expert. I'm very sorry you are going through this, I hope Rocky heals completely and is back to normal in no time! Is he an overweight cat? Usually when I hear about fatty liver it's an overweight cat who stopped eating or started eating significantly less. I hope it's nothing serious.

He was overweight (15 pounds), but now he's almost underweight(9lbs 6oz). He was slowly dropping weight once he was on raw and I had him on raw for a while, but he slowly lost interest and I had to start feeding him kibble again. He gained the weight back and would vomit occasionally (about once a month). Then he started vomiting 20 minutes after eating kibble and lost a little bit of weight. So I bought some canned food and made some homemade food. He ate it with his normal gusto and continued healthily losing weight. Then, ever so slowly, he started flat out refusing it and wanting kibble but even when I would offer him kibble to see what kind of appetite he had he wouldn't eat like he usually did. I had to coax him to eat and he wasn't eating as much as he should, but he was eating. Then he started vomiting even the canned and homemade food yesterday and I noticed he was acting strangely. I weighed him and saw he had lost even more weight (unhealthy at this point). This morning I took him to the vet as soon as it was sick walk-in time.

This happened over a 4 week time period. Vet's going to do some x-rays and other further testing once he's bounced back from this. He has FIV, thus the concern for cancer or something else causing the vomiting/lack of interest in food.

[MollyWoppy]

Aww, poor kitten. I hope he feels better and wants to eat very soon.
I have absolutely no idea how you are able to force feed him though,, you need a medal, thats all I can say. Although if Windy was in the same boat, I'd also move heaven and earth to make her better again.
Sending you and Rocky all the best wishes I can, I hope he gets an appetite back soon and starts putting on a bit of weight.
Thinking of Rocky. Please let us know how he's getting on.

[cprcheetah]

Here is the recipe my vet gives to people:
1 5.5oz can of high quality cat food
1/3 cup warm water
1/4 cup Corn Oil
Any supplements as needed
Blend ingredients until liquidy and able to syringe feed. This is what I gave my own cat Tabitha for several weeks. She has hyperthyroidism and was down to 4#, so I had to syringe feed her for several weeks. I used Blue Buffalo and Innova canned food for the canned food. The oil adds the calories/fat to help in recovery.

[Paws&Tails]

Aww, poor kitten. I hope he feels better and wants to eat very soon.
I have absolutely no idea how you are able to force feed him though,, you need a medal, thats all I can say. Although if Windy was in the same boat, I'd also move heaven and earth to make her better again.
Sending you and Rocky all the best wishes I can, I hope he gets an appetite back soon and starts putting on a bit of weight.
Thinking of Rocky. Please let us know how he's getting on.

It's not easy, I'll tell you that! ;) Fortunately Rocky is a pretty easy-going cat. It definitely requires two people. Either my mom or I wrap/swaddle him in a towel so he can't scratch and flail and hold his head still while the other syringes the food into his mouth slowly. It takes 2-5 minutes and he lets out yowls the entire time. My vet actually mentioned if he's too hard to force feed we could put in a feeding tube.

I'm just glad it's not Penny! She is SO hard to medicate. I would hate to have to force feed her. I'd look like I was in a cat fight for sure!

He seems a little perkier today and his eyes don't look so yellow. Yesterday he actually ate his entire first meal by himself but we've had to force feed him every single time since. He didn't vomit anything yesterday but he did vomit his first meal today.

Here is the recipe my vet gives to people:
1 5.5oz can of high quality cat food
1/3 cup warm water
1/4 cup Corn Oil
Any supplements as needed
Blend ingredients until liquidy and able to syringe feed. This is what I gave my own cat Tabitha for several weeks. She has hyperthyroidism and was down to 4#, so I had to syringe feed her for several weeks. I used Blue Buffalo and Innova canned food for the canned food. The oil adds the calories/fat to help in recovery.

THANK YOU!!! I'll be making this in time for his next feeding.

[MollyWoppy]

Good luck, I hope he continues to improve.
I'm printing out your post cprcheetah, just incase I ever have the misfortune to have Windy in the same situation. Thank you.

[xellil]

I'm so sorry. Is that the stuff in a can that's got the texture of glue? It sounds like the canned food plus oils would be more tasty plus give her the fat she needs.

Good luck - hopefully it's not anything so awful as cancer.

[Paws&Tails]

I made the stuff last night for his last feeding. I mixed a can (5.5oz.) of Nature's Variety Instinct Lamb canned food with 1/3 cup warm homemade chicken broth and 1/4 cup virgin coconut oil. He actually took a couple of licks of it by himself last night!

I've actually found a better way to force feed. It's not as stressful and I can do it by myself. After I fill up the syringes I put a blanket down on the floor with a towel on top of it. I set Rocky down on the towel, wrap it around him, and restrain him by holding the towel closed right near his neck while holding his head still with the same hand. My body is right next to him, so it steadies his head without needing both hands. Then I can take the syringe in my other hand and squirt 1cc at a time into the side of his mouth. He actually seems to like it better this way. Then I have to wipe off his face after we're done. Gets done much easier this way.

No vomiting since yesterday morning. He did go through the motions of vomiting last night but nothing ever happened.

I'm so sorry. Is that the stuff in a can that's got the texture of glue? It sounds like the canned food plus oils would be more tasty plus give her the fat she needs.

Good luck - hopefully it's not anything so awful as cancer.

It's the mush-type canned food. You have to mix it with enough water to make it the texture of a thick milkshake so you can draw it up in the syringe.

Thanks! Through all my research thus far the best case scenario would be IBD or even idiopathic liver disease, but secondary hepatic lipidosis (the fat accumulation occurs secondary to some other problem) is much more common.

[Paws&Tails]

I've been recording down how much we've been feeding him at what time of the day, when he vomits etc.

He vomits pretty much once a day. The time is seemingly random. A couple of times it was around 4:00 PM, once it was in the morning, and once it was at 8:00 PM. He's had two days where he did not vomit, he simply started the vomiting sound/motion but did not actually vomit. Yesterday was a vomit free day as was the first day after he came back from the vet. As I was refilling the syringe today at his 4:00PM feeding he started vomiting. Checkmark for Wednesday. BUT he did eat a little on his own today!

These last two days he's definitely been perkier, actually sitting at the door mewing to be let outside and racing to follow you if he thinks the door is going to be opened. His eyes and ears have practically no yellow tint left.