The vet was supposed to call me on Monday or Tuesday with Frannie's viral results and no one ever did. So, I finally called them yesterday to find out what was going on. A vet called me a half an hour later to tell me all of Frannie's virals were negative and that her liver was very damaged which means she likely got into something. I told her how upset I was with the previous vet and I never wanted her to see my pets again. She told me that was understandable and she would get to the bottom of why no one called me. She also told me Frannie needed to be hydrated to flush her liver of the enzymes it is creating. We went to the vet and she showed us how to administer iv fluids which we have to do 2 times a week. She is on a liver medication and we have about 3 weeks left and when they are gone we have to take her back in for a blood test to determine if her liver values have gone up or down. If they are down, that is very good and she will likely recover. If they are up, we will have to put her to sleep. I am having difficulty not being angry with this other vet. She knew how bad Fran's liver was and we could have been giving her an iv at home while we waited for the test results. Saturday, October 11, 2008
Frannie Part 3
The vet was supposed to call me on Monday or Tuesday with Frannie's viral results and no one ever did. So, I finally called them yesterday to find out what was going on. A vet called me a half an hour later to tell me all of Frannie's virals were negative and that her liver was very damaged which means she likely got into something. I told her how upset I was with the previous vet and I never wanted her to see my pets again. She told me that was understandable and she would get to the bottom of why no one called me. She also told me Frannie needed to be hydrated to flush her liver of the enzymes it is creating. We went to the vet and she showed us how to administer iv fluids which we have to do 2 times a week. She is on a liver medication and we have about 3 weeks left and when they are gone we have to take her back in for a blood test to determine if her liver values have gone up or down. If they are down, that is very good and she will likely recover. If they are up, we will have to put her to sleep. I am having difficulty not being angry with this other vet. She knew how bad Fran's liver was and we could have been giving her an iv at home while we waited for the test results. 
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3 comments:
Hoping your kitty responds to the IV quickly!
Hi Michelle,
I am so sorry to hear about your sick cat! I can understand how distraught you are.
Anyway, you posted on my blog and asked me to comment on your blog so I will. Just in case, I will also post this comment on my blog.
First of all, I'm not a vet or a medical practitioner of any sort so I'm just giving you my feedback as one cat lover to another.
How long has your cat gone without eating?
It's good to get a diagnosis for hepatic lipidosis but you can lose some valuable time by waiting. Under the circumstances, I think you are doing the right thing by force feeding and doing the IV.
Is the force feeding working? Does the food actually get into Frannie? (I ask this because my cat would fight me so much that the food went all over the bathroom floor and everywhere -- except inside her.) She is not throwing up the food, is she? How is she behaving in general? Does she seem more lethargic than usual?
What has the vet said so far about Frannie?
I know that you've switched vets already. Are you happy with your current vet? If not, I would strongly encourage you to find another vet. Getting a second opinion is always good in any case. I had a friend with a very sick cat whose life she saved by going to another vet.
If you can, could you please update me on Frannie by leaving a comment on my blog?
Cheryl
Hi Michelle,
I have a few more comments to make about your cat Frannie.
According to a veterinary handbook, early intensive fluid replacement and forced feeing offer the best chance for reversing hepatic lipidosis. It says that cats who receive early and aggressive nutritional support have a 90 percent chance of survival. But if the cat doesn't get this quick and aggressive treatment, the survival rate goes down to 10 to 15 percent.
So once again, I think that you're taking the right steps for your cat. How well is the forced feeding going? If you're having difficulty with that, then my suggestion would be to place feeding tubes.
When will Frannie get her diagnosis? Will she get liver biopsy? If she's very ill you might want to wait on that.
But you don't have to wait for a diagnosis to start treatment (the fluid replacement and forced feeding).
Don't know what else Frannie is suffering from so I can't say much more. In one of the photos of Frannie on your blog you mention that her ears are yellow. Does she have jaundice? If so, does the vet know what's causing it? Unexplained jaundice can be (though not commonly) caused by a blockage of the bile ducts. That can be due to gallstones or parasites.
Hope this helps. Again, I'm going to post these comments on my blog as well. Just want to make sure.
Please let me know how Frannie is doing. Best of luck.
Cheryl
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