Does anyone have any tips on how (and what) to get an anorexic cat with hepatic lipidosis to eat?

Question

She's only 2 years old and was in excellent health before this nightmare began. Keeping her well hydrated is obviously critical but I'm particularly interested in suggestions concerning specific foods to entice her with. Thanks in advance for any helpful ideas.

Thanks for all the thoughtful answers I've already received. Btw, Loz guessed right: she has already been taken to the vet. In fact, she was hospitalized for a week but, disappointingly, returned home ($2,000 later) in pretty much the same condition. It's up to her now and I'm doing all I can to induce her to eat, so any and all constructive suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Update (9/21): Thank you for your kind concern and helpful suggestions. Karma (my cat) is doing much better after a lengthy and difficult period during which I nearly lost hope but never stopped working to bring her back to good health. She's responded very well to a course of prednisone treatment (designed to increase her appetite) prescribed by a different vet I took her to last week and I am giving her subcutaneous fluids daily, which also seem to be having a very beneficial effect on her overall health and spirits. She is definitely eating more consistently and behaving much more like her normal self. It does my heart good to be able to see and report this amazing improvement. The frightening yellow skin colouring associated with her jaundice has slowly begun to recede (her lovely pink nose is starting to look pink again) and I am greatly encouraged. Thank you again!

Loz: The previous vet considered a feeding tube but never acted upon it. Frankly, that practice did precious little (aside from administering an IV) during the week she was in their care, save to run up an enormous bill.

Best wishes with your veterinary career! You sound to me like someone whose heart is in the right place and this will serve you (and your patients) very well.

sassysuzy: In addition to administering her subcutaneous fluids, I am encouraging Karma to drink as frequently as possible (the prednisone likely helped here as well) so no worries on that front. Your suggestions regarding cat foods to whet her appetite (as well as those of several other helpful respondents here) have resulted in a definite increase in her food intake and enthusiasm for eating. There are several varieties of Fancy Feast which have proved especially effective in inducing her to eat.

Good luck with your friend's cat! I hope s/he has the same positive results.

Answer 1

From http://www.healthypet.com/library_view.aspx?ID=42&sid=2 :
"Successful treatment requires intensive nutritional support until the cat's appetite returns. An ideal diet for a cat with FHL fulfills her basic nutrition requirements, promotes liver regeneration, and facilitates recovery from metabolic imbalances associated with the syndrome."

So.... please, DO NOT feed your cat human food, ESPECIALLY fish. This is a very common mistake people make. Yes, cats like fish, however:
1) It lacks the taurine and vitamins and minerals need for good FELINE nutrition.
2) The amount of toxins humans can tolerate is different than what cats can tolerate.
3) Once in the body, toxins concentrate in fat. Since your cat specifically has a build up of fat in his liver, you do NOT want to risk feeding him any food with toxins.

For those reasons, I recommend finding a dry cat food that is of the highest quality and supplement the diet with canned cat food. (Things to consider: Kitten food has more calories than regular cat foods, but you most likely want to decrease the amount of fat in your cat's diet, since he isn't metabolizing it well. I'd go with a formula for Indoor Cats, but you can compare the fat content on the labels. You want balanced nutrition, higher calories, but less fat.)

Personally, after the whole tainted food debacle, I choose to feed my cats only Purina brand foods because they were the only large manufacturer of pet foods that produce ALL of the ingredients in their foods, which means they control the quality of product 100% and do not get ANY portion of their product from outside resources. They have several lines of cat food. My cats' favorite foods are Dry: Purina Cat Chow for Indoor Cats and Wet: Fancy Feasts Grilled meats. (Beef is their favorite.)

I would go straight for the Fancy Feast Sliced or Grilled meat products. Cats love it and it has the protein your cat needs.

Good luck! Wishing your cat well!

ADDED 9/16: I mentioned that my friend has this same thing going on right now. Fancy Feast makes a high end wet food that comes in a light green can. It's about 80 cents a can - about twice as much as the others, but.... many of them have an egg soufflé, which is good because they provide extra protein, less fat AND they are really smelly -- lol -- in a good way for cats. They have Salmon soufflé and many others.

Remember to give your cat lots of water, if she likes to drink from a running faucet, shoot -- I'd leave it running all day! Water will help to clear out the fat. Again, good luck!

I would love to know if she is eating at all. Hope so!

Answer 2

As others have said, try a fish-based food. Even though she needs a properly balanced diet in the long term, at the moment she needs calories and protein more than anything else. So it doesn't really matter at the moment (i.e. short term) whether you are using cat food, or just something like tinned tuna or mackerel- the important thing is getting her to eat. Warming the food before you offer it to her may also help.

Given that you know she has hepatic lipidosis, I'm guessing that she's already been seen by a vet...if you can't get her to eat at all, she will need to be force-fed- your vet may consider something like placing a naso-gastric feeding tube as forcing food down their mouths can make them even more reluctant to eat. There are also various drugs that can be used as appetite stimulants, though it seems that some vets use them and some don't.

In response to your update: sorry to hear that you've spent so much for such little response. Out of interest, did she have a feeding tube whilst at the vets or did they just have her on an IV to keep her hydrated? Sometimes getting them started with a feeding tube can make a difference to getting them eating on their own.

Answer 3

I would definitely be taking your cat to the vet as she is so young. There are some nutrient gels that you squeeze on their nose several times at day that give lots of calories and vitamins etc. That might kick start her wanting to eat again. Other than that fish often will entice or even warm water over dry food gives it a type of gravy. I had a cat that for a while I had to syringe raw egg into its mouth. Not a particularly enjoyable experience for either of us though. Keep the water up and I wouldn't let it go too long without seeing a vet. Good luck. I hope it turns out well.

Answer 4

Generally, with cats, the more smelly the food is, the more they want to eat it. Warming the food up might help slightly too. Sometimes sardine or tuna oil on top of their food can help entice their appetite.. it this is not possible due to diet restrictions, try taking any prescribed food she might have and making it into a warm mush (soak dry food in water and heat it up, or just heat up the canned food.

Answer 5

well you might try warming can food also ask the vet about hills a/d feline and canine .also del monte stage 2 chicken turkey beef baby food . however with the bby food do not give your baby catany that has any onion in it.plus one last thing ask the vet about nutri cal it is a supplement that helps when pets are having these kind of problems it is $9.00 a tube in indiana good luck Tammy

Answer 6

I had a cat who was anorexic due to a bad case of pneumonia.I had to force feed her with a syringe,meat baby food ( watered down),Nutri-Cal,kitten milk replacer and broth,for nearly two weeks,before she finally started to eat on her own.Your cat may feel sick to her stomach from the lipidosis,but I would try force feeding her very small amounts throughout the day.Also,ask your vet if you could try small doses of Valium - it's an excellent appetite stimulant for cats.

Answer 7

My father is a veterinarian. He's seen many cats like this, including one of mine. He says one of the best ways to get your cat to eat is to try wet foods [friskies, fancy feast, etc.]. Try as many as possible, and see which one your cat will eat. But don't alwayss feed it wet food, try mixing in some of your cats regular food, or try mixing the wet food with new dry food. There is alway other ways to get you cat to eat. Try fresh boneless turkey, one where you can get in a deli. Or try chicken, or salmon. I hope this helps!!
-Cara

Answer 8

Maybe you should try revamping her diet. My dog was anorexic for a while but we added "wet" food to the food we were giving before. often, pets just get bored so you should try that and if that doesn't help, ask your vet for some alternatives

Answer 9

Try to change her food and try to give her a little tuna but not much because it could get her sick(over time). Try a different kind of soft food that she would eat. I hope she gets better.

Answer 10

Salmon, tuna or jack mackeral. Buy the cans from Walmart and put some on a plate. I guarantee she will scarf them down.