in article , Bill from Tampa
at wrote on 8/17/03 2:12 PM:

We have a "rescued" cat, Katie, who became nauseated and was retching, and
not eating. She is overweight. Our vet did blood work, and then an
abdominal sonar and fine needle liver aspiration biopsy, and tells us that
Katie has hepatic lipidosis, and cholangiohepatitis, and pancreatitis. (her
total bilirubin was about 2.5, alk phos 350 or so, AST slightly up). We
have tried to "force feed" her pureed wet cat food, but it is a struggle,
and unpleasant for Katie, and does not seem to get very many calories in
her. The vet advised placing a feeding tube (probably a gastrostomy) to get
her adequate nutrition.

Does anybody have experience with cats who have this seemingly nasty
combination of problems? Our vet, who is helpful and sharp, seems a bit
vague about the chances of her surviving. I've done google searches and one
article suggested that cats with hepatic lipidosis and pancreatitis have
only a 20% chance of survival with optimal treatment.

We are struggling with the decision- to have a feeding tube surgically
implanted, and put Katie through the pain of anesthesia, surgery, and then
daily care of the gastrostomy tube site -- versus just letting nature take
its course (which seems to be a fatal one...). A friend of ours had a cat
with hepatic lipidoses, several years ago, and had an esophageal feeding
tube placed in the neck (our friends husband was a vet so I would suppose
it was done with appropriate care etc) - but the outcome was not good.
There were lots of complications at the site of the tube placement
(abscess, drainage) and the cat ultimately died anyway. Katie does not
seem to be physically in pain currently, just tired and doesn't eat
anything.

Thanks for any suggestions or ideas!

Many here have and come through well. I've read the survival rate at FAR
higher than 20 %!!!! I think that you should very definitely go for it. I
would at any rate, because though it sounds like a LOT of effort it seems to
be very treatable with the feeding tube. Do a search on groups.google.com in
this NG and you will find a lot of info.

karen