Expert: Tina - 11/25/2008

Question
My 17 years old cat had loss appetite, took her to vet, and a blood count reveals high liver count. Vet suspected cancer causes a secondary liver disease. Due to her age, extensive diagnose of cancer was not recommended.  Vet put her on steorid and antibiotics, and appetite has returned a bit.  However lately I discovered her difficulty eating. It seems like her tongue is losing the hooks to carry food into her mouth. I am hand feeding her now to get food into her mouth.  What could cause this to happen? What can be done to help her regain ability to eat on her own? It's heartbreaking when I see her willing to eat, but try for an hour licking her food but unable to get them into her mouth.  Any help is appreciated, thank you.

Answer
Hi Karl,

I am so sorry to hear about your kitty. If I were in your position, I would actually get a second opinion, because it may not be cancer, in which case liver disease can be managed and your kitty could still live several more years of healthy life. It is possible that this is an acute liver problem and not a terminal disease. Did your vet even run a blood test?

Your cat is probably not losing the hooks on her tongue, more likely her appetite has decreased and her stomach is upset from the antibiotics so she licks at the food but not hard enough to actually eat it. She likes the taste and out of habit goes through the motions of eating but her tummy is too upset to want to swallow much food.

STOP giving the antibiotics! There is absolutely no reason for your cat to be taking antibiotics is she is suspected to have liver cancer. Antibiotics are for treating infections! Antibiotics can cause severe stomach upset, and this is probably the reason your cat is not eating. You can keep giving the steroids, which may help with her appetite - but be aware if you stop steroids you need to taper down gradually or she will get very sick.

The problem is if your cat does not eat enough - even less than half her normal amount, she can become even more sick and develop "fatty liver disease" - which may be what she already has. If her stomach is very upset and she will not eat on her own, you need to "assist feed" her. Here is an article explaining how to do it:
http://holisticat.com/ffeed.html

In the meantime you can give your cat probiotics to counteract the antibiotics' effect on her digestive tract. You can do this by feeding plain unsweetened yogurt if your cat likes it, or try these digestive enzymes with a probiotics (you mix into her food) that will help her digest food better - especially with her liver problem - and contains probiotics:
http://www.goodpet.com/library/pharmacyFiles/feline.asp
ANother good probiotic you could use is Vitamin Shoppe Ultimate 10 Probiotic - it is made for humans but it is safe for cats (some brands may have ingredients toxic to cats) you can give 1/4 capsule of this probiotic in each meal:
http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=VS-2164

Also there are some herbs that help with liver function and can make your cat feel more comfortable, but without knowing the actual blood test result I can't recommend anything. I do highly recommend you consider joining the forum at http://www.holisticat.com where you can get more detailed advice from a number of experts, and you can share more information about your cat and the blood test results.

Honestly, your vet sounds a bit incompetent giving antibiotics for suspected liver cancer, so if I were you I'd definitely get a second opinion. I wouldn't trust this diagnosis. It sounds like he just prescribed his 2 favorite drugs for your cat with no reasoning behind the prescription.

Good luck!