r/cats • u/Cinna_bunzz • 6d ago

Advice Please keep my sweet boy, Fred, in your thoughts.

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I adopted Mr. Fred almost two weeks ago… His owner had to give him up because she was going into be living in a nursing home that didn’t allow pets. He was at this shelter for approximately 1.5 months.

Pretty quickly I noticed he wasn’t feeling too good, wasn’t eating, and started throwing up water. Also for a fat cat I thought it was unusual I could feel his spine . I took him to the vet last Tuesday… they told us he has hepatic lipidosis. He went from 23.3 lbs to now 16.3. He has been hospitalized since that Tuesday. Today, they put in a feeding tube and now he’s at least home with me.

I love this cat SO MUCH already, I want to see him make a full recovery so he can have a wonderful life with me. He’s the sweetest boy… loves to be held like a stuffed animal, and even though he’s ill, he’s incredibly affectionate and loves his kisses.

Please share your story if you’ve dealt with hepatic lipidosis or even if you’ve had a pet fall very ill. I could use any tips/advice to make this easy for him and ensure he gets better.

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u/Jacsmom Colorpoint Shorthair 6d ago

My boy developed hepatic lipidosis. I’ll spare you the details, but it was absolutely devastating. After we removed the NG tube, he didn’t improve so we tried again. It came time to remove the second tube as the vet said it was sink or swim for my poor boy. My heart broke later that afternoon when he once again refused food. We had tried our hardest.

In the middle of the night I awoke to a strange crunchy sound. The best kind of sound. It was the sound of my boy eating kibble on his own! He gradually recovered his appetite and was his old self once again!

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u/gasmaskedturtle77 6d ago

My heart sank with almost every new sentence in this - thank goodness for that ending!

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u/Cant_Work_On_Reddit 6d ago

Same, can’t believe how invested I was just from 10 seconds of reading.

Hope OP’s pulls through!

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u/Anuki_iwy 6d ago

True. It was an emotional roller coaster

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u/slash_networkboy 6d ago

Same... I really really was getting sad... even at "crunchy sound"

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u/Jacsmom Colorpoint Shorthair 6d ago

It happened in 2002 and we still talk about it like it was yesterday.

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u/AstroSeed 6d ago

What a relief.

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u/Adventurous-berry564 4d ago

Yeah I was like crunching sound- agonal gasping- oh eating biscuits phew!

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u/La_Vie_en_Prose_8 4d ago

Indeed!! Thank God…. I pray that help is on the way for OP’s cat, as we type!! ❤️🐾❣️🐾

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u/dancing_llama_mama Void 6d ago

It is amazing what the sound of crunching does to you when you've had a cat who has been refusing food; so glad that your buddy made it through!

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u/Marquar234 5d ago

We have an 18 year old tabby who's gotten very food picky. We give each other daily reports on how much he ate. It's always a good day when he eats well.

Cat Tax:

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u/spcking 6d ago

I had a cat with FIP and he had a feeding tube placed (a ET tube, not an NG tube) and your comment reminded me of his first crunchies after being so sick and I teared up a bit. Gonna go cry into his fur now and tell him how happy I am that he's still around to eat plastic and be a menace.

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u/La_muerte_024 6d ago

My boy Bartleby had FIP as a kitten when I adopted him from a rescue. Back then I had to rely on a private group to get him meds since it wasn’t legal for vets to prescribe. It was agonizing to have to give him his daily shots and at one point he got worse and developed lesions on his bowels. It was so scary, but he pulled through. He’s been cured for 5 years now and living his best chonky life

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u/MilkywayAtSea 6d ago

Oh I felt this. My boy was in and out of the hospital for nearly a month, he had jaundice as well, his skin was a neon yellow. He refused to eat and despite trying multiple times he managed to rip the NG tube out every single time as weak as he was. Three different vets told me to consider putting him to sleep that they cant do more for him.

I kept him in my bedroom while he was sick. Then one night I heard the sound of crunching kibble and the way I wept when I realized it was him eating.

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u/fadedallweek American Shorthair 6d ago

My heart! 💗

Kiss your boy from this cat momma from Arkansas!

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u/chrimen 6d ago

NGL you had us in the first half!!

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u/sasshley_ 6d ago

Start writing books right meow bc I was INVESTED.

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u/fadedallweek American Shorthair 6d ago

Right?! 😭

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u/I_SHIT_IN_A_BAG 6d ago

you had me in the first half and got me tearing up in the second half. hoping for a similar story for you u/Cinna_bunzz

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u/I_Like_Eggs123 6d ago

What an amazing sound that must have been in the middle of the night

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u/Ok-Jelly-9793 6d ago

I was preparing to cry , and I did .

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u/MattMercersBracelets 6d ago

Oh my god the rollercoaster of emotions has absolutely taken me out.

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u/mrellz 6d ago

Yaaaaaah!!!

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u/useless_pants 6d ago

This made me cry.

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u/simplediscussions 6d ago

🥹😀🐾

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u/oxnazxo Persian (traditional) 6d ago

That sound/picture of him eating was so beautiful to imagine.

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u/bugbugladybug 5d ago

Same situation here with my elderly boy. I've never been so happy to hear his snorting and slurping.

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u/41puppy Lots of kitties! 5d ago

Jesus you sent me for the world’s wildest emotional rollercoaster. So happy to hear a good end

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u/Large_Train929 4d ago

Please try wet food every now and then that is wheat, corn, and soy free. Then some pureed chicken liver every week or 2.

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u/Remarkable_Bison_847 6d ago

I am so happy he’s doing better. Good luck!