Content
- What is hepatitis in cats?
- Diagnosis and Treatment for Hepatitis in Cats
- Caring for a cat with hepatitis
The liver is often defined as the room for recycling animal and human waste. But we must not forget that it is a great source of energy for the body and that it is always doing very hard work to keep harmful substances out of the body. Therefore, your main function would be to filterO.
In this PeritoAnimal article we want to give you some recommendations on how take care of a cat with hepatitis, so that the disease does not become an obstacle or a nuisance when living with your sick cat. Find out what you can do to help next.
What is hepatitis in cats?
We won't dwell on this too long because we already have a specific article you can visit about hepatitis in cats, but to better understand the care you should at least understand what it is. Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver., but it does not have just one origin or cause, but several, and some are not yet fully defined.
The most common causes are the following:
- liver lipidosis: it is an accumulation of adipose tissue in the functional picture of the liver and whose most popular cause is prolonged fasting, either voluntarily or accidentally.
- Autoimmune or idiopathic hepatitis.
- Feline cholangiohepatitis: Inflammation of the bile ducts by some bacteria that was lodged in the intestine and ascended through the canaliculi to the liver, infecting it in a secondary way.
- liver tumors.
Diagnosis and Treatment for Hepatitis in Cats
if your cat finds itself listless, unwilling to eat, with little or no appetite, after 24 hours, you must go with him to the veterinarian for a general check-up and a blood test, which will confirm the disease. The cat manages its food, that is, when it wants to eat and when it is not hungry, it does not touch it, so be aware of these long periods without eating, as it is an alarm for hepatic lipidosis.
Usually this is accompanied by not wanting to drink water, so the condition can get worse and dehydration can cause other damage such as encephalopathy and/or irreparable central damage.
The treatment will be very care-based, but everything will depend on the state in which the feline is. The treatment will always depend on what caused the problem, so it is important to consult the veterinarian and follow their indications regarding the treatment.
Caring for a cat with hepatitis
This is a disease in which the cat may need to be hospitalized, but as soon as it gets better you can bring it home. Once at home, you should take into account some precautions you should have with your cat with hepatitis.
In general, cats with hepatic lipidosis do not want to eat, which is something we cannot afford. We should put a sound on it, in the most extreme cases, to the feed and hydrate. With the collaboration of the owners and sometimes, resorting to appetite stimulants, we were able to overcome this very traumatic step and with risks for the feline.
As owners we must be patient but insistent, trying different foods, mild food, homemade food that you will like to eat like meat, chicken, tuna, vegetables, fruits, etc. The goal is for him to eat, whatever it takes!
What we must consider is that your liver is failing and we must give it low fat food, because they can accumulate in your liver and continue to cause damage. The foods we should avoid are: raw garlic and onions, chocolate, fat in meat (for now, because when you recover they are good), avocado and chocolate.
We can help you, whenever the veterinarian authorizes it, with medicinal herbs that stimulate your appetite and do not harm your liver, helping to clean it. You have the following options:
- Brewer's yeast (mixed with food)
- Bilberry
- Dandelion
- artichoke extract
- Turmeric (grated or powdered)
- Dried Alphada Leaves
You can also use homeopathy for cats by consulting a veterinarian who has knowledge in order to avoid relapses in your cat.
Finally, you can still try the Reiki with some professional. This will help your cat feel better and accept the help we are trying to give her to get better as quickly as possible.
This article is for information purposes only, at PeritoAnimal.com.br we are not able to prescribe veterinary treatments or perform any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case it has any type of condition or discomfort.