Mary Allen
Hepatic lipidosis, also known as fatty liver, is one of the most common liver diseases in cats. It mainly occurs in overweight animals, but nursing cats or young animals in the growth phase can also suffer from dangerous fatty liver.
Fatty liver is a dangerous disease that can particularly affect overweight cats. If such an animal seems to stop eating from one day to the next and if, in addition to the loss of appetite, there is also weight loss, weakness, and yellowing of the mucous membranes, skin, and conjunctiva, the suspicion of fatty liver, in technical jargon hepatic lipidosis, is obvious.
Fatty Liver: That’s Why the Cat Shouldn’t Go Hungry
As paradoxical as it sounds: If a cat does not eat for a long time, this can lead to fatty liver. Because if the cat doesn’t eat, its body mobilizes its fat reserves. While humans or even dogs can supply these fats to the organism to supply energy, the cat lacks the necessary enzyme. The fat metabolism in the liver gets out of balance and the fats are stored in the liver cells and destroy them.
This peculiarity in the metabolism, which can lead to fatty liver in cats today, was originally probably caused by the eating behavior of the ancestors of our house cats in the wild. The wild cat species hunted for prey all day long and ate many small portions – due to the high level of exercise and the protein-rich diet consisting solely of meat, obesity in cats that lived in the wild almost never occurred. Your body, therefore, does not need any enzymes to make fat deposits usable by the organism.
Hepatic Lipidosis: Immediately to the Vet
If you suspect that your cat is suffering from fatty liver, immediate action is required. The cat urgently needs to eat to rebalance its liver function and prevent liver failure. In most cases, this requires force-feeding through IV fluids or a feeding tube at the veterinary clinic.
In order not to let it get that far in the first place, it is important that you keep a close eye on your cat’s eating behavior – especially if it is overweight. You should never put an overweight cat on a radical diet. If your cat is to lose weight, the food should only be reduced very slowly and carefully to prevent fatty liver.