Help with cat liver disease

Author: VioVet
Published: Sunday 20th January 2013
Updated: Monday 4th February 2013

Our customer asked:

My cat has been diagnosed with a liver problem and has been put on steroids. Is there anything else you can recommend please?

Our reply:

There are a number of liver supplements which are very helpful in this sort of situation. Protexin Denamarin would be a good example, but Hepatosyl or Samylin are popular alternatives.

It is also possible to give a diet which is tailored around supporting a liver with reduced function and suffering from potential cellular damage. Hills Prescription Diet L/D is the most popular one of these. (You can buy it without a prescription, despite the name.)

Whatever the underlying cause for your cats liver problem (cholangiohepatitis would be the most common problem where steroids are used as treatment), both of the above things might help and will not do any harm. The L/D food is not as tasty as regular cat foods, so your cat might not be keen on it, but ideally you would use it.

If in doubt, talk to your vet about things. Also I would say that cats like this tend to drink a bit more and are prone to getting dehydrated, so make it very easy to drink plenty. Leaving a nearly full glass of water in a few odd places around the house will often tempt cats to drink a bit more. (You could even get one of the cat drinking fountains, though you probably do not need to g that far.)