My cat has diabetes & fatty liver, won't eat. Should I hospitalize?

Question

We took our cat to the vet today, he has gone a day without eating and has lost a lot of weight. He has diabetes and fatty liver. The vet gave us prednisone and told us to try to get our cat to eat, but was not very optimistic and said there is a 90% chance he wouldn't make it if we had feeding tubes hooked up & so forth. Our cat is 10 years old so the vet said organ failure was probable. Would admitting him at the vets be just prolonging it or should we act now to save him? Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Mediumhair | Male | 11 years and 8 months old

Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA · Accepted Answer

Diabetes is a serious disease in cats. Prednisone is not commonly prescribed in diabetic cats as it can cause issues with regulating their insulin needs. If Boo Boo is newly diagnosed with diabetes, then he may need further testing to see if he is also ketoacidotic (diagnosed with a urine or blood sample). If he is, he will require aggressive hospitalization to overcome this problem and to get him home so you can continue with insulin treatment for the diabetes. Fatty liver disease is a very serious issue in cats. Most cats diagnosed with this disease will require aggressive hospitalization and treatment, including IV fluids and feeding tubes. The only hope of getting over this particular disease is to start eating. Many time appetite stimulants can aid in getting the cat to eat. I recommend that Boo Boo be hospitalized, preferably at a care center that offers 24 hours service, as he will likely need 24-hour monitoring and adjustments to his medications. It sounds like he has a few serious hurdles to jump in the next few days, and hospitalization will give him the best odds of recovering and returning to health.

My cat has diabetes & fatty liver, won't eat. Should I hospitalize?

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