Several weeks ago my partner and I took our cats, Rasputin and Raven, to the veterinarian for their regular checkups. Blood work showed astronomical levels of certain liver enzymes in Raven’s blood, which mystified the doctor because there’s nothing obviously wrong with her. The vet said these were the liver readings of an elderly cat whose system is shutting down, but Raven is only 4 years old and just as healthy and happy as can be.
After repeat blood tests yielded the same results, the vet took X-rays, which seemed to indicate that the liver was a fraction of the size it should have been – obviously a fatal condition since it couldn’t filter the blood with any efficiency. The vet put her on a special diet and referred us to a specialist, but wasn’t optimistic.
The specialist did an ultrasound and determined that the liver is the proper size after all – it had just been obscured by something else on the X-ray. This was good news, but the reason for her elevated enzyme levels remained a mystery.
Raven also has/had a chronic tooth problem, and had to have several teeth extracted a couple of days ago. It was sort of touch-and-go with the anesthesia because of the liver problem, but it had to be done. More blood tests showed that her liver readings have actually gone up, and the vet is still without a clue. She said tooth problems can lead to liver problems, so now that the teeth have been taken care of, perhaps the liver will go back to normal. But again, she’s not optimistic. Basically at this point all we can do is keep an eye on Raven. If and when she gets sick, we can try a round of “liver friendly” antibiotics; failing that, exploratory surgery/biopsy, and possibly ultimately a feeding tube (which I will not allow – quality of life would be zero at that point).
Meanwhile, Raven seems kind of traumatized by her latest ordeal. She seems sort of depressed and is probably bewildered as to why we keep doing this stuff to her. She’s reluctant to lets us near her, and I can’t say I blame her – we’re constantly either forcing antibiotics and pain meds down her throat, or sticking her in a box and taking her to the vet to be tortured. The thought that she might not have been adequately anesthetized while her teeth were pulled haunts me. The vet assures us that was not the case, but what else would she say?
We cannot afford to spend much more money on this. I’m going to be going back to school full time next fall, so we’ll only have one income. In the meantime, we’re trying to pay off as much debt and save as much money as possible. We might have to resign ourselves to letting Raven go if she takes a turn for the worse.
I’ve had cats my whole life, but there have been few (really only one) that I’ve loved as much as Raven. She’s the sweetest, gentlest, most affectionate creature you could hope to see. She does not deserve this. She has such a funny little personality and there’s going to be so much I’ll miss about her. I can only hope she’ll come to trust us again and have some quality of life before we lose her.
Are there any vets in the house with any idea as to what could be causing this, and what to do about it?
