Jemba

One of our cats, Jemba, has been very sick recently. First, he had to have four more teeth removed. After that, he stopped eating, which caused liver problems. After hospitilization and multiple tests, they determined he has hepatic lipidosis, also called "fatty" liver. Left untreated, the liver fails, and the cat dies.

The treatment? Food. Lots of it, until the liver recovers and the cat feels hungry again. Of course, the cat doesn't want to eat. We tried force-feeding him for a while, but it was a disaster--food everywhere. The vet recommended the stomach tube route, so now, we feed him three times a day through the tube. It sounds gross but it's really not that bad.

It could take weeks (or more) for him to get back to normal. The recovery rate is pretty high so we're keeping our fingers crossed. He's only 2 1/2 years old. Poor little guy!