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Im so sorry this is happening.
I think she needs to be seen by another vet......
I think she needs to be seen by another vet......
The food I am feeding her is called " Hills Prescription Diet, Urgent Care a/d with Chicken" and yes I add a little bit of water in it when I mix it together. No they didn't give me any instructions in writing ( I wish they had though). When I spoke to the vet yesterday of my concerns she said that she didn't want to increase her food intake just yet because of the refeeding syndrome. I did ask if Kesi was getting enough hydration through the water mixed in with her food and the water for the flushing, the vet indicated she thought she would get some hydration from it. I have taken her back to the vet this morning and had questions as to why Kesi is continuing to decline health wise. The vet called me a short time ago and said Kesi is very dehydrated again ( ughh this is what I was worried would be the case) so they are hydrating her and trying a different appetite stimulant.L lilnana65 , I don't believe you ever told us, but exactly what are you feeding her via the feeding tube? Is it a recovery food? Are you mixing it with water or anything? I know you are putting water through the tube to clean it out after feeding, but are you watering the food down also? Have you called your Vet and talked to them about increasing her food? I stand by my thoughts that by now, since she started getting fed I believe on Saturday, that she should be getting more food. Did you get the instructions in writing? I wonder if it was a typo. Per my original post above about refeeding syndrome, usually cats that are considered high risk for that are not released from the hospital, but even then they bump up the food after a few days. Plus even then they get the amount of calories equal to what I stated above. I just don't know what that equates to, since I don't know what Kesi weighs, nor what you are feeding, or how many calories are actually in a serving (food vs water).
Do you have a follow-up appointment tomorrow? I would seriously discuss why so little food? If they think refeeding syndrome, then ask why they are not monitoring her electrolytes daily. If you don't have an appointment very soon, then I would call and DEMAND some answers.
Oh, also, is she still dehydrated?
Yes I can tell your frustration and believe me I am feeling the same way. I just don't understand how they can not know what is causing her not to want to eat in the first place. My cat can't be the only cat they have ever seen with this problem. Thank you for the link for the Financial help for cat care, I am looking into that as well. I am waiting for the vet to call me with an update as to what is now going on with Kesi. I just keep thinking how she is just sitting down there so scared as she is a timid cat anyways. She probably won't eat for them anyways if she is scared and hearing barking dogs constantly. And this place only answers their phone when they feel like it. I am going to call down there in about half hour if I have not heard back.. I pray I can get through on the phone line to them. I have a list of questions for them written down so I won't forget.When a cat has Fatty Liver, they won't eat until their liver gets back to a certain point. That's why they must be force fed. I'm kind of surprised they are treating her with appetite stimulants at this juncture, but at this point, what can I say. I'm just shaking my head. Please ask them about liver supplements and why they don't those might be helpful.. Also about giving sub-qs at home. When your Vet said she thought she would get some hydration from the food and flushing, well "duh". Of course she got SOME, but that wasn't realy your question, and now look where Kesi is AGAIN . Sorry, this just irritates me so much...can you tell. Oh, and along the lines of an appetite stimulant, WHY would they want her on them if they are worried about refeeding syndrome? If they want her eating such a teeny tiny amount, why would they want her to want to eat?????????????????????????
Your poor furbaby. Yes, you get what you pay for, at least at this particular clinic. And we totally understand that finances can be a huge issue, especially right now. If you need to go to another Vet, be sure to gather up all Kesi's records before you do as that should save you a lot of tests costs, etc.
I didn't realize costs were an issue, so since they are, maybe something here will help: Financial Help For Cat Care.
Yes have to mix water with the food to be able to syringe it up. I have some KMR, I could use that to mix in the food instead of water. or alternate it each time, with pedialyte and KMR. Yes I am going to get a second opinion which is the reason I elected not to bring her back to this vet tomorrow for monitoring. I did do some reading on refeeding syndrome and I really don't understand it. I will decide after the second opinion after a week of what to do. I have to wait until the current vet get's all her records printed out for me for the past two weeks of her being in their care.So she's to stay on 5 ml of food every 3 hours for the next week? And you have to mix some water into the food to make it thinner in order to syringe it up, right? So she's not really getting 5 ml of pure nutrition each time, but maybe 3 ml food, 2 ml water mixed in? Can you mix her food with the unflavored pedialite, or even better, use KMR? (I still think after almost a week, that's too little food. ) Did you ask WHY so long? Are you going to get a second opinion? Of course, you can read up on Refeeding Syndrome yourself and decide what you want to do.
Continued vibes
Don't feel horrible. It's this vet who is horrible. It doesn't seem like he had a plan to get her through this and gave up way too soon on you. Call them back and get angry. Find out by what metric did he think this was appropriate to remove the tube even though all attempts to get her to eat more than a few treats have been unsuccessful even with appetite stimulants. Then ask if the tube can be reinserted. There may be a very small window to put that tube back in. Otherwise it heals very quickly and they'd probably have to repeat the intubation procedure, if they can. This feeding tube is your best possible chance for a recovery here. Insist upon it. Get angry and then get it done.Now I feel like a horrible cat mom.. I did call to the vet a few min ago and unfortunately they have already removed the tube
So I guess I can only hope that she will eat when I bring her home and that she doesn't have a set back. I have cried nearly every night not knowing what to do as it pains me to see her so unlike herself.