Tube Feeding - Potential Problem, Urgent, Please Help

Radar currently has an e-tube because he has not been eating after surgery.

So because of the bad weather, NONE of the vets locally, including our central vet hospital, received deliveries.

Radar is being fed Royal Canin Convalescence Support 50g pouches (the powder that is mixed with water). We were unable to get much from either the hospital or vet surgeries in London due to weather related delivery disruption.

We're in danger of running out before anyone receives any new deliveries.

What can I do to feed him via the e-tube instead if we can't get the prescription high calorie food? It's a very narrow tube, anything going down there would have to be blended up to liquid (I have a blender, just don't know what to put in there that would be best for him).

I just am panicking right now - we have 2 days worth of the prescribed stuff left, but want to be prepared in case I need to do a bit of DIY to tube feed my cat while waiting on deliveries.

Although he is eating a small amount by himself, it is not consistent enough that we can skip tube feeds for any length of time - he's only just got to the point where his spine and ribs aren't visibly sticking out.

(Edit to add - I am in the UK so will not likely be familiar with US brand names)

Update: When I was phoning around vets, a very lovely woman who answered the phone was really concerned and has put in a lot of effort to find us some sachets of the convalescent food - she just called me to let me know she managed to round up another weeks worth of the powder food. I can pick them up later. Thank you, vet nurse whos name I don't know, you're awesome!

I would still like to know though, what to do in this sort of emergency. If anyone can give advice so that I would know what to do in future that would be fantastic

I am in the U.S. so don't know that I would be much help. When Patches had an e-tube they didn't have a powder like you are talking about here. I did use a smooth pate type food that is a Hill's prescription food. I actually mixed it half and half with water so it was very thin. That would probably necessitate feeding more than what you feed. I was feeding 60mls of the mixture 4 times a day. The goal was to get a full 5.5 oz can of the food down each day. He had hepatic lipidosis so I needed to get as many calories in as possible

I am glad you were able to find some more of what you have been using.

Thanks denice - that's exactly the kind of information I needed.

The food Radar is on is high calorie and specifically for anorexic post-surgery or sick/injured cats and he gets 5x 28ml feeds a day. He's a very small cat, I'd worry about what amount of anything lower calorie to feed - 60ml of anything in one go sounds like it would burst the poor dear

I guess if worst came to the worst I'd just blend up some wet food with enough water to make a thin slurry and syringe some in down the tube then flush it through with water, that would be better than nothing in an emergency.

I think that any R/C Recovery or Hill's A/D would do.
They're high (or very high) calories content foods and are specifically designed for tube feeding. More, they can be found anywhere, in any shop for pets (at least over here in Italy).

You can always add a teaspoon of water for each syringe to make them more runny.

I was using the Hills A/d. I don't think that would go through an e-tube without clogging it. I was diluting it half and half with water.

Phoned around a load of vets, and thanks to a particularly helpful nurse who helped put the word out, we managed to secure 8 pouches of the powdered feed (bless you, nurse at the Goddard's Mile End vet surgery, I forgot to make a note of your name, but you went above and beyond to help!)

Things happened though since - Radar is unfortunately back in hospital tonight.

He brought up a furball earlier, and with it the bottom end of the feeding tube - then pawed at his mouth and cut his gum really badly with a claw - so we had to take him in right away and he is staying in for at least tonight, will have stitches in his gum in the morning and a new tube put in if he doesn't eat tonight (seriously a cut up gum is not going to help with getting him to eat, I'm really upset right now )

My God, I didn't know this could happen. It must have been shocking!
Hopefully Radar is going to be well soon and home again in no time.
Fingers crossed here!!!

I would prefer to pm, but my brain isn't working. Facebook page Feline Assisted Feeding group, they know just about everything about tube feeding. Helped me out a lot in the past. I understand we aren't suppose to refer to other social sites, such as facebook, but this is a support group for specific medical situations. Please let this post stand. Many could benefit.

Antonio65 said:

My God, I didn't know this could happen. It must have been shocking!
Hopefully Radar is going to be well soon and home again in no time.
Fingers crossed here!!!

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I knew there was a potential of vomiting up the bottom end of the feeding tube (it's why they are often put on anti-nausea/anti-emetic meds to minimise the risk of vomiting) - what I didn't realise was that my special idiot would lacerate his own mouth to the point of needing stitches if that happened - I know exactly when it happened, because his back paw went into his mouth and a claw got stuck in his gum and he couldn't get his back foot out of his mouth, I had to very carefully help him without causing any further damage before taking him to the out of hours vet - I just hope one day I will look back and be able to laugh about such an idiotic situation! (Feeding tubes can be life-saving, very rarely something can go wrong which requires immediate attention, but it isn't that common).

So anyway, he came home after nearly 24 hours in the hospital and having stitches in his mouth and the feeding tube replaced, and after the post-sedation hyperactivity and wobbles had passed, he started eating. By himself. I gave him a pouch of wet food in small portions over the course of a few hours so that he didn't bolt it and vomit, but he ate it all - he's a very small cat so that is almost half of his daily food requirements.

So please keep everything crossed that my little boy carries on eating! He has a medication to take, which since he has stitches in his mouth is better off going down the feeding tube rather than trying to pill him so I will give that in a small tube feed at breakfast time then offer some wet in a bowl a bit later on.

Please keep your fingers crossed for my lovely Radar.

Oh, wow, what an experience! Lots of that his mouth heals quickly and he continues to eat!

BTW, the vet said to me yesterday that they've done a load of tests and checked out his mouth and throat, and there is NO clinical reason why he wasn't eating - it was possibly psychological after throat pain from his initial surgery with some medications-related nausea afterwards.

His blood tests were fine - he doesn't have any liver or kidney issues, he's perfectly healthy.

The vet did say that sometimes a cat can recover from whatever post-surgical symptoms prevented them from eating initially and just get a little too comfortable with the tube feeding while remembering that eating caused them pain last time they tried it, and that now he is back at a decent weight the necessary fast (under veterinary supervision as a hospital patient) before sedation for his stitches may kick-start things because he is able to feel hunger and able to eat - and although it's early days still and I don't want to get too optimistic, the fact he ate a decent amount of food over a few hours last night is very encouraging.

So I hope that is the case and that he will tuck in when I bring his next bowl of wet.

(I do want to say that is not appropriate treatment in a cat that has developed liver problems due to lack of food - in which case getting those calories into them is the best treatment - or has another underlying health condition causing appetite loss or difficulty eating, or if they are already very underweight, and should only be done under veterinary instruction/care).

Did a small tube feed (about 10ml and a flush with water after) to deliver meds earlier, he's since scoffed nearly a whole pouch of food as well. I can't tell you how happy I am to see him eating properly!

And he's now had 2 pouches of food today - in the normal way, via the mouth and his own effort - which is about right for his weight and size (he's a very small cat), c'mon my sweet little buddy, keep this going!

BTW, if we end up not using all the convalescent food mix that my frantic phone around last week managed to secure, I will take it down to the Celia Hammond charity shelter, I am sure they sometimes have cats in that require it, and it's quite expensive. I'll be very very happy to end up with some pouches of it that I can donate.

He's now on his 3rd pouch of wet food today, we gave him mirtazapine this morning and he's scoffing like he's in an eating competition.

I'm giving him wet food a quarter of a pouch at a time with a half hour gap between each small meal to minimise the risk of vomiting.

The sound of a cat tucking into a bowl of food has never sounded so satisfying and comforting

He's now on another pouch of food, my little love appears to be back

Please keep your fingers crossed that this continues, his follow up appointment is on Wednesday, if he is eating well between now and then the tube may be able to be removed. So everything crossed for my sweet little boy.

All fingers and tails crossed here!
Keep eating, Radar, and remember not to throw up

About how feeding tubes may go wrong, I can tell you that it is true! My cat had a PEG tube (a tube in her stomach) and one night, when I came home from work, I found the tube on the floor!!!!
Can you imagine how I could feel with a tube on the floor and a cat with a hole in her stomach walking around the house?

Antonio65 said:

All fingers and tails crossed here!
Keep eating, Radar, and remember not to throw up

About how feeding tubes may go wrong, I can tell you that it is true! My cat had a PEG tube (a tube in her stomach) and one night, when I came home from work, I found the tube on the floor!!!!
Can you imagine how I could feel with a tube on the floor and a cat with a hole in her stomach walking around the house?

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OMG that is far more serious than an e-tube being pulled out too (because of the risk of peritonitis), was she ok??

Yes, she was ok, absolutely.
I was in panic, though. I started calling around to find a clinic where they would have been able to replace that tube. It had been inserted by a far away clinic prior to a special treatment that would have prevented her from eating for a long time.
All the clinics around here were unable to replace the PEG tube, the Vet University accepted to keep her hospitalized for 24h and keep her checked, but she was fine and when she came back home she started eating on her own. That was a real surprise!
Unfortunately that lucky period was short-lived and I had to syringe feed her until the end of her days...