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- Aug 27, 2016
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Hey yal - I posted last weekend about my worries with my kitten, Louie. He hadn't been feeling well and was on Clavamox due to high white blood cells on his test results. I've updated my thread, but I can't figure out how to edit my original post (especially the title) now that our situation has changed.
Tuesday, he really took a huge drop in health and by Tuesday night, he hadn't eaten in 24 hours, even with the most stinkiest tuna or even anchovies. He would barely even lift his head, so we rushed him to the animal hospital. The clavamox did nothing for the 10 days that he took it. He was missing a massive amount of red blood cells, white blood cells were through the roof, and now he had developed jaundice with elevated bilirubin. His platelets were not clumping. He was running a 103.4 fever and dehydrated, so he got his 3rd round of SubQ fluids. The vet said that there was no telling what he had that was causing this, but that all of his guesses were terminal diseases. Instead of putting him to sleep, we decided to take him home and find another 2nd opinion.
We force fed him liquidy food for another day, which was stressful, and then we were able to see another vet this morning. She informed us that the only way to give him a chance was to put in a feeding tube and that would give us some time to send off some blood samples to test for FIP. I was crying so much this morning because I didn't want to put in a feeding tube. I felt like he was way too weak to go under anesthesia. He was already woozy and almost vegetable-like. Thank God, he woke up after!
Today has been very difficult learning how to do this feeding tube. I think we did okay for the most part of the day, but tonight, Louie looks like he's in a coma, but his eyes are open. It's been so hard to watch his little frail body go through this. He's only 3lbs!
So during our last feeding, we added in one of his liquid medications at the end of it, then then followed it with some water to flush through. But it's blocked. We've pinched the tube up and down to try and move whatever was blocking it. We've tried warm ginger ale (twice). We have tried to suck it back out with the syringe, but that's when Louie started crying, so I fear we are hurting him by sucking with the syringe. It's still blocked after an hour of feeding, and the liquid meds are in the tube, too. I'm so frustrated and emotionally drained. Does anyone have any tips that have helped you? I hope we don't have the other end of the tube stuck to any inside tissue or anything?
Also, we are feeding him Iams Veterinary Formula Maximum Calorie Plus as prescribed. It's a pate consistency that we were mixing with a little warm water in the syringe so that it flowed easily, but I guess chunks still end up clogging the tube. It is a thin tube since he's so tiny.
Also, how long before we expect him to poop? He's had 3 meals in him and he's only been peeing in the litter box all day. So I'm worried about that, also.
Thanks for your help!
Tuesday, he really took a huge drop in health and by Tuesday night, he hadn't eaten in 24 hours, even with the most stinkiest tuna or even anchovies. He would barely even lift his head, so we rushed him to the animal hospital. The clavamox did nothing for the 10 days that he took it. He was missing a massive amount of red blood cells, white blood cells were through the roof, and now he had developed jaundice with elevated bilirubin. His platelets were not clumping. He was running a 103.4 fever and dehydrated, so he got his 3rd round of SubQ fluids. The vet said that there was no telling what he had that was causing this, but that all of his guesses were terminal diseases. Instead of putting him to sleep, we decided to take him home and find another 2nd opinion.
We force fed him liquidy food for another day, which was stressful, and then we were able to see another vet this morning. She informed us that the only way to give him a chance was to put in a feeding tube and that would give us some time to send off some blood samples to test for FIP. I was crying so much this morning because I didn't want to put in a feeding tube. I felt like he was way too weak to go under anesthesia. He was already woozy and almost vegetable-like. Thank God, he woke up after!
Today has been very difficult learning how to do this feeding tube. I think we did okay for the most part of the day, but tonight, Louie looks like he's in a coma, but his eyes are open. It's been so hard to watch his little frail body go through this. He's only 3lbs!
So during our last feeding, we added in one of his liquid medications at the end of it, then then followed it with some water to flush through. But it's blocked. We've pinched the tube up and down to try and move whatever was blocking it. We've tried warm ginger ale (twice). We have tried to suck it back out with the syringe, but that's when Louie started crying, so I fear we are hurting him by sucking with the syringe. It's still blocked after an hour of feeding, and the liquid meds are in the tube, too. I'm so frustrated and emotionally drained. Does anyone have any tips that have helped you? I hope we don't have the other end of the tube stuck to any inside tissue or anything?
Also, we are feeding him Iams Veterinary Formula Maximum Calorie Plus as prescribed. It's a pate consistency that we were mixing with a little warm water in the syringe so that it flowed easily, but I guess chunks still end up clogging the tube. It is a thin tube since he's so tiny.
Also, how long before we expect him to poop? He's had 3 meals in him and he's only been peeing in the litter box all day. So I'm worried about that, also.
Thanks for your help!
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