How much to syringe feed?

[shaftell]

My 12 year old cat has had a decrease in appetite since being the discovery of a potential cancerous tumor and kidney stones (so rough). He's on appetite stimulant, anti nausea pills and painkillers. He's dropped from 12.5 lbs to 9.2 lbs in about a year and a half.

The vet gave us some cans of those critical recovery prescription canned foods and said he has to eat at least one can a day, either on his own or through syringe feeding. Since yesterday, he's eaten about 3 quarters of the can and had a few bites of another brand of canned food.

I'm reaching the point where I'm concerned he will starve himself to death before the cancer gets him. I can get him to eat about 10 ml of that prescription food every couple hours but I'm not sure if that's enough to sustain him for however much time he has left.

What's the absolute minimum I should be getting into him to avoid starvation?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[CatladyJan]

My 12 year old cat has had a decrease in appetite since being the discovery of a potential cancerous tumor and kidney stones (so rough). He's on appetite stimulant, anti nausea pills and painkillers. He's dropped from 12.5 lbs to 9.2 lbs in about a year and a half.

The vet gave us some cans of those critical recovery prescription canned foods and said he has to eat at least one can a day, either on his own or through syringe feeding. Since yesterday, he's eaten about 3 quarters of the can and had a few bites of another brand of canned food.

I'm reaching the point where I'm concerned he will starve himself to death before the cancer gets him. I can get him to eat about 10 ml of that prescription food every couple hours but I'm not sure if that's enough to sustain him for however much time he has left.

What's the absolute minimum I should be getting into him to avoid starvation?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I would ask your veterinarian based on the conditions and weight.

 

[FeebysOwner]

So sorry your little guy and you are going through this! First off, feed him from a dish whatever he will eat, including some of his own stuff if he is more inclined to eat it. You might even try mixing some together to see if he will eat it that way.

The standard rule of thumb is a cat should eat 20 - 25 calories per pound of body weight on a daily basis. The A/D recovery food is 183 calories per can (Hill's AD 5.5 oz can - others may vary). In theory, if your cat only uses up about 20 calories per pound of body weight, he could sustain his weight on one can a day. (183/20 = 9.1 pounds). On the other side of that spectrum, if he uses up 25 calories that would equate to 7.3 pounds in total body weight. So, monitoring his weight throughout this process is a good idea.

10 ml is like 1/3 of an ounce, although I don't know how much water you are adding. So, you could be looking at four (no water), probably more like five, 10 ml syringe feedings a day if he actually eats 3/4 of the can on his own - that would get him to a total can. But, whatever he does eat on his own of his own food, you need to add those calories to his total intake for a day, just so you can keep track of how many calories he is consuming.

I would ask your vet if they think one can a day will enable him to maintain his current weight, just so you know their thought process on this.