Syringe feeding - concerned

Betuncay · Jul 21, 2021

Hi all,

I am giving every day 1ML of vitamin B as prescibed by our vet via syringe to my cat. This morning while i was giving her the vitamin i put the syringe too fast and now i am concerned if the liquid went down her lungs. She didn’t show any discomfort or didn’t cough and I was with her for 2 hours after the incident then had to left home for work but im highly concerned. Did anyone experienced this? Do you think if she aspirated it she would cough or show any signs? I heard it can lead to fatal aspiration pneumonia

CarmiesMom · Jul 21, 2021

i'e never syringed a vitamin to my cat but with my houdini last year i did force water on him with a syringe durring his URI from pine/corn based litter and their were a couple times i pushed the plunger rather quickly as he was either fighting me or had bit/scratched me..lol.. he never showed any signs of discomfort , but i'm not a vet and i also had experiance from syringe feeding his daddy from the age of one week till the age of 10 weeks but if your really concerned call yur vet see if they can give you advice over the phone if not i'd suggest you monitor her overnight and call your vet in the Am and see of they think she needs to be seen. but i'm used to my old vet who was the equivalant of an old time country doctor and wasn't above giving advice on things pver the phone and did more based on his experiances than he did on fancy tests..so.. call your vet it cant hurt.

Jcatbird · Jul 21, 2021

I understand your concern and that is scary for you. So sorry it happened. I don’t know if she would really cough. Probably though. For now you just need to keep an eye on her. If she shows signs of feeling bad, running a fever or any of her normal behavior changes, get her in for a vet check. I find it is always reassuring to call the vet and explain just to check in with them. Just be sure to do it very slowly now. Drop by drop if needed. Syringe feeding can be nerve wracking but slow and steady and you’ll be okay. You’re a great kitty guardian to be so caring!