Tube Feeding - Potential Problem, Urgent, Please Help

[epona]

I'm in the UK, we do have different products here - the powdered stuff I am using is by prescription, and mixes up really well. It's a bit thicker than water, obviously - it's 150ml water and 50g powder and it doesn't take much effort to whisk it up, and it doesn't tend to form lumps or clumps. There was a point when we were doing 5 feeds a day with this same feed formula on the old tube with no issues at all, it's definitely a problem with the tube.

 

[Antonio65]

Yes, it sounds a problem with the tube, but I can't understand why the water pass through and the mix doesn't.

The powder you use is the same that I had as a complimentary gift from the clinic after the radiation therapy for my Lola. They gave about 5 sachets to be mixed with water, I received the same instructions you have, but I never used it because I preferred the Royal Canin Recovery.

 

[epona]

I just phoned the vet hospital and they are going to have someone call me back - he's eaten a pouch of food in small portions this morning and that is half his daily recommended intake so he's not in any danger of having a lack-of-food health crisis right now.

 

[Antonio65]

Please let us know what they will tell you when they call you back.

 

[epona]

Please let us know what they will tell you when they call you back.

I will do. I just really hope that he will get better soon and can have the tube taken out and will have a few years of health and happiness left. The fact he started eating again at all is great, the fact his mouth has a load of stitches is not so great - but it probably means once his mouth has healed he will be eating normally.

Although whatever happens from here on in, I am going to be measuring all my cats' food intake almost obsessively.

 

[Antonio65]

I will do. I just really hope that he will get better soon and can have the tube taken out and will have a few years of health and happiness left.

I hope you won't have a few years left, but many many many years left!

Although whatever happens from here on in, I am going to be measuring all my cats' food intake almost obsessively.

I was doing the same with my syringe fed cat. I kept a log with all food and water taken daily.
Now I'm doing the same with my other cat.

 

[epona]

I hope you won't have a few years left, but many many many years left!

He's nearly 12, so I think many many many years is too much to expect (at least to be healthy for that long), but I don't think 15 or 16 years old would be too much to ask.

 

[Antonio65]

I had personally known a cat who was 23, and heard of another of 24, who is still alive.
A friend of mine had his cat to live 20 years.
So, at least 8 more years for Radar wouldn't be that unusual

 

[epona]

I've spoken to his vet at the hospital, she said if he eats nothing today then phone them later and bring him in there. If he eats some but not enough as needed, then take him to our regular vet tomorrow when they are open (a lot of services do half day Thursdays including vets and pharmacies so going to our local vet is not an option today).

 

[Antonio65]

I'll stay tuned to have the news as soos as you have it.
Fingers crossed!

 

[epona]

He's eaten a little over a pouch of food today, so that's half of his suggested intake (he's only a little cat), and it's only lunchtime so hopefully he will want the next meal I offer. It's been 2 steps forwards 1 step back all the way - and sometimes several steps back.

The good thing is he's never gone into any liver problems - his eating troubles have always been as the result of definable things - surgery through his throat and stitches there, then stitches in his mouth - and I've got treatment for him when he wasn't eating and he shows no signs of hepatic lipidosis. Although it has taken him a while (his initial surgery was a month ago today), he is interested in food now and eating at least semi-regularly. We'll get there I'm sure.

I did have a major worry early on that he'd suffered damage to the nerve that controls swallowing during his surgery, but he clearly can eat so I no longer worry that there is any physical problem preventing him from physically ingesting food.

 

[Antonio65]

Sound like more good news than bad ones, doesn't it?
Sometimes the paths to normality are longer than others... Think positive!

 

[epona]

Sound like more good news than bad ones, doesn't it?
Sometimes the paths to normality are longer than others... Think positive!

Honestly, it's constant ups and downs. I wouldn't wish this worry on anyone. I feel as though I have been knotted up inside for over a month now. I'm just willing my little Radar to be strong and eat and get well.

 

[Antonio65]

He will be better, eventually don't worry. He's eating on his own, that's very good!

 

[pushylady]

Sending you some vibes that Radar eats some more later on. To me the fact that he is eating on his own is a very, very positive sign. I hope you can get the tube out and just keep feeding him small meals throughout the day.

 

[epona]

He wasn't looking so great earlier (in the small hours of the morning when my husband was on his night shift - stuff somehow always seems worse at night anyway, especially if you're by yourself giving care), he ate some food and vomited and then was looking as if he was in pain. I waited a bit to give his stomach time to settle then gave him a small amount of food with his anti-inflammatory/pain meds in - he ate that and is now much brighter and hasn't vomited again.

He really did a number on his mouth, it is bound to be sore when his medications wear off. It's going to take a little more time to heal, and the stitches are dissolving ones so he won't need his mouth messed with again unless it gets infected or he interferes with it.

 

[epona]

He's eaten another pouch of food this morning, we have a vet appointment for late afternoon to try to sort out the kink in his feeding tube (again).

Is it unreasonable of me to be cross that the feeding tube is kinked in the finger trap suture and we have NEVER been able to get food down it since it was put in (at £500 cost btw, a further vet visit to the hospital at £50 where they said they had fixed it, and we'll be making another vet visit this afternoon because it's still kinked - NOT that cost is more important than my little sweetheart, but if they did it wrong, tried to fix it, and it's still wrong, we shouldn't be paying £600+ for that, right?)

Just really thank goodness he is eating some food by himself now. This has been an utter catalogue of disaster.

 

[Antonio65]

If he's eating on his own, the tube is just a safety measure in cases he doesn't want to eat for a day or two.

Shame on the vets for charging you when the problem arose from their incompetence in the first place.
More than the cost in itself, I would be more crossed that my cat is going through a lot of stress and isn't well...

 

[epona]

He is eating some now, but I still think he needs the tube to top up on days where he is in pain -he's horrendously skinny the poor little mite - one meal skipped is a step towards danger for him, if that makes sense.

It's like - the tube has been unusable since it was installed last Saturday - we've never been able to get food down it (and we were successfully giving liquid food down the previous one). Most important thing is my cat's health and happiness - he is at least eating some food - probably most of the food he needs - so it isn't critical (I would just like to see an extra 500g on him and be absolutely confident that he is eating and do a top up feed to help him gain weight so he gets back to healthy) . But the fact that this feeding tube has NEVER had food go through it successfully - yeah I'm quite annoyed.

 

[Antonio65]

But the fact that this feeding tube has NEVER had food go through it successfully - yeah I'm quite annoyed.

To say the least!

Can you have him eat something highly energetic?
I mean, he's eating his wet food in pouches. Would he eat canned wet food with high energy content out of his bowl?
There are supplements that give a boost of energy when added to wet food.
And there is a liquid supplement (a broth, water) that gives a greater boost in cases of appetite depression.
They are both from VIRBAC.
One is NutriPlus Gel, the other one is NutriBound.
I can't understand why they haven't come up to my mind before!

I would give them to my cat when I was syringe feeding her, so that her daily calories intake could match the minimum RER, which was 160 kcal in my case.