? 3 days until Vlad's dental/extraction 4/25

[Kyle&Vlad]

Recap and update: Vlad out of remission as of maybe a month ago, lost a TON of weight, skin and bones, found out he has infected teeth, likely driving BG swings and causing him to not eat.

After a suggestion yesterday (I think, its all a blur) to turn his FF into basically soup (used the liquid from some canned chicken, and water) he lapped it up all day. Even drinking seemed to have been hurting him (maybe temperature of water?), so he kept getting severely dehydrated and constipated. Now his hydration seems much better. BG pretty crazy, tried decreasing vetsulin for a day and he swung even harder, so kind of afraid to change his dose atm, maybe I shouldn't be.

I would love to put any amount of weight on Vlad that I can before this surgery, he's older, lost a lot of muscle and been quite weak as a result. Diluting his food with water helped him eat something big time, but I'm worried he's not getting enough calories considering he needs weight on him.

Was thinking about using some heavy cream (the stuff I buy is basically 0 carbs, no carageenan or anything like that), to make his food easier to eat but also increase his calories. Any opinions on using heavy cream for this? The stuff I have is probably ~60% water, 40% fat by volume, seems like it could kill two birds with one stone.

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

I think I'd stay away from the heavy cream-- a lot of cats have problems with cow's milk, despite the tradition. But it does spark an idea, maybe there might be some kitten formulas that will serve the same purpose? I'm thinking something designed for people trying to bottle-feed abandoned kittens. No idea of calorie density, though-- I imagine it'd be high but you'd have to check that.

 

[jt and trouble (GA)]

Ohhh good idea Nan!

 

[Sarah&Soph]

If it hasn’t already been suggested, you might also consider trying Tiki Cat Mousse. They are a very smooth consistency, so they may give him more calories than the watered down FF

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

I have mixed KMR with food for my sick cats. I am not sure how it will affect glucose levels. I usually use the powder when I need to use it.

 

[Deb & Wink]

You might consider syringe feeding some food into Vlad.

Large bore feeding syringe like you would use with a human baby, or force feeding a guinea pig.
It's a messy process.
Syringe/Assisted Feeding (Video and Tips)

Dental info, in case you haven't already seen this.
Dentals: Info on Dental Procedures (including pictures)