5/25 Musette pmps 348 First home tube feeding done.

[MommaOfMuse]

Well as I kind of expected she is high tonight, but then again the girl has had a rough few days.

Her pmps was 348 and I figured I might as well basically start her all over on the Lev...so starting her out at 1u. Since what I can tell from her records that I picked up with her today she has only had 1 (2u) shot of Prozinc while she was hospitalized so she isn't going to have any shed left...but I'm very thankful that I made the judgement call not to leave her Lev with them because they believe that Prozinc is a once a day insulin :roll: I can only imagine what they would have done with a U100 insulin when they are used to using a U40 insulin...I see that spelling disaster, so at least I avoided that one.

We got through the first feeding via the e-tube...mom wasn't great at it, and it took me about 15 out of the 30ml to get the technique down, but Musette was so patience with mom. She did let me know about 3/4 of the way through that I was taking too long (well they said go slow) and started to figet some.

I did offer her some nice yummy tuna which she did start to show some interest in but ultimately turned her nose up at...but hey at least she started to get excited about it and did sniff at it before rejecting it...so I have hope that given a little more time to relax, fully realize she is home again and everything is right with her world again, she will consider taking a couple licks at least.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette, Autumn and the Fur Gang

 

[Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA]

Ow, poor little thing. How long will she need the feeding tube? That's something that I have no experience with - and am hoping to avoid learning.....God willing.

Have you tried just tuna juice? Or chicken broth (plain water you boiled some chicken in)? Maybe a tasty liquid would start her appetite going.

It sure is scary that the DKA came out of left field. From what I have read, it might have been a simmering p-titis that caused her to eat less and less, right? Then you have two of the three bad things going on, infection and not eating enough.

I agree about your reasoning to not leave the lev with them - that would have been asking for trouble that you - and Ms. Musette - did not need.

Feel better, baby girl.

 

[MommaOfMuse]

How long will she need the feeding tube?

Well until she starts eating again on her own, could be days, weeks or months just don't know...Musette is going to have to tell us that one. I'm praying she is eating on her own before I have to start my new job or that is going to be some careful juggling of mom and dad feeding her vs work. But I don't have a definite start date yet just sometime after June 9th. I guess if she isn't eating on her own by then I can see if I can leave her at my regular vet to be fed while at work and then either Jon or I pick her up on our way home and continue here. But going to cross that bridge when I come to it. You know pray for the best, prepare for the worse.

Right now it is just putting one foot in front of the other and completely letting her take the lead....boy if she was a diva before this happened she is going to be an extreme diva after having everyone's world revolve around her for awhile.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette, Autumn & The Fur Gang

 

[Jessica & Boo Radley]

Does the tube come right out of the stomach or did they go in through the nose?

Either way, here some tips we use when tube feeding people.

We always aspirate stomach contents before attempting any feeding. This does a couple of things. Pulls out any excess gas, which can be a problem for tube feeders and relieves some of the discomfort and fullness. But most importantly, it tells you how well they are digesting (which slows down during sickness). I don't know what the magic number would be with cats....but for people, we bolus feed 240 ml about every 4 hours. Residual of 150 ml or more before the next feed alerts us that that feeding needs to be held for an additional 60 - 90 minutes before attempting again. Always put back in anything you draw out of the stomach (except air) by pushing in the plunger.

For bolus syringe feeding, if you pull the stop clock out of the plunger completely and attach it to the feeding tube. Slowly pour in 30cc's warm water (again....this is a people number), letting it drain in by gravity. If the water flows in easily, then continue with the feeding formula. If the water does not flow easily, raise or lower the height of the syringe. It should be no more than about 12 inches above the stomach. Try to keep the syringe from emptying. Clamp the tube off to refill it if you need to. When the end is open with no formula in the syringe, air can enter the tube and cause gas. (I've seen people use the plunger in the syringe, actually forcing the food in vs. using the gravity method. Disaster if you ask me, it's almost always causes upset; it's just too fast).

Pour in 30 cc (people number) of warm water to clear the tube when you have finished giving the formula. Use more water if needed to flush the tube because formula can build up on the inside of the tube and cause it to clog.

Flushing before and after with warm water really is the key and I just want to make sure I state again that the numbers I used above are for people. I'm guessing your vet gave you an indication of the stomach capacity of a cat. If not, let me know and I'll find out the flushing specs for you!

You'll get it down in no time!!!