Sushi (GA 5/05-3/14)
Member Since 2011
Well, though I was at the end of my rope there for a bit, I somehow managed to nurse Sushi back to health over the course of the week. He's doing so much better, completely back to himself and softer than ever!
Throughout the week, I went about setting up feline versions of Ryan's buffet for Sushi, complete with a variety of dry and canned foods, at shot times. I even tried sampler plates, with small bites of several different yummy canned foods. Despite my efforts, Sushi wasn't really interested, but his sister sure did enjoy it! She ate and ate like she was a queen!
In addition, I threw in the towel and attempted syringe feeding Tuesday. As I mentioned before, my main hesitation with syringe feeding was not having good syringes. The vet gave me 3ml and 10ml syringes, but the openings are about the size of a tip of a ballpoint pen. It was very difficult to use these syringes, no matter how thin I made the food. The 10ml syringes were impossible to use. So, I went to PetSmart, and (thank God!) they sold syringes. The one on the top is the one I got from PetSmart, and the ones on the bottom are the ones from the vet. I felt like Goldilocks trying to find the perfect size syringe:
The syringe I bought from PetSmart was a bit too big, but was much easier to use. It also holds an ounce, which was good, because that's how we usually measure how much food our kitties eat.
Overall, syringe feeding went a lot better than I expected. I would go as far to say I prefer it to trying to get Sushi to eat canned food out of my hand. I cannot STAND the feel or smell of it; it reminds me of throwup. I gag every time, and can't seem to get the smell out of my hands.
Sushi growled a bit, his tounge would go crazy and he would snap his head to the side right at the moment I would squirt the food, so a lot of it went onto the other side of his face. So I'm not sure how much actually got into his system, but hey, it worked!
In fact, I had some food mixture leftover and he actually ate a few bites of it on his own! And he was looking at me expectantly as I was putting the syringes together for those pictures!
His numbers did drop into the 50's at one point when he wasn't eating much at all and didn't want anything to do with canned food. But I stalled, and got him to eat as much as I could, and he started to climb. That was stressful to say the least. Whew!
Plus, having the confidence that I could syringe feed him high carb if I needed to was incredibly reassuring! I feel so much more confident about handling Sushi's diabetes now that I know how to syringe feed, and how Sushi does with it.
Now that we're back on our feet, Sushi's numbers are super high. I'm assuming it's because of what he's eating. And there's still the factor of his antibiotic that has a rice/flour base.
Should adjust his dose?
I tried feeding our usual canned last night, but Sushi didn't go for it. I've at least got him eating half dry m/d and half canned. I'll continue to work on weaning him off dry food and back to our usual low carb canned.
Here are the questions that have come up through this experience and throughout the week:
The assisted feeding video suggested feeding
(4)10ml syringes (=a little over an ounce) 3-4 times a day = ~4.5 oz a day
or
(2)10ml syringes 5 times a day = 2.5oz/day
That's not much at all; Sushi normally eats 3 times that much!
:?: Is the goal of syringe feeding to feed the entire amount your kitty normally eats?
:?: What are your thoughts on VitaGravy? I'm assuming it's super high carb?
Happy Caturday!
Throughout the week, I went about setting up feline versions of Ryan's buffet for Sushi, complete with a variety of dry and canned foods, at shot times. I even tried sampler plates, with small bites of several different yummy canned foods. Despite my efforts, Sushi wasn't really interested, but his sister sure did enjoy it! She ate and ate like she was a queen!
In addition, I threw in the towel and attempted syringe feeding Tuesday. As I mentioned before, my main hesitation with syringe feeding was not having good syringes. The vet gave me 3ml and 10ml syringes, but the openings are about the size of a tip of a ballpoint pen. It was very difficult to use these syringes, no matter how thin I made the food. The 10ml syringes were impossible to use. So, I went to PetSmart, and (thank God!) they sold syringes. The one on the top is the one I got from PetSmart, and the ones on the bottom are the ones from the vet. I felt like Goldilocks trying to find the perfect size syringe:
The syringe I bought from PetSmart was a bit too big, but was much easier to use. It also holds an ounce, which was good, because that's how we usually measure how much food our kitties eat.
Overall, syringe feeding went a lot better than I expected. I would go as far to say I prefer it to trying to get Sushi to eat canned food out of my hand. I cannot STAND the feel or smell of it; it reminds me of throwup. I gag every time, and can't seem to get the smell out of my hands.
Sushi growled a bit, his tounge would go crazy and he would snap his head to the side right at the moment I would squirt the food, so a lot of it went onto the other side of his face. So I'm not sure how much actually got into his system, but hey, it worked!
In fact, I had some food mixture leftover and he actually ate a few bites of it on his own! And he was looking at me expectantly as I was putting the syringes together for those pictures!
His numbers did drop into the 50's at one point when he wasn't eating much at all and didn't want anything to do with canned food. But I stalled, and got him to eat as much as I could, and he started to climb. That was stressful to say the least. Whew!
Plus, having the confidence that I could syringe feed him high carb if I needed to was incredibly reassuring! I feel so much more confident about handling Sushi's diabetes now that I know how to syringe feed, and how Sushi does with it.
Now that we're back on our feet, Sushi's numbers are super high. I'm assuming it's because of what he's eating. And there's still the factor of his antibiotic that has a rice/flour base.
Should adjust his dose?
I tried feeding our usual canned last night, but Sushi didn't go for it. I've at least got him eating half dry m/d and half canned. I'll continue to work on weaning him off dry food and back to our usual low carb canned.
Here are the questions that have come up through this experience and throughout the week:
The assisted feeding video suggested feeding
(4)10ml syringes (=a little over an ounce) 3-4 times a day = ~4.5 oz a day
or
(2)10ml syringes 5 times a day = 2.5oz/day
That's not much at all; Sushi normally eats 3 times that much!
:?: Is the goal of syringe feeding to feed the entire amount your kitty normally eats?
:?: What are your thoughts on VitaGravy? I'm assuming it's super high carb?
Happy Caturday!
