Babyfood to help stimulate Calley to eat???

Status
Not open for further replies.
Kris10mo

Kris10mo

Member Since 2014
Someone, please tell me again what kind of babyfood I should get Calley to try to get her to eat something. We are going on day #2 of no eating or drinking. I think she is nauseated and probably won't eat....but I want to try something that will be diabetes friendly.

Thanks all :)

Going back to bed now, since I tested Calley and know she is still alive.
 
I'm not sure about baby food, however, if you have cooked chicken or turkey, or even shrimp or canned tuna IN water (never the oil), try those. You can also try another brand of canned cat food and see if she'll take it. You may have to start force feeding her in order for her keep up her strength. Forti Flora also works, too, and that's sprinkled on canned food. I would try and get her to eat asap, though. Good luck, and I wish for Calley to make a full and speedy recovery.
 
Baby food probably really isn't diabetic-friendly (it always made Trix's BGs rise), but right now getting Calley to eat trumps diabetes anyway. You want to get her baby food that is just meat - especially no onion or garlic. Lots of cats do like baby food and it can be a helpful temporary tool when a kitty won't eat.

Like Angela said, you can also try another brand of cat food, too - sometimes a different flavor will entice them.

If she's nauseated, she really would need some anti-nausea meds - ondansetron and cerenia are the favorites around here. I know you would rather not run to the ER with her again today - do you think maybe you could call them, though, and ask if they would prescribe them without seeing her? These meds really, really help with nausea, and that in turn helps a kitty who isn't feeling well to eat. You don't want any food you give her to come right back up.

Have you ever assist/syringe-fed before? If not, you want to puree the food with a teeny bit of water - just enough to make it looser for passing through the syringe. You don't want to water it down TOO much, because you want Calley to the calories from the food. Syringe slowly from the side of the mouth. It's messy and takes practice, but can be very helpful. I syringe-fed Trix for 4 months after her bout with p-titis. If you don't have a syringe for this, again hopefully the ER can provide some for you without seeing her today.

I wonder if the liquid carrying the meds is upsetting her tummy and maybe that is the root of this issue?
 
I think that you are in Canada, right? Someone said you can't get all meat baby food there which is what you need , without onion or garlic. You could boil chicken and then put it in a food processor. When my civie got lymphoma, I bought deli meat and that was the first thing that she ate. Try tuna water maybe over it or over her food. I would buy one of every cat food I thought that she might like too. Does she like freeze dried treats? 100% fd chicken or turkey might tempt her. Next step if she doesn't eat this morning is to syringe feed. Put any food in a blender to smooth it out and then fill some syringes and feed her that way. I had to do that for Max when his bladder was pierced when he blocked. Prayers for a recovery. Baby food does not raise Max's BG, at least Beechnut doesn't and lately Gerber's might not be doing much either. It isn't high carb from what I've read. Even if it does she needs to eat anything. Cats that don't eat enough can get very sick very quickly, within a few days.

.:bighug:
 
A pharmacy may have oral syringes and droppers for babies which you could use.
 
Do you have Gerber or Beechnut baby food there? In the US, those brands are labeled Stage 2 -- they contain a protein (chicken, turkey, etc.) and broth. Gerber contains some cornstarch but it's about 7% carb which is fine. The important thing is to read the label no matter what the brand to be sure there are no onions or garlic in the food. (Onions and garlic -- same botanical family -- can cause anemia in cats.) Baby food is often a "go to" for a sick kitty. It's what my vet recommended when Gabby was having some GI issues.

If Calley is nauseated, you really may need to get something to help with that like Amy suggested. I know going to the ER is the last thing you want to do but I'm concerned that Calley is having such a difficult adjustment to the amlodipine. If you are able to get an anti-nausea med, perhaps you can talk to the vet about reducing the dose of the antihypertensive.
 
When Cleo didn't eat after hospitalization, I gave her Royal Canin Recovery. I fed her, putting a little patè on my fingers and she licked slowly. It took a lot of patience, but it was the only way to make her feel better.
I hope Calley is going to feel better soon!
 
When Cleo didn't eat after hospitalization, I gave her Royal Canin Recovery. I fed her, putting a little patè on my fingers and she licked slowly. It took a lot of patience, but it was the only way to make her feel better.
I hope Calley is going to feel better soon!
 
I'm not in Canada....lol....I'm in St. Louis MO. :) I just called the ER vet. It will cost me $150 just to walk in the door. :( They suggested I try to get her to eat. I mentioned all the things you guys said and the lady said YES that all of those would be a good idea. However, I put lunch meat in front of Calley's nose and she start liplicking and turned away. So I don't think any food is going to go down. I think she is nauseated too much.

I think I will just nurse her along today and get her in first thing in the AM...after ER costs expire at 7am.

I will get some bland baby food meats and puree them and try to get it down her throat.

Somehow her BG is holding steady.
 
It's too bad they won't give you a script for the anti-nausea meds given the circumstances.

One other thing you can try is giving her a little bit of basic pepcid AC - 1/4 of a 10mg pill. It's not really an anti-nausea med, but it may help settle her tummy a little. If you can't get the pill itself down her throat, you can crush it up and syringe it with a little water. It will taste nasty that way, but it will go down.

Please eat Calley....we're all worried about you!!!
 
Okay, good. Can you get Beechnut baby food chicken or turkey all meat or Gerbers 2nds chicken, turkey or believe it or not ham? Here they sell both at Ralphs/Kroger but Gerbers most places but Beechnut is not sold everywhere. What I am going to suggest next is unorthodox. I know a friend of mine got ondansetron for herself and her doctor gave her refills for her cat. Just putting it out there if you get desparate.
 
At this point, anything she will eat is ok. Don't worry if it is low carb or not. A cat can't really go longer than 2 days without eating before liver issues start. As Amy suggested, today try 1/4 tablet of Pepcid regular strength 2x/day. That may help until she can see the vet. Please ask about the Cerenia injection. That has worked wonders with Simon. He is on the Cerenia pills right now every other day, but when he was in the midst of his pancreatitis episode, the injections seemed to work better than the pills. SImon is also on Ondasetron. The combination of Pepcid, ondansetron and Cerenia seem to work best for him. But until tomorrow, please try the Pepcid. It hopefully will help.

I also have to syringe feed Simon when his appetite has been really off. It is not as hard as it seems, just a little messy. You have to be careful not to aim the syringe straight down the throat, but syringe it into the side of the mouth.

I know this is all overwhelming, but we are here for you.
 
I agree with Georgia's suggestion about the cerenia injection. If that ER saw her before I can't imagine that they wouldn't give you one syringe of cerenia to help get her past the nausea and eating again. that's making me mad all the way here in oregon. LOL. they need to understand cost concerns for people. If they hadn't just seen her that would be different. I had the same thing happen here with punkin and i was absolutely furious about it. ER vet at my own clinic refused to give him anti-nausea on a Sunday morning without another visit after he'd been at that clinic with my regular vet the Thursday before. I took him back home and complained mightily when i saw my regular vet on monday.

If you can't get any help from the vet's office, grr, i'd try the pepcid and i'd try assist feeding her. she's absolutely got to eat. cats develop fatty liver if they lose weight too quickly, and that can be extremely serious. Take a look at Where Can I Find ___? and scroll to the "interesting posts" collection in the second half - near the top is a video on how to assist feed a cat. I got a larger syringe than normal from a pharmacy - i want to say it was less than $1 - and thought that really helped with not clogging.

Give a holler if you need help. There are plenty of people who have helped their cat eat to get through a crisis who could come help you. It's not forever, just to get her going again.

And one thing to try immediately is to use your finger to put little bits of cat food into her mouth to try to tempt her. I'd give the pepcid first, wait 30 minutes, then try that. Wipe it off your finger onto the inside of the side of her mouth. You can even give her ice cream if that's what it takes to get her to eat. Anything except the onion/garlic family foods.
 
Did you happen to mention to the receptionist that you were in yesterday and brought this issue up?

If Calley is drinking, you could also try giving her some tuna juice (make sure there's no soy in it) or low sodium chicken broth. It might be easier to syringe/assist feed fluids and there's at least some protein in tuna juice or chicken broth.
 
Calley has not eaten or drank anything today. All she has had is insulin at 8am and a tad small dose of HBP at 6pm. I have tried to get her to eat, but she just keeps licking her lips and everything comes back out of her mouth.

I will puree some tuna and try to get it down her throat. We have an appointment at the ER vet at 8am.

That is the best I can do. I just have to hope/pray she stay stable like she has the past two days, overnight. Her fur looks good and her nose/gums are pink and her eyes are moist.
 
Sending prayers for sweet Calley- hope you can get her in to the vet first thing tomorrow- I hope you can get the Cerenia or Ondansetron and that she will feel better soon.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top