Feeding Tube Question - UPDATE She's home!

[BobsMom]

My civvie Lola has been in the hospital with FLD and she will be coming home today and she will have a feeding tube attached. I am out of the house from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm. The Dr feels that as long as she is getting the proper calories feeding times should not be a problem. I am willing to get up during the night to feed her.

Has anybody had this problem and how did you handle it.

BTW - she is a mean kitty and I can not have someone come in and feed her because she can get nasty, when people come into my home she hides and if she does encounter them she hisses and runs away.

Thanks,
Nancy

 

[Gail & Houdini (GA)]

Re: Feeding Tube Question

Reagan had a feeding tube and I fed him every 8 hours because I couldn't give him more than 50cc's at a time or he threw up. I was always scared he would throw up the feeding tube. Also you have to flush the feeding tube with 10 cc's of water before and after. (The 50 cc's was a slurry of 30 cc's water to 1 can of AD) So with the water and food it was a lot for his tummy to hold.

I had no problems feeding him and left some food out just in case he felt like eating on his own. The tube was positioned so that he couldn't get at it so we didn't need the E collar. He is so laid back and he was on some good drugs so it was a breeze.

 

[Traci and Boomer]

Re: Feeding Tube Question

My cat Biscuit had a feeding tube. I couldn't over feed him or he'd throw up. Unfortunately I had work hours similar to yours and I'd try to get enough in him before I left for work which usually resulted in vomiting. It was a tough time for me. The best case scenario would have been if he could be fed little amounts throughout the day but in my case I didn't have that set up.

On a positive note....I've heard many successful feeding tube stories so I don't want to alarm you. Hopefully someone else will have some good ideas for you.

 

[Karen & Smokey(GA)]

Re: Feeding Tube Question

Any chance you can take your kitty to work with you ?

Or set up your car so he can stay in the car during the day and you can
come out to feed her ?

Takes quite a bit of planning and set-up. Is Lola comfortable in the car.

You need a litter box for her, water dish, warm bed...only works if the weather
is not too hot or cold where you are right now.

 

[Violet and Garland]

Re: Feeding Tube Question

Garland had a feeding tube for a month. I kept her closed off in the master closet attached bathroom so i could get to her easily. She had her litter box in there too. She was sooo sick w FHL she couldnt really move much.

I had to feed her 30cc every 3 hours through her tube. If you feed them too much or too fast they will throw up. Its really dangerous if they throw up bc they can choke on it or move their tube. It was very time consuming in the beginning but worth it.

I would blend her food in the blender with some clinicare and keep it all in the fridge. Bring out what i needed for each feed and warm it to room temperature. I used my baby bottle warmer, but im sure a microwave would work too. just a few seconds.

Afterwards, i would flush w 10 cc of water to clear the tube. I also recompend getting the KittyKollar from KittyKollar.com. SO much better than the bandages.

If you cant feed during the day, then it means a lot of late nights for you. Maybe even feeding every 2-2.5 hours to make sure the calories are met...

Let me know if you have any questions. I am all to familiar w tube feeding! good luck! PS Garland acts like shes never been sick! the tube (and the people here on the board) saved her life

 

[BobsMom]

Re: Feeding Tube Question

Thanks for all of your advice and good ideas. She is getting 28ml 4x a day of A/D. along with clavamox twice a day, pepcid and anti nausea once a day.

Feedings are at 7:00 pm, 10:30 pm, 2:00 am and 5:50 am. Per the Dr., this is fine. It was really the best I could do. I can not take her to work because I work in the city and use mass transit.

However, when feed her she growls and tries to run away. She is also drooling, which is understandable. She is not really a pleasant kitty, but I am trying to find a way to at least make this tolerable for her.

She is spending her days in my bedroom, with food, water and litterbox. If anyone has any stories about how long their kitties were on the feeding tube due to fatty liver disease, I would appreciate hearing.

Thanks,
Nancy

 

[Violet and Garland]

Every cat is different. Some may need a tube longer or shorter than another. Garland had her tube in for a month. The last week of that she was eating pretty much on her own, but I kept the tube in "just in case". But the first 2 -3 weeks she was strictly tube fed. after that she slowly started eating on her own, so I was able to tube feed her less and less every few days until she didnt need it anymore.

If you click on my spreadsheet link in my signature, you can see all her feeds I did through the tube. I started writing down her feeds august 23rd (the 2nd week)