how to get kitty to eat on his own?

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SpecklesandMe

SpecklesandMe

Member Since 2015
We're in the middle of a bad acute pancreatitis flare. We're syringe feeding Iams Max Calorie and have been doing so since Fri. I've been told that if he starts eating on his own (even a little), his prognosis will be much better. He is on ondans, cypro, pepcid, fentanyl patch, zobaline, B12 shots (weekly), subQ fluid (1x daily or as needed), pancreatic enzyme tablets, and on and off cerenia as needed. Vet says injectable cerenia or famotidine is a no go because he's not vomiting- just nauseated. We should be able to start him on metronidizole this PM for diarrhea.

I'm getting nervous about him not eating on his own. He licks up a little bit of the juices from certain canned cat foods, but doesn't eat the meaty parts. What else can I do? I've opened up cans of all his fav foods, even tried kibble and things he's never had before, but he didn't want any of them. To complicate things a little, he's never had normal cat tastes. He's hated tuna most of his life. Never tried to eat table scraps except ice cream and watermelon. He likes milkly stuff (Catsure), but hasn't been wanting those either in the last few days. He does not like Fortiflora, yogurt, or cheese. Other ideas/thoughts?

I have a feeling that I don't have a good sense of how long people usually have to force feed when there's something like bad pancreatitis going on. How long is "normal" vs. too long? I know he get stressed with the syringe feedings and that makes me feel awful b/c I don't want to aggrevate his condition with more stress.... (The vet says he's not a good candidate for a feeding tube.)

Also, a semi-unrelated question: I think someone on a previous thread said that specfPLI fluctuates throughout a pancr flare. Is it worth running another one to see if it's any lower now? I don't know if that's a good way to know if he's improving or not.
 
I was hoping you'd respond, Larry. So, it can take a while. The vet freaked me out a little by acting like it shouldn't take more than 3 days.
EDIT: Did your kitties end up hating whatever you were force feeding them? Not sure how to avoid food aversion.
 
Cats that are force fed can develop food aversions....if your cat is willing to lick "the juicy part", maybe adding some water to the food and giving it a gravy consistency will get him to eat more

Fancy Feast Broths might be worth a try too...they have a couple of varieties that are "creamy" (if your cat likes milky-stuff) but watch which ones you buy...some are "Complete cat foods" and some are just "Gourmet Cat Compliments"

A/D is a "syringe friendly" canned food available at your vet that works well for force feeding if you can't get him eating if you want to try something other than the Iams Max Calorie

It IS important for your cat to get enough food and feeding tubes have saved a lot of cats lives....and they're actually a lot easier on the cat (and the human) because you're not constantly in a fight to get food into them, so if you can't get him to eat one way or the other, I'd really suggest asking the vet for the feeding tube. They're also a lot less likely to cause any aversion to food since it's going directly into their stomach

Of course I'm throwing carb percentages out the window, but it's more important that your kitty eat than it is to worry about carbs right now
 
I don't think a few days is that long given all that he's dealing with. Some cats do develop food aversions and some don't. ECID. :rolleyes:

I know it stresses him out to be syringe-fed but obviously that's better than him not getting enough food. I'd keep feeding him and not worry about how long you have to do it for now.

I like Chris's idea of adding more water to food and making it more soupy in case he likes that.

I don't think getting the test again would help much. My instinct is that you'll know if he's doing better by how he's behaving. Critter Mom once said that Saiorse didn't test high on the test when she was having a bad flare but she had all the symptoms of being in pain. I think behavior will tell you what you need to know, but that's just my gut talking. Someone else may think differently.

Big hugs.
 
Thanks, Shane and Chris! I don't know why I didn't see your responses til just now.
Two days ago he stopped licking up the juices from the cans too. I think part of it was the nausea meds stopped working for some reason.
These vets are really getting me down. They keep telling me that his quality of life is problematic, the feedings are stressful, that he would have picked up by now if he was going to, etc. etc. I don't want to lose him, but they're acting like I'm being selfish, which isn't fair since the cytology came back negative for cancer twice... so really they're asking me to stop fighting the pancreatitis because it's more severe than average. I've read some other older threads in which other people's cats had ascites with severe pancreatitis too and some do survive. They also keep telling me that he's not a good candidate for hospitalization/tubing because he will stress so much that it will just hurt his chances. I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. I would do anything for him to eat a little on his own.
Around the same time he stopped drinking the juices from the foods, he also started putting his chin in the water bowls. For a while I had thought he'd forgotten that the water bowls existed, and I know it's not a good thing that he's using them as pillows, but he tries to lick the water and then gags. So, I feel like if I could only control the gagging, he would do much better?
 
Hi AJ. I'm in the same boat. If I could control Marshmallow's nausea and gagging then I think she would be much better. She will eat a few bites on her own, but not nearly enough to sustain herself so I'm syringe-feeding her baby food. She hates wet food and she'll tolerate baby food, so whatever works. She gags when I give it to her and I only get a couple of teaspoons/syringes into her at a time. My vet told me this morning that if her nausea doesn't improve in a couple of days, I should add Leukeran, a lymphoma med since she may have lymphoma. If that doesn't work, then it's time to stop treatment. Oooph. It was like a punch in the gut to hear that.

If adding the prilosec doesn't help Speckles, then I would consider if it's worth the risk to have a feeding tube put in. Only you can weigh that, unfortunately. I know what a hard decision it is. Paws crossed that prilosec works for both of our kitties.

Shane
 
I think it's worth getting a 2nd opinion if you can....Feeding tubes can REALLY work miracles, and once they're placed, they are much easier to deal with than syringe feeding
 
Although I will never know what caused the situation I am about to describe, I thought it was pertinent because of the syringe feeding. When I was in my last year of law school, actually the summer before, I adopted an older cat. 9 years old to be exact, and she had been at the shelter for over a year! For the first week I had her, this cat ate nothing! Not one thing! I took her to vet, who checked her over including her liver (worried about hepatic lipidosis), and he said that if I hadn't told him she wasn't eating, he would say I had a perfectly healthy cat. He wanted to do exploratory surgery, insert a stomach tube, etc., etc. Obviously only having her for a week and getting ready to start back to school, the finances weren't there. I couldn't imagine giving her up, but couldn't imagine spending that kind of money on a cat I just adopted. I asked the vet what my other options were, and he suggested syringe feeding. I did that with one of the Hills prescription food for two months! I was supposed to be doing two large syringes three times a day. But I got to thinking, if she keeps getting this much, she isn't going to be hungry and won't eat. So I started cutting back. I actually got down to one syringe every other day. I realize that sounds horrible, but I thought, maybe she really does have something going on healthwise and I am just delaying it and torturing her. After about a week of the every other day feeding, she woke me up one morning, just yelling at me! As I got up, she ran in the kitchen, sat down by her empty bowl and continued to yell at me. From that time on, for the next five years, she ate like a pig, and was the most loving cat.
 
Have you tried baby food, like all chicken or turkey, not the ones with noodles or veggies in them. My cat Sug, GA, would eat baby food when all else failed. Hoping your kittie is better soon.

:bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Try a good 15-20 minutes of active play before feeding to see if that may help - it may trigger the hunt-catch-eat-clean-sleep behavior pattern in your cat.
 
It's not likely he will want to play if he's feeling so sick.

We've had several cats in this forum over the years get e-tubes for feeding. I was trying to find the great posts that helped Violet manage it with Garland as they were very detailed. Garland had DKA and hepatic lipidosis and Violet pulled her through with the e-tube feeding. Garland did get back to eating in her own. Unfortunately, when the board changed last year, it made it so not all of those old posts can be retrieved. I found some but not the really helpful ones.

Speckles would have to be strong enough to tolerate anesthesia. I have had a cat that had a stomach tube but now they use the e-tubes and it's not nearly as invasive. We tube fed him for four months (he had liver cancer) and he would eat on his own at times.

If you can control the nausea, he can be syringe fed for a very long time. In fact, if I remember correctly, the lady that made that great assist feeding video syringe fed that kitty with advanced CKD for over a year. It makes it hard on you but if he's willing to let you do it and you get enough calories in him, you can maintain him for longer than three days. It's just finding the food that works. Some people have used Recovery, some a/d, some Iams Max calorie because it's very high in calories and low carb. The e-tube makes it a little easier because you can feed him what he needs and not worry about whether it will make him gag or he will fight you over the taste of it.
 
Another vote for the e-tube. One of my civvies had oral cancer, and at the advice of the veterinarian, I had a feeding tube placed while she was sedated for a biopsy of the tumor. Never had a cat with a feeding tube before, but it made giving meds and getting enough food into her to keep her strong *so* much easier. I highly recommend it.
 
I've had two cats with etubes and highly recommend them. Chase only had his for about a week before he was eating on his own and pulled it out. Lily has had hers for three months (until she pulled it out tonight -grrrr!). It is so simple to medicate them, and feeding is so much less stressful for both of you than syringe feeding. When I get the vet to put Lily's back in hopefully tomorrow, should I ask for a two for one deal? :-)
 
Larry and Kitties said:
I adopter one and fostered another cat from a shelter that were not eating. I syringe feed then for about two months before they ate on their own.
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SpecklesandMe said:
We're in the middle of a bad acute pancreatitis flare. We're syringe feeding Iams Max Calorie and have been doing so since Fri. I've been told that if he starts eating on his own (even a little), his prognosis will be much better. He is on ondans, cypro, pepcid, fentanyl patch, zobaline, B12 shots (weekly), subQ fluid (1x daily or as needed), pancreatic enzyme tablets, and on and off cerenia as needed. Vet says injectable cerenia or famotidine is a no go because he's not vomiting- just nauseated. We should be able to start him on metronidizole this PM for diarrhea.

I'm getting nervous about him not eating on his own. He licks up a little bit of the juices from certain canned cat foods, but doesn't eat the meaty parts. What else can I do? I've opened up cans of all his fav foods, even tried kibble and things he's never had before, but he didn't want any of them. To complicate things a little, he's never had normal cat tastes. He's hated tuna most of his life. Never tried to eat table scraps except ice cream and watermelon. He likes milkly stuff (Catsure), but hasn't been wanting those either in the last few days. He does not like Fortiflora, yogurt, or cheese. Other ideas/thoughts?

I have a feeling that I don't have a good sense of how long people usually have to force feed when there's something like bad pancreatitis going on. How long is "normal" vs. too long? I know he get stressed with the syringe feedings and that makes me feel awful b/c I don't want to aggrevate his condition with more stress.... (The vet says he's not a good candidate for a feeding tube.)

Also, a semi-unrelated question: I think someone on a previous thread said that specfPLI fluctuates throughout a pancr flare. Is it worth running another one to see if it's any lower now? I don't know if that's a good way to know if he's improving or not.
Click to expand...
Almost 2 years ago, my kitty stopped eating and his vet talked me into letting an etube be put in, so he could get nourishment until a diagnosis was made. I am so glad he convinced me to do that. It took almost a month for him to be diagnosed with lymphoma and another month and a half for him to go into remission. After having it it in for almost 3 months, the vet had to convince me to let them remove it, because he had started eating on his own and didn't need it. Initially, I was very nervous about tube feeding him, but after a few times, it becomes an easy routine. It also made it much easier to administer his meds because almost all of them were given in liquid form and went right down the tube. The etube saved his life. My vet was very clear with me...he doesn't believe in etubes if it's just to prolong life without the cat having any quality of life but it gave him time to be diagnosed and for the treatment to kick in. I thought I was going to lose him that winter. At the end of this Oct, it will be 2 years since that horrible week he stopped eating. Last Dec 29, was his last chemo treatment and he just had an ultrasound last week. There's no sign of it returning. The etube saved his life. It's not a major procedure and it would give you time to get your kitty back on an even keel.
 
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