How to syringe feed?

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ericam724

Member Since 2013
Hi all:

We are almost two weeks post-diagnosis (following a DKA episode and UTI). Macy is on 1unit of Lantus twice per day currently and we are scheduled to go see the vet on Monday for a glucose curve. I haven't started home-testing yet but plan on doing so after seeing the vet on Monday. Currently, we have the prescription diabetic kibble for the cats to free-feed from (we have 3 cats) and I am trying to switch over to wet food, but Macy has made that quite the challenge. We've tried several flavors of Friskies and other various brands. She will seem to like one on the first feeding and then not want to eat it again. I've got a number of other brands for her to try as well. She'll take a couple of licks and then start scratching on the floor next to the bowl and walk away.

I feel like she has lost some weight over the last week and doesn't seem to be eating the new dry food as much as she should. Since I'm not home testing yet, I don't know what her BG numbers are. I can absolutely be paranoid and over-analyzing it too - just want her to be OK! I'm wondering if I should try getting her to eat using the syringe (although I can only guess half of it will be spat out onto the floor) until we can get to the vet on Monday and see what her numbers are. I'm wondering if perhaps the 1unit of Lantus isn't enough and she needs more to stabilize her? confused_cat

Any suggestions on when syringe feeding is recommended? What is the best way to do it so the cat actually eats it and doesn't just spit it all out?

Thanks in advance from a worried cat mom! @-)
Erica
 
Sometimes if your cat is still at that thirsty stage, you can appeal to it by making the food really soupy with water. I transitioned a di-hard dry food addict who also loved the water bowl. When I put the soupy food next to the water bowl, she chose the soupy food instead and never touched the water bowl or dry food again.

There are some good videos on syringe feeding. I am sure the site Larry suggested will have links to these. It's messy. I only had to do it when my cats got Upper Respiratory Infections. The warm, sloshy baby food in the syringe felt good on their throats.

Good luck.
 
Erica,
I believe you're running into the same issue that lots of cats have - they don't know HOW to eat soft food. If you watch a cat eat hard food, they are able to flick the hard food into their mouths with their rough tongue. They don't actually ever bite it to get it in their mouths. The soft food doesn't work that way - they can't flick it into their mouths. After a few tries, they decide that must NOT be food because it refuses to be 'flicked'...or it's just plain too much trouble. They never try to 'bite' the food to eat it because they've never learned. They also could NOT eat a mouse! They have no idea what to do other than play with it. KT didn't know how to eat soft food either - when he actually took his first 'bite', the look on his face was PRICELESS! Try giving Macy something that's a 'chunk' like a small piece of chicken. She won't know what to do with it first, will usually try to lick it but if you can convince her to actually bite it, you're starting to head in the right direction.

I know - people look at me like I have 2 heads when I say lots of cats don't know how to eat soft food but I guarantee you I don't have 2 heads...and I'm not VERY crazy.... :-D :-D

BIG HUGS!
 
Squeaky and KT said:
I know - people look at me like I have 2 heads when I say lots of cats don't know how to eat soft food but I guarantee you I don't have 2 heads...and I'm not VERY crazy.... :-D :-D
Click to expand...

I agree with you so maybe I also have two heads. :lol: Henry, who was fed dry food before I got him at 4 months old and is still a dry food addict (he sneaks the neighbors' cats' food all the time), slurps up the wet food like it's water and crunches and munches on his freeze-dried treats. Mikey, who never had a problem transitioning to wet at 6 months old and never looked back, now has no recollection of what to do with his freeze-dried treats and licks them to death...or until Henry steals them away.

Chunkier food is the way to go at first to help them realize it's edible. :lol:
 
Hi all:

Thanks so much for the wise words and encouragement! The syringe feeding went more smoothly than I thought. My most worrisome point now is that I don't think she is eating the dry food either (even though the wet is better, I would prefer she want to eat something rather than nothing!) and her poor appetite overall. I'm hoping that the vet visit on Monday goes well and she tells me something positive or helpful!

Have a great weekend all.

Erica
 
While you work on the food change, you might pick up one of these 3 dry, low carb foods:

Evo Cat and Kitten - pet supply stores or online
Stella and Chewey's freeze dried - pet supply stores or online
Young Again 0 Carb (5% the way we calculate it; internet only)

And take a look at my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools. While less precise than blood glucose testing, they are helpful in assessing your cat's health.
 
just to give you the link... for the online dry food.
Young Again zero carb dry food

It seems expensive But... they don't need to eat as much since it doesn't have all the added fillers of most dry food. After the initial break in, most cats only eat 2 Tablespoons a day.

Good luck on the food transition.
 
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