Need force feeding advice, please.

How can I get all this lanky cat into a little ball o' towel? Methods, please?

Should I be making sure she swallows by rubbing her throat? (It's so bony... it's so sad.... I'm afraid to touch it.)

Or is just getting food in her mouth until she starts smacking/licking good enough? Does that mean she's swallowing some?

How often? I'm trying to do it every four hours. Though I'd keep her in my lap 24/7 if I could just make the towel thing work.

Is it possible to feed or water her TOO much?

And OT, any advice on how to keep her entertained while she's locked in a windowless bathroom? (Too many unaccessable places to hide between feedings otherwise!) She looks too quietly sick to play, but I want to at least give her something interesting.

Thanks everyone, for all your help. I was frantic today because the internet was down and I couldn't get on to read more advice.

Kitty is very much less yellow now! It looks better.... I'm praying.....

Take a popsicle stick or a tounge depresser and scoop up some food on the end. Then open her mouth like you were going to give meds and scrape... stick it to the roof of her mouth like peanutbutter. I'm certainly no expert but I saw this firsthand and it was the first time I got the cat to swallow food after a few days of not eating. I found that non eating cats might begin eating after they get stuff moving down the throat. It almost seems as if they forget thay can. Try different foods. Try fancy feast Sardine. I think they eat with their nose. She'll be able to smell-taste that for sure.

Please go to this website: www.assistfeed.com

It was an invaluable help to me when I first started assist-feeding (not *force* feeding!).

Since your kitty is so thin, get some Max Cal which is an almost liquid- consistency wet food made by Eukanuba. Vets sell it and it's made for tube and assist feeding. Though I'm not crazy about some of the ingredients, it saved my cat's life when she wouldn't eat on her own and had lost too much weight.

Don't rub your kitty's throat to get her to swallow, or try to close her mouth in an effort to get her to swallow. It will just make her uncomfortable and upset if you do that. However, if she won't swallow *anything* on her own, you should speak with your vet about a feeding tube ASAP.

The least invasive kind of feeding tube (there are 3 that I know of) is one that goes through a nostril into the throat. My little guy had one for just a short time since it "jump started" appetite and willingness to eat on his own and it can be easily removed by the vet. Cats can still be given the opportunity to eat on their own as well even with the tube in place.

If your kitty is nauseous, ask your vet about Reglan or other anti-vomiting meds.

As far as being in the bathroom, just make her as comfortable as possible. Make sure it's warm but not excessively hot, and give her her favorite blanket or kitty bed, along with fresh water. Since she's not up to playing, the best thing you can do is spend time with her - if she's a lap kitty let her rest on your lap, or just stay with her and read a book while petting her to keep her company.

Wishing you and your kitty lots of good luck. Hope she feels better soon. Please let us know how she's doing.

Originally Posted by livedeeply

How can I get all this lanky cat into a little ball o' towel? Methods, please?

Should I be making sure she swallows by rubbing her throat? (It's so bony... it's so sad.... I'm afraid to touch it.)

Or is just getting food in her mouth until she starts smacking/licking good enough? Does that mean she's swallowing some?

How often? I'm trying to do it every four hours. Though I'd keep her in my lap 24/7 if I could just make the towel thing work.

Is it possible to feed or water her TOO much?

And OT, any advice on how to keep her entertained while she's locked in a windowless bathroom? (Too many unaccessable places to hide between feedings otherwise!) She looks too quietly sick to play, but I want to at least give her something interesting.

Thanks everyone, for all your help. I was frantic today because the internet was down and I couldn't get on to read more advice.

Kitty is very much less yellow now! It looks better.... I'm praying.....

Click to expand...

Glad to hear she is much less yellow! That's how it was when I brought Jake home too! Did the vet give you a syringe to feed her with? If not, you can get one at the pharmacy or store that is for giving babies medicine. Syringe feeding is much less expensive then tube feeding. (you'd have to pay the vet to insert the tube.) The opening should be big enough. Puree' the food in a blender or with a blender stick in some water. I used nutrical high cal gel in the food too. I wanted Jake to pack on some pounds quickly! All I did to feed Jake was to sit him next to me on the sofa (I put a towel under him), or on my lap. I'd open the mouth and put the syringe in off to the side of the mouth. Then just slowly push in some food. It should take at least several minutes to get the food in if it is a small 5-10cc syringe. I think your cat is going to be fine as long as you can keep his appetite stimulated. aFter I syringe fed Jake for a little over a week, he was eating quite a bit on his own from his bowl. So I cut back on the syringe feedings to 1-2 times a day.

Best tip I learned from Kandies assist feeding episode was have a 35 or 60 cc syringe... that way you can get most canned foods thru the tip... My vet gave me that one and boy did it help

One other question:

She's grinding her teeth. Should I be worried?

It's... when I feed her, it's really watered-down wet food. And she licks, and then I hear clicks, and then grinding. I've figured out that it's her front fangs rubbing together. Happens on one side or the other. Is this normal for assist feeding? Is she ...giving herself something to chew?

I can't remember why they do that, but Spot used to do that too when I would force feed them. You may want to try brushing any remaining food out of the space between her teeth and her lips/cheeks--it may be an irritant to her.

i don't completely know the background info on your cat (just picked up this thread), pp suggested what I did when I was assist feeding a foster kitten, taking wet food, water, and a high calorie supplements and making a thin paste, sucking it up with the syringe and squirting small amounts in her mouth. I did this for 30 min. every 2-3 hours with my foster, but she was only a couple weeks old.

Also, if you're having to assist feed your cat, have your vet show you how to test to see if it's dehyrated (really it's just pulling up some of the scruff and seeing how quickly it returns to normal). If dehydration is a concern, your vet can show you how to inject fluids.

GL and please keep us posted!

just stumbled into this thread and am looking at the website-assistefeed.com- this came at a perfect time