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Can anyone help me? What's wrong with my cat - Page 2

post #31 of 37
3/9/10 at 3:40pm
My mum has had to do force feeding on her kitties before like that
She has two persians (mom and son) and they both developed kidney stones within like a month of each other and the son got very ill after his operation...he is a picky eater as is so she had to force feed him until he was feeling better enough to eat on his own

Even now she has to hand feed him to encourage him to eat as he is a very picky eater and has started having seizures in his old age so when he's not feeling well she has to physically stuff food in his face to encourage him to eat

If Cat is not drinking enough then you can syringe feed her water as well...this is what I do with my CRF cat when she's not drinking properly...she doesn't much like it but its better than her being sick!
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post #32 of 37
3/11/10 at 11:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KyleV View Post
Has anyone had to do aggressive feeding? The vet said she should do about a can a day, she hasn't been doing anywhere near that, been wasting alot of food, now I've switched over to the syringe. Making a gruel paste and feeding her that way, I just wrap her up in a towel and make her eat, hate doing it but that's the only other option besides the feeding tube, so she's going to need some tough love now.
Bless you for taking such good care of her!

I have had to syringe feed several cats. What works best for me is using a blender (I bought a cheap one just for this) to smooth/liquidfy the wet cat food. It doesn't sound like it would work, but it DOES. It makes it really easy to get the food into a syringe. Ask the vet if it would be ok to add KMR to her food for the extra vitamins/calories, and also ask about Nurti-Cal. If the vet says ok you can just add these to the food by blending it up. You can get syringes from your vet or a pet catalog, make sure it's the ones without needles though. I try to get the biggest syringes I can for force feeding. That way I don't have to stop and refill the syringe so many times because it is hard to hold a wiggly cat & refill a syringe at the same time, lol. You can PM me if you have any questions, or just ask here.

Good luck with the feedings, it's not fun but sometimes you have no other choice. I hope she has a speedy recovery!
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post #33 of 37
3/16/10 at 1:30pm
I think "aggressive feeding" is cruel! As long as she is eating, and you are giving her lots of brothy stuff, tuna juice etc. she is better off not being traumatized by being forced to eat.
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post #34 of 37
3/16/10 at 2:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChristinaCat View Post
I think "aggressive feeding" is cruel! As long as she is eating, and you are giving her lots of brothy stuff, tuna juice etc. she is better off not being traumatized by being forced to eat.
Sometimes aggressive feeding is the only solution. It is certainly not fun. I did it with Speedboat trying my best to get food in him. Hang in there and know that we are all pulling for you and your cat.
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post #35 of 37
3/16/10 at 8:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KyleV
The vet said she should do about a can a day, she hasn't been doing anywhere near that, been wasting alot of food, now I've switched over to the syringe. Making a gruel paste and feeding her that way, I just wrap her up in a towel and make her eat, hate doing it but that's the only other option besides the feeding tube, so she's going to need some tough love now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChristinaCat View Post
I think "aggressive feeding" is cruel! As long as she is eating, and you are giving her lots of brothy stuff, tuna juice etc. she is better off not being traumatized by being forced to eat.
Christina, I understand what you are saying. It does seem like it's overkill force feeding a cat. But what you may not know is that a cat can die if it doesn't eat in 3 days, they get liver issues. Her vet said a can a day for this cat, and the cat is not eating much at all. If she did nothing this cat would get very weak and sick. If your cat was weak and not eating, what would you do? I doubt that you would just let it starve to death. When I take a cat that will not eat to the vet, they tell me to force feed. Cats have to eat, even if they don't want to. I know you mean well, I really do.





KyleV, are there any updates? Is she eating on her own yet? Many for you and her.

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post #36 of 37
3/16/10 at 8:54pm
Force feeding in cats is not ideal, but when necessary, it's just that, necessary. Espcially with liver complications. If it's severe enough, the vet may even need to place a feeding tube. That's why force feeding is so important if you can't get the kitty to eat.

Okie
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post #37 of 37
3/17/10 at 12:03am
Any update on this kitty?
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