Oral Shock Wound Help

I had a friend babysitting my cat while I was away at work for two days. Last night my friend texted me saying there was something wrong and that my cat was having troubles breathing and walking and there was blood around her mouth. We were unable to get into a vet until this morning, where he told me she bit an electrical cord. He gave me a prescription diet food to syringe feed her and told me to also add unflavored Pedialite to her diet. She is a five pound 8 month calico of sorts. (A craigslist find.)I'm having a hard time getting her to eat with the syringe, every time I try she appears to be choking. I've syringe fed another one of my cats before and she didn't appear to struggle this much. She also can't take in more than a cc of water before she gives up and just let's it run out of her mouth. I've tried mixing the two into an easier consistency and let her lap it off of a plate, but the most she can do is shove her face into it because she can't stick her tongue out. I just need help and advice as to any tips or tricks or ideas as to what I could do to help her. Any insight is appreciated and thank you in advance!

CBrooks21 said:

I had a friend babysitting my cat while I was away at work for two days. Last night my friend texted me saying there was something wrong and that my cat was having troubles breathing and walking and there was blood around her mouth. We were unable to get into a vet until this morning, where he told me she bit an electrical cord. He gave me a prescription diet food to syringe feed her and told me to also add unflavored Pedialite to her diet. She is a five pound 8 month calico of sorts. (A craigslist find.)I'm having a hard time getting her to eat with the syringe, every time I try she appears to be choking. I've syringe fed another one of my cats before and she didn't appear to struggle this much. She also can't take in more than a cc of water before she gives up and just let's it run out of her mouth. I've tried mixing the two into an easier consistency and let her lap it off of a plate, but the most she can do is shove her face into it because she can't stick her tongue out. I just need help and advice as to any tips or tricks or ideas as to what I could do to help her. Any insight is appreciated and thank you in advance!

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hi and welcome to TCS!

i'm so sorry your girl bit an electrical cord, and has been injured. calicos are known for having 'purrsonality plus', being high spirited.

could you try giving your girl just very small amounts at a time from the syringe, both food and water? like you would for a very young/baby kitten -- a very small amount syringed into the side of the mouth in the cheek and let her swallow that, then again and continue. i understand that this will mean it will take some time to make sure she gets enough food and water into her. it may be that your girl isn't able right now to eat and drink any faster, but i'm thinking that over time she should start being able to handle more food/water at a time bit by bit.

it's very important that she eats and drinks enough every day. it can take as little as 2-3 days of not eating or not eating enough for cats to develop hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease, a very serious and many times life threatening disease). if your girl simply isn't able to eat enough in the next day or so, i'd then consult your vet. giving subcutaneous fluids can sometimes temporarily prevent fatty liver disease from developing in some cases. and there are other options that your vet may recommend.

edited to add:  it may very well be that your girl is having a hard time swallowing right now too. try very small amounts of food mixed with enough water to make it more like a liquid and see how she does with that. just one cc at a time or even less to start out with/to see if she can handle that, since you've said she's okay with swallowing that amount of water at a time now. very carefully and syringed into the side of her mouth in the cheek, because you don't want your girl to aspirate (inhale it into her lungs).

Thank you so much for your input. We will continue to try feeding and if she doesn't seem to improve by tomorrow afternoon a vet visit will definitely happen. Thank you so much!

you're welcome!

please let us know how your little girl continues to do.

CBrooks21 said:

Thank you so much for your input. We will continue to try feeding and if she doesn't seem to improve by tomorrow afternoon a vet visit will definitely happen. Thank you so much!

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how is your little girl doing? i wanted to give you several days before checking back on you.

We ended up having to got back to the vet Friday morning and they hospitalized her. Around 5 o clock in the afternoon that day Nola went into arrest and started having labored breathing and the vet tried to save her but she was too far gone and her injuries were a lot worse than they had previously suspected. Thank you for all of the help though, it was much appreciated. Little girl is in a better place and no longer suffering.

@CBrooks21 -- i'm so sorry for your loss.  

Oh, how tragic. My condolences on the loss of your kitten.

I'm very sorry to read this news.  We'll close the thread now out of respect for your loss.  We invite you to place a tribute at http://www.thecatsite.com/f/19/crossing-the-bridge  as an enduring testimony to your kitty.