No Tongue cat

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stormyskyes

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we have a cat mixed Maine Coon ragdoll
took him to the vet Monday and come to find out he had a tumor on his tongue we had to get removed.... he has no tongue that will come out of his mouth and it's about smaller than your pinky length. other than him losing weight before we found a tumor there is nothing else wrong with him besides the eye infection we got cleared up... I don't know how much to feed him how much water to feed him.... he sits there and stares at me over his water bowl it makes me feel so sad. I am a single mother my boys are going to their dads for the summer so its just me trying to take care of this cat I work full time.... any help would be greatly appreciated I attached two pictures of how we have it set up and a bottle of how I'm trying to give him water

 

einzmer

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What about feeding him canned food only? That way he may not even need to use the water bowl and you don't have to worry about dripping water into his mouth. My male cat is on 75% canned 25% raw  now and he never uses the water bowl anymore.

It was a pain to drip antibiotics into my cat's mouth when he had UTI. I had to do it very slowly so he won't choke. He didn't like it when I opened his mouth and stuck the syringe in. I imagine it would be a pain to drip water down his throat and not have him trying to get away.
 
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stormyskyes

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I do give him can food and he tries to eat it....I tried giving him two throughout the day and then one I leave out at night while I go to bed...just in case he gets hungry

but is that too much


 

einzmer

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Maybe it would be better if the feed food is fed on a wider bowl like in the first picture in your first post. Also cut up the wet food into small kibble-shaped pieces so they can learn to grab the food with their lips or front teeth. (This is how my cat puts the small-bites raw food into his mouth. Otherwise he just licks if it is mushed.) You may need to hand feed the cat or maybe put a small kibble shaped ball of wet food in your hand to feed him and he may learn how to grab it without a tongue.

About the 2 cans thing, it depends on the size of the can and the brand of food. I'm not sure how much to feed Maine Coon Ragdolls. My cats usually eats 5.5 - 6 oz of canned, around 200 calories.
 
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stormyskyes

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yeah he likes the canned food better on a paper plate...so that's what I've been doing I found some cute little square paper plates that have a little bit of a lip that way it won't slide off....
 

einzmer

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Oh another suggestion would be to feed the chunky canned cat food. It may make him learn how to use his lips/front teeth to grab food easier or quicker.
 
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mrsgreenjeens

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Wow, that's a new one on me, since cat's use their tongues to scoop up their food.  What did the Vet say you should do about trying to feed him and water him?. 

I know you could get nourishment into him using a (needleless) syringe, which would also get enough liquid in him that he wouldn't need to drink, but that doesn't seem like a viable lifelong solution. Or you could get a feeding tube installed, but again, that's not normally a lifetime deal.  Gosh, I really don't know what to think, but maybe someone will come along with a great idea.  Or maybe he IS able to eat and you're just wondering about the drinking part?   When you asked how much water to feed him, if he's going to get canned food, he won't need much water, but if he's going to get dry food, then he'll need minimum one half cup of water a day. 

 So you are going to have to become his daily groomer also.  Too bad he's a long hair vs short hair.  You may want to think about keeping his back end cut short. 

 

artiemom

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I cannot add any advice, but I wanted to send you good wishes and lots of love and luck with this kitty...

poor baby...(((hugs)))
 

mrsgreenjeens

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I totally agree that you need a larger food dish so she can get her face all the way down to the food without her whiskers touching the edge.  But I slightly disagree about cutting it up into pieces.  Some cats will bite at a pate if it's in a pile straight out of the can...others will lick it...it just depends on the cat.  Your cat is going to have to learn somehow.  What did the Vet suggest, BTW. 

After I read your post I watched my cats to see what they do.  When I feed freeze dried treats (comparable to large pieces of kibble, tow of them actually pick it up with their teeth rather than their tongue.  If the pieces are small, one will still use his teeth to pick it up, the other two will lick it up.  SO....you might try some of the large sized kibble, like the food for oral care, IF the canned food isn't working out.  BUT, not knowing how well her tongue is working inside her mouth, keep a very good eye on her to make sure she is able to chew it before swallowing.  AND, obviously, if you feed kibble, you will definitely need to give her plenty of water....up to a cup a day! 
 
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stormyskyes

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there is no tongue for him to work.... :(
and by me cleaning out the litter box it doesn't look like he is using the bathroom at all if he is I don't know where it is...his bottom is clean... I try to use baby wipes on him when I can if not then I always have a washcloth nearby....and I figured I will start giving him a bath every 3 days just to make sure.


**update**

took Simon to vet for a weigh in...

July 1 = 9lbs
July 8 = today 9lbs 1oz

WTH

62....well 75ish cans of wet food since Friday at 4pm......and one freaking ounce!!!!!! that is alot of wet food --- what am I doing wrong? and I feel like I am starving him.....I think I'm going to take him back in on Saturday morning and weigh him again.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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there is no tongue for him to work....

and by me cleaning out the litter box it doesn't look like he is using the bathroom at all if he is I don't know where it is...his bottom is clean... I try to use baby wipes on him when I can if not then I always have a washcloth nearby....and I figured I will start giving him a bath every 3 days just to make sure.


**update**

took Simon to vet for a weigh in...

July 1 = 9lbs
July 8 = today 9lbs 1oz

WTH

62....well 75ish cans of wet food since Friday at 4pm......and one freaking ounce!!!!!! that is alot of wet food --- what am I doing wrong? and I feel like I am starving him.....I think I'm going to take him back in on Saturday morning and weigh him again.
Well, to me, any weight gain is good news, because that means he IS able to get some food in, and enough to not LOSE weight, so I take that as a sign that he is learning how to eat with no tongue. Honestly, I think it's pretty good NOT to have lost weight
.

But what is extremely worrisome is no output.  When you took him in for his weight check, did they do an exam as well?  I just wonder if they checked to see if he was constipated?  I'm thinking that's entirely possible, since he can't drink.  And I guess it's hard to add extra water to his food since he can't lick it
  Are you giving him any water via that baby bottle? 

I thought you said he has a very short tongue INSIDE his mouth, doesn't he? If he doesn't, wondering how he can even manipulate the water from the baby bottle, or any pieces of food


Now, as to those 75ish cans of food, I can see how you've gone thru those since Friday, but most of that food has been wasted, hasn't it?  From the picture, it seems most of it ends up on the the towels and probably gets tossed, doesn't it?  You don't have to give him an entire can all at once, and if you're away from home all day, it's probably best NOT to if it's going to sit out and dry up.  You can always refrigerate it and then slightly warm it in the microwave later (I set it on defrost for 5 seconds, then stir) I only give my 13 lb guy 1.5 - 2 oz per meal, depending on the food.  BTW, are those new paper plates you got for him dullish, or shiny?  Just wondering if the food slides on it.  I find my cats who pick up the pieces with their teeth do better if the food doesn't slide around, so on a dull surface.  (I've seen some new paper plates though that almost look like plastic)  You might want to just go with the cheapest paper plate and see what happens.  They are bigger too, probably.  (no lip though)

SO....what has the Vet advised for all of this?  I don't think you are doing anything wrong.  Don't think there is a right or wrong in this situation.  I think this is probably new territory for everyone and  you've just got to experiment until you find what works best. 

Oh, BTW, once he does start pottying, they actually make "cat wipes" which are similar to baby wipes but wouldn't have anything in them which might irritate his behind.    But besides from cleaning his backend, I'm thinking he'll need brushing each and every day, as you know 30% of a cats day is grooming. 
 
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stormyskyes

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talked to vet this morning and she said since he did not lose weight and actually put on an ounce that is considered good
keep doing what I'm doing..and bring him again Monday to get him weighed and checked out to see if his bladder is full or intestines are backed up....

but this food has been out since 6p.m. and it is now 1 a.m. he has not touched it.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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talked to vet this morning and she said since he did not lose weight and actually put on an ounce that is considered good
keep doing what I'm doing..and bring him again Monday to get him weighed and checked out to see if his bladder is full or intestines are backed up....

but this food has been out since 6p.m. and it is now 1 a.m. he has not touched it.
I guess you mentioned you had not seen ANY pee or poop?  I'm surprised they want to wait until Monday to check him. 

When was the last time he ate anything before that 6 p.m. food that he didn't eat.  Has he eaten since?  I wouldn't leave canned food out for too long.  7 hours is a long time...it can start to dry out on top and get crusty, AND start to develop bacteria, just like human food left out after a couple of hours, especially if it's hot.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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Is there any update on your furbaby?  How is he doing?  Is he getting better, adapting to his situation? 
 
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stormyskyes

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we ended up having to put him down because he ended up losing 2 pounds in a week......he will always have a place in our family.
[emoji]128557[/emoji][emoji]128546[/emoji]
he ended up losing a total of 11 pounds.
 

betsygee

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I am so sorry to read this update.  On behalf of the TCS Team, we offer our condolences.  We will lock this thread now out of respect for your loss.  If you wish, you are welcome to post a tribute to your kitty in our Crossing the Bridge forum:  http://www.thecatsite.com/f/19/crossing-the-bridge
 
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