oh my goodness i'm just starting to read this thread i'm soo sorry to hear your cat is soo sick but i'm glad to hear she's improving a little at a time. I have no advice to offer but I will put you both in my thoughts and lots of for you guys!
Thanks for the heads up. I called Tucker's regular Vet today, and they said that I can check if she is hydrated by pulling on her skin and see if it snaps back. I guess they are talking about on the back of her neck where you can scruff her? They said that if it doesn't snap back, she is dehydrated, and I should give her the full 100ML. If you could elaborate on this for me, I would greatly appreciate it, as I am a little lost with it. But yes, I think I am at the point where she is getting a full can's worth of food a day, and she drinks just a little bit of water on her own. When I mix the food I assist her with, I add just a little bit of water with it in a coffee cup, and than I sit the cup in a pot of hot water to warm it slighlty.This morning she almost ate on her own. She sniffed and licked some hard food I offered her, and took a couple of little licks of some rice pudding I offered.Originally Posted by the_food_lady
Hi Jamey,
When I had to assist feed my old CRF kitty (for months!), she'd often make a grinding noise with her teeth/mouth, don't know why.
You may want to talk to the Vet about your plan to give her 100cc's of subq fluids until she's up and about; for a cat who doesn't have kidney failure, that's an awful lot of fluids and there is a risk that you could overhydrate her; overhydration puts a great strain on the heart, can put a cat into congestive heart failure, cause fluid build-up around the lungs, etc. Even with a kitty who has kidney failure, you don't give fluids unless the "fluid pouch" from the previous session has all been absorbed (meaning: when you give fluids, it falls with gravity and usually settles in a leg or down their side). Also, your kitty's potassium was definitely on the low end of normal while in hospital. The more fluids you give, the more she will lose (pee out) and low potassium causes lethargy and profound muscle weakness and can negatively impact the heart.
If you're getting a full day's worth of canned food into her via assist feeding, she shouldn't really require extra subq fluids, definitely not more than 50cc's per day.
[font=verdana,arial][font=verdana,arial] To evaluate for dehydration, feel your cat's gums. They should be moist and slippery. Lift the skin over the nape of his neck or scruff; it should fall back down right away. In the dehydrated cat, the gums will be tacky and the skin over the neck will stand up like a tent or fall very slowly back to normal. Weight loss of a pound or two over a day or so also signals dehydration.[/font][/font]