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- Oct 17, 2015
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My cat ("Small Cat") has the dreaded Fatty Liver Disease and I think she's in the late stages of it in that she has jaundice. I keep having questions pop into my head that I want to ask the vet but I have to wait until Monday to ask them so I'm getting a little antsy. I started treating her for it as of Wednesday.
I am force feeding her via syringe 1/3 a can of the Hill's A/D wet food per feeding session and I dilute it to get a slurry consistency that way she can get a little moisture into her body. She eats about 80% of it before she starts spitting the food out - her way of saying that she's done. She holds the food down quite well and will only vomit occasionally. The problem is that I don't think I'm feeding her enough. Based on the Hill's website she should be getting 1.5 cans of food based on her weight and I'm lucky if I can get 2/3 of a can of into her a day based on the scarcity of free time that I have - work seems to be getting in the way. I'm up at 4:45 to feed her and then I'm off to work and the next opportunity I get to feed her is at 4pm, if I'm lucky. I'm in bed by 8:45pm. Even on normal days I get worried about feeding her around 4 pm and then around 8 pm - those feeding sessions seem to be too close together so I only feed her once when I get home - I don't want her to vomit. Other times I get home later than that - sometimes 6pm - so there's definitely not enough time to squeeze in two feeding sessions.
My first question is there is any benefit in waking up in the middle of the night to feed her so that I can be sure that she's getting enough food or is that a bad idea?
The other problem I have is that she is dehydrated. Not dangerously dehydrated. When her skin is pulled, it takes a second or two for it to return to its original state so I know she is a little dehydrated. I have seen her drink water occasionally (I'm not a helicopter dad and I have two pugs who also share the water bowl so I don't know who drinks what) but I'm wondering: should I invest in an IV kit just to be extra sure that she's hydrated or is the fact that she is at least drinking without coaxing good enough?
I am force feeding her via syringe 1/3 a can of the Hill's A/D wet food per feeding session and I dilute it to get a slurry consistency that way she can get a little moisture into her body. She eats about 80% of it before she starts spitting the food out - her way of saying that she's done. She holds the food down quite well and will only vomit occasionally. The problem is that I don't think I'm feeding her enough. Based on the Hill's website she should be getting 1.5 cans of food based on her weight and I'm lucky if I can get 2/3 of a can of into her a day based on the scarcity of free time that I have - work seems to be getting in the way. I'm up at 4:45 to feed her and then I'm off to work and the next opportunity I get to feed her is at 4pm, if I'm lucky. I'm in bed by 8:45pm. Even on normal days I get worried about feeding her around 4 pm and then around 8 pm - those feeding sessions seem to be too close together so I only feed her once when I get home - I don't want her to vomit. Other times I get home later than that - sometimes 6pm - so there's definitely not enough time to squeeze in two feeding sessions.
My first question is there is any benefit in waking up in the middle of the night to feed her so that I can be sure that she's getting enough food or is that a bad idea?
The other problem I have is that she is dehydrated. Not dangerously dehydrated. When her skin is pulled, it takes a second or two for it to return to its original state so I know she is a little dehydrated. I have seen her drink water occasionally (I'm not a helicopter dad and I have two pugs who also share the water bowl so I don't know who drinks what) but I'm wondering: should I invest in an IV kit just to be extra sure that she's hydrated or is the fact that she is at least drinking without coaxing good enough?