Issues with feeding tube (nausea?)

[botolo]

My cat Holly had radical mandibulectomy almost three months ago to remove squamous cells carcinoma. The recovery has been going fairly well. She has an esophageal feeding tube and I have been feeding her through the tube (first I was using Royal Canin Liquid Recovery, now Hills A/D). She has also started eating on her own and I was very happy about this.
Recently she started acting weird. She seems like she is nauseated the whole time. She is not interested in her food anymore (she walks, sniffs it and then leaves and sometimes she even gags without even touching the food). And she drools a little bit more than usual and she stays the entire time on her own. She has been taking Cerenia under the skin since the time she did the surgery.

We also went for a check with the oncologist. Chest x-ray is clean and she does not show any sign of cancer in her mouth.

I don’t understand why this nausea now. I wonder if the feeding tube is at fault here. Maybe keeping it for such a long time creates nausea? Or maybe the food I give her (A/D) is not good?

Her current doctor told me that the feeding tube usually does not give nausea. Another doctor I contacted on the JustAnswers website says that she had a few cases of cats with nausea from the feeding tube. The Kitten Lady (a social media personality) recently described how her cat got a feeding tube and she had to remove it because he was nauseated all the time.

ideas?

 

[Furballsmom]

The Kitten Lady is more than just a media personality. Her work to help kittens and to provide information on their behalf to anyone who needs it is beyond commendable.

Is there any way you can have the tube removed, even temporarily to test the theory?

 

[botolo]

If you remove it, you then need to put the cat under anesthesia to replace it.

 

[Antonio65]

What kind of feeding tube does your cat have?
From what I had been told in the past, when my cat had to be fed through tubes, the E-tube can be left in place for a few weeks.
For longer periods they told me that the PEG tube is better.

My cat was with a PEG tube, and it was realy easy to use, I think it was even better than the E-tube.

 

[botolo]

She currently has an e-tube. The interesting thing is that yesterday I skipped her meal through the e-tube and suddenly it’s like she is feeling better. She ate some food on her own, jumped all around during the night…I wonder if this is her way to tell me “I’m done with the e-tube”.

 

[Antonio65]

When my cat had the PEG tube, I also let het eat on her own, and this was a way to assess her conditions.

 

[botolo]

How long did you keep the peg tube and how different was the management when compared to the e-tube?

 

[Antonio65]

Well, mine is a rather long story.

My cat had an oral SCC, like your Holly, but the surgery was out of discussion, we went for the radiotherapy paired with the chemotherapy.
The PEG tube was applied before the cat had trouble with eating, and before they could perform the radiotherapy. They said to use it right away in order to familiarize with it when it would have been the time for it. But I just couldn't do that, it looked so unnatural to me. But in the end I used it, and it was so handy.

My cat had it for about two months, if I don't go wrong (it was 2016), until one night I came home from work and found the PEG tube on the floor... it had come off on its own. You can imagine I panicked I was, the tube on the floor, and my cat with a hole in her stomach!
Anyway all went fine. They couldn't re-insert it.
My cat proved to be able to eat on her own anyway for the next couple of months, then I had to syringe feed her, until it was time for a further help, and they inserted the E-tube, which only lasted two days... my sweet Lola died two days after the insertion of the tube... All I can remember is that it felt a little worse to me because of its smaller size.

You can see my Lola in my avatar

 

[botolo]

Lola is beautiful and you were a wonderful cat owner. I see we are both Italians (I live now in the US). Time will tell how Holly will be in the long term. Right now I just want to understand why she feels uncomfortable. There are days she feels great and days she feels not good and I can’t pinpoint to the exact reason.

 

[Antonio65]

The only reason that comes to my mind is that she might feel some pain or discomfort from the oral lesion she had. I don't know how heavy the mandibulectomy was, and if this left some psychological aftermath in Holly.
I really hope not, but you might consider the possibility there could be something else in her body that is bothering her.

I know how expensive vet bills are in the US, so I cannot tell you to run several tests and scans.
My Lola's SCC was found by chance, one morning while she was having breakfast, nearly two months after she had a very invasive surgery to remove another tumor in her abdomen. The two cancers weren't related, they told me, but nonetheless they hit at the same time, and the second one was overlooked during the previous CT scan.

P.S.: I suspected you might be Italian by your username

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

...
Recently she started acting weird. She seems like she is nauseated the whole time. She is not interested in her food anymore (she walks, sniffs it and then leaves and sometimes she even gags without even touching the food). And she drools a little bit more than usual and she stays the entire time on her own. She has been taking Cerenia under the skin since the time she did the surgery. ...

ideas?

It might be possible she is reacting to the continued use of Cerenia. Have you and the vet discussed this possibility? What is her dosage?

Cerenia can have some side effects in cats, including more drooling and lack of appetite.