I’ve never had to force feed before.. help?

[Swttea]

Husband had to bring one of the kittens to the vet today. I was not around so I have only just gotten to see her today. According to him she hadn’t really eaten since Wednesday evening. Mostly slept Thursday and turned her nose up to everything. Today, well - Friday, she started vomiting around noon and he had her at the vets around 2. I think she threw up 4 times, but it was just bile.
They palpated and checked for fever (none) and did a fecal. Vet said there was a lot of bacteria/“activity” in the fecal. I believe she got a shot for nausea and possibly an antibiotic shot (not positive there). We got antibiotic tablets to give her as well as a probiotic tube.

She’s about 8 months old and spayed / vaccinated, indoors only.

We have her isolated from the other 3 cats so she could rest and hopefully avoid spreading, and to know what’s hers in the litter. She was walking around a bit earlier like she was looking for her food. When i placed some kibble infront she ate maybe 5 pieces, but that was it. I tried goats milk, a pate wet food, a gravy wet food and a can of human turkey meat, and i even tried watering down the broth of the turkey to see if she’d drink it. She took a few licks of the meat but still a no-go. However, she did not vomit up the very few kibbles she ate.

She obviously does not feel well and is content to stay is our darkened bedroom and sleep. But she is alert if you talk to her. She also doesn’t really want to jump up or down the tower, when she usually just vaults everything.

He said if she does not eat tonight to force feed in the morning. He gave a syringe and a can of a/d food. But, i’ve never actually had to do this before so I could use some help. And any suggestions to bring her appetite back.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. Did they do any diagnostics to find out what is wrong? Like blood work or radiographs? In a cat so young, I would be worried about a foreign body obstruction. Sometimes these cats will eat odd things such as hair ties, string, carpet, and it doesn't get broken down by the gastrointestinal track, and it will form a blockage. The result is a very nauseous cat that won't eat and is vomiting, but not always. Sometimes the signs are very subtle. Some cats can even get a blockage from their own hair.

Do you know the name of the antibiotic given?

It is a good idea to keep her apart from the other cats to monitor what she does.

As for the syringe feeding, it isn't easy. They do make appetite stimulants you can get from the Veterinarian. But I think it is important to find out why she isn't eating.

To syringe feed the A/D diet you can suck it up right into the syringe from the can. I hope they didn't give you a huge syringe as it is very difficult to use. I usually use a 10 cc syringe. You don't want to fight with the cat. Not ever. You can wind up creating a food aversion. But gently put the end of the syringe in the space of her mouth from the side behind the canine teeth and give a tiny bit at a time. The risks are that she aspirates on the food, or that you accidently jab her in the teeth and mouth.

To try to entice her to eat, you can try to play with her first a little to activate the hunt, catch, eat, groom, sleep, part of her brain. then you can try warming the food to about 100 f or mouse temperature, place only a small amount on the plate at a time and try petting her near the food. But honestly if she is feeling ill she may not eat.

There is a risk of her developing a life threatening disease called hepatic lipidosis or fatty liver disease if she goes to long without eating.

If your Veterinarian is open tomorrow, I would call them first thing and speak to the Vet about all of this.

 

[di and bob]

My cats have leukemia and have gotten sick and refused to eat for many days. I keep some Hartz Delectable Lickable treats in the stew flavors, bits of meat in a clear gel, around to give them their daily meds and for these times. They refuse all else but take a few licks of this, enough to keep going. You might find some lickable treats and see if they work for you. It is not to replace a whole diet, but to get them through the rough times. I don't force-feed because I'm afraid of aspiration. You could squirt a tiny bit between her cheek and teeth just to see how she does and how she responds. I have even put a tiny amount on their lips with my finger to see if they will lick it off. The trick is to find something they really like. Don't worry about a healthy diet right now, just get her eating. You might also get some infant unflavored Pedialyte to mix with her favorite, or even drink, she is surely dehydrated. Make sure to have several bowls of water setting around. I pray this is just a temporary setback and she gets well soon.......

 

[Swttea]

Of course, as many probably experience I haven’t slept a wink. I’ve just been watching her all night, but it has been uneventful. She loves to sleep on my dogs giant bed (kicks her out of there - although to be fair she wants to cuddle my dog but the 86lb giant is terrified of cuddles from kittens) so she is literally right beside me all night.

I noticed her staring at me around 6 so I reached a hand out and she reached back with hers, so I got up to offer her some food. She eagerly moved her head to see it but then was not interested. She picked one piece of kibble up but spit it out. I tried playing with the kibbles, rolling them and placing them on her paws but she just looked at them (but… very alert-like). I tried some of the turkey meat next and she did take a few nibbles. Not really enough to matter. After that she got up to pee and wandered around as if looking for food. It does seem that she wants to eat but not what I have. I will go down to the store and get some tuna, and the hartz sticks. I may have one or two cans of baby food, i’ll have to look. What about a scrambled egg? I have no idea if she likes eggs.

She seemed to give up looking for food and went to the tower, then spotted a squirrel. She chattered a little bit and has been sat watching out the window for a while now, which is an improvement to just wanting to sleep, I think.

She hasn’t pooped but is having some bad smelly gas.

The antibiotic they sent me home with was the generic for Baytril. It also looks like we were given Safeguard to administer today.
I am honestly not sure what was administered via shot at the vets, I just know she was given an injection. Honestly, my husband is so awful at recording things for me. I know she was given something for nausea.

The vet did not seem to think xrays were needed yet, and he did push and prod on her abdomen. So he did not have that done. He also did say that she was not dehydrated (yet)

 

[Swttea]

So, I picked up several flavors of the hartz delectables, a few cups of the meow mix stew thingys, and a few of the friskies lil soups. Nothing I would regularly feed, but it looked like appetizing junk food! I also got a few jars of baby food.

I tried the delectable first and, she did eat some! I think I got about 4 teaspoons in her. Not as much as I would have liked, but's it's much better than nothing. I did not want to open up a bunch of stuff and overwhelm her so I've decided to wait with all of the other options until maybe an hour or so. I squeezed the remaining hartz onto a plate and left it for her.

She did NOT want me to leave the room, or rather, leave her locked in. She was so happy when I came back, her tail-tip was straight up and quivering (she did this all the time as a kitten when she was excited), and then she was playing fist-bumps with the other cats under the door. It is SO HARD to keep her locked up But I am happy with her attitude this morning. Just hoping we get some more food in her.

 

[Swttea]

Husband also informed me that she received "something for hydration", so I think she was given subq fluids as well.

 

[emluvcat]

Hey, good luck with this, I know how hard it can be. My Ruby had a bad bout of calicivirus shortly after I adopted her when she was about 2 months old. She was my first kitten and I was terrified to think I might lose her.

First of all, I cannot recommend this product strongly enough: Rebound by Virbac. Worked wonders for me and I saw Ruby start eating again in no time.

You can also use slippery elm bark powder to help with inappetence caused by nausea. (It really sounds like your kitten is hungry and wants to eat, but feels too nauseous to do so.) You can buy it loose on Amazon or iHerb. Give them 1/4 teaspoon at a time either mixed in with food or combined with a small amount of water to create a gel-textured substance which can be syringe-fed. Incidentally, SEB is good for their digestion in general, so I give it to my cats with most meals even if they don't have any symptoms.

As for the kitten's diet, it might help to keep it bland and easy to digest. Since you're throwing spaghetti at the wall at this point, why not try a homemade diet for the time being? Although they are specifically tailored for diarrhea, you can follow the instructions described here and prepare her some boiled and shredded chicken. See if that does the trick. This is also the only thing I feed my cats now (with appropriate supplements to make it nutritionally complete, but you don't need to worry about that in the short-term). It's the only thing that makes their bowel movements tolerable.

If all else fails, bonito flakes are affordable cat crack. It is rare for a cat to pass up food with these sprinkled on top.

Good luck and be sure to update us

 

[emluvcat]

I wrote you a nice detailed post with a bunch of links above, but it seems to be pending moderator approval. Idk if it's because of the links or because I just created this account to respond to this thread lol, anyway i hope it shows up soon. Best of luck!

 

[silent meowlook]

I would still call and update your vet this morning.

 

[fionasmom]

I remember all your earlier posts and am so sorry that you are having trouble with this kitten. Please keep us updated when you can. I agree with the advice above, so am not going to make you reread my version of the same. In desperation, my cats have eaten the Gerber's ham flavored baby food over the other flavors. As you no doubt noticed at the store, the lickable topper industry has taken off and I have found that some cats prefer one over the other so you might try a variety the next time you are there.

Staying in touch with the vet is a good idea.

 

[Meowmee]

Husband had to bring one of the kittens to the vet today. I was not around so I have only just gotten to see her today. According to him she hadn’t really eaten since Wednesday evening. Mostly slept Thursday and turned her nose up to everything. Today, well - Friday, she started vomiting around noon and he had her at the vets around 2. I think she threw up 4 times, but it was just bile.
They palpated and checked for fever (none) and did a fecal. Vet said there was a lot of bacteria/“activity” in the fecal. I believe she got a shot for nausea and possibly an antibiotic shot (not positive there). We got antibiotic tablets to give her as well as a probiotic tube.

She’s about 8 months old and spayed / vaccinated, indoors only.

We have her isolated from the other 3 cats so she could rest and hopefully avoid spreading, and to know what’s hers in the litter. She was walking around a bit earlier like she was looking for her food. When i placed some kibble infront she ate maybe 5 pieces, but that was it. I tried goats milk, a pate wet food, a gravy wet food and a can of human turkey meat, and i even tried watering down the broth of the turkey to see if she’d drink it. She took a few licks of the meat but still a no-go. However, she did not vomit up the very few kibbles she ate.

She obviously does not feel well and is content to stay is our darkened bedroom and sleep. But she is alert if you talk to her. She also doesn’t really want to jump up or down the tower, when she usually just vaults everything.

He said if she does not eat tonight to force feed in the morning. He gave a syringe and a can of a/d food. But, i’ve never actually had to do this before so I could use some help. And any suggestions to bring her appetite back.

She may need some cerenia for nausea and an appetite stimulant. My one experience with syringe/ force feeding was not good so I won’t do it again. It was with one of my colony cats and I feel it contributed to his demise. Be very careful, they can aspirate when syringe feeding.

 

[Swttea]

Unfortunately, everyone is closed for the holiday weekend. I tried to call and update the vet, but no luck.

I'm not sure if I should try force-feeding tonight, or not. I do NOT want to cause a food aversion when she is showing a little more interest in eating.

She has not eaten much at all today but has eaten *a little*. I got the 4 teaspoons of delectables in her this morning, probably a half teaspoon of canned turkey (human), maybe 1.5 teaspoons of Gerber stage 1 turkey, a lick of whipped cream (maybe 1/2 an inch squirt) (I know, dairy isn't good, but we were kinda throwing anything just to try and stimulate her and it's a favorite treat of everyone's), and as of a few minutes ago she ate a few of her kibbles - she took several bites, but it was probably only 1-2 kibble a bite, I am not sure exactly how much she ate but maybe 1/2 tablespoon? Oh, she also took a few small nibbles of a hamburger (meat only) my husband had for dinner. Just a few eraser-sized bites before she ignored it. It was a pre-cooked frozen burger patty so, not the healthiest (salt etc).

She is also a small kitty, about 7.5lbs.

She also had her Baytril, Safeguard (well...some of it...squirting that in didn't go too smoothly, a look at what force feeding might be like..), and 1cc of Probiotic paste (any calories there?? looking for them anywhere I can get them!). She has not vomited since she was taken to the vet, but she did have diarrhea earlier, which went all on the floor because she had her butt outside the box. However, I did except diarrhea with the antibiotics so that was not surprising to me. (butt outside the box is NOT unusual for this cat - we often have to give her a push further in, she's always done this, and has landed out of the box several times in the past)

I did try the gerber ham food, no luck with that one. She really didn't like the meow mix cup stew thingies, and neither did any of the other cats, so that one didn't help.

I would not at all mind home-cooking for her, I had to do it for a (wonderful) dog that passed away before we got our first cats. But, I have offered this cat cooked chicken before, and she isn't interested in it, when she is healthy. Oddly, neither are any of the other cats. They just don't seem to like it, which is so weird. The only other raw meat I have is extra lean hamburger meat. Is this ok to try?

She is resting after the few kibbles she ate but I had an idea I wanted to try when she wakes up - instead of really forcing the food, maybe I can press the a/d pate to the roof of her mouth? That is how we get her to eat the probiotic paste, and she doesn't spit that out, though it would have to be a small amount each time and I don't know how she would respond to multiple smears of the food on her mouth roof. I also have NutriCal I could try this with, which is a calorie-dense paste, but I don't think she likes the malt flavor - I'd offered a hairball paste with the same flavor before and she didn't want it. My other girl loves the stuff.

She used a scratch pad earlier, nice and aggressively, which is nice to see. She did that all the time and hadn't since Wednesday. So signs that she is feeling better.

She definitely is wanting to eat, but as I said, nothing seems to be up to par. She looks at whatever we open with alert interest, and when she ate the kibbles she actually came to tell us she wanted it - she came to our feet and whined, husband sat the kibble plate in front of her and she ate.

Opinions? Should the pate-on-the-roof fail later, do I go ahead and try the syringe, or did she maybe eat "enough" to stave off fatty liver this evening, and we can try again in the morning?

 

[di and bob]

I really think she ate enough to not force feed her. Try the Delectables again in the morning. My cat only ate about 1/4 pkg of the Delectables twice a day for a week, and then slowly got better. He lost a tremendous amount of weight. As long as she is eating a tiny bit its ok. Encourage things she likes, heavy cream is ok, it and butter have just trace amounts of lactose that causes problems. Just keep doing what you are doing, offering tempting things she might like. I had a dying cat that would only eat Arbys roast beef, so try things like that too, or a McDonald's hamburger patty. I'll pray for that sweet girl to get better......

 

[Swttea]

That is a relief to hear! I am not quite sure how much food is needed to keep the liver issue at bay but hopefully, it's enough.

Probably last update before we head to bed - she did come to eat a few more bites of kibble. A few hours later she drank some water, the first time since being back here.

We gave her her 2nd dose of probiotic paste, and then I decided to see if I could "force feed" her some of the a/d pate without it being traumatic, I put some on a plate and heated it for a few seconds then I "cubed" it into tiny cubes. I had my husband handle the next part because she just trust him much more, he sat her between his knees and popped her mouth open just as we do with the paste and just kinda..threw the little cubes of pate in there. Well, not threw but you know. She swallowed pretty easy and was not overly fighting or screaming or anything so I think that went MUCH BETTER than syringe feeding would have. I only gave her a bit since I didn't want it to last too long and she HAS been eating nibbles throughout the day. I would say about 2 teaspoons of the hills a/d. It was over in about a minute and a half so hopefully she’s not too upset.

 

[di and bob]

Sounds like you are doing everything right! Bless your hearts for trying so much.....

 

[fionasmom]

Deli chicken or turkey, not the seasoned kind. I have had cats eat that finely shredded and thin sliced.

 

[Swttea]

Today’s so far update.

She woke me up around 5:30 this morning, climbing in my face and purring. She wanted some food! I had her kibble on my nightstand and I don’t think she knew where it was. Usually it’s in her tower, I have to keep it off the ground or my dog lops it up (and she has to sleep in the room with us or she’s so upset lol), so I got on the floor with the kibbles and she ate quite a bit. She was also very affectionate, which is usual for her, for some reason she gets super affectionate just before the sun comes up. So she would eat, sit and look at me, I would say good girl and pet her, and then she would eat some more. We did this 5 or 6 times, I would say she got 2-3 tablespoons of kibble.

She’s looking much better today as well, her eyes are bright and she’s up and around. A few minutes ago she caught and ate a fly. How many calories do you think that was? She just got her baytril, safeguard and probiotic paste.

I got her to eat about half of a friskies lil soup, although she mostly just drank the broth. She ate a few bites of a fancy feast medleys. She is drinking normally now, too.

Still not eating enough but her attitude is much better today and she sought the fancy feast out on her own to eat so I’m hopeful we’re on the right track.

 

[fionasmom]

This is a huge first step toward recovery hopefully. She knows you are trying to help her.

 

[Swttea]

Doing much better today! She is eating quite a bit, and seeking the food out on her own as well. I would say she's eating about 75-80% of her usual.

I wonder what was wrong with her.

 

[Meowmee]

Doing much better today! She is eating quite a bit, and seeking the food out on her own as well. I would say she's eating about 75-80% of her usual.

I wonder what was wrong with her.

I am glad she is feeling better