The well-known problem of IBD or lymphoma and pancreatitis

[arinlars]

Hi samus. I do syringe feed her . She eats half her food around 50-70 calories then I give her 2 syringes at night . I work long hours so I can syringe feed her only at night ...

How do you prepare the syringes ? I take food (nature's variety) put a bunch of supplements and giver her two 10 ml ( medium) syringes but in a course of 2 h cause she threw up when she had it all .

Mimi is lethargic today she had horrible diarrhea yesterday and I gsver get S boulardii and metronidazole . She is exhausted .i had to giver her the b12 so when I put her treats down she didn't even eat some. Her favorite treats are bonito flakes so I was really really sad when she didn't even touch them.

My husband said we should prepare for the worst . My heart is breaking . She is my first pet and we were almost never apart . I don't think how I did not loose it so far. I lack sleep . My body is weak too and I can't cry. I just think of I'm strong she'll feel it too and be calm .

 

[samus]

The vomiting definitely makes it harder. Do you know how much calories are in the syringe fed food? When I was syringe feeding my cat, I determined that 1 ml of food was about 0.6 - 1 calorie, depending on how thin it was diluted. So that means with 20 ml you might be giving her about 12 - 20 extra calories, so that's only a maximum of about 90 calories a day. To stay above 3 kg, she would need 150-210 calories a day (assuming she needs 50-70 calories/kg).

I think if you told the vet how few calories she's getting, they might be more willing to put in a feeding tube. Or get a copy of all the test results and find a vet that will put in a feeding tube for you! It sounds like she urgently needs more calories and if you can't do it with syringe feeding than you need to try something else.

Maybe you could show the vet this website:
http://catinfo.org/?link=feedingtubes

I put supplements in my syringe fed food at first, but I think the flavor with the supplements was making it harder to feed her because she didn't like it (so she fought more when I fed her). If you have supplements you feel like she really needs, maybe try to make a small syringe with food + supplements, and then a few syringes with just food. I also found that if I made more than a day's worth of food at a time, it would start smelling bad by the end of the second day. Maybe freezing it in ice cube trays and thawing it as I needed it would have worked better. Or even freezing it directly in syringes if I had enough (with an air gap at the tip and the tip pointing up so it didn't overflow when it froze).

To make the food, I added water that equaled about 30 - 50% of the weight of the food. So if I used 100 g food, around 50 g water. Less water if the food was already really soft (baby food I didn't add much or any water at all). The calories in each gram of liquid food are calculated like this:

(weight of food x calories per gram food) / (weight of food + weight of water) = calories per gram liquid food

With my food it looked like:
(100 g food x 1.15 calories per gram) / (100 g food + 50 g water) =
(115 calories) / (150 g) = 0.77 calories per gram

Can she eat yogurt or lactose-free milk? If that doesn't bother her stomach, you can use that instead of water to thin out the food so it has more calories.

 

[samus]

Other thoughts:
Can your husband help with the feeding at all? Maybe if he's not as close to the cat, he can at least help you make syringes and stuff.
Can you syringe feed her before work? Or once in the middle of the night?
I know that it's a hard thing to try to work full time all day and then work full time at feeding a cat all night.... (and still have time to eat and sleep.... I definitely wasn't eating enough myself when I had to syringe feed my cat!!)

I know it's hard!!

 

[arinlars]

Yes, I decided to feed her before I go and during the night . I am also going Monday to the vet and ask for the emergency food they have for cats that are critical . I found also that instinct from nature's variety beef has 220 calories per can and if I diluted with water then it will be fine . So I have to feed her 200 ml ? My syringes are 10 ml

 

[arinlars]

I was wrong by saying it was 10 ml syringes . It is 20 ml. So today she was given 3 x 20 ml and I will giver her more. It's a nice idea to give supplements on the first syringe so I will do that next

 

[samus]

Since the one can of Nature's Variety is about what she needs in a day, it's however many syringes full it takes to use up the whole can. I'm not sure exactly how many ml because I don't know how much water and how much the food weights. I'm guessing it's a 200 g can?

I'm happy to hear that you've been able to feed her so much so far today!!

 

[arinlars]

It's a 156 gr can.
She doesn't eat by herself . She doesn't even eat her favorite bonito flakes. I am scared that I made her hate eating by herself or resent food . Could this happen?

By the way no she does not like milk even lactose free. I even tried goats milk but no success.

 

[samus]

I was scared I was going to make my cat hate eating too. But it's probably more the intestinal pain than the stress of you feeding her that's making her not want to eat. She'll start eating again when she starts feeling better. (Hopefully that's soon!!)

 

[myrnafaye]

Arinlars, perhaps there is another way to look at this which you may not want to do, but its to ask yourself would YOU want a feeding tube, or would you want to be force fed?  We are humans and we can and should make these decisions for ourselves - in the form of an advance directive, a living will - but our babies cannot.  

If I cannot eat, enjoy life, take care of myself on my own..I have stated that I do not wish to be kept alive more than two weeks on life support.

 

[arinlars]

It's a thought decision but at this pint it's not at option unless I can see it is. Some pets after Leukeran or some weeks of feeding thrived and lived for another 2-3 years . I feel that she wants to get better . We still cuddle and she still purrs and tries to play . Today she even went to sleep in her favorite spot and uses the scratch post . I guess I will give it time I'm fighting this.

Btw I'm hopeful . I see hope in everything and I feel it's not time to let go yet

 

[myrnafaye]

Yes, I understand.  That is important information.  You are the best judge of your kitty, and how she is.

 

[goholistic]

I'm so sorry to hear Mimi is still struggling. Actually, Sebastian has been having a setback this past week, so I end up having to follow my own advice. 

  We get aggressive with the "feel good" meds as quality of life is really a priority for me.

As far as syringe feeding goes, I usually go by how many calories are in the food and how much of the food I've fed. I can typically fill 1/8 of a 5.5 oz. can into one 14 ml (1/2 oz.) syringe. Also, I couldn't offer the food on a plate that I was syringing. It needed to be something different.

 

[arinlars]

I'm sorry for Sebastian. Poor kitties. Yes, quality of life is priority .

I play with Mimi a lot and have her bed by the heater which she loves.

 

[arinlars]

Sorry for bad grammar I'm using my phone while working !

 

[arinlars]

I wish mirtapazine could be given more often. She seems to perk up but it and eat some. And also she plays and cuddle more. 

 

[arinlars]

So Mimi had her ultrasound today and they see a mass. They think it's lymphoma or adenocancenoma so tomorrow I'll find out if she needs a needle aspiration . I'm mess. Vet says if it's lymphoma she can live 2 years longer with Leukeran if not .... Maybe weeks ... I can't even type I'm crying I can't understand ... I don't won't to loose her but she is suffering ...

 

[denice]

I am so sorry.  Try to just take things one step at a time.  First thing is to try to find out what you are dealing with.

 

[goholistic]

So Mimi had her ultrasound today and they see a mass. They think it's lymphoma or adenocancenoma so tomorrow I'll find out if she needs a needle aspiration . I'm mess. Vet says if it's lymphoma she can live 2 years longer with Leukeran if not .... Maybe weeks ... I can't even type I'm crying I can't understand ... I don't won't to loose her but she is suffering ...

Just now saw this update. 

  I'm so sorry that they see a mass.

 

[arinlars]

It's 2 cm and they are afraid to draw a sample because there is a vein there but they will let me know if they can do it . I plan to go with my husband tomorrow just in case. It pains us so much. I think , is it my fault feeding her bad food all these years ? What if I put her down if find its aggressive and haunts me in my dreams and I see her crying ?

 

[arinlars]

Thank you for your support you guys.