Tube feeding help

[Mdurante83]

Help! Is anyone experienced with tube feeding cats? I tried blending one can of hills a/d with 30 ml water in a blender and it turned out like liquid and it had a lot of bubbles. I filled 16 of 10 ml syringes and I am wondering how in the world am I supposed to do three feedings of 30 ml in three 10 ml syringes in 5 hours apart. I think 16 of 10 ml syringes is too many and it had too many air bubbles I am worried there’s actually less food in the syringes because of the bubbles. I used ninija blender. And I am supposed to graduate to 1 and 1/4 can for my 9 lb himalyian. Can you guys tell me how many ml you tube fed your cat and how many hours apart and how you made the hills a/d slurry? I am desperate for help and he has nausea and the vets have no idea what’s wrong with him and I’m at my wits end. He had his e tube out in.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - welcome!!

Can you guys tell me how many ml you tube fed your cat and how many hours apart

Does your cat have Fatty Liver or is the tube due to something else? If it's fatty liver you'll want to follow the vet's instructions.

It sounds to me as though you don't want to use the ninja - you may need to make the slurry by hand to avoid the bubbles.

If you click on this link it will take you to a post by another member with several sources of information that are hopefully helpful;
Advice for Feeding Tube

Also, daftcat75 may be able to provide some insight.

 

[Mdurante83]

No my cat does not have fatty liver he developed a upper respiratory infection and aspiration pneumonia on Jan 28th and he stopped eating. Fast forward to present day he still has the feeding tube but he was fed royal canin low gastrointestinal liquid but it got back ordered so I couldn’t get any more and had to start hills a/d yesterday. He still isn’t eating on his own he has nausea and vomiting I just started Zofran today. My vet specialist today also informed me today she does not want to treat Harley my cat any more due to she feels she doesn’t know why he’s still not eating and being nauseous his upper respiratory infection and pneumonia are already gone. They did ultrasound blood tests x rays and nothing came abnormal other than elevated calcium levels 13 ul. So my vet won’t help me anymore and I m still trying to figure out the tube feeding with the new canned food a/d instead of the gastrointestinal low fat liquid.

 

[Furballsmom]

Can you contact a university medical veterinarian department?

Can you contact a cat-only vet? Have the original clinic either give you, or send, Harley's paperwork to the new clinic.
Find a Veterinarian and Practice | The Cat Community

 

[daftcat75]

My Krista had a feeding tube. But she was already eating by mouth when I took her home. We left the tube in as insurance and for meds since it was there. I don’t have much experience with the feeding aspect of the feeding tube.

I’m just brainstorming here. I don’t really know what’s causing the bubbles or how to get rid of them. I’m thinking maybe after you have blended it up, you can let it settle or stir by hand to get the bubbles out. Or maybe you can blend with less water to get a thicker but still smooth slurry. Then stir in water by hand to the desired consistency. You might have to sacrifice a few cans to science.

The bubbles won’t be harmful to Harley other than taking up space in his stomach and ultimately giving him gas. The bubbles gotta come out one way or another and I’m not sure that cats burp.

You really need to find a new vet. Even if there isn’t another in your area, find one who is willing to do a telemedicine visit with records transfer. Basically, a vet should be answering these questions about how to mix, how to feed, how much to feed, and what might really be going on with him. Maybe another set of eyes on the results might get this going in the right direction again.