Assisted feeding question

Hi all. Not sure how much background info is needed, so here is a quick rundown. Muffin was dx with FD 6/30/10. She is a dry food ADDICT. I've been trying to change her to wet food since then, but she doesnt even realize it's edible. Managed to get her down to a drop of Lantus BID with really nice numbers, even on the dry food. (I have added smoked turkey lunch meat to her diet so she gets a little less dry) 9/17 dx with bladder infection and mild pancreatitis. She did not improve, so did UA recheck with C&S. C&S came back clean, but positive blood and crystals. Vet said take away all the dry for a week, just feed the turkey and some chicken breast. She is not eating, only a little of the turkey, so I feel I need to syringe feed to make up the calories. My question(s) is this. What should I syringe feed her? Should I give her the a/d I have (since I'll never ask her to eat that on her own). Should I feed higher calorie food? Should I use higher protein food? Should I feed something the other cats eat and hope she'll develop a taste for it? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

 

It's great that you are trying to wean her away from the dry....with that low amount of insulin she may just go into remission.

AD is pretty high in carbs (a couple of mine love it) so you might try Wellness (chicken or turkey) which is real creamy and with a little thinning goes through a syringe well. Have you tried meat baby food? Chicken is the favorite here...... that seems to go over pretty well with my bunch even if they don't feel well. The main thing though is to keep her eating and if necessary deal with the higher BG's.

FWIW - I had 9 dry food addicted cats when Houdini was Dx'd...it took a few months but they all got through it! Now they get a few pieces of dry as a treat.

 

Baby food is a good choice ... if she does the baby food...mix it in with the wet cat food.

Also try adding a bit of FortiFlora on top of the turkey. Most cats find Forti very appetite attractive. You can get a box from the vet.

If she is a turkey fan...how about some ground turkey from the butcher. I know our grocery actually carries pre-ground turkey burgers etc. Feed it raw or cook it up.

And yeah...maybe add a little gravy to it.

You can deal with the higher BG's you know how. She'll come back down, but right now nutrition is the issue at hand.

 

I second the forti flora. It helped tremendously when one of mine wasn't eating after a dental. If you buy them, don't throw them away if they expire. I used expired and Dr. Lisa does as well. She likens it to kitty salt and pepper. I also got one kitty to take a pill by sticking the pill in a treat and then rolling it in the expired forti flora. Worked like a charm. She wouldn't eat the pill pockets.

Also, sometimes sprinkling parmesan cheese on top of food entices kitties and other folks warm the food a bit so the odor is a little stronger and attractive to the kitties.

 

I agree with Gail on the Wellness. I have syringe fed Blackie Wellness when he wouldn't eat. It helps to add a little water and mix really good. You can buy a food syringe at Petco/Pet Smart or your vet should be able to give you one. The baby food (meat only) also goes through a syringe easily. I hope Muffin is feeling better soon.

 

Baby food does not have that many calories/ounce. What foods are syringable depends upon the syringe you are using, specifically the inside diameter of the opening. I have several syringes I use, I use a human Baby feeding/medical syringe made by the First Years Company. It works OK but the opening is not that bid. I have also taken a 20 ml syringe with a luer-lock end like these:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 00&bih=998
I stuck the end of a pair a scissors in the small opening and reamed the opening until it matched the diameter with the internal threads. The opening is big enough that any patti food will go through it easily.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone! I got a syringe from the vet and cut the tip off. I ended up using the a/d for today, mixed with a bit of water. I used baby food the only other time I've attempted this. I'm afraid to use wellness, because that is something I would like her to eat eventually on her own, and we are FAR from adept at this syringe feeding thing, so I don't want to create a negative association with that. If I have to keep doing this, I hope we both get more comfortable, and then I'd try something I want her to like.

 

Oh no, you guys. I'm so sorry to hear about all this. But maybe this will be the thing that gets you over the hump, as unpleasant as it is.

It only took 7 short months, but I finally got her off the dry. I was actually going to let it go longer, but the new bag of dry food made her drink a gallon of water and vomit immediately--two night in a row. So we suffered through some night crying, then bought a timed feeder, which I don't have to use anymore because she likes the TIki chicken so much now she grazes without an issue. (Of course, I think she may be having a food allergy now--it's always something.)

Some (mildly insane) things about the food I thought I'd toss out since they are so similar with their food-business: Sometimes Weeble would not eat in the kitchen, but if I moved the bowl of meat to the living room, she would. Initially, on the off chance she did take a bite of a certain canned food, she would not eat anymore unless it was a fresh scoop (not refrigerated) or from a new can (much preferred). Sometimes she wouldn't eat it out of the bowl, and I had to feed her the pieces one by one on the couch (I put a towel down) where she usually sleeps. I stopped putting any food I was offering in her regular food bowl because she was just disappointed/annoyed that her dry food wasn't in there. I also put the bag of dry on the top shelf in the hopes that it's tempting aroma would be less tempting.

I'm out of breath now. I know how this stuff is, which is to say, frustrating and stressful. But I'm pretty confident that she will be off the dry food and eating canned on her own. But don't forget to take care of yourself, too. I know I had more success when I approached the situation without the accompanying anxiety and expectation...

Feel better soon--both of you!

Edited to add one more routine: adding the juice of the food (the TIki and Merrick chicken worked particularly well) to water (in a novel bowl, of course). I found that after a bit, she would actually eat the little bits of chicken at the bottom of the bowl.

 

Hi Amanda! Sounds like Weeble is making great progress! I'm so happy for you. That's a great idea about adding juice to water, I'll try that. And funny you mention the regular food bowl - I was thinking the same thing. Even tho the turkey is still in there, she didn't want to eat it, seemingly because the dry wasn't there with it. So maybe I'll try a new bowl for her. And I stashed the dry in the back of the fridge - just to make sure she couldn't smell it or see it. I told her we ran out, and the store was out, and FF quit making dry food. (Not sure she believed me, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) :lol:

 

Well, two steps forward, one step to the side, and another step back. But I suppose that's still progress...

I saw you were a bit worried about the nutrition thing in a thread on Lantus so I wanted to add that a) I agree it'll probably be fine for a week, but b) if you were worried (which I know if it were me, I would be), I think the only point of concern would likely be the taurine. I bought capsules and it's flavorless. Even so, I wouldn't try it for a couple days as we know that even the slightest change in texture can send them sauntering off, but it's really easy just to sprinkle it on there. I even wonder if you couldn't just add some to the water bowl.

But I'm envisioning Weeble and Muffin will be heading their own 12 step program for dry food addicts. Sure, it might actually be a 4,852 step program, but whatever works!

 

omg amanda :lol: :lol: It will be subtitled: How to drive your bean crazy in the process!