Calling all feeding tube experts

Hello all - this is more of a curious post than an urgent one. I am so impressed by the knowledge of this community, I thought I'd ask for other's experiences with feeding or e-tubes.

A little background - our boy, Oliver, has been home for about two weeks now after stabilizing from DKA brought on by undiagnosed diabetes and an apparent viral upper respiratory infection. And of course, he came home with fatty liver and and an e-tube. He's doing pretty well on his numbers and eating canned on his own at almost every meal offering (followed by a tube feeding).

We are very grateful for the feeding tube as we know it's a life saver. We also know he could have it for up to two months, and I'm curious about a few things:

- How long did your kitties have their tubes?
- How long did it take for them to start eating the full amount on their own?
- When did your vet advise it was OK to take it out? (We were told eating on his own for 2 weeks, but unsure if that meant all their calories or just some, consistently.
- Do you have any tricks or tips for living with an e-tube?

Eager to hear your stories! Thanks to all.

 

I had a kitty with a feeding tube many years ago. Hers was a PEG tube that goes right through the abdominal wall into the stomach - not sure if they did e tubes back then. She had it in for three weeks and tolerated it very well. I had to feed her every 3 - 4 hours and it was uneventful except when the valve clogged with food and I had to take it off, clean it out and put it back before continuing. It was important to syringe in the wet food slurry slowly so she didn't vomit it back up. Slowly over the three weeks she ate more on her own and, if I recall, the tube was removed (no big deal - it was pulled out, no sutures needed) once she was eating her normal amount on her own. I don't recall how long that had to happen before the tube came out.

It's important that the tube insertion site stays clean to avoid infection but my kitty's tube was under a wrapping that went around her midsection with the valve end exposed on her back. It didn't get dirty or infected. She made no efforts to pull off the wrapping the whole time she had it on. As I mentioned above clogging of the tube valve at feeding time was the only minor issue I had and it was only occasionally.

 

We are cleaning the site daily with hydrogen peroxide, warm water and a little neosporin followed by fresh pads. He has one of those special collars to help keep everything in place.

Thanks for your input!