Nutty Ma
07-09-2004, 08:31 AM
I have already posted about my 16 year old cat, Daisy, being diagnosed with cat flu, but I thought posting under another heading might find someone who has experienced of getting food into a very sick cat. My vet won't offer a third course of antibiotic treatment until he's had the lab results back from a nasal swab, hopefully Monday. I feel very jealous when I read of other cats with URI being hospitalised - at our rural practice here in Northwest France, this does not appear to be an option.
I have tried mashing and warming all her favourite foods - made a soup yesterday with white fish fillet, tuna, sardine, butter, cream and beaten egg. Offered it warm, but as with everything else, she approached and looked interested, sniffed at it, coughed and backed away. Same happened with liquidised turkey in milk today. My partner's off to buy chicken liver this afternoon. She is, at least, drinking, and indeed drinking quite a lot - I know, sign of kidney problems, and she is an old cat. But she acts like she wants to eat. I slept downstairs on the settee with her last night (dog has upstairs bed with us). She was up asking for food with the other 4 cats first thing, same as always - but when food was put down, she just sniffed at it and walked away. When Spittykit approached the liquidised turkey, Daisy did offer a warning swipe ("Leave off, it's mine!"), but made no attempt to eat it herself.
I'm still cleaning the nose regularly with warm, salty water, and putting her in a cat carrier with a decongestant in steaming water just outside and a towel draped over the lot, and we do seem to be keeping the nostrils clear - she is breathing through her nose, not her mouth. I can only guess it's a throat problem preventing her from eating.
It seems an eternity until Monday, when hopefully the vet will have the lab results. How can she possibly survive until then if she doesn't eat??? I really think we may have to consider force feeding - so can anyone advise how?? I have tried this with guinea pigs, and I am very aware of the dangers of food going into the lungs. We have to wrap Daisy in a towel to clean her nose or get tablets down her - she has never been a very tolerant cat. I hate stressing her, but oh, even more I hate having to watch her starve to death before my eyes. I did try the food on paws bit, by the way - but her paws are already filthy with snot she has wiped from her face, and I think she has given up licking them. Is food on a cotton bud inserted into the side of the mouth worth a try? She is one of those cats who will hold a tablet in her mouth until you think it's been swallowed and let it go, then leap away and spit it triumphantly out.
Daisy is still amazingly lively, still wandering around, still raising her tail in greeting and still managing to purr. She is not behaving like a cat who wants to die. If I thought she was suffering or in pain, I would consider euthanasia. But I think at present she is just uncomfortable, and I'm willing to try anything to keep her with us.
All advice gratefully received
Debbie
I have tried mashing and warming all her favourite foods - made a soup yesterday with white fish fillet, tuna, sardine, butter, cream and beaten egg. Offered it warm, but as with everything else, she approached and looked interested, sniffed at it, coughed and backed away. Same happened with liquidised turkey in milk today. My partner's off to buy chicken liver this afternoon. She is, at least, drinking, and indeed drinking quite a lot - I know, sign of kidney problems, and she is an old cat. But she acts like she wants to eat. I slept downstairs on the settee with her last night (dog has upstairs bed with us). She was up asking for food with the other 4 cats first thing, same as always - but when food was put down, she just sniffed at it and walked away. When Spittykit approached the liquidised turkey, Daisy did offer a warning swipe ("Leave off, it's mine!"), but made no attempt to eat it herself.
I'm still cleaning the nose regularly with warm, salty water, and putting her in a cat carrier with a decongestant in steaming water just outside and a towel draped over the lot, and we do seem to be keeping the nostrils clear - she is breathing through her nose, not her mouth. I can only guess it's a throat problem preventing her from eating.
It seems an eternity until Monday, when hopefully the vet will have the lab results. How can she possibly survive until then if she doesn't eat??? I really think we may have to consider force feeding - so can anyone advise how?? I have tried this with guinea pigs, and I am very aware of the dangers of food going into the lungs. We have to wrap Daisy in a towel to clean her nose or get tablets down her - she has never been a very tolerant cat. I hate stressing her, but oh, even more I hate having to watch her starve to death before my eyes. I did try the food on paws bit, by the way - but her paws are already filthy with snot she has wiped from her face, and I think she has given up licking them. Is food on a cotton bud inserted into the side of the mouth worth a try? She is one of those cats who will hold a tablet in her mouth until you think it's been swallowed and let it go, then leap away and spit it triumphantly out.
Daisy is still amazingly lively, still wandering around, still raising her tail in greeting and still managing to purr. She is not behaving like a cat who wants to die. If I thought she was suffering or in pain, I would consider euthanasia. But I think at present she is just uncomfortable, and I'm willing to try anything to keep her with us.
All advice gratefully received
Debbie