need help handfeeding sick kitty

[Easterpiggy]

my cat Mysty is not feeling very well. we were just at the vet and they said her kidneys are failing and that is why she is not eating. she is drinking water but everything she takes in, she throws it up.

I started hand feeding her and she keeps it down for about an hour or so and then when she goes to get up she throws up. which brings me to my first question.
is there anything they can do about nausea and vomiting for cats?

also how many times a day and how much do you hand feed?:cry3:

I really need help!!!!

 

[Ash]

I have no suggestions for handfeeding, but I have to wonder with the utmost respect - If she can't keep food down and her kidneys are failing, would it maybe be in her best interests to put her to sleep?

 

[Siren]

If the vet can do nothing, there is no medication or surgery (or the finances to cover it all), then I agree with Ash. Euthanasia may be the only option. Repeatably throwing up is putting more stress on her already ailing body and she will starve to death. Its a very slow way to go. I'm so sorry

 

[addictedtochins]

I went through this exact this with my favorite cat of all time. I had to put her to sleep but I paid a horse vet to come to the house to do it so she was comfortable and happy to the end and not stressed and scared at the vets. I'm sorry about your kitty. Theresa

 

[saphire]

Theresa, I agree with all. I believe we have the chance to give them the gift of no pain and suffering. As hard as it may be.

my thoughts are with you. sooo sorry for both of you

 

[Easterpiggy]

her kidneys are failing due to being part siamese (any way thats what the vet said) they gave her some antibiotics and those should help. I was doing some research and that said that reglan may help so im going to go back to the vet and get some and then if that doesnt work then I am going to put her down

 

[Ash]

Kidney failure is non-reversable. If that's what it truly is, then it's not going to get "better" it can only be prolonged. I'd definitely talk to the vet about it more to see what the heck is going on.

 

[equus_peduus]

Did they offer you any treatments at all? If she's badly in renal failure, she may need to be hospitalized on IV fluids until she stabilizes. If she's not so badly off, often other things can be done to help her feel better. There's several meds that can be used to help the nausea, but the main thing is to try to help her kidneys out as much as possible - the toxins the kidneys are supposed to filter out build up in the blood stream and cause irritation to the stomach as well as nausea more directly.

Talk to your vet and see if there's anything that can be done. Some cases are so badly off that euthanasia is the best option. Other cases can be stabilized and be on home treatments for several weeks, months, or even years.

Handfeeding a cat that's nauseous is difficult. They do not get any of the nutrition, and the cat tends to associate the food with the nausea and feeling sick, and they can end up never touching that particular food again. It is possible to place a tube into the esophagus or stomach of a cat so you can put food and meds directly into her stomach, but if she's vomiting everything up, that may not help.

Good luck.

ETA: Reglan stops vomiting by helping the gut move forward, but may not help the nausea. There are other, better, anti vomiting meds out there for cats, but your vet may or may not think they're the best choices for Mysty. Being Siamese may predispose her to certain types of kidney disease. Antibiotics will help if there is an infection (and there often is when the kidney disease is diagnosed - though whether it caused the kidney disease or whether it is a result of the kidney disease is not always clear). And sometimes antibiotics can make cats nauseous. And just because kidney disease can't be reversed doesn't mean that you can't manage it in the long term - I know of a couple cats with severe kidney disease who had good quality if life for over 2 years after diagnosis.

 

[CTChin]

Ditto what Equus said.

I would definitely consider hospitalization and iv's until stabalized. If you cannot afford that, you can be taught how to give fluids at home. There are also several new meds such as Azodyl and Epakitan that can help.

I had a cat that had good to great quality of life for 6 months...not much to some... but a lot to me. We he started another downturn (since diagnosis), I let him go.

This site was helpful to me:
http://www.felinecrf.com/ Click the Newly Diagnosed HELP button.

Unfortunately if you want to give your kitty some good quality of life you have to be really proactive and it can be expensive and stressful. Not everyone can do that and that's o.k. At least we can end our beloved pet's pain and suffering.

 

[Siren]

I worked at the Humane Society at the time my cat started to suffer. Body wise, she was healthy, but she was going senile. The vet thought she may have a brain tumor, since senility is not that common in cats as it is in dogs. But she had times when she wasn't on this earth. She was walking and running into walls and furniture, falling over, shivering, etc. I scheduled a date to have her euthanized, but she hid somewhere in the house. A week later, the day after Christmas, she started to crash bad. She could barely move, breathing was hard on her. I called one of my coworkers, an animal control officer. She went by the shelter and got the euthansia shot and brought it to my home. Celina was able to pass away in my bedroom, in the comfort of her own home. I must say, it was so much better than a sterile vet office. You have full privacy, the animal is more comfortable and at ease. It was better here, but still so hard.