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Crystal Hardly Eats -Update & Question
Please recall my posting on 6/23/03, "Please Help Us...Crystal Hardly
Eats!". We want to sincerely thank all of you that replied and helped us...Thank you a lot! We took Crystal to another vet after quite a bit of research on various vets in our area. We found a cat specialist who is a Board Certified Internal Medicne Veterinarian. This vet, also, couldn't find anything after examining Crystal's blood test and then taking an X-ray. This vet suggested taking a sample of stomach tissue for analysis using a spectscopic probe. Only, this procedure would cost $1,500 and if inconclusive would require exploratory surgery at another $1,500. Unfortunately, we are too budget pressed to afford those procedures. So, the Dr. suggested "presumptive" treatement with chlorambucil and prednisolone which we are doing. Crystal is taking this medication well with no side effects... Amazingly, the vet didn't suggest feeding Crystal with a baby feeding tube (like a minature baster for cooking). But, the advice on-line suggested force feeding Crystal and using baby food which we started doing. Because of that, Crystal has gained a pound and no longer is in a stuper... she is active and curious like a cat is supposed to be. Another vet we talked to suggested we use Science Diet A/D instead of baby food as it is more nutritious... so we changed the food. Our question now is, how do you wean Crystal off the forced feeding? And of course, we are wondering if the drug therapy will do anything? We do have a follow up vet visit and maybe that will reveal if the drugs are working. Regarding getting Crystal to eat, since she has eaten dry food all her 12 years, she doesn't seem to understand how to eat canned food or shreaded chicken. She seems to want to eat canned food but gives us the impresson that she doesn't know how. Maybe we have to teacher how to do that, too? Anyway, we are into Crystal's treatment and are doing our best to help her. Any comments or suggestions you may have from my concerns above would be appreciated. Man... is this newsgroup the great! What a fabulous thing for pet lovers to have. Thank goodness! Thanks again to all... Joe, Marsha & Crystal |
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"Joe V" wrote in message om... Please recall my posting on 6/23/03, "Please Help Us...Crystal Hardly Eats!". We want to sincerely thank all of you that replied and helped us...Thank you a lot! Amazingly, the vet didn't suggest feeding Crystal with a baby feeding tube (like a minature baster for cooking). But, the advice on-line suggested force feeding Crystal and using baby food which we started doing. Because of that, Crystal has gained a pound and no longer is in a stuper... she is active and curious like a cat is supposed to be. Another vet we talked to suggested we use Science Diet A/D instead of baby food as it is more nutritious... so we changed the food. Thanks again to all... Joe, Marsha & Crystal Thanks for the update. I have been wondering how Crystal is doing. Regarding the baby feeding tube: have you also tried a very large syringe? My vet gave me an extremely large one when I needed to force feed (years ago). Without the needle, of course. It worked very well, and the cost was negligible. MaryL |
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"Joe V" wrote in message om... Please recall my posting on 6/23/03, "Please Help Us...Crystal Hardly Eats!". We want to sincerely thank all of you that replied and helped us...Thank you a lot! Amazingly, the vet didn't suggest feeding Crystal with a baby feeding tube (like a minature baster for cooking). But, the advice on-line suggested force feeding Crystal and using baby food which we started doing. Because of that, Crystal has gained a pound and no longer is in a stuper... she is active and curious like a cat is supposed to be. Another vet we talked to suggested we use Science Diet A/D instead of baby food as it is more nutritious... so we changed the food. Thanks again to all... Joe, Marsha & Crystal Thanks for the update. I have been wondering how Crystal is doing. Regarding the baby feeding tube: have you also tried a very large syringe? My vet gave me an extremely large one when I needed to force feed (years ago). Without the needle, of course. It worked very well, and the cost was negligible. MaryL |
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Joe V wrote:
We want to sincerely thank all of you that replied and helped us...Thank you a lot! We took Crystal to another vet after quite a bit of research on various vets in our area. We found a cat specialist who is a Board Certified Internal Medicne Veterinarian. Glad you found a new vet! I think most want to do the conclusive tests since there are so many now for cats and are much more accurate but I think sometimes you have to find a vet who will follow their instincts at least for a while before jumping on the tests. They can add up so quickly, I KNOW. Our question now is, how do you wean Crystal off the forced feeding? You offer her food to eat on her own before you force feed her each time. Once she's feeling better, space out the force feeding further apart to see if she is hungry enough to eat on her own. If she doesn't after a certain amount of time (and don't rush it!) then force feed her and try again next feeding to get her to eat on her own. I had a cat on a PEG feeding tube for 5 weeks before he ate on his own. It was ROUGH but he finally did. Good luck to you guys and Crystal and thanks for letting us know how she's doing. -- Cheryl |
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Joe V wrote:
We want to sincerely thank all of you that replied and helped us...Thank you a lot! We took Crystal to another vet after quite a bit of research on various vets in our area. We found a cat specialist who is a Board Certified Internal Medicne Veterinarian. Glad you found a new vet! I think most want to do the conclusive tests since there are so many now for cats and are much more accurate but I think sometimes you have to find a vet who will follow their instincts at least for a while before jumping on the tests. They can add up so quickly, I KNOW. Our question now is, how do you wean Crystal off the forced feeding? You offer her food to eat on her own before you force feed her each time. Once she's feeling better, space out the force feeding further apart to see if she is hungry enough to eat on her own. If she doesn't after a certain amount of time (and don't rush it!) then force feed her and try again next feeding to get her to eat on her own. I had a cat on a PEG feeding tube for 5 weeks before he ate on his own. It was ROUGH but he finally did. Good luck to you guys and Crystal and thanks for letting us know how she's doing. -- Cheryl |
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in article , Joe V at
wrote on 7/5/03 6:54 PM: Please recall my posting on 6/23/03, "Please Help Us...Crystal Hardly Eats!". We want to sincerely thank all of you that replied and helped us...Thank you a lot! We took Crystal to another vet after quite a bit of research on various vets in our area. We found a cat specialist who is a Board Certified Internal Medicne Veterinarian. This vet, also, couldn't find anything after examining Crystal's blood test and then taking an X-ray. This vet suggested taking a sample of stomach tissue for analysis using a spectscopic probe. Only, this procedure would cost $1,500 and if inconclusive would require exploratory surgery at another $1,500. Unfortunately, we are too budget pressed to afford those procedures. So, the Dr. suggested "presumptive" treatement with chlorambucil and prednisolone which we are doing. Crystal is taking this medication well with no side effects... Amazingly, the vet didn't suggest feeding Crystal with a baby feeding tube (like a minature baster for cooking). But, the advice on-line suggested force feeding Crystal and using baby food which we started doing. Because of that, Crystal has gained a pound and no longer is in a stuper... she is active and curious like a cat is supposed to be. Another vet we talked to suggested we use Science Diet A/D instead of baby food as it is more nutritious... so we changed the food. Our question now is, how do you wean Crystal off the forced feeding? And of course, we are wondering if the drug therapy will do anything? We do have a follow up vet visit and maybe that will reveal if the drugs are working. Regarding getting Crystal to eat, since she has eaten dry food all her 12 years, she doesn't seem to understand how to eat canned food or shreaded chicken. She seems to want to eat canned food but gives us the impresson that she doesn't know how. Maybe we have to teacher how to do that, too? Anyway, we are into Crystal's treatment and are doing our best to help her. Any comments or suggestions you may have from my concerns above would be appreciated. Man... is this newsgroup the great! What a fabulous thing for pet lovers to have. Thank goodness! Thanks again to all... Joe, Marsha & Crystal You will want to start trying to offer her the a/d off your finger before going for syringe feeding. If she seems eager to eat, try that first. If she won't do it ( try for a few minutes) do the syringe, but I think you will find that she will eventually do this. She must be hungry, so no syringe feeding first when you start trying this. Then when she is eating off your fingers, start putting it on a plate. It may take a little while but don't wait too long. I'm glad she is doing so much better!!! I will say that I still put a/d (about a teaspoon) on top of my girls other canned food since her bout of not eating. Keep us posted! karen |
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