Re: [Felvtalk] Assist Feeding vs Force Feeding
Lorrie, you say he won't eat unless you sit with him and give him small bits of food. could it be that he likes the attention and doing tihs gets him even more? he doesn't feel good and wants mommy to give him comfort and attention. animals are like children, they know what buttons to push. i can see that in my own babies. Homey #1 wants out or canned food. i don't give it to her right away and she will rub things, knocking them down, walk in front of me so slow. all that stops when she gets what she wants. Homey @2 has a sinus infection and is sneezing a lot. she doesn't want her nose wiped, but keeps coming back for more and every time i sit, she is on mylap. she knows i will wipe her nose, but is willing to put up with that to get what she wants. dorlis Lorrie wrote: > Hi Sharyl, > > I see what you mean about "assist" rather than "force", and I would > definitely assist feed a cat who is just off it's food for awhile or > one who had a non terminal illness. The story I wrote about happened > many years ago, and this cat was dying of kidney failure, but I was > too young and too dumb to know it, and I kept hoping he'd get better. > Now I realize I was probably torturing the poor cat by forcing food > into him. > > As a matter of fact I am "assist feeding" my very old cat now. His > recent blood work was very good for his age, and he had his teeth > cleaned again, plus had an extraction, but he will not eat unless I > sit there with him, and give him small amounts of food several > times a day. I see what you mean about assist rather than force. > > Lorrie > > > On 12-29, Sharyl wrote: I'm hoping Lorrie did not mean she would > > never assist feed another cat.? There are so many reasons a cat > > stops eating that can be treated if a person is willing to assist > > feed for a period of time.? Constipation and dehydration are two > > that come to mind that anyone of us with a FeLV+ kitty might face.? > > Assist feeding while the medical problem is being addressed will > > save the cat's life. ? There are many ways to assist feed.? Please > > note I use the term assist feeding instead of force feeding.? A lot > > of the process is the state of your mind while helping your cat.? I > > assist my cats to consume the daily calories they need.?? My > > Pequita only eats if I spoon feed her on my bed.? Works for her, > > works for me.? ? Bright Eyes is bouncing back and forth between > > diarrhea and constipation while I try and figure out the problem > > and the right dose of lactulose.? ?He gets syringe fed 20 cc of > > Gerbers 2 Chicken and Gravy every few hours to supplement what > > little he does eat on his own.? He is the only one of the 4 FeLV+ > > babies I rescued last fall that isn't doing well.?? I've accepted > > that I might lose him but by golly he isn't going to starve to > > death.? I can't fix FeLV but I can prevent starvation.? ? Once > > again here is the link to the Yahoo Assist Feeding group. > > http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Feline-Assisted-Feeding/ It is a > > good one to bookmark. Sharyl > > > > > > ___ > Felvtalk mailing list > Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] Assist Feeding vs Force Feeding
Hi Sharyl, I see what you mean about "assist" rather than "force", and I would definitely assist feed a cat who is just off it's food for awhile or one who had a non terminal illness. The story I wrote about happened many years ago, and this cat was dying of kidney failure, but I was too young and too dumb to know it, and I kept hoping he'd get better. Now I realize I was probably torturing the poor cat by forcing food into him. As a matter of fact I am "assist feeding" my very old cat now. His recent blood work was very good for his age, and he had his teeth cleaned again, plus had an extraction, but he will not eat unless I sit there with him, and give him small amounts of food several times a day. I see what you mean about assist rather than force. Lorrie On 12-29, Sharyl wrote: I'm hoping Lorrie did not mean she would > never assist feed another cat.? There are so many reasons a cat > stops eating that can be treated if a person is willing to assist > feed for a period of time.? Constipation and dehydration are two > that come to mind that anyone of us with a FeLV+ kitty might face.? > Assist feeding while the medical problem is being addressed will > save the cat's life. ? There are many ways to assist feed.? Please > note I use the term assist feeding instead of force feeding.? A lot > of the process is the state of your mind while helping your cat.? I > assist my cats to consume the daily calories they need.?? My > Pequita only eats if I spoon feed her on my bed.? Works for her, > works for me.? ? Bright Eyes is bouncing back and forth between > diarrhea and constipation while I try and figure out the problem > and the right dose of lactulose.? ?He gets syringe fed 20 cc of > Gerbers 2 Chicken and Gravy every few hours to supplement what > little he does eat on his own.? He is the only one of the 4 FeLV+ > babies I rescued last fall that isn't doing well.?? I've accepted > that I might lose him but by golly he isn't going to starve to > death.? I can't fix FeLV but I can prevent starvation.? ? Once > again here is the link to the Yahoo Assist Feeding group. > http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Feline-Assisted-Feeding/ It is a > good one to bookmark. Sharyl > > ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] Assist Feeding vs Force Feeding
Sharyl, Thank you for your input, I'd like to add that most kitties initially don't like to be assist fed, this does not in most cases mean they are ready to die. The process of not eating is a very vicious cycle. When a cat doesn't feel good OR can't smell their food, they most likely will not eat, even if they are no where near dying. A cat with a bad URI may very well stop eating, I just went through this with a stray my sister was feeding in her back yard. Kitty hadn't eaten for a couple of days, I started her on antibiotics and in 2 more days she started eating a little, then more as the antibiotics worked to clear up her URI. If she hadn't started eating on her own I would have syringe fed her, she couldn't smell her food and wanted to eat but wouldn't. Once she could smell again and was feeling a little better she started eating again. When a cat is sick, they don't feel like eating, same as when a person is sick, I have been sick enough several times in my life that food was the last thing I wanted. Difference is for people not eating for a few days is not life threatening, for a cat it very well can be. The longer a cat goes with out food the worse they feel and weaker they get, the worse they feel the less they want food ... you can see where this is going. Syringe feeding a cat who has for whatever reason lost their appetite is not torture, it can be a life-saver. I've had 3 cats I have had to syringe feed, including Fred my CRF cat. He has been CRF for 3 years and in the beginning while we were trying to get him regulated, he stopped eating enough, he was eating but not enough. I syringe fed him 100cc or more a day, he hated it. After a few weeks I decided to get a feeding tube put in to minimize the stress for both of us. He is alive and well today, he is thinner, and his disease is progressing and it is terminal and at some point nothing I do will help, but for now he is alive and doing pretty well. Many cats with cancer end up being syringe fed or with feeding tubes, I have had 2 of these myself, both would have died sooner if not for the syringe feeding and eventual feeding tubes. Buddie's quality of life was very good her extra year, Bailey my positive not as good, because he had constant diarrhea but except for that it wasn't horrible and if we could have figured out what was going on with him before it was too late ... he developed and died of undiagnosed pancreatic cancer. I personally will go to extremes if there is even a slim chance of keeping my furkids going, you can't diagnose or find the correct treatment for a dead pet, it is what I expect to be done for me. This is my personal opinion and way of thinking and everyone has to make their own decisions as to how far they will go, for me it is as far as possible ... I have seen and heard of some miraculous turn-arounds and that is why I feel the way I do. ANY decision made out of love for your furbaby can not be wrong, you must do what you are comfortable with, our furkids know whatever we do or don't do is because we love them and want to do the best we can for them. -- Belinda happiness is being owned by cats ... http://bemikitties.com http://BelindaSauro.com ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] Assist Feeding vs Force Feeding
I'm hoping Lorrie did not mean she would never assist feed another cat. There are so many reasons a cat stops eating that can be treated if a person is willing to assist feed for a period of time. Constipation and dehydration are two that come to mind that anyone of us with a FeLV+ kitty might face. Assist feeding while the medical problem is being addressed will save the cat's life. There are many ways to assist feed. Please note I use the term assist feeding instead of force feeding. A lot of the process is the state of your mind while helping your cat. I assist my cats to consume the daily calories they need. My Pequita only eats if I spoon feed her on my bed. Works for her, works for me. Bright Eyes is bouncing back and forth between diarrhea and constipation while I try and figure out the problem and the right dose of lactulose. He gets syringe fed 20 cc of Gerbers 2 Chicken and Gravy every few hours to supplement what little he does eat on his own. He is the only one of the 4 FeLV+ babies I rescued last fall that isn't doing well. I've accepted that I might lose him but by golly he isn't going to starve to death. I can't fix FeLV but I can prevent starvation. Once again here is the link to the Yahoo Assist Feeding group. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Feline-Assisted-Feeding/ It is a good one to bookmark. Sharyl --- On Mon, 12/29/08, Lorrie wrote: From: Lorrie Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Force Feeding To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Date: Monday, December 29, 2008, 7:35 AM Thanks for your post Wendy. That other post did come on awfully strong, and she certainly didn't do anything wrong. She did the best she could, which is all any of us can do. As for force feeding. I feel it helps if the cat has a problem that is curable, but NOT if the cat is so sick it is going to die soon anyway. I still feel terribly guilty about a cat I had several years ago that I force fed. He struggled to get away from me but he was too weak. When he began to gag I realized this was pure torture for him and I stopped the force feeding.. He died a few days later. I will never put another cat through this! Lorrie ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
