Michelle, The thing with force feeding is that it's worth it if it gets them through something, it's not worth it if it doesn't. And the hard thing with that is that you don't know which situation you're in.
Give her a day to not eat to see if the appetite will come back of its own accord. Lucy seems to have been eating pretty well so far, and even 10 licks of the baby food is very encouraging. I've gotten to where I'm counting the pieces of kibble that go in on their own and if it's in the double digits, I'll claim success. You know from when you're sick that you can feel ill and not eat, or not eat much for a day, but then the next day, even if still sick, the hunger will get the best of you. You won't be putting her in harm's way if you let her not eat one day, in fact you might be doing her a service as it might be best to have an empty system for a bit to reset it, and you won't be fighting with the force feeding. I know about fatty liver disease, but it's more common for cats to fast and be okay than fast and get FLS. In my experience, the time/energy investment of forcefeeding compared to the amount of food that gets down is disproportionate. Be easy and patient both with yourself and Lucy, you're both doing the best you can. One of my forcefeeding battles resulted in another six months with my Hepburn. Even so, though, I don't know if it was necessary or worth it. Then at the end, I force fed when I shouldn't have. That was FIP (not confirmed through necropsy, but she had the distended belly and the fluid was drawn, etc). I regret putting us through that. If it's a cold, that's fabulous, give it a day to see if the Vick's helps, if the congestion loosens. It seems like she's been on a pendulum back and forth, which makes it exceedingly difficult to find patterns. All this to say that I know that you'll force feed and you're doing the best thing for Lucy. You'll know when to stop if it's necessary. Leslie From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Lucy not eating
Well, as of last night she will not eat at all. She was hardly eating since I gave her the dex shot the night before, I think because it unmasked her URI and her nose got congested. I have a vicks vaporizer on for that, used nose drops, gave lysine, etc. but it is not clearing up this time. But she was eating a little. I then gave her denosyl for the third night in a row. And I think it made her nauseous, because she has not eaten a thing since and and she looked bad for about an hour afterwards. I looked it up and it can cause vomiting, apparently-- don't know how I missed that the first time. The second night I think it may have made her temporarily nauseous as well, but I thought it was the feline interferon. The result is that she is not eating at all now. I did syringe her a little (about 20 cc' baby food) last night. But she hated it. I don't know what to do. She probably has wet fip. I had told myself I would not torture her by force feeding her when she is terminal anyway. But I don't know now. What if she really is not eating just because her nose is stuffed up from the dex? Monday will be week 2 of epogen and feline interferon-- what if they started working? It is all doubtful. I do not want her last days to be full only of needles, pills, and forced feedings. I also don't want her to die early because of a stuffed up nose, if that is what is going on. what to do? Please pray for her. thanks, Michelle
