This would be me. Our beloved Max had lost some weight dramatically. At first, we though he was getting more exercise (we moved from a condo to a 3-story house, so he was up and down the stairs constantly), but he kept losing. We’d see him try to eat but not manage to break the food down, so we thought it was a problem with his teeth. Turns out, he had pancreatitis and fatty liver disease.
We had the tube inserted in the stomach as soon as we knew it wasn’t a malignancy, and began the laborious feeding regimen. At first, it was incredibly difficult, because the syringes were hard to deal with, the food was so heavy and dense and difficult to push through, and he vomited everything up. He had dropped 4 lbs from his pre-FLD weight, and after two weeks was still losing weight (though much more gradually). He was such a good kitty and never seemed to be in any pain, but we knew he must’ve been uncomfortable (with the tube and the vomit) and depressed (his behavior and personality had changed dramatically).
The food was a prescription diet specifically for his problem. We’d get these syringes that held 60cc and feed him four times a day, adding supplements like potassium, carnatine, and antibiotics, not to mention various anti-nausea measures (plus a separate syringe with water to flush the tube out after each feeding). For two weeks, nothing seemed to work. Blood tests and sonograms were showing that the liver and pancreas were improving, but he was vomiting so much, he was getting severely dehydrated (not to mention very constipated). He also couldn’t groom himself, so we’d have to wash him with a cloth (he hated that worse than the feedings), but we could still tell he didn’t like being so “dirty”.
So the vet recommended that we add some low-cal sodium to his diet. By then, we had the syringe technique worked out (using Pam to grease the syringe helped), and he had gotten used to the feeding procedure (though was so weak he could hardly resist). She also gave us an IV full of electrolytes that we had to give him once a day (this was easier than it sounds, pinching the area behind the neck to painlessly get the needle under the skin).
Incredibly, he turned around virtually overnight. The following week (this last Monday), his weigh-in had him two whole lbs heavier! His liver was also improving, and his personality is back to the way it was before. He was always sweet, but now his behavior is more out-going, he vocalizes more (and purrs more, too), and is taking the stairs. He looks and sounds demonstrably better.
The vet staff was very supportive, saying that almost all the kitties they’d had with this problem pulled through. It just required patience and diligence. My wife and I have done virtually nothing aside from work since this started (and we both called in several sick days to get the critical mid-day feedings in when we could). Because of our schedules, the feedings were often done by one of us, so it can be done solo, though it’s easier as a team effort. We created a spreadsheet so we could track how much he ate, at what time, which supplements were with which feeding, and the frequency of the throw-ups. This was extremely helpful.
Also, we can’t overstate how important positive reinforcement was as well. One of us slept with him every night (on the couch, the floor, wherever he was most comfortable). We petted him and talked to him constantly. We never let him forget how much we loved him and always made sure he knew that we were never cross about the vomiting, the pooping or peeing (we had to move the litter box much closer to where he was convalescing as a result). We just wanted him to get better.
And he is on the road to recovery. Now, he is impatient for his feedings, but is also eating on his own. We had food and water out all the time, in hopes that he would try them. We’d also try all sorts of “people food” (salmon, chicken, SPAM, anything) to tempt him to eat something. He’d always sniff but never attempted, until…well, he did. It’s hard to describe how quick the transformation was, but he turned the corner so quickly we weren’t really expecting it. Some kitties will be different, but friends who also faced this problem agreed that the recovery can truly come out of the blue, just like that. There’s quite a bit more to go (probably another 3 weeks at least with the tube, gradually weaning him off it), but the worst, we suspect, is behind us.
Having you there for the first week will be very helpful for her, since you can work out the kinks in the feeding program together. If she has a friend or neighbor that loves cats and can help, that’d be great too. It was very frustrating sometimes (and we often contemplated worst case scenarios), but encourage her to not give up. The recovery rate is very high–it just requires a lot of patience (the love comes easily, I think) and hope.
Good Luck.
