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The weekend doctors at the clinic asked Mom if she wanted to bring Pyka home tomorrow (day 4 post-op).
He will still have the large bandage around his neck which secures the feeding tube (because of his surgery could not go into nose or mouth).
He can be syringe fed til he starts eating on his own.
But - does this sound weird? Sending a cat home when he still has a feeding tube in?
Just wondered what you thought.
Thanks.
If your properly instructed on how to use the feeding tube etc, I dont see a problem with a vet's office sending an animal home. It could be days before an animal starts to eat on their own and that could get quite expensive.
We've had many cats sent home from the vet with the feeding tube still in. They had to go into foster homes, not back to the shelter, of course. It is managable, but you have to make sure they are not too active. I haven't had to deal with it myself (yet... I suppose I will someday), but as long as you can get the slurry/liquid supplement in, which shouldn't be hard, you'll be set.
I think I still have pics of our one FIV+ boy who had a tube in.. I'll have to look for them.
My friend Jean's cat went home with a feeding tube in. Jean said it actually made things easier, because she could be sure the cat was getting some nutrition even though all she wanted to do was sleep, and of course kitty was glad to be home.
Love, Columbine
We would send cats home with a feeding tube...as long as the owner came in for a demonstration of the feeding and we were confident that they could handle it.