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So, I went baby food shopping (a new experience for me as I am child-free...) and the only variety I can get here is Heinz, mostly desserts, and the only chicken variant was mostly sweetcorn and carrot. Not ideal, I felt.
What I did buy was a tin of wet cat food, (9 Lives brand) Meaty Pate style so not chunky, with real Turkey Giblets. It includes meat by-products, turkey gizzards, chicken and bone meal, but less carbohydrate than the baby food, and it has some vitamins which the baby food did not have: Vitamins A, D3, B12, E, also Thiamine, Biotin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Folic Acid, Taurine, and a variety of minerals.
I crushed up 1 teaspoon of this, made a slurry with 4 teaspoons of water, and got most except the larger pieces into him using a soft disposable pipette. (I have done this before with non-feeding neonates, so that's not a problem for me, although he doesn't like it much....) I can get this down his throat and deliver 2 - 3 mls at a time, so it took several loads to get it all into him. If this seems to work I'll get hold of a syringe and tubing to deliver it in one go. Once (if) the Nutri-bac arrives I'll be more willing to force feed him chicken portion and trust to his own digestive system anyway.
How often would you tube feed? It was a very small amount, not what he would normally eat. He normally feeds every 2 weeks, but he's quite weak and lethargic right now, so I want to get nutrition into him, but not overload his digestive system.
Re Vit A toxicity - there's no actual information about the amount on the cat food label. Does anyone know what level is a problem, or should it be avoided altogether?
Thanks again, in advance.
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