| FEEDING TUBES
How to use the feeding tube with kittens A lot of us will recognize the problems concerning extra feeding / bottle feeding with kittens. Others, who so far never were required to do it, might just stumble across this problem before long. Bottle feeding might be required with "orphaned" kittens, kittens born with a caesarian section which can cause the production of milk to fail or obstructs the mother-child relation, underdeveloped nipples which makes it impossible for the mother to feed her kittens, too large litters, acute infection of the womb, problems related to blood type (e.g. a blood type B mother with A type kittens) or for any other reason why a mother cat cannot feed her newborns (sufficiently) herself. Just imagine. Sterilizing bottles and teats, a strict feeding schedule, all the hassles of clogged up teats, or teats that were accidentally punctured too widely, and not to mention the alarm clock that wakes you up every 2 to 3 hours for feeding. Have you ever considered what could happen if those little kittens or one of them refuse to be bottle fed, or if one had decided to just take his time drinking the necessary amount of milk in order to stay alive and grow. In that case, just forget all about the alarm clock, as by the time you have finished round one, you are 1 ½ hours later and have just enough time left to prepare the next round of food. In short, a murderous schedule, especially as all other regular activities at home just go on. You can imagine a breeder's anguish when after all his effort and care, one of the kittens choke and gets fluid in his lungs and no longer wants to eat, constantly crying his little heart out while having more and more trouble breathing. It will try to leave the nest in his panic and finally dies at the edge of the box or basket. Taking all this into consideration, one can say that bottle feeding young kittens is a very exhausting and scary job. Another and safer way of feeding very young kittens is by feeding tube. This method was introduced about 15 years ago in The Netherlands by the American professor Bill Klein at a veterinary conference in Amsterdam. Our vet, present at the conference, became very enthused by this method and set out to learn how to do it. Afterwards he shared his knowledge with dog and cat breeders who visited his surgery with their feeding problems. In short, there are only advantages to using a feeding tube: - the danger of choking is reduced to almost nothing - no more messing around with milk that ends everywhere except where it belongs - hungerstrikers are deprived of their life threatening weapon - feeding measures and more
important feeding schedule can be monitored much A schedule between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. with feeding every two hours and the first and last measuring 4 grams, the others 2 grams, should do nicely, even after reductions for the secretion and the lack of nightly feedings. In short: - you can have your much needed night's rest - one feed a day could be skipped
provided the previous and next one are - slow eaters can eat as slowly as
they wish. In the meantime you are giving - Note: should you decide to go and get a feeding tube after reading this article, don't throw away the bottles and teats as yet. Tube feeding is recommended for very young, weak or ill kittens who don't have enough strength to suck up sufficient milk, and who, on vet's orders, need extra food. For older and stronger kittens the normal feeding bottle will suffice.
What is a feeding tube? Enclosed illustrations already explain most of it. It is a thin (1,5 mm to 2 mm) see-through tube, approx. 50 cm long that is used to transfer the mother's milk surrogate straight into the kitten's stomach. KMR, other ready made substances or non glogging liquids (also see note 2) are recommended. For a small amount you can buy a feeding tube at most vet's.
1 - Feeding tube (size 1,5 to 2 mm) 2 - Short strand of colored tape to
attach to the tube at about 8 cm from
4 - At both ends an opening of approx. 1,5 mm.
6.A matching pair of plastic
syringes with contents of minimum 2 ml.
7 - take care the kitten doesn’t
wriggle too much in case the tube slides out again. Using the Feeding Tube. It is recommended you consult your vet before using the feeding tube. There could be any number of reasons either with the mother or the kittens why they are not gaining weight. In those cases using a feeding tube might worsen the situation and might even threaten the kittens' life. Should the vet advise you to give extra food, than the feeding tube could be a tremendous help. This is how you do it: - spread a big, soft towel on the table. - put a small receptacle close at
hand, but big enough to enable you to suck - KMR or something like it (2)
should be brought up to body temperature and - Fill one of the syringes - before filling the syringe with milk, suck up 0,5 ml of air into the syringe, (* - then add 2 to 4 ml of milk.
- the tape, previously attached to
the tube, indicates up to where you should - insert the empty syringe - piston
completely depressed - in the other end - now remove the kitten from the
nest and best just lay it on his belly on the It might help to lift the right / left front leg of the kitten with the thumb of the hand in which you are holding the kitten. Almost as a reflex, the kitten will swallow, taking the tube down. (* try it first with 0,5 ml of air. Best is to try it out first in the wash basin or so. Fill the syringe as indicated, insert the syringe in the top of the tube and empty the syringe. When the syringe is empty, except for the 0,5 ml of air, there should still be some milk left in the tube. By injecting the air into the tube, the remainder of the milk flows out of the tube. - Should the tube be empty before,
than 0,5 ml of air is too much and in that - Should there still be milk left in the tube, than 0,5 ml of air is too little. Precautions Do not try to insert the tube in one go. But first insert approx 5 -6 cm and than try to very gentle create a vacuum. If you have got a vacuum or feel pressure, you know you indeed have inserted the tube in the gullet. The gullet is flexible like a balloon and will be sucked against the opening of the tube. Than depress the piston of the syringe slightly to relieve the vacuum. (* * Best is to try it out with an empty, fully depressed syringe which you close off with your thumb when trying to fill the syringe with air, you will the skin of your thumb being sucked against the opening.
- you can find a cat's stomach behind the lungs, halfway down the trunk - Trachea / Windpipe: is firm (not flexible) has rings of cartilage - The Gullet is soft and flexible like a balloon. Should you on the contrary feel no pressure when trying to create a vacuum, than you have inserted the tube into the windpipe as the rings of cartilage prevent the wall of the windpipe being sucked in. In that case gently remove the tube and reinsert. The chances of this happening are minimal, as even for expert vets it is very difficult to insert a tube into the windpipe even when it is needed. Feeding After relieving the pressure of the vacuum, you can insert the tube further down, up to the marking. Remove the empty syringe and replace with a filled one. Empty the syringe gently and evenly in to the tube, as described above. After the syringe is empty, slowly remove the tube for the first 2 to 3 cm, For the last 6 cm remove the tube while gently sucking up air, and that just in case a drop of milk is left dangling at the end of the tube and gets accidentally into the windpipe when removing the tube. By sucking in some air you prevent any milk left in the syringe to get into the windpipe where windpipe and gullet meet each other at the back of the throat. Note: it is advisable to rinse the tube and syringe with boiled water after every use or even boil them. And that is all there is to it. The kitten is fed with the right amount of food ( 2 to 4 grams). It all sounds very complicated, but all is quite simple in practice. After the first few times, it will take you only a minute to feed a kitten Hold the kitten steady in one hand to prevent the feeding tube form moving too much, change the syringes with the other hand. Afterword How does the kitten feel about all this? That is a different questions, but he won't enjoy it, that is for sure. But sometimes there just is no other option and it feels save that while being fed he can scream all he wants without the chance of choking. Not enjoyable is the right word as it definitely does not hurt. On top of that, several of the kitten's senses and functions are not as yet fully developed, e.g. they are still blind and can not walk. This appeased to e.g. a baby giraffe who stands up on his own four feet almost right after birth, and that is a necessity as he needs to be able to accompany his mother on her journey. At the Diergaarde Blijdorp zoo they once experimented with tube feeding a baby giraffe (using a garden hose as a tube) and as the giraffe was completely with it, it was a nightmare for the animal. Don't let people upset you with their hear-say stories, or people who say you mistreat animals or people who say that kittens fed by tube became people haters. All nonsense! Most kittens are just happy to have their little tummies filled and will start purring as soon as they are able to. Yes even with the feeding tube down their throats. A lady vet living in North Holland (somewhere near the Afsluitdijk) will most probably react with" .. Curse, curse, that I should learn all this in a cat magazine." At least, that was how she reacted after reading the article on blood types. Let it be a comfort to her and maybe even your vet, there are a lot of vets who don't know how to handle tube feeding. Years ago, our own kittens were guinea pigs, when we got a new vet who wanted to learn how to do it. Although she learned, she still sometimes refers some of her problem cases to us.
Tjerk Huisman © 1998 From experience we have learned that the ones referred to as feeding tubes - see below - are the best. Don't let them rub you off with a so called catheter, valve rubber, rubber feeding tube or some other "good brand" Feeding Tubes: Manufactured by: RÜSCH A.G. / D-71394 KERNEN - GERMANY Sizes #1 / Yellow-Cap
1.5 mm / Cat No. 22400 #2 / Green-Cap 2.1 mm / Cat No.unknown For elder kittens and puppies bigger sizes are available. The "Rusch" feeding tubes can only be ordered through your vet.
There are all kind of different brands e.g. KMR (= kitty milk replacement), which is an excellent canned American product (ready made liquid) which can be bought at many vet's. Besides KMR there is a wide variety of powered milk products. The following recipe gives also great results and is being used for over 20 year by the Feral Shelter Organization in Alkmaar. And best of all, the ingredients can be bought at your local supermarket. 1 soup spoon PROTIFAR (Nutricia) Some will say that this recipe is not well balanced as certain nutricients and / or vitamins are lacking. A vet's response to that was that the first objective is to keep the kitten alive during those first few days / weeks. There is plenty of time for nutricious and varied food later. Advise: Should your vet prescribe medication
for the kittens, ask for a liquid form. - remove the piston from the syringe. - hold it a little askew with the nozzle pointing down. - carefully add one or two drops of
the medicine, so the medicine does not - replace the piston holding the syringe nozzle up this time - let the medicine run over the piston - press the piston in the syringe until 0,5 mg of air and medication is left - add the required amount of milk
and shake well. |
| llast updated: 2005/09/07 |
