Slurries for Sick Cats
Meow and welcome, kitties. My name is Mewsette, and I came to teach you about Slurries today. So settle down, get nice and comfortable, and I'll tell you all about them!
In spite of the good care our humans give us, sometimes we cats get sick. It's just a fact of life. And if we do get sick, what is the first thing to go? Our appetites. No cat wants to eat when we feel sick. We'd rather starve! This is not good!
Our humans can get very worried if we don't eat. We may not only find ourselves carted off to the vet, we may find our formerly trustworthy meowmies coming at us with droppers and pills and a strange glint in their eye, trying to convince us it's all for our own good.
Most of us are not very good patients, either. But we do need to get well! Not only must we take our medicine, we must eat! As far as taking medicine is concerned, well, that is not my subject, so the less said about that, the better. Your meowmie is on her own there. But keeping us nourished so we don't get worse, become anemic, or develop anorexia, is important, too. That's why you should know about
SLURRIES
What is a slurry? you may ask. A slurry is greenish-tan stuff, or maybe even worse colors, a fairly runny puree of food that is fed to you with a small food syringe. I'm not talking turkey baster here. A little 3cc syringe, like all vets have. No needle, of course, just the plastic part. Some of us will eat nicely from a spoon, but some won't. If we don't feel like it, we just don't. Slurries really don't taste bad at all; they're pretty good if your meowmie makes them right. The trick is to mix the right stuff.
There are three possible kinds: baby food slurry, cat food slurry, and prepared liquid diet in a bottle.
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First we'll have elimination: The liquid diet may have everything you need in it, but it's all artificial and they flavor it with stuff you wouldn't believe, like vanilla. Now, humans might like vanilla, but I don't. Even if some cats might, the texture of these is like paint. They can gag you.
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The cat food slurry sounds like a good idea at first, especially if you're on a prescription diet. The idea is to puree the cat food in a blender with enough low-salt chicken broth to make it a good consistency for the syringe. Well, lotsa luck. Somehow the food will still have a lump to clog the syringe and cause your meowmie to cry and tear her fur out, if she had any.
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That leaves baby food, which is what I recommend for a slurry. Some baby foods, strained meats or meat-vegie dinners, are good nutrition for a sick cat, if you keep these important things in mind:
1. Never, never feed a cat baby food that contains onion or onion powder, and that eliminates most of the "dinners" by the major brand. Have your meowmie read the label and be sure there is NO ONION, because onion causes anemia in cats, and you already have enough problems.
2. Baby food meats are great for cats, but they do not contain taurine, an essential nutrient for us. If much of it is fed to us, your meowmie needs to add powdered taurine, or half of a crushed 250mg taurine tablet to every jar. Also, too much of the meat with nothing added might cause constipation in a cat and, as I said, you have enough problems.
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Some good foods to use are:
Strained chicken, turkey or lamb(a kind that's only meat and broth if possible).
Strained peas (just peas and water. I like peas).
Strained carrots (if you like carrots- I don't.)
The major brand "Tender Harvest" vegetables, turkey and barley (has no onion).
The major brand broccoli and chicken (has no onion. I love broccoli.)
There are others, but they're hard to find!
Mix 3 parts meat to one part plain vegetable, or one part meat to one part "dinner". Then a teaspoon or two of low-sodium chicken broth or water if it needs thinning, or if you aren't drinking enough. Then add powdered taurine. Mix at least enough to make 2 or 3 Tablespoons at once. If you are on Pet-tinic or other vitamins, that can be added, too. Some medicines could be added to the slurry, but ask your vet first. DON'T put chalky antibiotics in there! When the color is really yucky and it's just tepid-warm, it's ready.
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About feeding the slurry, it's easier to do than meowmies may think. It works best to have the cat sit next to you, and syringe 1 cc at a time gently into the side of the cat's mouth. Don't shoot it down the cat's throat from the front, or you may choke her or get it into her lungs. Just gently from the side so she can mouth it around and swallow easily. Yes, it can be slow. Most cats should be able to handle up to 24 cc's, or 2 Tablespoons, at a sitting. (1 cc = 1/4 of a teaspoon) but don't worry if she can't, just keep trying. She needs several feedings a day if she's eating nothing else. With something in the stomach, she'll feel more like eating. It's true!
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Another thing; if a cat is taking antibiotics, they can kill off the good bacteria in her gut as well as the bad. It's a good idea to avoid this by giving her a teaspoon or two of plain yogurt every day, Nothing purple with berries or yellow with lemon, please. Plain unflavored is best. Another way to get those good cultures is to add acidolphilus powder to the food. You know, that food you're not eating. That food they hid the medicine in and thought you wouldn't notice. I'd go with the yogurt, unless you know you're allergic to milk products, as some cats are. Some meowmies could add the yogurt right in your slurry. Mine wouldn't dare.
That concludes the class, kitties, and I hope you found the subject of slurries, er... interesting! Be sure to take the exam for credit, and thank you for coming today! |
