Indy And His straitjacket
AnimalCare 
Aug 16, 2015 
AnimalCare, NGOs 
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Since coming back from the vet, Indy had not regained his appetite. I’d learnt about the dangers of hepatic liver (or “fatty liver”) from a few vets before, so since Indy’s appetite hadn’t been good for a few days now and since yesterday, he had totally stopped eating except for the small amount being force-fed, I continued force-feeding him at regular intervals all day today.
About hepatic lipidosis in cats: http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/digestive/c_ct_hepatic_lipidosis
Normally, when a body is undernourished or starved, the body automatically moves fat from its reserves to the liver to be converted into lipoproteins for energy. Cat’s bodies are not designed to convert large stores of fat, so when a cat is in starvation mode, the fat that is released to the liver is not processed efficiently, resulting in a fatty and low functioning liver. As the fat accumulates in the liver it becomes swollen and turns yellow. Because it is not able to process red blood cells efficiently, the yellow pigment that makes up a portion of the red blood cell is released into the bloodstream, causing a yellowing of the eyes. If not treated promptly, hepatic lipidosis can lead to various complications and eventually death.
When Tabs was hospitalised the last time, the vet stressed on how important it was to force-feed her at regular intervals and I camped at the clinic to force-feed her the blended ID.
So I did the same for Indy today. The vet did say he’s “supposed” to eat a can of ID per day, ideally, but if he could not, he should still get some nutrition in.
It took two trials to blend the ID and even after that, it wasn’t fine enough to be syringed. The ID texture is really grainy!
I had to keep adding warm water to make it almost “soupy” before it could be syringed up.
It wasn’t easy feeding Indy, especially when he wasn’t keen to eat yet.
As you know, Indy is incredibly strong and a cat will always defend himself when he is unwell. Indy tried his best not to claw me, but even the tip of his claw is pretty “deadly”. He was trying to stop me from force-feeding him, so the tip of his claw must have hit a pressure point on my hand. It was so painful that I could feel my fingers “paralysed” instantly when that happened. Until now, my hand and finger are still so painful! From this afternoon until evening, I have claw marks on my back, my legs and arms and hands. That’s the fighter spirit in Indy!
So I had to finally resort of straitjacketing Indy with this towel. It worked..for a few minutes, enough for me to get some our the soupy ID into his mouth. The syringe method didn’t quite work, so I just rubbed the blended ID onto Indy’s teeth instead.
Everyone else was eyeing the “delicious ID” – Ginger, Bunny and Cow were more than happy to finish the unused portions up!
Grooming himself after being straitjacketed.
Despite having lost his appetite for a few days and having lost 400g, Indy did not lose any of his “Indy-ness”. He is still as active as ever.
So I force-fed him regularly all day, until finally by 10pm, Indy asked for food. We weren’t sure if he would eat, because in the past few days, he also helped everyone ask for food, but he would turn away from the bowl after a few sniffs.
So we served everyone, including Indy and held our breath…
Indy ate!!!
After sniffing for a few seconds, he ate…without having to be coaxed! But this is a kibble snack and not his ID. I think he probably hates the ID by now!
It’s almost midnight now and Indy is fast asleep.
Thank you, everyone, for your kind wishes for Indy! We are very grateful.
Disclaimer: This is just a sharing and does not contain any professional advice. If your pet is unwell, please consult a veterinarian for advice.
Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2015/08/16/indy-and-his-straitjacke..
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