Romeo update

Poor Romeo. He is having a hard time keeping his food down with that tube in his neck. It runs directly into his stomach so that he can eat. He has special food that he has to eat plus two medications and they are injected into the tube with a syringe. The cat food has to be brought to a soupy consistency by adding water and it smells..well....not delicious. Here's how it works. First he gets a full syringe of water, then he's supposed to have 5-6 syringes of food followed by another one of water to wash it down. This has to be repeated a few times through out the day so he basically has one can of cat food a day. So far, since Saturday, he has only gotten one can of cat food down. The first night he threw most of it up..that night was mostly throwing the sheets in the washer, cleaning up the puke, figuring out what went wrong. The next day we cut back to only three syringes of food. He still threw it up and by this point was on to us. He knew it was coming and didn't want to sit still, which made getting the tip of the syringe into the top problematic.

By last night we had cut him down to just two syringes of water and one of food. It seemed to do the trick. He was able to keep it down. Today I was able to give two syringes of water and two of food in the morning and evening, so he's doing better. I just feel so bad for the little guy. He's clearly not comfortable with that plastic thing around his head and the tube in the neck.

Thank goodness Rob is an animal lover! He has had to clean up his share fair of kitty throw up this week and it's been some what exhausting for the both of us. I can't help but feel like this is just a taste of whats to come with Cubby. I am usually extremely squeamish and knew there was no way I was going to be able to feel Romeo through the tube. It was all too much...the tube, it going into his neck, the bandages around his neck, the sad look on his face. When I first saw him at the vet, I had to look away at first. But something just kind of took over and when he had a hard time with the feedings, I just kind of sucked it up and did it. I know it doesn't sound like much, but for me, it was a big moment. It breaks my heart to have to feel my sweet kitty through a plastic tube and see him being sick, but it was mind over matter time and with Rob's couching, I was able to get it done. Now when its time to feed him, we have our routine. I get the food, water and syringe ready in the bathroom, lay down the towel, bring Romes in there and we just make it happen. There is still some squirming and resistance, but for the most part, he's doing good.

He's going back to the vet tomorrow to make sure he's gaining weight. The tube can't come out until he has gained a sufficient amount and with his slow progress, it's taking a little longer than we had hoped. But what's important is that he gets better and I hopefully he's on the road to recovery.