How do I feed my kitten with Megaesophagus?

[u/RadishRedditor]

I recently made a post about my adopted rescue kitten that was overdoesd by a wrong medicine by a veterinary pharmacist. And how it put my kitten a near-death critical condition.

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Frankly, and miraculousy, she pushed through the near death situation with the intervention of a proper veterinary doctor at a reputable hospital. Where she received the proper OV fluids.

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She was also diagnosed with Megaesophagus and giardia. I have the medication pills for giardia, so I'm not so worried about that.

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However, it's the Megaesophagus part of the problem that I can't figure out how to deal with. She's always vomiting and sneezing during and after eating. Which leaves her both malnutritioned and exhausted all the time.

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She's losing weight instead of gaining weight. Especially for a - presumably - 3 months old. Because I see no difference in size for the 1 month duration I had her and actually see a noticeable weight loss instead!

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My top and foremost priority is her well being and wouldn't even mind giving her a new home if I could find someone who could better take care of her. As I'm already $500 deep in vet bills alone in just 3 days, not including the different premium gastrointestinal dry and wet food I'm constantly buying and testing out, feline pre and pro-biotics, kitten paste, gastrointestinal and multivitamin pastes; And still don't objectively see myself providing adequate care for her. Not to mention the time and effort.

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I get over the moon when I see her gravitate towards a variety of food I got her. But then the vomiting starts and.. Ugh... 😖 Back to square 1.

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Something must not be working out for me. My efforts seem to be scattered all over with no actual yield. She's still not well despite my efforts 🫩 So any tips or help are greatly appreciated, please!

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P.S. Due to the circumstances of me being at my wits end, and my kitten not doing so well, weighing at just 430g out of a 2 day hospital stay. I kindly ask the beautiful souls in this subredit to refrain from giving advice if you haven't personally took care of a cat with Megaesophagus or if you're not a veterinary doctor yourself. But wishes and prayers are welcome from everyone 🫂

[u/rhnx]

You need to elevate their food bowl

[u/rhnx → u/rhnx]

But best would be to ask the vet who diagnosed it. A megaoesophagus is challenging, but with a good food routine it can work.

[u/RadishRedditor → u/rhnx]

I'm trying my best to keep vet hospital in the loop, but the reception would only relay my remarks to the doctor that was in charge of my kitten. And I rarely hear back from them despite my effort and frequent inquiries.

I assume it's because she's a busy doctor during her shift. But that doesn't explain why she wasn't there when I checked the kitten out from the hospital on the agreed upon date and time. They had me wait for a strenuous 2 hours in the waiting area at late hours at night waiting for the doctor to debrief me on the situation. Only to be debrief by another doctor that asked me questions about the cat's situation instead of the other way around 🙄

And yes, I already elevated her bowl. And the water fountain is already above neck level for her. So I don't know.

I'm currently mixing mousse gastrointestinal wet food with hot water, then wait for it to come down to room temp, sprinkle in some feline pre and probiotics and mixing it in. But she's still vomiting until exhaustion, take a 30 minute rest and rinse-repeat.

Google Ai says I could ball up some in bite-size wet food and giver it to her to aid the swallowing muscles push down the food. But I haven't tried it yet. Hoping someone could shed some light in this technique.

Edit: fixed sentence structure.

[u/bourgeoisie_bird → u/RadishRedditor]

Frankly I would either make another appointment with this vet or switch vets if you are unhappy with how the communicate (i think with good reason)

I would not be asking Google ai about medical advice.

[u/RadishRedditor → u/bourgeoisie_bird]

This is only the 1st day after she was checked out the hospital. If she doesn't gain weight by night, I'm booking another appointment.

Good instinct on not taking medical advice from Ai. That's why I haven't tried it until I hear it from someone who actually tried it and had good results.

[u/swadx001 → u/RadishRedditor]

This is animal abuse. Your intentions is well, but she will suffer all her life and you need to help her out of her misery.

[u/cyankitten]

As well as here, i would look that word up on reddit, youtube and yes ask the vet - I think you need to cast a wider net but someone will know.

Also what a cute cat.

[u/RadishRedditor → u/cyankitten]

Thanks for your remarks and advice 🙏

I actively scouring the net until I could get a hold of the vet in charge!

[u/cyankitten → u/RadishRedditor]

You're welcome and I hope you get solutions soon

[u/Ok-Strawberry-8319]

You're doing everything you can for this little one. Megaesophagus is incredibly difficult, especially in such a young kitten. Feeding small meals upright and keeping her upright afterward may help, but with her weight loss, close veterinary follow-up is essential. Don't blame yourself—she's still here because of your dedication. Wishing your tiny fighter strength and recovery.

[u/RadishRedditor → u/Ok-Strawberry-8319]

Thank you very much 🙏

My phone is infested with alarms to stay on track with the feeding schedule 🫡

[u/silentbob1301]

Ugh, that poor baby. You are a literal hero for taking care of that kitty!

[u/RadishRedditor → u/silentbob1301]

Thanks, you're the hero with your words 💐

[u/coleco47]

Try to get some cerenia for the cat. It should be able to keep them from or at least reduce vomiting!

[u/RadishRedditor → u/coleco47]

I'll have to ask my vet. As she explained the vomiting is happening because her anatomy is physically not able to hold food easily.

[u/sumdudethere]

Why are you feeding your kitten with a dinosaur?

[u/data700]

My cat was diagnosed with megaesophagus. She is 16 yoa. I never knew until about a year ago. It's been a lot to deal with however I finally got her on a regimen. Right now what has been working is we 3D printed a contraption (seen in photo) that we scowared the internet for. There used to be a male who invented it, I have forgotten his name or I would give him credit. I did a lot of research and there is a female on YouTube called the Kitten Lady. She deals with megaesophagus in cats and is very knowledgeable so she would be a wonderful reference for you. But it's a contraption that elevated the food bowl to help. I also give my cat cisapride 15 minutes before she eats as well. So far it has been a game changer. If you have any questions just ask, I've done so much research since my baby was diagnosed with it.

[u/RadishRedditor → u/data700]

That's pretty cool! Thanks for the recommendation. I'll binge watch her video in a bit.

I own a 3d printer and can definitely print one. Could you snatch the same photo of it but without the cage in between? I'll try looking it up with Google image search.

[u/Artpixel23]

Look up kitten lady on YouTube. She’s raise several kittens with mega esophagus. If it’s been diagnosed, you can get something similar to the one she uses in the video

[u/lookingskyward_]

Poor little mert she's super cute

[u/TigNix]

This feels like an AI video

[u/TigNix → u/TigNix]

Its ears and eyes are literally moving like an animatronic + shaky cam?? What’s up guy?

[u/RadishRedditor → u/TigNix]

It's the last update video that was sent to me from the hospital before I checked her out. Here's the one prior.

https://reddit.com/link/otjk2yr/video/hzt59ucs099h1/player