Trials and Tribulations

We decided to get Sam a feeding tube because the force feeding was almost impossible and was making him throw up too much.  This disease is best treated by feeding and getting nutrients into Sam so we are going to do anything we can to do that.  So far we have had him throw up a few times.  There are a few important things to remember when using the feeding tube.  Number one in our experience is to go really slow.  I think him throwing up was a result of going a little bit too fast.  I decided to buy a kitchen timer and set it for 15 minutes,  I take that whole time to feed him, going really slow with many breaks between each 5ml.  Another problem I ran into was the tube getting clogged because of some medication that was hard to crush.  We got a pill crusher and that seems to work well.   The vet told us to unclog that tube via a small amount of coca cola, letting it sit for 15-20 minutes.  I tried warm water first, then the 5 ml of cola and let it sit for 35 plus minutes.  After that I got a chopstick and stuck that down in the tube and it worked.  This was not suggested by the vet so use at your own risk and please be careful. 

Last night we woke up to sam puking.  We were relived to find out that not much came up and that he kept all the food down from a few hours before.  He was also missing the plug that goes on the top of the tube to make sure nothing gets in or out when not in use.  We looked everywhere and never found it.  I went to the vet and got another one  because the vet said it was important.  After he threw up early this morning he went directly to the littler box and had his first poo.  I was watching him and it looked like he was struggling.  The poo was really dried up on one end and the other end was normal and wet.  We think that he threw up because it was painful to pass that poo after not having one for a couple weeks. 

We have faith that we will beat this disease.  We are doing everything possible and Sam seems to be perking up a little bit.