When you find out that your dog or cat has kidney disease and they no longer have any desire to eat or drink, it is due to the progression of the disease.  When you notice your pet will not eat or drink, it may be time to consider a feeding tube which is placed surgically into the neck of the pet under anesthesia.  Our dog Pumpkin had gotten to this stage with his kidney disease, yet he wanted to play and walk, but we knew that he would quickly lose that motivation without the proper amount of food and water.  We felt it was the right thing to do by having his feeding tube added to continue his quality of life.  It was nerve racking to think about the surgery, healing time and how he would take to the tube feeding, but after the surgery and being shown how to tube feed Pumpkin properly by the wonderful technicians at the VCA Animal hospital in Mesa, the fear subsided and we knew that we would have to go through the process at first 4 times a day and then to 3 times a day once we knew how he would react.

Pumpkin was very patient and sat down on his bed during the tube feedings after the first few times and he sensed we were helping him.  Once we had completed the process several times,  the nerves went away and we felt that we were doing what was best for Pumpkin to prolong his life and will to play, walk, and give all of his love to everyone he met.  We had a padded collar that held the feeding tube in a comfortable spot on his neck so he would not scratch at it, pull at it or damage the feeding tube.  When the tube is inserted, and healed, it is important to keep in in place with a Kitty Kollar, collar with a K.  You can order them online of from the hospital, looking up Kitty Kollar.

It is important to keep the area where the tube enters your pets neck, and wash the kitty kollar, so having at least two will be best.  We purchased an antibiotic foaming pump bottle and added a little bit each time to a soft makeup removal cloth to gently dab around the area where the tube is inserted into the neck.  You can also cut a slit in the round makeup removal pad and place it around the tube before putting the kitty kollar back on to keep the tube in place.

This video from YouTube will demonstrate the proper way to tube feed your pet.   You will need a blender that can do a great job turning solid canned dog or cat food with some water into a puree with no lumps, completely liquid.  We purchased a really strong blender for this purpose.

Here is the link to the video: