I figured since Cow Mau can eat raw minced chicken, I might as well try him with Cubgrub’s CKD Chicken. At least that’s a balanced CKD meal.
Previously, Cow Mau’s favourite food was Coco&Joe’s, but its texture is too sticky and would irritate his mouth.
So I tried Cubgrub just now and it worked!
I’m trying my best to “read” what Cow Mau wants. It is not easy, though.
Grooming this morning. Before this he was so fragile, I didn’t even dare to brush his fur.
When he wants oxygen, he lies down near the oxygen concentrator. Then I will turn the machine on and place the nasal cannula near his nostrils. If he doesn’t move away, that means he wants it. Once he has had enough, he walks off. Clever boy!
Cow Mau’s SRR is still a bit high, at 32-36 breaths per minute, but at least the breaths are no longer laboured. There is also no cracking sound and I think his airways are quite clear because he is not breathing through his mouth as he was on Monday.
The only thing that is worrying is that Cow Mau is dehydrated. He also does not like me syringing water into his mouth. He just prefers to eat food. Luckily Cubgrub has a lot of water. And because of his heart condition, we cannot do subcut fluids. The fluids might accumulate around his heart and lungs and inside his lungs and impede his breathing, just as it had on Monday and luckily we could remove those fluids with Furosemide. I shall write more about what I’ve learnt about hydration in palliative care in another post.
After the Cubgrub meal, Cow Mau is now taking a nap.
I still have to put the food into his mouth for him to swallow. But at least there’s food going in now, which is already very good.
I weighed him this morning and his weight was 3.55kg. I know he has lost a lot of weight because of the few days of being critically ill and not eating at all.
One day at a time.