My cat had tongue removed. How can she eat normally without mess?

If she is unable to even swallow water she will need to have a feeding tube inserted to provide nutrition and may also require intravenous fluids to prevent dehydration. This must be extremely distressing for her and it may be time to consider letting her go if the condition cannot be managed as fasting in cats can create further serious health complications on top of the tumor

You can ask your vet about putting in an esophageal tube. This is a little operation where the vet cuts a tiny hole into the skin and esophagus and inserts a feeding tube the will be sewn to the skin. This will make feeding her so much easier and it can stay in for many weeks until she starts eating by herself. So you would just have to syringe her food into the tube and flush it clean afterwards with some water. This is far less stressful than trying to force feed her or giving her tablets she does not want. At the end of the day it will be much cheaper than having her hospitalized until she eats by herself and also far less stressful. If your vet cannot place a tube, then any larger specialty hospital can do it in no time. Many cats have had a tube after going through serious illness and eventually started eating again and live a happy life afterwards.

Unfortunately ulcerated tumours are incredibly painful and analgesia will do little to help. If it cant be removed and cant heal you have limited options. Personally I would consider quality of life carefully and consider euthanasia. Othet management options would be to try orobase cream which makes a protective film over the open area and alleviates pain, but the cat would have to be amenable to you applying it. You could consider having an oesophageal feed tube placed so you can bypass the mouth completely whilst it heals. These tubes are usually temporary but there are linger term versions that allow you to put feed into the stomach directly. Consider carefully though as quality of life should be the overall deciding factor.

Whether her tongue texture will return to normal or not would depend on the cause for the damage in the first place. The little bristles on the tongue should grown back as the body replaces those cells. However, if there is scar tissue from the damage (or even something like cancer of the tongue), they may not grow back. It is quite possible that she isn't grooming like normal because her tongue hurts. You can help her stay clean by brushing her daily. If she won't eat or drink, this could be from pain or other illness and should be addressed with your vet, especially if it goes on longer than 24 hours. This could also be a side effect of the medications she is on.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Thumbelina. She could hand injured her tongue. Since she can eat wet food, it’s not an emergency. Keep feeding her wet food over the weekend, and have her seen by a vet on Monday. If she stops eating or appears to be in significant pain, then take her into an emergency vet. Best of luck.

You can try tuna or tuna juice or baby food to drop in her mouth. Keep her tongue moist with just water on a rag to help. She will need to see a vet for further exams to see if there is an infection or ulcer preventing her from putting her tongue in and eating. Make sure to keep the kittens warm and bottle feed them.

If Pussy Cat truly cannot swallow food on his own, he will need a feeding tube placed to allow for him to continue to receive regular nutrition. This will need to be placed by a veterinarian under sedation or general anesthesia. Depending on the type of tube, some can be left in place for long periods of time until the injury or problem with the GI tract is resolved. Without knowing the actual nature of the injury it is very difficult for me to assess how long it might be until things are back to normal. If you could perhaps provide some more details or a picture of the problem, I might be able to help some more.