1/28 Thursday

Found more hopeful reading here:
http://www.askthecatdoctor.com/feline-fip.html

Energy: Alert for new objects, but low energy AM/PM
Movement: Mobile, requires effort, made passes at scratching post, slipped out the back door for some backyard grazing, jumped out of cage, wandered the kitchen and living area until settling on bed both AM/PM
Tracking: Slow tracking, did not engage in play. Tracked cat teaser wand. Almond eyes, pupil dilation/contraction, slow response AM/PM.
Appetite: Ate some lifesource bits from dry dog kibble, force fed liquid formula #2
Attitude: Passive, some lethargy.
Hygiene: Fur very unkempt, dry, matted around neck/head area. Observed super-brief self-grooming. Crusty butt*, did #1
Hydration: Sipped from big bowl, took liquid formula

Administered 5mL x2 AM feeding, 8mL x2 PM feeding with formula #2.
Received AM 1mL prednisolone dosage.
AM: jumped out of his cage to hit the dog bed, he was observed to be on top shelf for the majority of the time.
*Exhibited crusty butt (failed cleaning/hygiene, possible diarrhea), but vocally protested baby wipe application, man took care of this.
Directly afterward he then used big litterbox.
Attempted to rinse ruff with water to clean off food spills, fur still matted.
Noticed licking himself around neck afterwards.
Very little vocalization AM/PM.
Continues to exhibit nasal discharge and sounds congested.

Drogo was not disturbed by Hodor coming over to plop down next to him (it's his bed after all!). Personality seems to indicate he is not stressed or perhaps just oblivious to everything around him.

Formula #1 is quite potent methinks (and very fishy), not to mention that I disliked the vegetable content in the chicken broth. I decided to whip up a new batch of liquid formula (#2) that has more vitamin C to boost Drogo's viral defense.
3oz raw Pilgrims Pride chicken liver
1 extra large egg yolk
.5oz Simple Truth Organic tomato paste
1 500mg Natures Bounty Vitamin C tablet, crushed to powder (contains vegetable cellulose)
2oz warm water

Blend until liquified.

The question of how much to feed a cat on a liquid diet answered in this article:
https://virtuavet.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/how-to-syringe-feed-a-cat/

The volume a cat can take is 3-6 cc at a time, every 1-2 hours maximum, for a total of about 40-60 cc to fill the stomach at any one sitting.  In a sick cat, it may take 3-6 hours for the food to leave the stomach enough to get a new batch in there!  Good luck!

What a difference zygomatic arch control does for syringe feeding!

Also, based on several reads, warmed food via steam basket and hot water bath, this coupled with the technique in the article led for a successful and quick evening feeding.

I also found a 4-ingredient canned food which looked promising (Applaws Chicken with Pumpkin) but Drogo did not eat.