Owner experiences with home use of a gastrostomy tube in their dog or cat.
OBJECTIVE
To describe owner experiences with gastrostomy tubes used at home.


METHODS
Telephone survey.


METHODS
20 cats and 5 dogs.


METHODS
Owner's opinions obtained by phone interview.


RESULTS
Although 32% (8/25) of owners were initially reluctant to feed their cat or dog through the gastrostomy tube, 92% (22/24) of owners became comfortable with the procedure. Eighty-four percent (21/25) of owners were able to feed their dog or cat unassisted; 16% (4/25) required another person to help. Median time required for feeding was 19.8 minutes. Ninety-six percent (24/25) of owners believed their dog or cat was comfortable with the procedure. Eighty-four percent (21/25) of owners experienced complications or difficulties. Most problems involved bandage maintenance, administration of food through the syringe and tube, or acquisition of syringes and special foods. Ninety-six percent (22/23) of owners would be willing to use a gastrostomy tube again.


CONCLUSIONS
Most owners had positive experiences with the feeding experience and would be willing to use gastrostomy tube feeding again. Difficulties encountered by owners were not serious and could be avoided by specific client instruction.
Seaman
R
R
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville 37901-1071, USA.
Legendre
A M
AM
D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D002415:Cats; D003625:Data Collection; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D004285:Dogs; D004750:Enteral Nutrition / Q000662:veterinary*; D005774:Gastrostomy / Q000662:veterinary*; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000523:psychology; D001841:Human-Animal Bond; D013689:Telephone