title: Critical care nutrition for feline patients.
abstract: Nutritional treatment in critical care patients is an important component of the complete treatment plan. Assessment of nutritional status and careful consideration of the disease course will help guide the selection of the most appropriate assisted-feeding method. Enteral nutrition is favored over parenteral nutrition when the gastrointestinal tract is functional. Common routes of enteral feeding include nasoesophageal, esophagostomy, gastrostomy, and jejunostomy feeding tubes. Parenteral nutrition is indicated for patients who cannot tolerate enteral feedings, or are poor anesthetic candidates for proper feeding tube placement. Appropriate diet selection and implementation of proper feeding guidelines and monitoring will aide in limiting complications associated with enteral and/or parenteral feeding.
authors.affiliation: University of California, Department of Molecular Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Davis, CA 95616, USA. scperea@dvmconsulting.com
authors.forename: Sally C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Perea
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D002415:Cats; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000628:therapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D018529:Nutritional Support / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*