Tolerability of naso-esophageal feeding tubes in dogs and cats at home: Retrospective review of 119 cases.

Background: The use of naso-esophageal feeding tubes (NFT) at home could represent an alternative way to reduce the costs for owners and facilitate enteral feeding until recovery of a spontaneous appetite.

Objective: To describe the use of NFT at home in dogs and cats and evaluate the satisfaction of owners and their capacity to handle the device.

Animals: One hundred nineteen client-owned animals (90 cats and 29 dogs) which remained anorexic during hospitalization and were discharged with NFT for at least 24 hours after placement.

Methods: Medical records were reviewed retrospectively, and owners were contacted by telephone calls. Complications were reported according to their relative severity (minor and major). Owners were asked to report their experience and comfort with NFT management.

Results: Naso-esophageal feeding tubes were kept in place at home for a median of 6 days (range, 1-17) and 62.2% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 53.3-70.7) of animals recovered a spontaneous appetite while wearing NFT, 60% (95% CI: 44.4-75.6) of the remaining animals recovered a spontaneous appetite after removal. Overall complication rate was 65.5% (95% CI: 57.0-74.0), but only 18.5% (95% CI: 11.5-25.5) required a consultation and no life-threatening complication occurred. Owners were satisfied in 94.1% (95% CI: 89.9-98.3) of cases.

Conclusion And Clinical Importance: Although most animals discharged with NFT at home presented complications, no major adverse effects were reported and NFT were easily handled by owners. This study provides evidence that NFT can be well tolerated at home.