Feeding Honey

Honey is a cat, one of our (currently 11) barn cats. Life on our acreage has taught us a lot about cats. Cats are fiercely loyal to feline family members. Cats develop complex social networks, and genuinely feel superior to dogs. Cats can be born with disabilities, just like children.

Over the past 16 years, we have had a deaf cat, a mute cat,and a male calico cat.  We had a cat with seasonal allergies so severe that she would shed ALL of her fur each spring.  And we have Honey.

Honey was born last summer with severe neurological deficits. Her third eyelids cannot retract, so she is functionally blind. Her claws also cannot retract, so she cannot climb. Her jaw is underdeveloped, so she has difficulty eating. At 10 months old,she weighs less than three pounds, and her collar wraps around her tiny neck twice. Her vestibular issues prevent her from cuddling.  I have never heard her meow.

But you should see her in person. Like many people with severe disabilities, Honey sounds like a hopeless case on paper. Her medical history and black-and-white fact sheet make her life appear to be dreadful. Yet, she is a bright, happy, fully-accepted member of our society of cats. She has even been “adopted” (and thus guided and protected) by a pair of brothers from another mother. Honey, who shouldn't have survived her first few weeks, is just one of the miracles we’ve witnessed on our acreage. And I believe she owes my daughter, Kyra, her miraculous life.

You see, I hate to waste food. Whenever I prepare a meal for Kyra, there is always a bit of food that does not pass through the strainer, and cannot be fed through the g-tube. Dumping this nutrient-rich mash into the garbage felt like washing gold dust down the drain. So, I started feeding the mash to Honey. And Honey survived, and thrived, and purrs at the sound of the blender.

We recently returned home from a visit to the Cerebral Palsy Center at Children’s Hospital in St. Louis. Dr. Brunstrom-Hernandez, the director of the center, believes in real food. She supports feeding real food through Kyra’s g-tube, and encouraged us to develop a process that makes real food accessible to any family with a g-tube.

While I love my 14-speed all-metal drive Osterizer blender for big jobs, the Cuisinart Compact Portable SmartPower Blender with single-serving travel cups that Dr. Brunstrom recommended is even better at preparing a g-tube meal in one minute or less. The two drawbacks I have found to the Cuisinart are the placement of the gasket, which is more difficult to remove and clean than my Osterizer, and the Cuisinart’s too-thorough blending: There is not enough left in the strainer to satisfy Honey’s appetite.

I guess I’ll just have to start making another blended meal especially for Honey. After all, it only takes a minute to feed a miracle.

• Click here for a G-Tube Minute Meal guide.