Well, that's what the consultant said; the tube is not through the mouth, it's through an incision in his neck - he sports a lovely cat sized snood now - which goes right down into his trachea. So, in theory he can eat normally because his mouth and throat are unobstructed. However, food that way still has to go past the tube lower down and maybe that's behind the gag reflex.
But... his jaw is giving him troubles and his breathing sounds like he has bad flu (the hospital said he had masses of stringy mucus) so it could also be one of those things.
What we've been told to do is reduce the tube feeding so he feels hungry and increase the normal eating - to wean him off so the tube can be removed. But... if the gag thing puts him off normal eating I'm not sure how well that's going to happen.
It's good that he's interested in food again though although I assume he can't smell it too well.
The thing is, the mucus issue has always been there since he was operated on as a kitten. Never put him off eating before though maybe it's got worse with age. I'm going to give him a decent shot before making any hard decisions. While he's still prepared to trot across the floor to sit on my lap and doesn't look like he's given up I will do my best for him.
