Older Kitty with URI not eating

[JinxyPoo]

So my 16 year old kitty seems to have come down with a URI…a little sniffling and sneezing, but nothing awful. I took her to the vet today and she had no fever, blood panel okay, vet put her on clavimox and some eye drops for her one eye that is a little red. Problem is kitty is not interested in eating. She eats Purina DM and is usually fine with it. I tried heating it up so it was smellier but no luck. She’s never been in to people food so that won’t work, any ideas? A different kind of food? I’ve heard some cats really like baby food?

She is acting normal, not lethargic or anything. She is drinking and peeing/pooping okay.

Thanks!!!

[Laurierace]

Cats don’t eat if they can’t smell. Maybe straight tuna or sardines or something equally stinky can penetrate the stuffiness. If not then try some nutrical to get her through until her nose clears.

[Halt_Near_X]

Tuna? I know she’s not in to people food, but it might be worth a shot.

Science Diet A/D?

You could try baby food, although mine never ate it.

You can also try putting a little on her nose and seeing if she licks it off. Once she starts eating, she may continue.

She should start eating as the meds take effect. If you just can’t get her interested in the meantime, talk to the vet about an appetite stimulant. They should be able to give you one or two pills to jump start her appetite, and then the meds should be kicking in and making her feel good enough that she’ll keep eating on her own.

[irkenequine]

in my experience of feeding sickly ICU kitties, we have a feeding protocol that goes in roughly this orderq:

dry > wet > expensive, delicious wet food > disgusting cheap fancy feast > AD > AD + heat > Tuna > meat baby foods. Good luck finding sometihgn tasty

[Coyoteco]

Baby food is great - the meat kind, such as Gerber stage two turkey, beef, or chicken. Even if a cat can’t smell, if you put some food in her mouth it tends to bring the eating response forward and she will probably start eating on her own.

If she’s stuffy, I’d put l-lysine on her food - it seems to be tasteless to cats.

[JinxyPoo]

Thanks for the suggestions! I just fed her and kind of smashed some on her nose/face and she licked it off, she still didn’t to eat on her own though so we did the smash on the nose method a couple times to get some into her, I don’t want her taking the clavimox on an empty stomach. She can have a bit of a sensitive belly so I don’t want her feeling nauseous on top of everything else Hopefully her nose clears up soon.

The vet gave me lysine treats, she’s not interested in them (however my other cat LOVES them). Is there another form I can get the lysine in or can I smash up the treats and try sticking that in her food?

If anyone has more suggestions please keep them coming!

[Coyoteco]

Yes, there is another form of lysine. Just go to the vitamin store near you and buy the powder. The cats will eat in on their food and don’t seem to ever notice it at all. Of course, your cat isn’t eating much right now. I’d definitely try the baby food too. They love it, but even if they don’t readily eat it, it is easy to get into them and it’s finely ground up, it’s very moist so helps with hydration, is a high quality protein that doesn’t impact the kidneys as some proteins can.

[rubygirl1968]

Fancy Feast always works at my house when they’re sick. I usually heat it up a little too and they eat it. If that didn’t work, I’d pour the water off the tuna in the FF and mash it up.

Mine would eat some baby food, but it was never as popular as FF. Just make sure any baby food you get doesn’t have onion in it.

Chicken broth with no onions was a hit with my guy too. I never did find it at the store so I made a big batch and froze what I didn’t need at the time.

If all that fails, Hill’s A/D is a good backup. If they won’t eat it on their own, it can be syringe fed.

I hope your kitty feels better soon and starts eating.

Stephanie

[littleum]

I use a tiny little syringe and syringe-feed my old girl either the A/D or baby food, usually as a little bit of a gruel with warm water. She’s a bad eater under the best of circumstances so when she’s really sick we don’t mess around with hoping she’ll eat- we know she won’t, so we syringe-feed.

[Penthilisea]

All good advice so far- I second the powdered lysine additive, my cats ate it with no issue.

A trick I learned ages ago is that you can use a WEE bit of vicks vapor rub ABOVE a cats nasal openings- almost between their eyes. The goal is to open up their noses, without getting it in their eyes or within tongue range. You can also use tea tree oil in the same way. LESS IS MORE.

If you can get them smelling, you can get them eating and drinking, which will get them to start healing and reduce the congestion.

My understanding is that lysine is the standard immune support for cats with chronic feline herpes, which can manifest as goopy eyes or nasal discharge. If so, I’ve found the virus flares up when there is stress in the household. For my herd o’cats we supplemented with lysine powder when we know something stressful is going to happen, or immediatly after an unexpected stressor, but we don’t need to feed it every day under normal circumstances. YMMV.

[JinxyPoo]

Thanks everyone- kitty was a little more interested this morning but still didn’t want to eat, so I picked up some tuna today so we’ll try that and/or mixing the water with her food tonight. Her eye and nose are much better so hopefully she comes around! I’ll try the vicks too.

Also- how much lysine should I give them?

[JinxyPoo]

Update- her eye is basically back to normal and she is wayy less stuffy tonight, but still no go on the food Tried heated fancy feast, tuna, and baby food. She was semi-interested in the baby food and took a few licks of it but that was it, so we went with the face smush method again. If she isn’t better tomorrow morning I will call vet about a/d and/or appetite stim. I also put a dab of tea tree on her nose.

[rubygirl1968]

http://www.veterinarywatch.com/Abstract-tea-tree-oil.htm
http://www.messybeast.com/teatree.htm

I would be very careful with essential oils and cats - their livers don’t metabolise them and they can cause poisoning.

I know some people have used them with no ill effects, but I’ve always been afraid to.

Regarding the Lysine, I used 250mg a day, depending on how bad they were. I have used 500mg a day for a couple of days, and then switched to 250mg.

Have you tried running a hot shower and letting the bathroom get steamy and putting her in there? The steamy bathroom, not the shower

I’ve heard that sometimes it helps breaks up the congestion, just like it does with people.

I’m sorry she’s still not eating - I hope she gets better soon!

[SquishTheBunny]

[QUOTE=irkenequine;5893221]
in my experience of feeding sickly ICU kitties, we have a feeding protocol that goes in roughly this orderq:

dry > wet > expensive, delicious wet food > disgusting cheap fancy feast > AD > AD + heat > Tuna > meat baby foods. Good luck finding sometihgn tasty :([/QUOTE]

LOL…love it. Thats what our ICU kitties get too.

[JinxyPoo]

Update- kitty is now eating! She ate fancy feast this morning and tonight- will try mixing that with her regular food tomorrow. Thanks again everyone!

eta- I’ve been bringing her in the bathroom when I was in the shower, she was not happy with me, but it did seem to help!

[rubygirl1968]

I’m so glad she’s eating again - it’s a huge relief when they do