Kitty won't eat- very sick

:cry: My cat (about 10 months old) was diagnosed with an upper respitory infection, medication was prescribed. The problem is he won't eat because his nose is all stuffed up, etc. It's been 2 days, I've tried canned food with fish, garlic, nothing works. He seems as though he wants to eat but he just can't due to his runny nose and congestion. Any advice? Thanks alot.

 

You can try steaming him to help break up the gunk in his nose so he can sneeze it out. The easiest way to do that is if you have a humidifier then put your cat in a carrier and put it next to the humidifier and drape a towel over it to keep the steam in the carrier. Just make sure you leave some holes for ventilation. You can also try a regular saline nasal spray. NOT the medicated kind, just plain saline.

For food enhancement, you can try picking up some of those Dried Bonito flakes that are sold in pet stores as a cat treat. They are super stinky and I have had success with them in the past. Also try just plain tuna. I've even gone so far as putting catnip on their food to get them to eat. Just don't give up. Baby food sometimes works too. The best way to do it is put several different types of food onto a plate in very tiny little piles so that you can actually see any lick marks if he tries anything so you can see what he wants. You can also try dried shrimp. If your local grocery stores sell it, Badia makes little $0.49 bags of dried shrimp sold in the spice section. My cat loves em as treats and they stink pretty good too. Good luck! Keep trying and make sure you keep track of how much, how often he eats and call your vet if nothing changes cuz you don't want him going too long without food.

 

Is he still drinking? Is he dehydrated? If so you should take him back to the vet, 2 days is a long time for a kitten tpo go without food. Another thing you culd try is syringe/force feeding him.

 

He's drinking, but very little. The vet expects the medication to kick in soon. I'll try some of these suggestions. Thank you for the help.

 

Good news. After a bath and a steam, kitty decided to eat again and the medication seems to be kicking in. He's much better now, thanks again for the suggestions.

 

Great news Do you have any pics of your kitty?