Force Feeding A Cat With A Cold

[leo12]

Emma was a feral cat, (my MIL's who we inherited)and is now maybe 14 years old. She has always had constipation problems, but they have worsened since February. Vet put her on Lactulose, took blood tests and xrays, and found a lot of stool back up. From the xrays she determined Emma had some kind of trauma years ago on the end of her spine, and has a hard time pooping because of it.

We have struggled with helping her to poop since February, and she wasn't wanting to eat much, so we took her back to the vet. While there, she caught a really bad cold, and refuses to eat anything. My other cats caught it from her, but are improving and eating, but she is not. She is on an antibiotic, and we are force feeding her 6 times a day. I think I have tried everything possible to get her to eat on her own, but would be very open to any suggestions. Also, I am wondering if Lysine would help her cold improve. Its been ten days now, and she doesn't seem to be getting any better. I hate to give up on her, but not sure how long I should put her through all this.

 

[duckpond]

I am so sorry she is going through this! Not sure what you are feeding, but often if they have a cold they dont smell well, and if they cant smell their food they may not eat. Sometimes really stinky, to us, wet food helps. Like fancy feast classics? Or Tractor supply if you have one nearby, has a new paws and claws kitchen select, reminds me of fancy feast classics. But it smells even stronger. My cats like the country chicken pate one, it stinks

also raised food and water bowls may help, so she does not need to bend over?

Hope she feels better soon. If it continues to get worse for her you may need to have a heart to heart with your vet?
Keep us updated and let us know. sending you guys best wishes.

 

[leo12]

I have tried all different kind of canned, and dry food, chicken, tuna, etc, Have also heated them up, but she is so congested she cant smell, which makes her issue of being constipated and not wanting to eat even worse. She didn't need this cold/pneumonia whatever on top of her already existing problem, and its been over a week with no improvements. I'm at a loss as what to do next, and vet just says to keep trying, which is what I guess I'll have to do but not sure how long to keep trying. I'm thinking after two weeks to a month if theres no improvement maybe have to give up

 

[duckpond]

I do hope she is better soon. I have read that some have good luck with steaming up a small bathroom with the congested cat in there. sometimes it opens their sinuses up just like it does ours?

Warm Rotisserie chicken that i pick up from the store is always tempting to my cats?

 

[stephanietx]

You might try plain saline nose drops in her nose. I use the Little Noses brand. Just one drop in each nostril 2x a day. You can also try steaming her in the bathroom to help loosen up the snot in her nose. You can also try plain meat baby food to see if that entices her to eat.

 

[leo12]

The only thing that I haven't tried, that I know of, is the baby food. Will get some tomorrow. She wont stay in the bathroom without panicking and I don't think I could get nose drops into her nasal passages, she fights so bad. Its such a chore to force feed her, my husband wraps and holds her but I worry she will aspirate because she fights so much.I've tried a cool mist humidifier near where she sits, but I think the room is too big and humidifier too small to help. Has anyone ever tried Lysine for these symptoms, and gotten results? The vet was giving her one syringe of food six times a day, I upped it to two syringes six times a day because I don't think one is enough.

 

[stephanietx]

We give 500mg twice a day of Lysine to my herpes kitty. I don't know that it helps with congestion, though.

 

[leo12]

Are there any symptoms you think the Lysine has helped with?

 

[stephanietx]

It's used for herpes kitties to help stop the replication of the herpes virus. It can help with weepy eyes and sneezing. You could try Homeopet Nose drops, but those are added to wet food. You can also try the original classic Fancy Feast canned food. Add a bit of warm water and mix together. She might like that. If all else fails, ask the vet for Science Diet a/d. That might jump start her eating and get some nutrients into her. Lastly, have you had her kidneys checked?

 

[leo12]

Do you know where to purchase the Homeopet Nose drops? A long as it could be put in her food, I could try that. With her breathing so congested, I have stopped some of her meds, (the vet okayed it) and hate to force any more than I have to into her, I am so afraid of her choking while she is struggling. I've tried the Fancy feast, and Friskies, Sheba, broth packets, etc. I'm going to get baby food tomorrow. She is currently being forced fed the Science Diet a/d six times a day. The vet did a blood panel, including thyroid, and everything was in normal range, she was really surprised. That was done in February, we took her back in March for barium and Thyroid test and enema. She caught a cold right after that from the vets, (which was the worst thing that could happen to a cat already not eating), gave it to all my cats, and last week we left her at the vets for four days to see if they could help with the congestion or eating. Other than antibiotics, IV's and force feeding, there is nothing else they could do.

 

[stephanietx]

You can get it on Amazon.

 

[leo12]

Thanks

 

[leo12]

I ordered drops from Chewy because their fast, keeping my fingers crossed they help. Thanks again

 

[Timmer]

Emma was a feral cat, (my MIL's who we inherited)and is now maybe 14 years old. She has always had constipation problems, but they have worsened since February.

I don't think the issue is the cold, it's the constipation. A cat that won't poop or can't poop is not going to last long, cold or no cold. I've had a couple of constipated cats in my life. What are you doing to treat that right now? Still on the lactulose?
My one cat who lived to be 18 had arthritis in her spine, so it hurt to have a bowel movement. She developed mega colon because of it. Your kitty might not be eating anymore because she's backed up again. How about mixing up some miralax and putting it into the syringe and giving it to your cat. That's a stool softener.
I'm so so sorry!

 

[leo12]

You are right she had this problem way before the cold and with meds and a struggle we would get her to eat. Now with the cold she wants no food at all. She was on pain meds and motility drug plus a constipation liquid (can’t remember the name). X-rays showed arthritis and damage at the end of her spine. When she was feral she was either kicked or hit by a car. I still have her on laxative and antibiotics plus appetite stimulant. Stopped every thing else because too much stress along with the force feeding. When she was at the vets they gave her an enema but because of the cold it didn’t help her eating. Poor thing can’t win

 

[llewyn]

The only way I could get my cat to eat when she had a broken tooth was to put some wet food in a blender with a little water. A juicer would probably work better. I drew up the food in a 3cc syringe and injected into the side of her mouth. Maybe you could mix in some stool softener. Also fancy feast makes some "broth" packaged foods now that are mostly liquid. You can get a syringe from a pharmacy or sometimes they have them in supermarkets.

 

[llewyn]

Also Amazon has a cat "nutrition" gel. I ordered some but never used it because my cat recovered before I got a chance. You might be able to smear it on the top of her paw so she can lick it off.
https://tinyurl.com/y7j9nmc7

 

[Timmer]

Aww...I'm so sorry for your sweet Emma cat. If she's on an appetite stimulant and still won't eat, I don't know.

 

[leo12]

She’s on the hills a/d because it is very easy to get in syringe, but expensive. I think my vet has exhausted all options and it’s just going to be up to Emma now. My husband hates to give up because it was his moms cat and he wants to give her every chance but there’s just so much you can do

 

[Timmer]

I think my vet has exhausted all options and it’s just going to be up to Emma now. My husband hates to give up because it was his moms cat and he wants to give her every chance but there’s just so much you can do

You are probably right. I'm so sorry. Who knows, the medications might kick in.