My little tabby girl, Tessa (aka Bug), has a cold, and she seems rather miserable. She’s breathing through her mouth and she’s seriously drooly. She’s just all hunkered under the bed and all I want to do is make her feel better.
I took her to the vet this morning–she’s got a little bit of a fever and the vet (who’s wonderful, btw, and adores all my cats) gave her fluids and sent her home with me, telling me that there really isn’t much to do but make sure she’s eating and drinking. I’ve been trying to do that but she just doesn’t seem at all interested. The vet said it was pretty much just a “wait it out” thing and I should bring her back if she seems to be getting worse, but she wasn’t too concerned and was confident she’d be fine in a few days.
Anybody got any ideas for how I can tempt a poor miserable drooly little kitty to eat and drink? She didn’t even want warm baby food, and she usually mugs me for that.
Just make sure it’s not too salty. I think a low-sodium chicken broth would be good for a base and then poach some chicken meat in it. Serve her a little shredded meat with enough broth to make it soggy. The liquid from the soup will be good for her.
Crack open a can of tuna packed in water. Offer the tuna water, and a few scraps of the fish. (Leave each one in her hidey-hole under the bed. Remember to retrieve later before you wonder why your bedroom stinks!)
Call the vet if she doesn’t eat anything for a couple of days straight. Cats who suddenly go into starvation mode can develop fattyliver (hepatic lipidosis) especially if they’re overweight to start out. Had this issue when I took in a seriously overweight cat who then, true to cat mode, got stressed about the move and went off his food. Vet prescribed me some small, white tablets that were appetite enhancers to give him the munchies - seemed to work. But he wasn’t sick, just stressed out, and not very healthy to start with.
purplehorseshoe, I’m keeping an eye on her re: eating, but she’s definitely not overweight. She’s a tiny little thing–solidly built, but not overweight at all.
She’s sitting here next to me now–at least she’s not hiding. Still drooly, but at least she doesn’t seem like she’s in distress.
Put her in the bathroom and run a steamy shower. Get some lysine supplements. Google for a dose for feline herpes. Even if her uri isn’t from herpes it won’t hurt. No OTC medications!
Kitty update: She’s feeling better. I got her to eat on Saturday by tempting her with some wet food mixed up with warm water and lysine. The spouse picked her up on Friday night and put her next to him on the couch (she almost never sticks around when anybody does this) and she snuggled up next to him in the crook of his arm for a couple of hours while we watched TV. I know I’m being overly sentimental, but that seemed to be the turning point. In the morning she was doing much better–no more drooling and a bit more chipper.
One of my other cats (Bug’s brother Nabby) is sick too–he never got the drooling and he’s eating okay, but he’s been doing a lot of sneezing and seems generally unhappy. He scared us last night because we thought he was choking on something. As we ran around frantically trying to find the number for the emergency vet, he settled down and seemed fine after that, so we figure he must have got a piece of kibble down the wrong way or snorted wrong or something. I don’t know. But I sure hope they both feel better soon. Sick kitties are no fun.
She’s breathing through her mouth and she’s seriously drooly. She’s just all hunkered under the bed and all I want to do is make her feel better.