Dewey’s had the sneezies for a few days now, but he’s been otherwise fine - no change in personality, eating, etc. Yesterday, he didn’t want to eat - wouldn’t even get down from on top of the cable box where it’s warm. I dragged him out and set him in front of his food, in case he just couldn’t smell it, but no dice. I opened some wet food and he did eat a little of that, but not much. I told myself if he still wasn’t hungry this morning, I’d take him to the vet.
Well, I forgot I’d given them both wet and dry food, so this morning they might not have been very hungry, either of them. At any rate, Dewey was active, waited at the door for me to come feed them, and ate a little bit of the “new” dry food - not much, but a little. And they might have been eating all night.
Cats with colds often don’t want to eat because they can’t smell the food. Even sitting in front of it they can’t smell it. How long is a few days (that he’s been sneezing)? Two or 10? For two, I’d wait a little; for 10, I’d bring him in to the vet.
IF he’s been normal otherwise–personality normal, using the litter box normally, no excessive lethargy, no neurological disfunction, eyes clear and bright, etc.–I personally would give it a few days. If the sneezing worsens or there is green discharge from the nose or his nose becomes sealed over, or you see blood in the sneeze discharge, then I’d being him to the vet right away.
Otherwise, sometimes they just get a little cold.
You can take his temp too and see how that is. Digital thermometer, stick it about an inch in the butt. 101-102.5 is about normal for a cat.
Disclaimer: I am not a vet and I suppose it’s possible he has some dread disease. (I hope not.) If he’s acting normally though, except for sneezing, he’s probably just got a cold.
They can carry the rhinovirus for years and show no signs of it. Then one day it appears and causes a cold and then goes back to sleep for a few years.
I don’t believe that rhinovirus is one of the ones that can be transmitted human-cat-human. Perhaps Vetbridge can confirm this though.
So if it were MY cat, and this did happen to me recently (one cat got a cold and it passed on to every other cat) I’d give it a week before being too concerned, as long as he was otherwise acting pretty much normally. You might also try “tempting foods” such as smelly fish, or cooked chicken.
But again, only you have seen him and can be the true judge. If you are worried, then bring him in. To me it’s worth the $50 to have peace of mind.
P.S. Again, this is assuming it is manifesting as a cold, just like if you had a cold. If he’s wheezing, coughing blood spray, has a crusted-over nose, has vomiting or diarrhea, is visibly dehydrated, or shows anything other than what you’d have if you had a mild cold, you need to bring him in asap.
It is possible that you acted as a handy surface for cold germs from your neighbor hood cats to get inside the house to your cats. That’s why most vets recommend yearly vaccines for Distemper (a combination of the most common kitty colds) even for indoor cats.
So yeah, he likely caught it from you, but not your cold directly.
So long as he’s acting like his normal self otherwise, you can probably get him to eat more by heating up some wet food in the microwave. Stir it up with your finger, since wet food heats up very quickly and irregularly. Using your finger will tell you if the food is too hot for kitty to eat.
General, non-medical head cold type help could be useful, like a humidifier, giving him a heating pad to sit next to (rice in a sock makes a good do-it-yourself microwavable hot pack), or spoon feeding him.
If he doesn’t eat his normal dinner tonight or breakfast tomorrow, call the vet. Kitties who don’t eat can go into liver failure very quickly.
Special notes: Don’t try to force food or water down his throat. Unless you know what you are doing, you can accidentally force things into his lungs.
Don’t use any human medication on the cat, including Vicks’, eucalyptus, or other topical cold treatments.
ETA: what Ms Bunny said about any symptoms that aren’t normal head cold.
He’s got his cable box - I guess that’s the kitty equivalent of crawling into bed and pulling the comforters up over your head. I shouldn’t let him sleep there, I know it’s bad for the ventilation of the thing, but he loves it so much.
He’ll love a heating pad just as much. And there won’t be the risk of him missing as he jumps onto the cable box, taking out the whole electronics situation as he falls. Or scratching the TV screen.
If he ever picked up a herpes virus( a very common source of upper respiratory infections in cat shelters ), even as a kitten, he could have periodic upper respiratory outbreaks for the rest of his life. Like human herpes, they often never really go away, but rather just go dormant for a time.
Usually they’re not a big deal, but if symptoms persist or get worse and especially if he goes more than a full day or two without eating anything, it is worth taking him in. Fasting for too long can be a major problem.
The other cat does have kitty herpes. (Every so often it gives him weepy eyes, we give him lysine, it’s okay.) I was told it wasn’t really very contagious among cats. Could that be a problem? (Dewey still sneezy but seems fine. Asleep now on laptop keyboard. Hard to type around.)