new kitty from a shelter

Hi - I adopted a one year old male from a shelter a few days back - he had a cold so they gave me antibiotics and some cans of food for him to gain weight, as apparently he had lost some weight while being at the shelter (he was there for a couple of weeks). I have been giving him antibiotics, and the sneezing has gone down quite a bit, but his appetite is not there. He is really thin and I'm worried. He is drinking water, has no interest in dry food, I bought him some tuna last night which I mixed in with his wet food (that the shelter gave me) and he ate 3 separate times, seemed to like it but he only eats a really small portion. He is not a shy kitty and loves attention, loves to be pet etc and he gets lots of that in my home. He's not very playful either, but I guess that's because he's not feeling so great.

Should I call a vet or give it a few more days? Has anyone experienced this before? I have had many cats my entire life, and never experienced this before, so I'm really worried. Should I stop giving him the antibiotics or keep it up - I'm not sure if it's not agreeing with him?

Welcome to you and your new kitty I would definitely see a vet and tell them all his symptoms and what medication he's taking so they can let you know what to do. I wouldn't wait if he's not eating well, is thin and still has a cold. Also, you probably shouldn't stop the antibiotics unless the vet tells you to. Hope he's doing better soon

It is possible the anti-bios are upsetting his tummy. I would talk to the vet about it.

thank you for your warm welcome! great site and I will learn a lot I'm sure!!! I put a call in to the vet so I've decided to get him looked at soon - I'm so worried about him - I'm at work but all I can think of is him! Thanks for your thoughts and well wishes!

I'll be honest with you. I assume any cat adopted from the shelter will have the respiratory infection, and it may have other problems. No matter what the shelter says, I tell people to call their vet (or a vet, if they don't have an established relationship with one) and try to take the cat to the vet before even taking him home. That way, the vet has a "base line" from which to work and know the cat's general health.

Being in a new place seems to cause a lot of newly adopted cats not to eat much. I'm sure there's plenty of stress involved.

As someone else said, antibiotics can upset any animals digestion, and having a respiratory infection can cause the cat to be unable to smell food, and they recognize food by smell, not by appearance.

What shelter did you get him from?

I would call the vet because if he does have upper resp and isn't eating it can just make him worse, he might need some force feeding or subq fluids

If he is drinking enough then mix some pate style wet food with water until its like broth and warm it (or just use warm water) and see if he will eat that.