Cat cold, wont eat, alternative food?

Hello

All my cats now have had a simple cold, In my other thread I was told and had it confirmed that all I need to do was to wait, make sure they eat plenty and drink.

My cat taffy has gone off all food, this is a bad sign right, both dry and his favourite wet food, which I was saving for xmas day, as he wont eat his normal wet food for days now. He is still active, and sneezing, not sure what I should do next?

Can you advise me please?

My other 4 cats have all but healed, however my taffy when unwell, or in pain (sprained his leg a few times before) he stopes eating I tired to keep them from him but it was too difficult monitoring them.

I can as aways get him to eat his favourite treats, but he doesn't drink enough water if at all, I hardly see him drink it.

When do I take him to the VET? if I take him, he maybe back to normal tomorrow if his cold clears. 

Is there an alternative food for him? I have some fresh fish for him which I am sure he will eat with no problems - should I cook this for him, if so what way should I cook? its Plaice if that helps?

You can try warming canned food for a few seconds in the microwave.  Try adding things like tuna, parmasan cheese, bonito flakes.  It definitely sounds like your kitty needs a vet visit.

It is very common for a cold virus to turn bacterial. The virus weakens his immunity and allows bacteria to set in.

This is why it is common practice to get them on an antibiotic med, to ward of bacteria and allow his system to fight off the virus and get well.

If your cat is not eating or drinking, which happens often as their nose is clogged up and if they can't smell it they won't eat it.

She does need to get on antibiotics asap, it will be twice a day doses, and after 2 full days she will begin to get well.

Meanwhile there are a few things that you can do to help her.

Use Little Noses saline solution, it is harmless, used on babies and helps clear up their nasal passages temporarily.

You can offer warmed up chicken baby food with a bit of extra water to help hydration, if she can smell at all she will likely smell and eat this. Tuna water is great too.

Cats get dehydrated VERY fast, which will make her feel even worse and can cause bigger problems, so it's critical she drinks.

You can also try offering warm KMR (milk replacement) some cats love it and it will get some nutrition in her as well.

Kitty needs a vet asap. Good luck.

My cats are all male btw, lol

what I don't understand is that he will find his treats out, when hidden. He can smell them... so I don't think its due to the fact he can't smell... as my vets said as long as he is doing this, that and ears aren't "hot" then he is fine.

I will try him on tuna water.

He eat some of his fav food, but just a nibble.

Edit  

We got lift off, I went off to get tuna + the water its kept in, and give them some, Sadly our biggest boys bubbles and CJ wanted some first, but taffy could smell the tuna as soon as the tin popped, and when he got to the tuna, he couldn't get enough. He eat the normal amount for him of wet, then sniffed out the dry - or he knew where it was kept, and eat that. While posting this, he has been drinking, as if he was really thirsty. He is still drinking now.

PS, problem with heating food in microwave is we use metal bowls for them, therefore we can't use them to heat it up.

That's, great, he's eating! Keep feeding him bribe food until you get him to the vet or the cold goes away. It's not nutritionally balanced, but right now you just want him to eat.

If cats don't eat fatty liver disease can develop within 48 hours of no food, so you want to closely monitor the situation.

Microwaving is not the best way to heat food because it alters some of the nutrients. I used to warm food with warm water, but if microwaving is the only way to go for you, put the food in microwave safe bowls and then transfer the food to the eating bowls when heating is done.

Microwaving is not really an option. 

Our vets didn't really want to take him in due to the fact that other cats which "need help" will likely get the cold as it will spread quickly, and they are sick and shouldn't go though it if possible - Example if a cat is recovering from surgery, having a cold will make them recover even longer - apparently - understandable...

That's great that he's eating.  I swear sometimes it's like cats go off their food and once you get them started again in some way they go back to eating again.  My cat used to have IBD flares and it was always a chore to get him eating again.  Once he started though he would make up for lost time.

Hello

My cat is eating again, but small amounts compared to what he normally eat. I think I might have to feed him on his own and quite, maybe give him his fav pouches again instead of tins which he has been eating this past month due to another cat - its cheaper to get tins when 4 cats eat wet food as pouches come in sets of 3.

He is eating dry food, and plenty of treats. Would this be okay if he doesn't eat much wet food?

Any food, dry or canned is better than no food for sure.

Of course with his recent illness and not wanting to eat and drink, he really needs every chance possible to rehydrate his system well.

What I can't understand is, if the vet doesn't want you to bring him in for fear of other visiting cats catching his cold, then why not tell you to come by and pick up some clavamox for him and save you the cost of a vet visit too??

He may get better on his own, but he very well still needs antibiotics to get him through this.

Good to hear that your cat is eating again. I agree with what catwoman707 has said. Also I agree that it doesn't make sense of the vet not wanting you to bring in your cat, because he may pass his cold on to other cats. Last month my new kittens had a cold, still had been eating but lots of sneezing. I called my vet and they told me to wait a couple of days to see if they stopped sneezing since they were still active and eating. They seemed to be getting better until one of my kittens developed a bad eye infection. In the morning his eye was fine, I got home from work that night and his eye was swollen red and had clear discharge. He was still eating but was in discomfort, after calling the emergency vet because he was still eating it was advised we would probably be fine to wait until morning. That night was rough for both me and Leonard, Leonard being in pain and me worried. After a few hours of sleep I was up early to call the vet as soon as they opened. By that time the discharge in Leonard's eye had become greenish yellow. I got an appointent right away and took both boys in. Both got clavomax and eye ointment for Leonard. A few days later my 2 year old cat started coughing from drainage, this time I didn't wait a few days but called the vet asking if I should be putting him on an antibiotic. They had me bring Taz in since it had been awhile since he was last at the vets. With the antibiotics Taz was doing better in a couple of days. He might have been fine without the antibiotics, but I do believe that if a bacterial infection was starting to develop that it was kept from doing so while he was fighting of the virus. With kittens their immune systems are still developing, but I saw how quickly a bacterial infection could take hold when the immune system has been weakened while fighting off a bacterial infection. If your vet refuses to see your cat or to prescribe an antibiotic I would really suggest thinking about seeing a different vet. In the past 10 years that I have called my vet about one of my cats having a cold, and for m mom the past 20 years the same practice they have never told us that they did not want us bringing a cat in because it may pass it's cold to another cat.

I do hope that your cat continues to feel better and continues to eat. Feeding him seperately for now may be a very good idea so that you can monitor how much he is actually eating.

This is really stupid, he is fine, a sneeze every so often (maybe once per day now).

He can smell, as if I put my fingers his treat pot, he sniffs my finger then licks it. 

I have worked out why he has stopped eating, and its very simple, in our where we feed our cats is where we have our washing machine, which has been on a lot the past couple days and I am feeding my boys earlier due to the sun setting earlier, (dusk where cats are most active). I am now feeding them about 4pm where my mum is still doing the washing. 

Taffy can be in the same room when the washing machine is on, but wont eat. I found this out last night chasing taffy around the house and he eat in my room (but still wont eat tin, (pouches only)).

He has a special dinner tonight (fresh fish), which I will fry off (no butter or oil as he doesn't like it). I hope he eats this, I spent a lot of money on it lol, its a different type of fish I normally get them.