6 week old kitten not interested in eating

I found a kitten (roughly 6 weeks) last friday in the middle of the street crying its heart out. Picked it up took it home and warmed it up. Went to the vet saturday and was wormed, given saline and an antibiotic for an upper infection. He also had us start syringe feeding canned food and supplementing with kitten formula. She was just over 1lbs but you can feel every rib and he noted she was malnurished and dehydrated.

We have not regressed but I feel we have not moved forward. Kitty has no desire to eat and I am sure she really does not appreciate the syringe feeding. I have also started a hydrating solution. I just do not know what to do. She is very active, very friendly... Loves to purr.. She has had 2 bowel movements since monday.

A couple questions- How often should I be feeding her and how much. I am a little lost.. and I am just surprised that she really has no desire to eat anything! 

How much and how often are you feeding it now?

You mention she is being treated for an upper respiratory infection..wondering if she still has nasal congestion? Many cats will not eat if they cannot smell. You can try warming some canned food up a bit in the microwave (test to make sure it is not too hot before serving). You can also try offering some Gerber stage 1 baby food Turkey and Gravy or Chicken and gravy. Just make sure the formula contains meat, water and corn starch only. No garlic or onion powder.

As to how much to feed, I would seek your vet's advice on this. Typically we say as much as the kitten will eat; but, your vet should be able to give you a ballpark caloric amount based on how much he thinks the kitten *should* weigh.

Because she is underweight, smaller more frequent meals would be ideal. I would say feed her every 3-4 hours during the day and probably not go more than 6-7 hours over night. So, 5-6 feedings per day. This is just because her tummy isn't accustom to holding much food. Over feeding can lead to diarrhea and GI upset.

If you can't get the kitten to eat enough food at a feeding, try smaller meals more often.  Every 1 or 2 hours.  Her stomach may not be that  big.

If she really hates the syringe feedings, she could also be associating the food with a negative making her not like to eat very much.  You also did not mention what type of food or formula you are using, but many cats are very particular about what they will eat... so please do try more than one brand.  It sounds like the kitten really needs the calories from a high quality kitten food, but anything it will eat willingly has got to be better than eating nothing at all.  Even dry food.  Definitely woudl offer smaller meals more often and try to let the cat do some eating without the syringe.  put a dab of food on the tip of its nose, or on the top if its little paw and it will lick it off to get rid of it.  Might decide it likes it!  How do kittys gums looks, are they pinkish, redish, whiteish?