Feral Cat Not Eating

I noticed last night that one of the feral cats I feed was not eating. Normally, she'll "fight" for her share among the other cats, but yesterday she was just sitting and looking at them. This morning I took some treats outside and she didn't eat them. A little later I took her some chicken. By this time all of the other cats were gone and she was the only one there. She ate a little bit of the chicken, maybe three pieces, but left many pieces on the ground. Also noticed when she got close enough to me, that her breathing sounded kind of snotty or stuffed up. Do I need to get her in to a vet (I prefer not to do this), or is there something over the counter I can give her? Thanks for any replies.

Any time a cat isn't eating it's because something is wrong.. she would need medical attention because you never know what might be making her sick so it would be hard to say what medication over the counter to give her. I would say the best thing you could do is take her to the vet

She could have an upper respiratory infection, which is like a cold and usually goes away with time in a healthy cat. The mucus clogs up their nose so they can't smell, and cats are mostly driven to eat by smell and that can make them lose their appetite. You can try really smelly food, like fish, or if you can manage her at all you can put her in a bathroom next to a hot running shower so the steam can clear her nose.

Since it's viral, there's not much in the way of medication besides lysine, which is an easily obtainable supplement which helps the symptoms of some URI cats. A vet might give an antibiotic if they thought there was a risk of a secondary infection developing.

It is also possible that there is something more serious going on, but only a vet visit would really be able to tell you that, and I understand it is tough to get ferals the medical care they may need. It's also a delicate balance because if it is something minor, the extreme stress of a vet examine could make things worse. If she continues to not eat or seems to be getting worse, I would consider taking her in.

Thank you for your replies. Good to know that if it is an upper respiratory infection it could clear up on its own. I'll definitely keep an eye on her and take her to a vet if it gets any worse or goes on too long. In the meantime, I'll get some smelly food. After I left the chicken out there, I went out later and she was gone, and the chicken was gone too. But I don't know if she ate it or one of the other cats came back and got it.