Respiratory infections, not eating

[nekochan]

Two of my cats are not doing too well... Spot started sneezing last week and I brought him in to the vet, she said to just keep an eye on him since he wasn't congested and no discharge. Then Blaze started sneezing, and then Harley. In the meantime Spot was better but Blaze and Harley both began to sound congested. My vet said to put everyone on Lysine, which I did but then I picked Harley up the other night and she felt skinny, so I weighed Harley and Blaze and they had both lost weight since I last weighed them (which was last Wednesday.)
So yesterday I brought them both to the vet. She gave them an antibiotic shot and took blood and urine to make sure there wasn't something else going on. She took their temperature but it was borderline (102-something) so they may or may not have had fevers. She gave me antibiotics and fluids to give them at home and a nebulizing solution, since I have a nebulizer from when I had a pet rat with pneumonia... My vet said the bloodwork came back normal but the WBC count indicated an infection. They haven't been eating very well and I am a little worried about that, they don't like canned food or "people" food so I can't give them something smellier to try to get them to eat because they won't eat it anyway... The only time I've seen them eat so far is after the nebulizer treatment last night, they both sounded better and ate some then but then they began to sound more congested again. Harley sounded better last night but today she sounds worse again and she felt warm when I gave her fluids. I also haven't seen her eat today.
Surprisingly (and thankfully) my senior cat Sneakers has not caught whatever it is and neither has my allergy/immune issue cat Mr Grey (knock on wood!)

 

[shp26]

Sending good thoughts to your kitties. My parents' two seniors are no strangers to respiratory infections and they seem miserable

Hope yours begin to feel better soon

 

[stephanietx]

Have you tried steaming them in the bathroom? Get the bathroom all steamy and then bring the kitties in there. Sit with them until the steam dissipates.

Elevate the food bowls. This will help them not have to bend their heads down too far and the snot won't run as much. Once the nose starts running, the cat will lift its head and then walk away from the food.

Force feed via syringe. You've got to get some nutrition in them. Dilute the wet food with some plain Pedialyte for extra nutrients and to keep them hydrated.

 

[7_angel]

I agree with steaming the bathroom. Or put them in a room with a humidifier. Nutri-Cal is another option. It's a high-calorie paste like thing - comes in a tube - it will help your cat when the cat is not eating well. Just put some on the end of your finger and gently open kitty's mouth and put the paste in. My vet actually smeared it on my cat's mouth and just below his nose so my cat had to lick it off. I didn't really like that method though - and I don't think my cat appreciated it either!

When one of my cats had some major eating problems/respiratory infection - (similar to what you are describing) I would gently massage his face down along his nose. I'd start from the top and work down - trying to help him breathe though his congested little nose. I think it helped... in any case, he seemed to like it.

I also had to force feed with a syringe. My cat finally started eating when I poured his food into a bowl right in front of him. Perhaps it was just instinct at that point to eat it since he saw me pour it.

 

[nekochan]

They should not be dehydrated, they're both drinking and also are on sub-q fluids.
I have been steaming them but it only seems to help while they are actually in the bathroom, as soon as the steam is gone they start snuffling more. I also started running the vaporizer in my bedroom.
I finally saw Harley eating today! So at least she is eating some. She is really miserable though, poor thing...she mostly has been just sleeping in the same spot all day.

 

[kas]

Well, they have to eat. When Abby had a bad URI and wouldn't eat, I sucked up Gerber chicken baby food into a syringe and squirted it into her mouth. I did the same with water because she wasn't drinking, either. She started eating after two days of force feeding. I was so happy!

 

[nekochan]

I emailed my vet to tell her Harley is still really congested and still not eating much, she said to do the nebulizer 3 times a day instead of 2 and do the steaming more often too, and hand feed. I'm not sure what is the best food for the hand feeding, I'll try using some watered-down canned food first I guess. Wish me luck!

 

[stephanietx]

You can also get some plain saline nose drops and place one drop in each nostil a couple of times a day.

Sometimes after sub-q fluids a cat won't want to eat, but you can force feed using a syringe.

Was your kitty given a Convenia shot? (lasts for 2 weeks) If so, when mine were given that, they slept for a whole week and were very zombie-like.

Push the fluids, push the liquids, keep steaming and running the vaporizer. You can also put a big soup pot of plain water on the stove to simmer & steam. Refill periodically through the day. If you have it or can get it, a bit of eucalyptus oil in the water will really help open their nasal passages.

If your cat can eat it, you might also try some stinky Fancy Feast wet food warmed up in a water bath.

 

[nekochan]

Yeah I forgot to mention that my vet also recommended using Neo-Poly-Dex drops in each nostril.
Thanks for mentioning simmering water on the stove, I was going to do that last night because Harley has been sleeping in the kitchen, and I completely forgot.
My vet suggested using a high-calorie grain free wet food and mixing it with water or sodium free broth to syringe feed, or mixing with Ensure. I don't think they got Convenia, they got a shot of Baytril and a short acting steroid.