Force feeding a cat with cat flu? Any tips?

[Rosella moggy]

VN is syringe feeding him hourly.  She hand rears for CP.  Don't think he could be in better hands.  He's bought them a card and some wine to thank them for all the effort they are putting in.  He's a good boy.

VN mentioned trying a different convalescent diet food this morning that she would have to source elsewhere.  Might be liquivite as they don't stock it at our vets.  As a few peeps have mentioned liquivite (including his previous ma Judith at Covcats) I have just bought a couple of cans from another vet surgery.  Have just been to Waitrose and bought some frozen Coley fish too.

I went through this with Gypsy when she got cat flu, she barely ate for 10 days, but somehow manged to come through it,

. 

Thanks Gillian    He's only 16 months old and everyone's doing their best so he should pull through    Just hope it's soon 

Cat flu is a real bummer and no mistake.  Once again I am in awe of what rescues/fosterers go through and bow to your selfless commitment 

[Gillian Harvey]

Have you tried Liquivite Rosella? if he's lapping perhaps he'll try that? or it can be syringed. I can really sympathise, I went through this with Gypsy when she got cat flu, she barely ate for 10 days, but somehow manged to come through it, I spent hours on the floor desparately trying to encourage her to eat, one day she just turned a corner and started to eat again. 

[Rosella moggy]

Bobby was given a convenia AB jab on Wed 29th so that is still covering him Trigger.  Think that lasts 14 days.  I tried to give more appropriate AB in a tablet form but he nearly choked on it as think his throat was too sore.  He isn't gulping anymore and can meow though so maybe his throat feeling better.

I may be wrong but I think his main problem is not being able to smell and perhaps taste. 

Think the "egg spoon" is in fact a Chinese soup spoon?  but it does have nice smooth round edges.

Have renegotiated the whole day off .......... thank heaven for understanding business partners .............. altho she is off for 3 weeks from tomorrow so won't be able to take much time off from tomorrow 

[Kay and Penny]

I once had a cat with a huge ulcer on her tongue, which made eating too painful for her, though she was hungry

I used to liquidize food for her, and included lambs liver, as she was a big fan of it, and she used to lap the resultant soup up very reluctantly, as it stung the ulcer, I think - but it was very rich so a small amount still did her a lot of good - and could have been administered in a syringe had it come to that

it took five days of abs to get rid of the ulcer

[Rosella moggy]

Mouth ulcers have been mentioned altho not sure whether as a likely or an actual problem.  I've sort of assumed he has as he has every other bloomin cat flu symptom.  I'll ask when I phone later Angie.  His mouth was really smelly last week but much less so now which is a good sign.  I'll try the egg spoon.  At least I think it's an egg spoon    It's a porcelain one with nice full round edges. 

  for the tips all.

[cazzer]

sorry to hear about Bobby, not been on here much so hadn't realised he was ill.       Crushed up thrive or dreamies occasionally used to persuade OSka to eat.       Also used to find he would sometimes turn his nose up at a food when I tried to feed him on his own.      Bring another cat in and let them eat some of the food and he would be a bit more interested.       Hope Bobby picks up soon!

[Angiew]

Rather that tricle feeding him with a syringe, you could try just mushing up the AD , using a small spoon (an old egg spoon) and hust shovelling a small spoonful into his mouth. Squish it on the roof of his mouth as opposed to trying to pace it on his tongue or down his throat.

Does he have any mouth ulcers?

[Rosella moggy]

Tried pilchards, tuna, chicken.  The others are having a field day!  He won't lick from my finger.  Smeared some warmed up AD diet on Bobby's front paw this morning.  He sat and looked at it then walked back into his basket and curled up. 

I tipped him slowly back out of basket and let Boris in to show Bobby how tasty the gourmet pearl is.  He showed great interest and looked like he was going to eat something but turned away at last minute.  Boris ate the lot (2nd breakfast today) and left.  So I fell back on smearing the AD with a little bisolven into the side of his mouth but got very very little in.  He is obviously keen to eat but cannot smell anything so not sure Valium would help?

All of these little "procedures" are done very slowly with lots of stroking and cuddling and try not to restrain him too much to keep him calm.  Very time consuming and am supposed to be back at office today.  Have negotiated going in for 3 hours .......

Vet has explained how to check for signs of clinical dehydration and I'm sure he is not there yet.  He still sounds extremely congested but is breathing is far less laboured than last week.  Still sneezing, coughing, water eyes and nose and wobbly but am quite sure he will be absolutely fine if only he will start eating. 

Have cancelled vet appointment as have dropped him off with the VNs at the surgery for the day so they can work their magic.  Sadly they are not 24/7.  They are going to try a different convalescent diet; a runnier one to see if he will start lapping otherwise will syringe feed.  Such a relief having them on hand. 

Such a lot of helpful suggestions.  I have made a list.  Thanks a million everyone 

[caledonia]

Glad to hear he is lapping water - that's a start and makes the possibility of some of the suggestions involving watering down food more likely to succeed! Let us know how you get on at the vet :-)

[Rosella moggy]

Thanks so much everyone.  Think I'll start with smearing some AD on his front paw as, amazingly, he still grooms occasionally   In fact I just weighed him and he has only lost .3 of a kilo and is still 3.8kg; he is very tall.  I simply don't understand how on earth he is managing to stay looking as good as he does and not eat or drink.  He is not surprisingly very wobbly though.  Having said that he did just lap a little water which has raised my spirits ......... anyhow I'll give the smearing a bash. Fingers crossed ..........  I'll also get Boris the gorb involved more .......

[Liz]

Rosella my first thought would be if all else fails some tinned condensed milk with pureed food mashed up and mixed together it looks awful but we have had some success with it when we had our stress catflu out break after moving the clan and its not the best thing but has calories and thats what he needs, also some Bisolven in the condesed milk warmed for 10 seconds had some effect to

We also got to the stage as the majority were ferals that we let them all eat together the ones on the mend would eat and like ours yours are a sociable bunch and meal times are a great time in our house as they love being together at feeding time

Sending lots of  for you and Bobby, also sometimes a kitten feeding bottle is better than a syringe as the feeding teet is soft and not hard like the syringe, have used this to you just dilute and mash the puree mix till its like gloop xx

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Valium is often used by vets with cats to get then to eat but its an immediate solution but not one that lasts.

It was used with Napoleon way back but after that he wouldnt eat again and trashed his cage and came home and eventually he started eating again. I think I tried pate type food with him but cant remember.

The vet was really worried cos she said after a short time their liver deterioates but assume that Napoleon was ok.

The trouble is , as you know, the next time he refused to eat I lost him and he went into renal failure.

The vets suggested that they either syringe fed him or fed him through a tube. I opted for the former but the senior vet nurse persuaded me that the latter option was the best for him.....................it was the worse thing I could have done and the image of him sticks in my mind forever. What I didnt know and seems that nobody knew at the time was that he was already in renal failure and of course he was nearly 18 and only had one kidney.

Of course as you know I have just lost Ducha after he stopped eating but he was even older and lost all his weight in 24 hrs.

Your situation with Bobby is different as he is young but I think my vet would be asking to do tests on Bobby to determine his organs situation. He obviously cant smell and suspect he also cant taste and after a week or so his tummy will not like much food especiallly all in one go.

I would use AD and the gourmet pate foods, there is the fish one and a turkey or chicken one.

I would try to get him to lick it off your finger which you dip in one of his dishes in front of him. I would also water it down to nearly liquid. If this doesnt succeed I would try putting it on his leg and paws as suggested by someone else. You need to do this very regularily until he gets the hang of eating again.

I feel that by keeping him seperate from the others this is also upsetting him and maybe you need to reconsider this, anything to keep his stress down.

I can feel your pain and stress, I dont know if your vets are 24/7 so that maybe for 24 hrs he could be hospitalized to be syringed fed to try and get him to eat again.

I feel my stress going up just talking about these things but its essential that he eats and drinks and I would have thought he would be dehydrated by now and possibly needs to go on a drip.

I think your vets should come up with the way forward but my experience is that they just dont know.

It maybe you also need to not use bisolven when trying to get him to eat cos I know mine started to seem to know it was there.......how much are you using? Mine only had a pinch a day.

I will pm you my phone number if you want to know about the tube feeding and I think there is another way of doing it to how it was done on Napoleon. I have a phone by my bed if you want to ring before going to the vets..........I think it will wake me up! try a couple of times before giving up cos it rings 8 times before going onto message.

Sending loads and loads of good wishes 

[pappilon]

Oh Rosella, i am sorry Bobby still not eating.
When my Phoebe was unwell and wouldnt eat my vet priscribed Periactin for her , i needed to give her tablets but there was no way of handeling her and as she wouldnt take food it was no win but i put the periactin in some cheese and rub on her paws it did work and gave her some appetite, please check with your vet if its suitable for Bobby.
The other thing i remember is Coley the frozen one has very strong smell and the best way is to put it in oven with little bit of butter and then mash it up.
Sending lots of good vibes for Bobby and  for you.

[caledonia]

Oh sorry to hear your car isn't eating - the vet might have a suggestion tomorrow hopefully.

I had the same issue with Bertie in the past and the vet ended up giving him a tiny bit Valium - it made him wolf down everything in site!

I have no idea is this is the norm or whether there are possible side effects - I was just desperate! It worked for him thankfully.

Helen's idea about the food on his paw might be an idea. I had nutrical to build Edgar up and if he wouldn't take it I would smear it on his paw - just the right consistency!

Fingers crossed for you at vets tomorrow!

[Tiggy's Mum]

Sorry to hear he's still not eating Rosella    What about smearing a watered down AD on his feet or round his lips, do you think he's perky enough to wash it off? Have you tried him with pilchards in tomato sauce, or sprinkling catnip onto a favourite food? When Riley was refusing all food I managed to get him to eat some tinned steak in gravy, looked gross but he at least nibbled it.

If the vets at your usual practice are busy how about trying another surgery, I'm sure there must be a VN out there that would welcome some extra cash, or maybe a groomer as they are used to restraining cats gently? I was in the same boat with Riley when the vet suggested syringing water into him, despite him being weak and lethargic it was simply a no-go 

[Rosella moggy]

Apart from a flash in the pan this morning when he ate about a teaspoon of food, our 16 month old Bobby will not eat or drink. 

He has cat flu and is extremely congested.  I am managing to get a little AD diet food (about 5ml twice a day) with some bisolven decongestant in squeezed in through the side of his mouth but it's not enough.  I have no one to hold him in situe whilst I try to syringe feed him and vet says not good to stress him out too much as it just makes the cat flu flare up.  Despite having eaten so little in the past week he is surprisingly strong.  I try him first with strong smelling warmed up various foods and allowed him to eat with his brother this morning to try and encourage him but am not happy doing that for obvious reasons.

Have yet another vet visit tomorrow morning but would dearly love to be able to do this myself to save him the stress of constant vet visits.  Am hoping to persuade one of the VNs to visit twice a day to feed him but the two VNs I have spoken to so far don't have the time.

Any tips very welcome