Upper respiratory tract infection

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melshop
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Upper respiratory tract infection

Post by melshop »

My poor cat Soot has this, and has had it before, but this time after a visit to the vet on Friday, the rehydration treatment and antibiotic shot have not made him bounce back as he normally does. He is already thin, and was on steroids (pred) to help him put on weight due to other health problems, so I am really worried.

How long do these infections on average take before they start to recover? He has not eaten anything apart from the vitamin supplement paste I was recommended on here which I have put on his paws to lick off and a tiny little bit of chicken this morning. He has perked up a bit yesterday and today, nose has stopped running but he is still off his food, but will drink water.

I have tried the specialist foods from the vet to try and make him eat, as well as making some high calorie kitten gloop this morning from a recipe I found online, he was not interested. I also tried putting a special liquid food from the vets in a blunt syringe, and he will not take that either. He is now just sleeping most of the day, unlike on Friday when he was wheezing and snotty nosed and could hardly move.

I am worried that the vet will tell me he needs to be put to sleep next week, I will be booking an appointment on Monday if he is still not eating. Anyone have any experience of this.
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greenkitty
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Re: Upper respiratory tract infection

Post by greenkitty »

Have you tried warming his food? A few seconds in the microwave or add some warm water, it helps release the smell. Have you tried anything like pilchards or other smelly fish?

It sounds like he's heading in the right direction, sleeping is good, he's probably been feeling lousy so plenty of rest is essential. It can take a couple of weeks to shake off but I wouldn't worry about PTS, my cat Hector had 9 years of cat flu flare ups and it didn't contribute to his death.
melshop
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Re: Upper respiratory tract infection

Post by melshop »

He had this happen back in November as well, but he bounced back quickly after a trip to the emergency vet, however this time, due to being on steroids I think, he is taking much longer.

Warming the regular cat food up as not helped, however, tonight I tried warm stinky fish, he had a few mouthfuls of haddock, he didn't like the salmon I made him though, he has been drinking some cat milk, but he is so skinny anyway, he is now tiny. Luckily I work from home so can keep a very close eye on him.

I just hope in the next few days he eats a bit more, I will have to go out and get more really smelly fish tomorrow.
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Crewella
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Re: Upper respiratory tract infection

Post by Crewella »

I really hope he does recover this time too - my old Minnie was a bag of bones but recovered from several serious illnesses before we finally lost her at 19.5.

Have you tried hand-feeding? Some of mine are more likely to eat from my hand when they're ill - they'll eat a mouthful or two for me from my hand when they'd refuse a bowl put down. It's kind of like having to 'kick-start' their appetite again - sometimes just dabbing it on their lips works too.
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