🚀 go-pugleaf

I am posting this as well as mailing it, because I am worried that this
poor little kitty might starve.

> I just got two kittens from a woman who takes in strays.
> ...
> The main problem is we have never seen him eat. (The vet says
> he doesn't want to eat because he can't smell the food because his nose
> is clogged).  
> ...
> We got them Saturday.  He has been getting less and
> less playful, this is now Thursday.  Does anyone know of anyway to encourage
> him to eat?  

Our kitty from the Humane society developed exactly the same syndrome about
4 days after we got it.  It started _losing_ weight, until we got some very
smelly fish-flavored food, and it's been great ever since.  I forget the
brand name, but it was some expensive "gourmet" food in little cans.  Once
Marmalade got well, we went back to cheapo canned food once a day and dry
food the rest of the time, and she is fine.

Sure hope this helps!

Cheers,
Topher Eliot                Cyb Systems, Austin, TX               (512) 835-2266
      {gatech,harvard,ihnp4,nbires,seismo,ucb-vax}!ut-sally!cyb-eng!topher

Cats when not already emaciated from a disease can live a long time without 
food, the same way we humans can live for long periods on just water. However,
this is not good for the animal of course, especially one that is fighting an
illness.

Watch the cat closely and if it refuses to eat after a couple of more days, I
suggest that you resort to hand feeding the animal. I don't know how old the 
cat is, but if it is a small kitten, a turkey baster (or similar) filled with
"queens" milk will do the trick. Just be careful and don't choke the cat. If
it is an older cat, some really tasty cat food or fish can be inserted into 
the cat's mouth. Then hold the cat's mouth shut and massage its throat. Be
careful; if the cat cannot breathe through its nose, (due to nasal congestion)
it might get choked on the food if its mouth is held shut too long. Kitty 
will usually give in and swallow the food or milk when this method is used.

I don't know how much experience you have with our feline friends, but I will
warn you anyway: cats do not like to be forced to do ANYTHING. You may want to
wrap kitty in a nice big fluffy towel if you decide to try the above hand-feed-
ing method. This will help control kitty, keep the mess to a minimum and maybe
help you to keep from being scratched.

Good Luck!

When my puppy had this problem, I did like I would do with a kid:

Feed them what they like, that is, tempt them.

Try yummy can foods, tuna fish, baby food, etc.

Try putting some on your finger and sticking it in his mouth.

Try getting him to drink some water the same way.

Keep trying.

In article <58100027@trsvax> delanie@trsvax.UUCP writes:
>When my puppy had this problem, I did like I would do with a kid:
>Feed them what they like, that is, tempt them.
>Try yummy can foods, tuna fish, baby food, etc.
>Try putting some on your finger and sticking it in his mouth.

I would caution anyone who would try this with a cat.  When you put
food on your finger and stick it into a cat's mouth it will think,
"Food = CHEW !! "  And it will drive those razor sharp fangs deep into
your finger thinking all the time about this delicious raw meat my
loving master has fed me.

I know.  My wife did it and it took weeks to heal.  And it was not the
cat's fault.

			Bill Landsborough
  

----

"Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not 
arrogant or rude... Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all
things, endures all things."   1 Corinthians 13:4-7

All the "conning kitty to eat" ideas are good, but be sure that
there isn't something else wrong.  A "cold" in kittens may turn out to be
neumenitis (kitty pneumonia) or distemper.  Just because the other kitten got
better doesn't mean this one doesn't have something serious.

Take her to a vet you trust PRONTO 

If it IS just a cold, food should help - kittens don't have a lot of body
reserves to live off of.  Especially try to force water (even sugar water if
she won't take food)  - a turkey baster makes this pretty easy.  

When a stray kitten we'd picked up had distemper, we finally got her to eat
cottage cheese and egg yolks (and she made it!)

One final word on selecting a healthy kitten (or puppy):  young animals are
pretty active unless they're asleep.  If kitty just lies there doing nothing,
chances are something's wrong (probably just worms though).

Good luck