Merry 04/22 - Very congested & not eating much

Merry seems to have caught a cold. There was a URI going through my house & 5 adults caught it (before Merry). Only 1 had congestion, the others just had runny eyes, the vet checked them all out & Oreo needed eye drops because he had an ulcer in his eye from rubbing it but otherwise the others just got over it on their own (I gave everyone L-Lysine for a while). I didn't let Merry near the others & I thought he had avoided catching it but yesterday he sounded a bit congested & today he's very congested. I hope it's just the URI & nothing more serious. The vet is coming over on Tuesday for a couple of the others so I'll add Merry to the list & have her listen to his chest just in case. He's not eating much today but so far he's still in the blues so that's good. I've been able to get him to eat a bit of FF Pate. Hopefully he'll keep eating enough to offset the insulin until the URI runs it's course. If he does end up refusing to eat tonight or tomorrow should I skip his shot or give him a decreased dose?

Here's a pic I took of Mr Relaxy back in February. He always lays on his back like that & falls asleep in the middle of the floor, LOL!

 

Hi, and what a great photo of Merry. I hope he keeps eating and feels better soon.

I’m not one to suggest insulin dosing but am bumping your condo for other eyes to see and respond to.

Oh yes, if you put the blue ? In front of the condo title, more beans will know that you have a question.

 

When they have a stuffy nose and can't smell the food they don't want to eat. You can try feeding the stinkiest low carb you can and warm it to increase the smell. And Benedryl and Zyrtec are safe for cats in small doses with no additives.

 

Maybe a decreased dose if he doesn't eat? You don't need to get more than a couple of teaspoons into him to give a full dose and then try again over the couple of hours before onset.

 

Yes, I'm feeding him the smelliest FF Pate that I have. I stocked up today because I knew this was going to be an issue. I fed him a few mins before his shot to make sure he would eat & he's eating a bit now so it will be safe for his shot. I'm glad he doesn't have to eat a whole lot to give the full dose, that makes me feel better.

 

Also, paw feeding sometimes helps to override the olefactory trigger to eat.
A bit of food on one of his front paws and see if he’ll lick it off. If he does, have dish nearby and offer in case he’s spurred to associate food he just ate with food on dish.

 

So far he's still eating but really congested, poor boy. He was looking for his breakfast this morning & ate a bit but didn't even touch the food I left out at bedtime & normally I wake up to an empty bowl in the morning & he's crying for more.

 

Can u assist feed him with oral syringe? Have you tried the “paw” method with food?

 

Hope he’s feeling better soon. Sending eating and decongestant vines your way!

 

Merry is eating enough just not his usual amount (he's a big eater, LOL!). I know he wouldn't tolerate assist feeding, he hates his mouth being touched but he's not at that point yet. I checked on him at lunch & gave him some more smelly food so he was eating a bit of that when I left to come back to work.

 

Reactine (Zyrtec in the US) is an antihistamine but it might help a bit with his congestion. It can be given to kitties - I think half a 10 mg tablet.

 

Try taking into a bathroom with a nice steamy shower going, to see if you can clear him out. The worst case of URI I've seen at the shelter I used to work, we did a saline flush, sort of like a kitty nedi pot.

It's good Merry is eating a bit. I hope he gets over it soon.

My only comment about dosing, is that you are holding doses too long. Not exactly sure what it means to loosely follow TR, maybe list where you differ in your signature?

 

I like that idea and am visualizing it! Did kitties oblige?

 

These particular two were pretty miserable and at a strange shelter so it wasn't hard to do. We used a small oral syringe. The only tricky bit is that they were Persians but thankfully doll face so noses weren't as bad as could have been. They were from a large rescue from a hoarder in a neighbouring municipality whose shelter reached out for help.