Expert: Becky - 1/5/2007

Question
our 17 yr old cat Sparkle has not eaten for 2 days.  She saw the vet today and had complete bloodwork done.  The vet said that all the bloodwork looked great for her age.  We had a feline leukemia test done at the beginning of Dec and that was negative.  The vet said that only thing abnormal today was her white blood count was high indicating an infection.  They gave her iv fluids under her skin and prescribed zeniquin for 7 days. Is this appropriate treatment and how long should it take for our cat to be interested in eating again.  We tried several different cat foods, tuna and baby foods as well and she sniffs them but has no interest in eating them.  Any suggestions?  Thanks
Lisa

Answer
Hi Lisa,
You are to be commended for having a 17 year old cat. That is great!  You have done everything that I would recommend. Did your Vet suggest force feeding by chance? It's not as harsh as it sounds. You moisten dry cat food to where it's mushy, then add some canned cat food and cottage cheese. Mix this all up to a mushy gruel, then put it in a syringe and squirt it down Sparkle's throat.  Your Vet or any pharmacy can give you a syringe.  If you put it towards the back of the throat, she should swallow it without a major struggle.  She needs nutrition and this will help her get it.  You don't want to stress her out real bad, because of her age, so if you don't feel comfortable doing this then you really need to contact your Vet again about a nutritional supplement.  You may want to ask him these same questions.

God Bless,
Becky