How to Convince a Sick Cat to Eat

There is nothing more heartbreaking than seeing a sick kitten unable to eat or drink. If your pet refuses to eat, they may have an illness or depression. In case the kittens do not eat or drink for more than a day, you need to take them to the vet. In the meantime, you can take advantage of coaxing the kitten to eat and drink at home.

Table of Contents

Feed the sick cat

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Feed small amounts often. When the kitten is sick, you should prepare only a small amount of food, but provide it often. Therefore, you can give your cat a small amount of food every one to two hours, as long as the feeding time does not coincide with their bedtime.

Note that you should wake the kittens up to eat if they are very young. ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Change the type of kitten food. Sometimes sick kittens don’t like their daily food and need to change to a new food to increase their appetite. By changing food brands or flavors, you can encourage your kitten to try new foods. In the case of a sick kitten, just a little food can make all the difference. ^{[2] X Research Sources} Here are some foods that you can feed your kittens:

Cat food made from gravy
Pre-packaged chicken flavored baby food
Boiled Chicken ^{[3] X Research Source}
White rice without seasoning

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Consult your veterinarian about a medical regimen. This regimen is specifically for sick animals that cannot eat normally. Food used in a convalescent diet contains a lot of nutrients, so a 1 kg kitten will need less than 1/3 of a daily calorie intake. The two most popular products are Hills AD (for cats and dogs), and Royal Canin Feline. These two types have attractive flavors including:

Protein works to restore body tissues and strengthen the immune system.
Fats and carbohydrates provide metabolic energy for the kitten’s organs to function smoothly and to fight inflammation.
Zinc and potassium are two substances that help heal wounds faster.
Vitamins E and C, plus Taurine has antioxidant function to help detoxify the body and strengthen the immune system

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Try reheating food. If the kittens have a stuffy nose, they will stop eating for two reasons: one is that the kitten can’t smell the food, and the other is that she can’t eat with a stuffy nose. You can reheat foods (no more than 30 seconds in the microwave) and feed them. The heat enhances the flavor of the food and can encourage the kitten to eat some. Also hot food tastes better.

You can use a straw to clear your kitten’s nose and make it easier for them to eat and drink.

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Do not hide medicine in kitten food. Sick kittens need medicine, but you shouldn’t hide medicine in their food. Kittens can detect medication with their tongue and nose, and will not eat if there is medicine in them. Hiding medication will only prevent your pet from ever touching food again, with or without medication.

Set the medicine aside and force the kitten to eat often. They may not like this and this is not an easy action, but you have to do it.

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Make sure the kitten drinks enough water. You need to provide plenty of water for your pet. Dehydration in kittens can be very serious, and when they are sick the consequences can be multiplied. If the kitten refuses to drink water, you can add water to the food. This not only increases the attractiveness of the dish, but also provides water for the kittens.

The first thing to check when a kitten refuses to drink water is to see if the water dish is clean. Kittens do not like to drink dirty water.

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Try hand-feeding the kitten. Put a small amount of food in your hand and bring it close to the kitten’s mouth. Do not put your fingers and mouths because it will cause discomfort. Let the kitten lick its own food and be very patient.

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Try feeding the kitten with a syringe. If manual feeding doesn’t work, you can switch to a syringe. Remove the needle, then inject liquid food into the tube. Hold the kitten gently and tilt the tube into the cat’s mouth. You should not put it directly into the cat’s mouth, because the food will flow into the upper throat causing choking. Slide the syringe to the left or right and inject a small amount of food close to the base of the tongue. Kittens will swallow food at the base of their tongue. Repeat several times until the cat has eaten the required amount, changing the position of the syringe to avoid rubbing a spot in the mouth too much.

Try a powdered milk substitute for cats if your vet doesn’t offer a liquid food. Regular milk should not be used.
Food should be at room temperature, in other words, should be slightly warm but not too hot.

Taking care of sick kittens

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Give the kitten meloxicam. Meloxicam (also known as Metacam) belongs to the pharmaceutical group of NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs). Meloxicam inhibits the COX-2 enzyme that produces prostaglandins, preventing inflammation that causes fever. Meloxicam is a safe and useful drug in reducing fever.

The recommended dose for kittens is 0.05mg/kg of meloxicam per day. Therefore, a 1.1 kg kitten needs 0.1 ml of Metacam for cats. It should be noted that meloxicam is manufactured in two groups: for dogs (1.5mg/ml) and for cats (0.5mg/ml). Metacam for dogs is three times more effective, and you need to be very careful when giving it to cats because it is very easy to overdose.
Only give Meloxicam to a pet that is sufficiently hydrated. Pets suffering from dehydration will have affected kidney function; Decreased blood supply to the kidneys will cause the kitten to develop kidney failure.
Meloxicam should be taken during or after eating. If your cat won’t eat or drink, you can use a syringe to give him some food to line his stomach. Do not give Metacam to kittens on an empty stomach, as this will prevent blood supply to the stomach causing ulcers.
Do not take meloxicam at the same time or after taking other NSAIDs or steroids. Otherwise, this will cause stomach ulcers, gastrointestinal ulcers and bleeding causing serious blood loss.

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Keep kittens warm. If cold, kittens will fall into lethargy and slow to recover, making it harder for you to convince them to eat.

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Prepare a comfortable bed. Sick cats are often vulnerable, and they will recover faster if they have a place to rest. You can prepare a bed or a cardboard box covered with towels.

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Seek veterinary help if necessary. In case the kitten seems weak, or the symptoms of illness persist for more than a day, you need to take them to see the veterinarian.

Caring for a depressed kitten

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Recognize the signs of a depressed kitten. In addition to eating behavior, you can identify some of the symptoms of depression in kittens. These symptoms include lack of energy and sleeping more than usual, lack of interest in activities, becoming withdrawn, or being aggressive.

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Spend more time with your kitten. A common reason for kittens to be depressed is because you don’t pay much attention to them. To overcome your cat’s depression and encourage her to eat normally, you should play and show love to them as much as possible. Cuddle the kittens while working or watching a movie, play with them in the morning and afternoon, and compliment them with treats and cuddles.

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Find entertaining games for kittens. You can’t always stay home and play with your pet. Therefore, you should buy toys for kittens to have fun while you are away, such as climbing plants, toys, claw poles, and food games. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Consider finding friends for the kittens. If you can afford it, you can add a cat so they can play together. However, you need to keep in mind that raising more kittens will be more difficult if your cat is an adult.

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Consider whether the kitten’s depression is due to an illness. If you take care of your kittens and regularly show them love, they won’t become depressed just because you don’t play with them. Instead, kittens become depressed because of illness or injury. If you can’t figure out why your pet is depressed, you should take them to the vet.

Use appetite stimulants prescribed by your veterinarian

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Use appetite stimulants if other measures don’t work. Some medications are known to increase appetite. This is often seen as a last resort for a number of reasons. First, most of these drugs are intended for human consumption, so it is difficult to divide the pill into the right dosage. Second, the kitten’s body has not yet developed complete liver and kidney function. These organs are not yet capable of metabolizing drugs, so kittens will be more susceptible to drug overdose than adult cats. The final reason is that these drugs have unpleasant side effects even in small amounts. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

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Consult a veterinarian. A qualified pet care professional will prescribe the right medication for the kitten (if applicable). Common medications are listed below so you can talk to your vet and learn their effects and dosages in general.

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Consider taking mirtazapine. This medication belongs to the group of human tricyclic antidepressants. Although there is no information to explain why, they do work to stimulate the cat’s appetite. The tablet is manufactured in a minimum dose of 15 mg, and the dosage for adult cats is 3.5 mg, equivalent to ¼ pill. For kittens weighing less than 1 kg, it will be difficult to determine the right dose, so you will have to give them small crumbs. Apply this dosage every 3 days.

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Consider using cyproheptadine. It is also an antihistamine and serotonin receptor blocker for humans. The reason why is still unknown, but this drug works to stimulate the appetite in cats. You can apply a dosage of 0.1-0.5 mg/kg orally two to three times a day. Tablets are manufactured in the smallest dose of 4 mg. For example, a 1 kg kitten needs to take 1/8 of a 4 mg pill, and you need to keep in mind that kittens only reach 1 kg when they are 3 months old.

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Consult your doctor about intravenous diazepam. Some cats respond well to intravenous diazepam, making them hungry. The drug only works when injected into a vein, and for kittens it is difficult to find a vein large enough to inject the drug. The recommended dose is 0.5-1.0 mg/kg given as a single intravenous injection. Therefore, kittens weighing 1 kg need an injection of 5 mg/ml of diazepam emulsion.

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Consider Vitamin B Injections. B vitamins play an important role in maintaining appetite. If the level of Vitamin B, especially Vitamin B12 in the intestinal wall or in the blood drops too low, the kitten will fall into anorexia. This can be remedied by injecting four shots of vitamin B under the skin every four weeks. The recommended dosage is 0.25 ml subcutaneously every four weeks.

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Be careful with steroid injections. The side effect of steroids is an increased appetite. In many cases, you should not give this medicine to kittens because steroids affect the immune system, reducing its ability to fight disease. However, if the kittens are protected with antibiotics and the veterinarian assesses that steroids are not adversely affecting the existing condition, they may be able to take a dose of steroids to increase their appetite. Standard dosages are usually not fixed, ranging from 0.01 to 4 mg/kg dexamethasone, but only a limited small dose should be used to stimulate the kitten’s appetite. Therefore, kittens weighing approximately 2 kg should be injected intramuscularly with 0.5 mg of dexamethasone at a concentration of 2 mg/ml equivalent to 0.25 ml.

Advice

Play a variety of light music genres. If you notice your kitten reacting to certain music, you can turn it on while you’re away. This helps the pet feel reassured and not depressed.

Warning

If you want to convince the kitten to eat again, you should wait a while after they have had enough to eat before feeding again. If kittens eat too much at once, they may vomit and feel more irritable.
If all measures are taken and the kitten is still not eating or drinking, you need to take them to the vet to find out the underlying cause.
Take your kitten to the doctor if they haven’t eaten for more than a day.

Steps