Ideas on how to get a sick cat to eat

if he's drooling a lot, that's a sign of nausea. pepcid (crushed pills, later liquid from the vet -- get dosage from the vet, obvi) helped somewhat.

we had to syringe-feed our cat (who had hepatic lipidosis). high-calorie food mixed with water. it was gross and difficult, but she did get better.

This may be idiosyncratic to my cat, but when he was sick (before he got diagnosed with kidney disease) he wouldn't eat his food, but he would steal my hot wheat cereal and eat that.

And if his throat is that dry, you might feed him some milk or formula. (My cat is nuts about soymilk, but I won't let him have any because of the sugar.) Or warm chicken bouillion.

My much loved cat, Sheeba had kidney disease (later to progress to kidney failure -but lived 21 happy loved years) and getting her to eat was a struggle for the last two or three years of her life.
Different illness, but hopefully some of my experience might help.
First of all.. keep that kitty hydrated! I learned that most cats get nearly all of their water from their food. I had to wrap her in a towel and slowly give her water with a syringe many times...yes, she was plenty pissed and wouldn't speak to me for a few hours, but she would dehydrate without it.

I also mixed an herb called "slippery elm" into any food she would eat. It makes the food...uhh...slippery (easier to swallow,)... also settles their stomachs. Cheap, if I remember right, and just a 1/4 of an open capsule would do it for her.

Lastly, any food is better than none, especially if you can get some vitamin paste from the pet store into him. Sheeba loved tiny peices of KFC chicken and chicken wings best, and of all things White Castle Hamburgers. (Had another cat years ago who would KILL for strawberry flavored oatmeal!) Offer your boy tiny tastes of whatever you are eating, you never know. And when you find something he likes...MIX AS MUCH WARM WATER AS HE WILL STAND INTO IT.

She wouldn't eat these things if I ground them up (she was too proud to eat like a geriatric cat,) I had to cut them into tiny peices. I ended up buying an extra piece of chicken or burger and cutting the whole thing up, dividing it up into about two tablespoon portions (all she'd eat at once,) then putting them into the freezer for warming later

Yes, I know cat food is best, but when you have a sick and hungry cat you'll both feel better with something in his tummy.

To test if he's dehydrated, I was taught to gently grab the scruff of his neck. When you let go it should flatten right back out. If the skin stays at all in a "bunch" where you grabbed it he needs water and quickly. Sheeba had to go for "Hydration Therapy" before I learned this, five days straight at $100 per day. She still needed it periodically (one days worth at a time) as she got sicker, but she was a much happier cat when she did get it.

GOOD LUCK and thank you for being such a good "parent" to Jake. Sadly, most cats (and dogs, and hampsters, and birds...) don't have a person who loves them so much.

Bricktop wrote: uh, are we talking about a cat here, or a child?
Maybe he's not eating because he's old and is ready to die....and you should let nature take it's course.

This was really unnecessary and not at ALL helpful or nice, Bricktop.

Dakotas Way, this probably won't work right now because your cat's mouth is dry, but for future reference... I had a cat once who stopped eating and the vet suggested peanut butter because it's high in calories and protein and if you can get some on the roof of the cat's mouth then it can't spit it out.

Also, valium is an appetite stimulant for cats, believe it or not. The same cat was prescribed valium and it worked like a charm. If you just happen to have some lying around, though, check with a vet about dosage -- I remember I had to cut the pills up into halves or quarters (it's been a long time).

i'm late to the discussion but i'm glad to hear he's doing better! and i'm glad you got things sorted out before you had to really deal with the pets vs. cost issue. i'm a little irritated that the first vet didn't have a better idea what it could be, but i guess they can't always know right away.

Hmm.. maybe you need to go to a vet with a larger hospital. I would imagine that these procedures (never cheap) would be cheaper if they could be done inhouse.