We adopted a four year old cat from a shelter last week. She is wonderful. Two days after we got her, she was very sneezy and we figured it was an upper respiratory infection. She ate just about a whole can of wet food, which was a first for her, as she had had a very limited appetite up to that point. Then, she spent the rest of the day vomiting it all back up. We took her to the vet and they determined that she did in fact have an infection, and the vomiting was most likely because of an averse reaction to the food. They gave us antibiotics.
The thing is, she literally WILL NOT take the pills. We both hold her down and follow all the instructions we've gotten from the multitude of cat owners we know, and she refuses to swallow it. Once, I got it down her throat and she vomited it right back up, just a little puddle of yellow bubbles (the pills are yellow). We coated it in butter - no good. We also put it on her food, but she has been really picky about what and when she eats after the vomiting. She's been eating once a day, usually at night, and she's supposed to pill twice a day. I put some crushed up pill on tuna fish, and she had a couple bites yesterday, but now refuses to go near it. Same thing with milk. It's like she's getting wise to all of these tricks!! I will try baby food tonight.
How much SHOULD she be eating? She's skinny, only about 7 pounds and full grown. I'm sure she's not used to eating too much from the shelter and wherever she was before that. Also, do these upper respiratory infections ever cure themselves? From my online research it seems like it's only a really big deal if she refuses to eat... which she often does, but she has been eating once a day, so maybe that's ok?
I'm going to call the vet tomorrow and see if they can switch the pills for some liquid antibiotics. I have been a crazy panicky woman all weekend trying to take care of this creature. We've had her less than a week but I feel like already I'm so, so attached to her.
Any help would be very, very appreciated!!
Sally
