Hi all,

I have a 14-week-old kitten who had an upper respiratory infection, and in consequence has stopped eating. She is on antibiotics, and the moment I saw her refusing food, I began to syringe-feed her, but although this is keeping her alive, it isn't possible to get enough calories in her for her to thrive, and she has lost 1/5th of her body weight in four days. The breeder I got her from recommended the supplement NutraCal, which I am using, but since the main ingredient is corn syrup, I'm not happy about using it.

The vet recommended that we try mirtazapine as an appetite stimulant. However, since this is such a very young kitten, and Bengals' brains often don't respond the same way to drugs as regular domestic cats' do, I was wondering if anyone here has experience with Bengals and mirtazapine. I found out the hard way six years ago that Bengals should never be given ketamine for anesthesia, after a ketamine induction ruined my Bengal's personality. I am terrified of ruining the temperament of this kitten, who is highly intelligent, responsive, and charming...a dream Bengal. I am also afraid that she will die if I can't get her to eat. I am syringe-feeding her every hour, but it's not enough.

And yes, I have tried everything...every kind of food (including human baby food), warmed up, smelly, not smelly, dry food soaked in broth, dry food soaked in goat milk...she is incredibly compliant, so I have even put bits of food right into her mouth, and rather than swallowing, she just lets them fall back out...it's as if she can't register the fact that it is food.

Welcome to our forum and congratulations on your new baby! It's good that she is under the care of a vet who is trying what vets normally try. Sick kitties many times refuse to eat. Syringing their food is a great option to at least maintain nutrition in their bodies. Usually, you will only have to do this a couple of days and (with the other medication), the kitty returns to eating.

Your baby is extremely young -- so did the breeder give you a health certificate? Are you trying to feed the kitty the food the breeder fed her?

I know how concerned you are, but your vet is the best person to give advice. Once the URI is gone, things should return to normal. Just be patient, give your kitty the medication and syringe the food. Losing some weight is extremely common -- and once you can get her over this hump and back to eating normally, the weight should come back.

When my kitty had a horrible parasite and would not eat, the vet recommended Hills a/d for dogs and cats. Told me it was higher in calories. Check with your vet on what they recommend. Good luck! And keep us informed on how things go.

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The little monsters 3

I had an elderly siamese with kidney disease that could not keep weight on. The vet prescribed an appetite stimulant, but she had a very bad reaction. She acted like she was on speed and became very agitated and unsettled. It was almost scary. The vet office said, well it is a stimulant…I didn't give it to her again. This is a different situation, you have a young cat with a cold. You might want to try it, but administer it when you are at home to be sure there are no adverse reactions.