My cat has a bad cold and won't eat for days. What should I do?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | unspayed | 3 lbs
My cat hasn't eaten in days. She has a very bad cold. The vet gave liquid medicines. Two other cats have the same illness. We gave them the medicines with fish and they ate it up. But its been nearly 5 days and this cat wont eat. She only drinks water and we put a little glucose in it. But if we put medicine in it she doesn't eat it. We've tried every food we can think of! She looks like she wants to eat. She goes near it all excited, sniffs it and leaves. She doesn't let herself be force-fed.
4 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on August 26th, 2017
They sometimes do this when they are very sick with a bad upper respiratory infection (cold), because they can't breathe properly when they eat. It usually means that they are very congested and/or not getting enough treatment. My biggest concern about her not eating for several days is that she may not be drinking enough and could be getting dehydrated. If you have noticed her drinking, then this is promising, but she still may need more fluids. The best thing you can do is take her back to the vet to get assessed for dehydration and see if they can prescribe more mediation to get her eating again. In the meantime, I recommend you try a steam bath to help relieve the congestion. Below, is a link that explains how to do this: http://www.wikihow.com/Help-Your-Cat-Breathe-Easier I hope this helps and Poodi feels better soon.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
-
Published on August 26th, 2018
I would take Kitty into a vet right away. It's extremely serious when a cat doesn't eat, as when they don't eat for 72 hours, they develop a fatty liver which is fatal without treatment. When cats are congested they can't smell their food, leading them to not eat, and if she has a bad cold and is congested, that's why she isn't eating. She does need veterinary care now for her cold, and I would take her into one immediately. Best of luck.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
-
Published on May 25th, 2018
Unfortunately, cats really need to be able to smell their food to have an appetite. That can be very challenging with a cat that has a respiratory disease. You are doing the right thing by warming up the food. I will also sometimes add the water from canned tuna or get fishy smelling cat food to help with that problem. I see that you posted this question 8 hours ago, so I hope you have been able to get Josephine to eat something. If not, another trick that will sometimes help is to close the bathroom door and run the shower to get the room very steamy, then allow her to sit in there for 5-10 minutes. Sometime that can help with congestion. If her breathing does not seem to be improving after the injections and she is still not eating, I would recommend contacting your veterinarian for help. Good luck! I hope that was helpful and that Josephine feels better soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
-
Published on July 7th, 2019
Poor kitten! I'm concerned about her lack of interest in eating. Try gently warming really smelly wet food like fish or sardine based to tempt her to eat. If a cat can't smell their food, they won't eat it, and gently warming smelly food may help. If she doesn't eat this then you have to take her into a vet immediately as it's very serious when a kitten won't eat. If she's congested, you can also try using a humidifier or bringing her into the bathroom with the door closed while you take a hot shower - the steam and humidity help to break up congestion and temporarily relieve symptoms associated with respiratory infections. Best of luck.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Recently my old cat has come back home (we thought she may have gone away to die) as excited as we are to have our little moggy back with us, she has us worried. She has come back to us extremely underweight, wheezing, gunk coming from her eyes and n
We have 3 outdoor cats. They live in an old doghouse that the run is all covered in chicken wire. We insulated the house and put a lot of straw in it and made a door for them of heavy floor linoleum that has a half circle cut in it. We have had a
We just adopted my kitten from the humane society on Tuesday. She had been sneezing but now she has watery eyes, a runny/stuffy nose, and isn't as interested in eating or playing. She is still doing both, but it takes more encouragement from us. I th
Please help!My cat got an injection against fly poison a few days ago and started to drink water,he moves around,purrs.Today I saw a tiny scratch on the top of his ear but it stopped bleeding.He doesn't want to eat and is breathing weird.I started to
My cat is sick. It has flu. It is really hard for it to breath as its nose is blocked with mucus. Its voice also changes. Its condition is worsen. Sometimes it sneezes a lot and i did see it wants to vomit (there's something in its throat... Probably
Cat isbreathing heavy through nose, loss of appetite, not drinking a lot of water. She's using litter box, but hasn't pooped in a couple of days. I can hear what I think is congestion or phlegm when she purrs, but no sneezing or coughing. seems leth
My cat got a flu, and does not want to eat or drink. It just sleep all day. Please help, what should i di?
My kitten was breathing really fast yesterday and we took her to the ER Vet. They told us they think she may have a respiratory disease and have her some injections. They also gave us some chewable supplements (Vetri Lysine Plus) that she is supposed
my kitten won't eat has hard time breathing her eyes look funny seems to have a cold but she won't even walk around and i'm not sure what to do !
My cat is recovering from a nasty upper respiratory infection. She hasn't had much of an appetite due to her medication, but she seems to be getting it back. However, her nose is very stuffy and it's keeping her from eating. Whenever I give her somet
Book an appointment with the pros – our expert vets are here to help.
