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.
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