12 week old kitten is not eating

Question
hi
i just adopted a 12 week old kitten yesterday. i was told that she was still suffering from an upper respiratory infection. she is sneezing a lot and sometimes has trouble breathing. she does not seem to have any trouble to go to the bathroom and also drinks  water, but she has not been eating . i have offered her several different food choices of dry and wet food and went to the vet today . the vet gave me a vitamin supplement and also an anti biotic for the kitten.i was told that i should try to dissolve some food in water and feed it to it with a syringe. i have done this several times today but i find it extremely difficult to get the food dissolved and have a lot of trouble to get it in my kitty! she sleeps a lot but still has not been eating by herself , i am very worried because she is weak and skinny.    Do you have any advise for me? Is there anything else i could do to get her to eat? an answer is very much appreciated.thanks in advance
alice

Answer
A couple things - baby food is much easier to feed with a syringe because of its creamy consistency.  Anything that is strictly meat baby food (no veggies or pasta) is fine.  Downside to this is, it's mostly water, and a lot must be fed to provide the same caloric value as a small amount of cat food.  So ultimately, I would recommend asking the vet if he carries Hill's a/d.  This is a high-calorie balanced cat food great for anorexic pets.  It has a smooth consistency, so it's easily fed with a syringe.  And because it's high calorie and high protein, less food provides more energy.  It also has an appetite-stimulating aroma.

If the problem seems to be she is stuffy, run vaporizers throughout the house, or steam up the bathroom a few times a day and let her sit in there for 1/2 hour.  You can also buy saline-only nose drops and put a couple drops in each nostril 3 times a day to clear congestion.  Just tilt back her head and put the drops in.  She won't like it, but it helps immensely.

If the vet found sores in her mouth, as with many kitty colds, then pain with eating is probably an issue.  You could ask your vet if he carries sucralfate, or if he can write you a prescription to be filled at a pharmacy.  It's a medication that adheres to ulcers and forms a protective film over them to promote healing.  It also protects the damaged tissue so that eating is not so painful.