Try wrapping him in a towel first, it helps calm them and also keeps
those claws under cover! :) Have you tried actual tuna fish? When I was
syringing my very sick cat with a URI, that's what finally got thru to
him - stinky tuna! Good luck, and I hope your kitty feels better soon. :)

K

Hi Dave,
I would contact your vet but in the meantime, you might want to try some
Nutrical, available at pet supply stores, to get some nutrition into your
kitty.  You can also give KMR (kitten replacement milk) short term.  Good luck
and keep us posted.

Lauren
________
See my cats:  http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

When my Bonnie was spayed (~5 months old, feral) she contracted either a URI
or had a herpes virus within days of the spay.  She stopped eating and I
couldn't get close enough to her to force feed her so on the advice of a
friend, I made a goo mixture of Hill's ad and babyfood (turkey) and mixed in
Lysine.  Since she couldn't smell and I couldn't get close to her I had to
spoon-feed her the food about 3 times a day until she felt better.  With the
AD being high calorie and the baby food for the smell I was able to get
about 1/2 can into her per day which was enough to get her through.  She
resisted some (read: hissed at me constantly) but with the spoon under her
nose and even getting some food on top of her nose, she quickly would start
licking it first off herself and then off the spoon.

Try heating his canned food in the microwave for a few seconds...warming it
seems to kick up a more appealing scent.

HTH

circa Sun, 2 Nov 2003 14:41:11 -0800, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav,
Blue__Oval (blue__oval@yahoo.com) said,

I went through more foods than I can list trying to get my lymphoma
kitty to eat when he was in the midst of his initial sickness. I
found only a few things that he expressed any interest in:

1. Bacon
2. Parmesan cheese
3. Ice cream
4. Tender Vittles (gak!)
5. Purina Kitten Chow

Now, none of these things were what I wanted my cat eating in the
long term, but they did help to jumpstart his appetite. Might be
worth trying with your kitten, in addition to the other suggestions
you've been given.

Laura

 Thanks everyone for the responses.  First and most
important......................he started eating.  After reading horror
stories of kidney failure and other things on some web forums, I decided it
was time to mush up canned food and syringe it in.  10cc's of canned liver
food, one dirty shirt, and 30 claw marks later he's eating.  I no sooner got
the canned food in him and he decided to chow down on dry food.  It's like I
primed the pump or something.  About an hour after he ate, he's feeling
better.  The tail is straight up and the meow is much louder.  I also mixed
up some powdered kitten replacement milk pretty concentrated and got some of
that in him.  He was already kind of a skinny little fellow.  The best part
is when he nudged his 8 month old brother out of the way to get more
milk!!!!!

 All of your responses we're read and noted just in case.  Thanks
again!!!!!!!!

Dave................Springer's Dad