Getting a poorly cat to eat???

[Shufflebumnessie]

One of our cats (13 year old female) has had a rough couple of months health-wise.
She had a really nasty stomach upset which took weeks to fully subside and she lost a lot of weight. Then she caught a cold (or similar) and initially was eating and drinking normally (but not putting on any weight) but as she's got more congested she's completely stopped eating and will only drink cat milk a few times a day.
I took her back to the vet yesterday and she was given a slow release antibiotics injection and metacam. The vet also gave me a tin of high calorie cat food, however she won't touch it.
Over the past few days I've offered boiled chicken, tuna, ham, various cat foods (including a soup) and treats etc but she won't eat anything. I've heated them up to make the smell stronger & tried mixing stuff with milk. The vet said her hydration levels are fine.
Can anyone think of anything else I can offer her? It seems she only wants liquid (I'm guessing her throat might be sore). She must be starving but won't touch anything other than cat milk. She can't afford to lose any more weight. Do I just need to wait until she's feeling a bit better and hopefully her appetite will return?
We have a follow up vet appointment on Tuesday.

Some of the cat soup varieties?
Felix and Sheba do them. I hope she feels better soon, always a worry when they don’t eat.

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/shop/pets/cat-food-and-accessories/wet-cat-food/cat-soups

Boil tiny little pieces of shredded chicken by putting them in a small amount of boiling water, the chicken will be boiled instantly. My cat loves this and also loves drinking the chicken water.

Lick e Lix or other cat yogurts smell really strong and most cats love them.

Try fish in tomato sauce (like sardines, mackerel) warm it up a bit in the microwave aswell

Is cat milk too expensive / not nutritionally complete?

I've known some cats who were more likely to eat if they were pet the whole time ( I mean before during & after bowl was in front of them).

Dcat likes scrambled egg made with water when poorly, hand fed ofcourse.
It's soft and seems to do the job.

my cat likes tuna juice… it may help.

I always give my cat boiled white fish when she is poorly. I keep the liquid for her to drink and it goes down well.

Does she like fish? My cats used to love frozen cheap white fish cooked from frozen in the microwave or poached in water.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've tried the Felix soup (wouldn't touch it!) but I've not seen the Sheba version. She does like Sheba normally so I'll see if anywhere nearby stocks it. Thanks

Sorry to hear they’re not well! Have you tried offering some yogurt? Greek, full fat yogurt (check the ingredients are just milk and cultures) - might be enticing and has plenty of calories (and good bacteria for their tummy)

Thank you. I tried her with boiled chicken yesterday but she just walked away, but I didn't think about offering the water it was cooked in. I'll try that.
I'd forgotten about the lick e lick packets. I'll get some to try. Thanks.

Yes! One of mine was like this when he got old. It was a sort of anxiety about being vulnerable as he ate. I had to stand with him and stroke him or he wouldn’t eat 🙁- definitely might be worth trying

Good idea, I didn't think of that. I'll add some to my list. Thank you.

Mine was like that about a month ago and the vet gave bisolvon for the congestion, that and the antibiotics really helped and he was eating again after a couple of days, nor very helpful now with the bank hols but if she's still struggling with congestion next week

We did manage to get a bit of cat soup down him and hand fed tuna

I'm just concerned that it's probably not got enough nutritional value in it, especially as she's lost so much weight.
She's intolerant of us touching her whilst eating at the best of times, so now it's definitely a no-go.

Thanks, scrambled eggs hadn't occurred to me. If I made them very soft perhaps she'd be tempted.

Thanks, unfortunately I tried that (& then tried it warmed up too) but she wasn't interested.

My cat was like this when she was ill and I tried everything I could think of. A few things that worked:
Lick-e-licks
Strong/protein smelling foods like game or duck
Tuna, and tuna water on her food
Getting down and pretending to eat myself, or offering her food from a spoon (she was always a food stealer so thinking it was mine sort of encouraged her)
Scrambled eggs
Yogurt (this might be a quirk of my odd cats but they love strawberry yoghurt)
Wafer thin ham slices tore into small pieces

These got her eating small amounts, it turned out she was really unwell though so a less severe illness might have had better results.

Good idea, thanks. I'd tried boiled chicken but hadn't thought of fish. I'll try her with the water it's cooked in.

Yes, generally she does. I'll give it a go, thank you.

I hope that your lovely cat feels better soon.

Our old cat loved liver, just cooked it water then chopped up very finely and given with the gravy.

Hope something works out

Thank you. I'd just assumed that yogurt wouldn't be allowed (in the same way cows milk isn't). You learn something new every day! I've got some in the fridge so will try it shortly.

I agree with lljkk. If you place the food in front of her and gently stroke her back it might encourage eating. Mixing small amounts of boiled fish into the cat milk might work so that it is a very thin, milky soup. I sense that she is very ill. If the loss of appetite is due to feeling very ill, I don't think all these tricks and tips will work. On my understanding Metacam has a bad reputation for causing kidney failure if used repeatedly. I am suspicious about Metacam. Good luck.