Hi, I'm new on the forum, let this be my introduction. I have two cats that live in/out (they come and go as they like) on a rural property far from roads, neighbours etc. They are both about 5 yeaes old. One was found as a kitten when ill, the other I took from someone who couldn't care for him when he was 1 year old.
Sorry for the wall of text, but I have to explain the details.
Now to the subject of the thread. One of my cats didn't come back home after dark despite cold weather (he doesn't like to be outside for too long when it gets cold). So I went to search for him. I found him in a shed in a cat-bed we have prepared there for them as an alternative to coming home. He was very lethargic, barely conscious, drooling, had his tongue sticking out, he had a small wound on his tongue that looked like he bit it himself. His breath was accelerated. He had this smell about him I couldn't really identify, like maybe feces with a hint of vomit. I touched him gently everywhere to check if any particular spot of his body hurts more. There was no difference. So I took him home with the entire cat-bed. This was late evening and there are no 24h vets where I am. So I brought the cat home and I took him to the vet in the morning. Also the smell I mentioned before intensified a lot more and it appeared it was the worst where his drooling ended up.
The vet said the cat looks like he was hit by a car, but the only road there is here is a private, badly managed road no one can go faster than walking speed on (in a typical car). Also on that day I had only one visitor, a delivery courier. He knows about my cats and he usually pays good attention to them. Also, the cat has no visible signs of external trauma, after it got better it walks fine, it purrs when I pet him. There is no "painful spot" on his body I can locate.
Coming back to that morning, the vet checked his teeth and mouth, said there is nothing lodged in his throat (this was my suspicion). Also the vet didn't think my idea about the cat being poisoned likely, because various types of poison (mouse/rat poison/car fluids) present differently. One "poisoning" possibility the vet found barely probable is someone throwing out poisoned meat to kill off wolves (yes we have wolves here) which I was told is a thing that happened before.
So the cat was "in shock" (vets words translated so the actual correct word in English might be different). He was given an IV drip with eloctrolytes, some drug for inflamation/shock (his temperature was elevated to 39.2C), an antibiotic "just in case". The vet manipulated the cat for a long time searching for any clues, but found nothing. Eventually we took the cat home with a closed IV in his paw with instructions to come back tomorrow (or to ring if anything happens).
That same afternoon/early evening the cat suddenly got much better. He stopped drooling, he's tongue was no longer out. He ate and drank water. He had a pee. He really wanted to get outside, but of course we didn't let him. Eventually he went to sleep. In the meantime his paw started to swell so I had to take off his dressing from the IV drip, wait an hour, put it on again etc(as instructed).
So next morning we went to the vet again. The vet gave the cat another IV drip of electrolytes. An antibiotic and I think the same anti inflamation/shock drug. As the cat was much better (and there being a holiday tomorrow) we were given an antibiotic in a syringe to give to the cat as an injection in 48h. We were also instructed to leave the IV piece in for 48h. If the cat eats every day then we can remove the IV in 48h. If it gets worse, we have vets number to call her during the holiday.
This is now. So the cat appears to be recovering, but this leaves a mystery of what happened to him. I have another cat to worry about if this is poison, or human action.
I had various ideas that the vet found unlikely (a hornet sting, infected rodent biting him on his tongue, neighboring farmers putting fresh manure on the fields and the cat drinking water runoff etc). I was given many reasons why all those are unlikely.
So then the question becomes what is left? A drop from a tree? Nearby trees are not that tall, 5~8m max. Someone kicking him? There was only one visitor which is unlikely to do it.
So being left with those questions I decided to start this thread to hear what people think. Maybe someone recognises the symptoms.
Sorry for the wall of text, but I have to explain the details.
Now to the subject of the thread. One of my cats didn't come back home after dark despite cold weather (he doesn't like to be outside for too long when it gets cold). So I went to search for him. I found him in a shed in a cat-bed we have prepared there for them as an alternative to coming home. He was very lethargic, barely conscious, drooling, had his tongue sticking out, he had a small wound on his tongue that looked like he bit it himself. His breath was accelerated. He had this smell about him I couldn't really identify, like maybe feces with a hint of vomit. I touched him gently everywhere to check if any particular spot of his body hurts more. There was no difference. So I took him home with the entire cat-bed. This was late evening and there are no 24h vets where I am. So I brought the cat home and I took him to the vet in the morning. Also the smell I mentioned before intensified a lot more and it appeared it was the worst where his drooling ended up.
The vet said the cat looks like he was hit by a car, but the only road there is here is a private, badly managed road no one can go faster than walking speed on (in a typical car). Also on that day I had only one visitor, a delivery courier. He knows about my cats and he usually pays good attention to them. Also, the cat has no visible signs of external trauma, after it got better it walks fine, it purrs when I pet him. There is no "painful spot" on his body I can locate.
Coming back to that morning, the vet checked his teeth and mouth, said there is nothing lodged in his throat (this was my suspicion). Also the vet didn't think my idea about the cat being poisoned likely, because various types of poison (mouse/rat poison/car fluids) present differently. One "poisoning" possibility the vet found barely probable is someone throwing out poisoned meat to kill off wolves (yes we have wolves here) which I was told is a thing that happened before.
So the cat was "in shock" (vets words translated so the actual correct word in English might be different). He was given an IV drip with eloctrolytes, some drug for inflamation/shock (his temperature was elevated to 39.2C), an antibiotic "just in case". The vet manipulated the cat for a long time searching for any clues, but found nothing. Eventually we took the cat home with a closed IV in his paw with instructions to come back tomorrow (or to ring if anything happens).
That same afternoon/early evening the cat suddenly got much better. He stopped drooling, he's tongue was no longer out. He ate and drank water. He had a pee. He really wanted to get outside, but of course we didn't let him. Eventually he went to sleep. In the meantime his paw started to swell so I had to take off his dressing from the IV drip, wait an hour, put it on again etc(as instructed).
So next morning we went to the vet again. The vet gave the cat another IV drip of electrolytes. An antibiotic and I think the same anti inflamation/shock drug. As the cat was much better (and there being a holiday tomorrow) we were given an antibiotic in a syringe to give to the cat as an injection in 48h. We were also instructed to leave the IV piece in for 48h. If the cat eats every day then we can remove the IV in 48h. If it gets worse, we have vets number to call her during the holiday.
This is now. So the cat appears to be recovering, but this leaves a mystery of what happened to him. I have another cat to worry about if this is poison, or human action.
I had various ideas that the vet found unlikely (a hornet sting, infected rodent biting him on his tongue, neighboring farmers putting fresh manure on the fields and the cat drinking water runoff etc). I was given many reasons why all those are unlikely.
So then the question becomes what is left? A drop from a tree? Nearby trees are not that tall, 5~8m max. Someone kicking him? There was only one visitor which is unlikely to do it.
So being left with those questions I decided to start this thread to hear what people think. Maybe someone recognises the symptoms.