Worry wart

Hello,
My first time posting and had a question about our cat bradshaw. I have an appt. with the vet for tomorrow but just wanted to see what everyone thought. The last few days we had noticed him to be slightly lethargic and not eating as much as usual, he purrs when you pick him up or pet him. We have another cat as well , Norman, who we adopted together from living free a few years ago. He is not playing with Norman as normal. Being we have 2 cats it is difficult to tell if Bradshaw is going to the bathroom or which one? He did use the litter box last night to urinate, but we have not seen him deficate recently. My other half thinks we should wait until the end of the week to see if he improves, but I made the appt. anyway. Do cats sometimes just not feel well? One other quick question, he totally freaks out when he see's the cat carrier, this is obviously very stressful, is there a way to reduce the stress before we take him in? Thank you for your time.
Dan

I'm sorry to hear Bradshaw isn't feeling well... though I don't have much in the way of what's wrong... I do hope he feels better

As for the carrier... my boy was a demon for appt #2 this summer... the first time he was fine because he really didn't know any better... I didn't like the idea of grabbing him and forcing him in the way I did for his appt in July, so I looked on here and there's a great article...

http://www.thecatsite.com/Care/37/Be...t-Carrier.html

Take it out today and spray some Feliway or put his favorite blanket in and let him get comfortable with it so tomorrow isn't such a fight... I followed the advice of the article and he had to go back yesterday for his neuter and it was still a little trying, but I just had to lock him in one room, corner him and wait for him to cave for 15 minutes, and he just walked in, which was a lot better than forcing him in like I had last month..

Good luck, I hope he feels better soon!

Thank you very much for that article. Unfortunately the appt. is tomorrow, so we will have to play it by ear. We will follow the article for future visits for sure. The vet said to pick the cat up by the scruff of the neck and he will just go limp? and we can place him in the carrier through the front door after turning the carrier on its back. Last time we took him in for a regular yearly checkup I had to wrap him up in a blanket so he couldn't see and held him in the back seat for the trip. The disposable diaper is a great idea for the carrier. Anyway, sorry to be long winded...thank you so much for the reply.

Dan

Hope they don't find anything too awfully wrong with your kitty.

We often just leave the carrier out in the living room (you could use whatever room you like though ) with the door open and a nice cozy towel in the bottom and let them use it as a "cave"/"hiding place" for a couple days before needing it so it isn't a bad thing for them. If I had the space I'd just leave it out all the time for them.

Thank you all for your help!

Last night Bradshaw at normal dinner hour was meowing and eat like there was no tomorrow He later eat some dry food as well. This morning he used the litter box for both 1 and 2 and it looked normal , which I was concerned that he had not gone #2. He is still a little apprehensive at playing and not 100% himself, but better. We are having work done on the outside of the house over last week which causes noise, can stress be causing some of this?
We went ahead and moved his vet appt. to Saturday and will watch him closely over the next couple days. We also purchased Feliway to hopefully make the trip to the vet a little less stressful for him..

Thanks again for your input.

Dan

Well, this gets harder to decide all the time..

Bradshaw seemed really good and played with his track mouse last night which he hasn't done for a few days, he also was eating the dry food again .
It is so traumatic for him to get to the vet, that we just don't know if we should wait a couple more days or not.
He has lost weight but he wasn't eating very well the last few days until now either. He is still less active than normal and hasn't chased our other cat Norman like he usually does. Anyway, we still have an appt with the vet at 11:00 tomorrow and maybe just for peace of mind we should take him in.

Question, While I understand a vet can't diagnose over the phone, are there vets who will talk to you on the phone and help decide if they should be brought in?

This is a great site and very helpful and freindly people, thanks to all.

Dan

I think it would be a good idea to take him anyway.

The problem could just be stress from things that are not normal like noise levels as you suggest, and he may now be getting used to it.

The vet might be able to advise you too on how to ease his stress, so it is worth a visit. Cats can get stresses and depressed too

Hi, we took bradshaw in on Saturday and right as we pulled up he poo'd and pee'd in the carrier. The vet said the poo was very hard and he did an exam and said he seemed hydrated but the vet gave him the stuff under his skin to help keep him hydrated for 24 hours. He checked for any obstructions and said he couldn't feel any additional hard feces in his colon. The vet took blood to make sure there wasn't anything metabolic causing constipation. Anyway my question is , how often do cats normally poo? He went at the vets which was 4:00 saturday and he has pee'd several times still no poo. He has been pretty normal the past few days so no stress, I just don't know how long to wait to tell the vet??

Thanks for all your help.

I hope your kitty dfeels better soon.

We actually leave the cat carrier out with a towel in it, I took the door off as it is metal and i was worrying he Mellow my cat may stab him self on it, well he likes to sleep in it in the afternoons, even when we took him to the vet in it he cried and cried, once home i washed the towel and put the carrier back where it was and after a day he was back to sleepig in it

Thanks Mellow, we will try that as well. We did get the blood work and the vet says there is some issue with kidney function and needs to have some follow up blood work in 2-3 days. He did not know if this is acute or Chronic, but because Bradshaw is young (3) he thought its probably acute and will heal itself with the proper care. He also wanted us to bring him in everyday for the next 2-3 days to hydrate him, but I told him he seems to be is drinking water ok. We may have to learn how to give him the iv fluids at home which is fine. Needless to say we are pretty worried. If we switch to 100% wet food, how much do you feed your cats? Twice a day , once? 3oz?

Thanks again to everyone for thier help.

Update: Took bradshaw to the vet yesterday and the vet took blood again, urine, and gave him fluids, the vet said he seemed to not be dehydrated but wants to give him fluids for about 2-3 days and follow up blood work.
He showed us how to give the fluids which we have to do tonight and if anyone has had to do this any help is always appreciated. I feel we can do it, but we don't know where in the house to do it, will bradshaw be afraid of the area we give it to him in? Or does it matter at all?

Thanks again,
Dan