Sudden Illness?

I have a 6 year old cat named Baxter. He's been perfectly healthy his entire life, is neutered, and is up to date on all of his vaccinations. He could stand to lose a pound or two, but it's been fairly recently that he's gained the weight. He's slowed down a little bit since his mom died a few months ago, making him an only cat for the first time in his life. We live in the country so we don't have to worry about cars, so we let him go outside (supervised) for a little bit during the day.

Anyway, now that the background information is out of the way, he started acting weird this afternoon. He was playing outside this morning, and when I went to let him in, he was pretty dirty. My mom didn't want him tracking dirt around the house, so I left him outside for a little longer so he could have a chance to clean himself up. He was completely fine then, and was fine with me touching him and picking him up.

But this afternoon he started acting weird. He's suddenly shedding all over the place, and he was moving around weird. Almost like he was crouching low to the ground and slinking around when he walked. He immediately went under our buffet, and has been lying there for hours. But it's different from his normal laziness. When I got out his treats, he was interested in those, but immediately went back under the buffet when he was done eating them. I didn't see any wounds on him, and he didn't mind being pet on his head or his back, but as soon as I went near him stomach or tried to pick him up, he hissed and moved back. And he never hisses at anyone. So I'm not sure if he's hurt, or if he just really didn't want to be picked up. The only thing I could come up with was that we had an ice storm recently, and today it was warm enough that everything was melting, so chunks of ice were falling off of everything, and maybe some of it fell on him. I really have no idea what's wrong with him, but if he's not acting better in the morning I'm taking him to the vet.

I'm sorry this post is so long, but I just wanted to be really detailed. If anyone has any ideas of what could be wrong, and/or how to keep him comfortable for the night, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

Welcome to TCS!

I would get him to the vet ASAP. Something's very wrong.....could he have gotten into something poisonus?

I agree- straight to the vet. It could be a number of things from a trauma of some sort (ice fell on him, hit by a car, kicked, etc....) to poisoning, to an illness. I wish I had other advice, but he definetely needs medical attention.

Best wishes, please keep us updated.

I agree, something is wrong. No idea what it could be but maybe he either got into something poisoneous or something happened outside with another animal.

Do you have an emeregncy vet near you?

We were able to coax him out just a few minutes ago with some greenies. He does have a slight limp on his right hind foot. I was able to check him over a little bit. His eyes are clear, and his breathing and heart rate are normal. He didn't mind me touching him anywhere, except for his back foot. When I'd get near that, he'd pull it away. I think he just didn't want to be picked up out of his spot under the buffet, because after we got him out he didn't mind when I picked him up. But based on what I found from checking him over, I don't think it's poisoning, but I do know how to induce vomiting (I used to work at a vet's office), so should I do that just to be on the safe side?

We don't have any emergency vets in the area, so he'll have to wait until the morning to go, unfortunately. But they do open pretty early in the morning, so I'm going to call as soon as they open and try to get him in as early as possible.

Don't induce vomiting if you don't know what it was or when he ingested it, you could make it worse.

If he's limping.....he may still have been injured in a car accident & that's the only sign of injury (I speak from experience there).

Just get him to the vet as soon as you can....and update us when you get back.

Vet ASAP. keep us posted

We're back from the vet. This morning Baxter was back to his normal self, except he still had that limp. So we went ahead and took him in, and the only damage is a slightly sprained foot. I am so glad there was nothing major wrong with him.

So now he's inside on his favorite pillow, and he's being sufficiently spoiled. And this case has now been added to my list of reasons why he needs to be an indoor only cat. But I guess as long as my dad doesn't like cats, and is allergic to them, he'll have outdoor adventures. As much as I don't like that.

Anyway, thanks for the support everyone! ^_^