Lost Voice??

Hey there. I'm fairly new to cat ownership, having only lived with them for about 10 months.

One of my cats, Shea, has lost his voice. He's 6 years old, and usually very loud and vocal. I noticed the loss of voice Monday night. Now, it has happened before, but usually only for an hour or two.

He began throwing up and stopped eating and drinking on Wednesday morning and I got him into the vet on Thursday. She gave him an anti-nausea shot and some pills for me to give him at home. He's begun eating again, but his voice hasn't really returned. Also, he seems to be spitting up. It's usually a very little bit of clear, phlegmy stuff that he sometimes swallows back.

Should I be worried? My vet isn't in (Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada), and I'd rather not have to go to an emergency vet.

I wish I could help but I have no experience with this. I would be concerned as you are since it is more than just the voice (spitting up, etc). Could you phone the emergency vet just to speak to them? At least they could give you an idea on if it is something that needs to be looked at immediately. I wish you the best of luck!

I don't think losing his voice by itself is anything to worry about. My Zara loses hers occasionally. I think the longest time was for a few days. My vet says it happens sometimes and that she has seen cats lose their voice for years.

The other stuff is another matter. If he seems to be feeling better with the meds and is eating and drinking OK and is only spitting up a bit I wouldn't call it an emergency. As long as he doesn't get worst I would just call the vet first chance you get and ask what she thinks.

Is he any better today? How is his behavior?

My first concern would be that he might have swallowed something, injuring his throat. But you'd think the vet would have been able to tell if that's the case.

The spitting up thing is happening less frequently and he's managing little squeaky meows. As far as behaviour goes I think he's back to normal. He was being very anti-social and seemed lethargic back when he wasn't eating but he was playing and sleeping along the back of the couch with the other cats today.

The vet did not think he had swallowed anything. That had been my first thought, too. She checked his throat and his stomach and thought that it was unlikely. One of our kittens had to have a string surgically removed and that was scary.

Thank you for the replies! My sister thinks I'm being overly paranoid. He's usually so noisy that I find the quiet strange.

Not to alarm you as every cat is different but that was one of things my cat had going before she died last monday. Lose of voice, then white foamy vomit, rapid weight loss, tilting of the head, dragging and then finally twitching. $450 in tests in 45 day period and no idea exactly what was going on sadly. Again not to be an alarmist but if you see other symptoms, especially white foamy vomit or tilting of head please get aggressive with the vet about resolving what is going on. I hate to see anyone else ponder what really happened to their beautiful furry companion.

Originally Posted by lainers

The spitting up thing is happening less frequently and he's managing little squeaky meows. As far as behaviour goes I think he's back to normal. He was being very anti-social and seemed lethargic back when he wasn't eating but he was playing and sleeping along the back of the couch with the other cats today.

The vet did not think he had swallowed anything. That had been my first thought, too. She checked his throat and his stomach and thought that it was unlikely. One of our kittens had to have a string surgically removed and that was scary.

Thank you for the replies! My sister thinks I'm being overly paranoid. He's usually so noisy that I find the quiet strange.

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That's great news! I'm glad he's better!