I am in desperate need of help for my 5-year old domestic short-hair black cat. She is indoors only (although she spends a moderate amount of time on my balcony), and she has developed symptoms for which even the emergency vet was unable to diagnose a known illness.
On November 12th she started hiding and stopped eating. She would come out occasionally, but she was mostly uninterested in her food. She had maybe a few bites of her dinner. The next night, a Thursday, I felt a small lump on her neck. It was located on the skin, and it did not feel like a tumor.
By Friday, when I got home from work at about 9:30pm, she would not move from the bed, would not drink, and when she used her litter box, she could only urinate a small bit though she stayed in the box a long time. I also felt another small bump on her side, almost on her tummy. While looking at the lump on her neck, it oozed a little pus, and the fur came out of it. Obviously alarmed, I rushed her to the animal ER to find out what was wrong. I just brought home a new kitten 2 weeks ago, and he is perfectly healthy, been vaccinated, all that jazz. He's sweet, and she doesn't let him too close to her, but I thought it could be an infected puncture.
At the kitty ER, she had a high fever, was understandably dehydrated, and the vet needed to run blood tests, rehydrate her, and shave the area of the lumps. All her tests came back normal, but the marks on her are very curious. The one on her side is of no particular shape and small like a knick in the skin. The one on her neck looks like a smaller cigarette burn. It has also spread and is somewhat inflamed around the circle. It is not a puncture.
In 2006, I had to rush to my doctor, because I couldn't walk. The night before, I picked at what I thought was an ingrown hair on my calf. Overnight it had spread and practically paralyzed my leg. I was diagnosed with a spider bite. After antibiotics and hot chamomile tea bag poultices, I was able to slow the necrosis to minimal damage, although it scarred fairly badly for such a small bite. Everything on spider bites tells us they are rare and unlikely, but the "burn" on my cat's neck looks suspiciously like the one I developed on my leg. It is black, not red, and a perfect circle.
She had a shot of antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory, but almost 24 hours later, she is still not hungry or thirsty. She sits on the bed and looks unhappy. I am giving her antibiotics, and I gave her some anti-inflammatory this morning as instructed (she threw up an hour after dosed). Please, anyone who has seen anything like this before, can you advise? I have had many cats over the years, and I have never been flying so blindly before.
On November 12th she started hiding and stopped eating. She would come out occasionally, but she was mostly uninterested in her food. She had maybe a few bites of her dinner. The next night, a Thursday, I felt a small lump on her neck. It was located on the skin, and it did not feel like a tumor.
By Friday, when I got home from work at about 9:30pm, she would not move from the bed, would not drink, and when she used her litter box, she could only urinate a small bit though she stayed in the box a long time. I also felt another small bump on her side, almost on her tummy. While looking at the lump on her neck, it oozed a little pus, and the fur came out of it. Obviously alarmed, I rushed her to the animal ER to find out what was wrong. I just brought home a new kitten 2 weeks ago, and he is perfectly healthy, been vaccinated, all that jazz. He's sweet, and she doesn't let him too close to her, but I thought it could be an infected puncture.
At the kitty ER, she had a high fever, was understandably dehydrated, and the vet needed to run blood tests, rehydrate her, and shave the area of the lumps. All her tests came back normal, but the marks on her are very curious. The one on her side is of no particular shape and small like a knick in the skin. The one on her neck looks like a smaller cigarette burn. It has also spread and is somewhat inflamed around the circle. It is not a puncture.
In 2006, I had to rush to my doctor, because I couldn't walk. The night before, I picked at what I thought was an ingrown hair on my calf. Overnight it had spread and practically paralyzed my leg. I was diagnosed with a spider bite. After antibiotics and hot chamomile tea bag poultices, I was able to slow the necrosis to minimal damage, although it scarred fairly badly for such a small bite. Everything on spider bites tells us they are rare and unlikely, but the "burn" on my cat's neck looks suspiciously like the one I developed on my leg. It is black, not red, and a perfect circle.
She had a shot of antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory, but almost 24 hours later, she is still not hungry or thirsty. She sits on the bed and looks unhappy. I am giving her antibiotics, and I gave her some anti-inflammatory this morning as instructed (she threw up an hour after dosed). Please, anyone who has seen anything like this before, can you advise? I have had many cats over the years, and I have never been flying so blindly before.
