How do I know if this is a problem?

Attitude, she turns 1 sometime this month, has started hiding under the couch. If I want to find her usually I check behind the curtains that are behind the couch because she likes to lay there, if I don't find her on the bed I look under the bed since she has always liked to be under the bed.

Well today I noticed her under the couch playing with a ball(I saw white paws coming out from under the couch.) I then noticed I couldn't find her, she wasn't behind the curtains, she wasn't on or under the bed. I was worried but I knew she hadn't got out so I just shrugged and grabbed the brewer's yeast and shook the bottle and she appeared, I knew I would need to be really worried if she didn't appear. I then couldn't find her again and the little light bulb went off over my head and I looked behind the couch and thought I saw something white and reached out and touched Attitude. I thought maybe it was the toys so I gently let the foot rest out and she ran out from under there like she was in trouble, I told her gently she wasn't in trouble and removed the toys, the Mylar ball and 'her' toy mouse.

She's under the couch yet again. Do I need to worry or do you think she just found a new cool hiding place.

She does have a vet appointment today at 12:15 due to her eye infection getting worse since she last saw the vet for it and the left side of her nose on the same side as her bad eye is running with colored snot. Forgot to add, she seems to always have an eye infection, I no longer take her to the vet unless it's really bad, I just use the antibiotic eye ointment(my vet said there was no need to bring her every time she had one and just use the ointment and see if it cleared up) so other than it being worse than usual this is nothing new. Not to mention she seems to be falling off of things more when trying to move from one to the other, like walking from the recliner onto the footrest of the couch that I always keep up or jump up on them.

Might she be hiding because she just doesn't feel good? Should I worry and mention it to the vet or assume she found a new hiding spot that she likes? She is eating pooping, peeing(litter box had normal amount of stuff when I cleaned it) and drinking. I thought maybe she wasn't eating(Paul gave them enough food for 2 days so I can't tell if they are eating or not because of there being twice as much food in their bowls )due to her not wanting to eat her Brewer's yeast(which she did eventually eat, but sometimes she's just like that), but I popped open a can of wet food and her and Nuts ate it happily. I am worried but I don't know if I should be really worried and tell the vet or just see if becomes a regular thing, a hiding spot she likes.

Taryn

mention the hiding. cats hide away when sick

Originally Posted by Stoob

mention the hiding. cats hide away when sick

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It may be she's found a new fun spot, but mention it any way. More info is always better.


Is Attitude on L-lysine? Have her teeth been checked? Herpes and bad teeth are both things that can cause the symptoms you describe.

keep us posted.

Yeah, she's on Lysine, she seems to constantly have eye infections. Last time I looked her teeth were ok, I ask the vet every time I bring her in if her teeth are good, the leukemia makes her more susceptible to gum disease. I am going to ask again about her teeth today as I usually do. My vet must thing I'm nuts asking about her teeth all the time.

Taryn

Ah, I forgot she is FeLV+. It's a real roller coaster sometimes, keeping a special health needs kitty healthy. I know you are doing everything you can for her.

Hopefully your vet is not of the judgmental sort and sees you as a caring mama rather than a nut.

He isn't judgmental, he knows I want what is best for her and Nuts(who has never been a sick a day in his life.)

They are caring people, they kept Abby my Old English Sheepdog going for the last years of her life. She wasn't suffering, she had arthritis, like most big dogs and she was blind, but the blindness wasn't an issue, she was actually blind longer than she was sighted so that was really a non-issue. They were so kind when she had to be put down due to her liver or spleen bursting and having massive internal bleeding. They actually make donations to veterinary research every year in the names of the animals they have lost that year. They have been our vet since 1984.

They understand that people do worry about their pets and their health. They would rather you bring your pet in and them be fine than ignore it until it's too late and they have to do the worst part of their job, putting the animal to sleep.

They also know that since I have 2 FeLV + cats I prolly worry more than most since I know there is a 50% they won't make it to 2, they have made it to 1 or will sometime this month so so far I have been lucky(and I am thankful every day), they are very healthy(except for Attitude's eye infections but that's not really that uncommon), especially for neonatal/newborn infected kittens.

They know I have read up on it and know my chances and that they aren't that good for them living a full lifespan. They have refreshed what they know since one of them mentioned he needed to look up the most recent recommendations on vaccinating positive cats since they hadn't had a positive kitten in a long time.(I looked it up too, they recommend vaccinating on schedule.)

They are good vets and I trust them with taking the best care of them as possible. I doubt they think of me as a nut truly. I didn't mean it literally when I said they prolly think I'm nuts asking about their teeth. I got to drag Attitude out from under the couch and get to her appointment. I'll update y'all when I get back.

Thanks I will mention it to the vet.

Taryn

Took her to the vet. They have her on an antibiotic(Doxycycline) and an antiviral eye drop(Idoxuridine.) She take the Doxy 2 times a day and today I have to put the drops in every hour, for the next 2 day after that I have to do it every 2-3 hours and then every 4 hours until her recheck in 10 days. She's on the doxy for 7 days. She refused to take it in the pill pocket so we had to pill her with it. I hate doing it but she has to take her antibiotic and Nuts wanted hers since he had ate his empty one.

She felt really warm but her temp was normal. I'm wondering if it was just because she was in her carrier. They were running late so she was in there for quite some time and I let a person go ahead of me when they called Attitude, their dog(an older Lhasa or Shitzu) had a herniated disk and it was just moaning and groaning in pain. I thought the dog was literally dying and was wondering why they hadn't brought him straight back until someone asked what was wrong with him, and I still wondered why they hadn't brought him straight back. I was too afraid to ask what was wrong. I don't think the pain meds(he had injured himself 4 days prior) were doing much for the poor dog. Paul has a herniated disk and he says the pain can be horrible. I got up when they called me but got about 2 steps and said to take them ahead of me, I couldn't go ahead of them, it would weigh on my mind too much. He was sicker and needed the vet and he was just hurting too much. The owners thanked me, they looked grateful. I knew that they most likely weren't going to have a happy outcome and the vets were running so behind that they could have been waiting for awhile and I couldn't let the dog suffer for however long it took for them to get him in after me. I thought he should have been coded as urgent and they shouldn't have had to wait at all. It was horrible and it haunts me.

Hopefully this fixes Attitude's eye for at least a few months or longer.

Taryn

Glad you took her to the vet, and you mentioned the hiding. In my experience it has never been a good sign... The last hiding episode here was with Hope and it was really bad - she went into hiding when she got really sick, and when she got out was my clue that she was better.
Clear as day hiding=I am sick; out of hiding = I feel good. At least for Hope that is how it goes... Lucky is the same thing. They have different spots though. So if a cat is not used to hiding and starts doing so, I strongly advise seeing a vet ASAP.

That was a good thing you did, Taryn, letting the dog go first.

I'm glad Attitude is under treatment now.

Originally Posted by Carolina

Glad you took her to the vet, and you mentioned the hiding. In my experience it has never been a good sign... The last hiding episode here was with Hope and it was really bad - she went into hiding when she got really sick, and when she got out was my clue that she was better.
Clear as day hiding=I am sick; out of hiding = I feel good. At least for Hope that is how it goes... Lucky is the same thing. They have different spots though. So if a cat is not used to hiding and starts doing so, I strongly advise seeing a vet ASAP.

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Now that you mention it, Tolly has a sick spot too. There is a little cushion under my bed in the upper corner right below where I sleep. That is Tolly's Safe Spot and his Sick Spot, both.

Like I said she already enjoys hiding under the bed but she must have felt bad because she is back out again. She isn't hiding even though I'm having to grab her every hour and have Paul hold her so we can give the eye drops. She is now getting really upset about it, she was ok until the last dose, she didn't like it but she wasn't fighting it as much. Like I said in an earlier post she is so used to eye ointment she doesn't fight it any more. I got her to take the pill pocket without having to pill her but it took a few minutes to convince her she wanted to eat it. I think her eye looks better and so does Paul. She is currently eating. Vet told me to reduce their food from 1/2 cup to 1/3 cup(Attitude has remained steady since her last visit which was only a couple weeks ago 10.5 lbs so she has 0.5- 1.5 lbs to lose.) Not sure how they are going to react to that, they already eat all of the 1/2 cup before their next feeding. So far Attitude hasn't had any bad reaction to the antibiotic so I'm hopeful she'll make it through the 7 days just fine. I have forti-flora if she get diarrhea.

The dog still bothers me. I felt so bad for the owners as well. I know it is hard to have to make 'the choice' but I hope they either got better meds or ended the dog's suffering. It was suffering in the vet's office, like I said I thought the dog was literally dying by the noises it was making and the way it looked. It didn't move the entire time, the noises it was making was the only way I knew it was still alive. If his head wasn't supported it just fell backwards. I was going to tell them to let them go first even before I knew what was wrong with it. I do remember the look of relief on their faces when I took the 2 steps and told them to let them go first. I couldn't do it, the dog just looked so sick and was in so much pain. All it could do was moan and groan and I knew it was in excruciating pain. I knew Attitude could wait, she wasn't in pain, she wasn't in immediate danger, basically she could wait there for longer, this dog couldn't, he needed the vet as soon as possible. Both the mom and her teenager thanked me. I would like to think someone would do the same for me in that situation. I know they will remember the kindness but I don't care about that. I love animals and couldn't bear to think abut him suffering while I was there for something that wasn't urgent. The woman across from me was also thankful she said that she would have done the same because the dog was in too much pain. I still tear up thinking about him. He was a senior but he really wasn't that old. I couldn't have dealt with the guilt and my conscience told me it was wrong to go ahead of them.

Attitude is doing good and as I said she isn't hiding any more. I had already made the appointment before I noticed she was hiding. I don't mess around with eye infections(or anything else for that matter.)

Taryn