my kitty wont eat, wont poop, and is shivering

My cat has been in perfect health since i got her about a year ago (she's now 4 years old)

About 2 months ago she got fleas, and i began giving her Spot-On flea drops on the back of her neck, and then i noticed she was scratching herself raw around her neck, I stopped using the drops and her neck is now healing (almost completely now)

Someone said i should use flea shampoo and a collar. I gave her 1 bath with the shampoo, last week, and she's been wearing the collar since then too.

Then, 3 days ago i noticed she had diarrea. Yesterday she stopped pooping nearly completely. She tries but she only manages to drop what looks like mucus, maybe a tablespoon or two of it at a time, and she stopped eating her regular dry food.

She still eats her temptations cat treats (cat crack!) and today she ate a can of wet food (i normally give her 1 or 2 cans each week) but she still wont poop...

And just a few hours ago i noticed her shivering. It is a little cool in my apartment but not cold, and i've never noticed her shiver like this before (except immediatly after a bath). I've been holding her in my lap with a blanket and it doesnt seem to be helping.

I know, 'take her to the vet' well, i dont have the money for it. And no im not just saying that, i really honestly only have 2 dollars in the bank...

What can i try to do for her? I've read about blockages and worms from fleas and i made chilli the other day, perhaps she jumped up and ate some of that (and i really hope thats all it is...) but its really worrying me...

Squirt! She just dropped some (not a lot but close to a regular movement) very watery and squirty but she finally let some go!

Im still worried =(

Get the collar off of her. You are poisoning her with it. The symptoms you are seeing are signs of this and probably further illness. (tapeworms are a given) You have two choices: Don't play with your cat's life and get her to an ER vet tonight. Or do nothing and hope she survives with no serious organ damage that will be very expensive to treat.

By curiosity, what spot on treatment and collar did you use? Praying it was not Hartz...
As Strange_wings said, remove the collar immediately and take her to the ER. She is probably poisoned. She needs to go in. If you can't take her in... well, IMHO hope and pray she will survive this in one piece.

Well, i forgot to mention but 2 days ago i removed the collar after she started getting sick... She's still not feeling so well

But poisoning her? Its a flea collar that is designed for adult cats, infact its the exact same brand that my neighbor used on her cat a couple weeks before, and her cat is fine...


The flea drops i was using are "Zodiac Spot On II" and under it says "With Precor Insect Growth Regulator"... it came with 4 containers inside. Instructions said to use one every 4 weeks. I only used 2 before i stopped

Originally Posted by maggieq

Well, i forgot to mention but 2 days ago i removed the collar after she started getting sick... She's still not feeling so well

But poisoning her? Its a flea collar that is designed for adult cats, infact its the exact same brand that my neighbor used on her cat a couple weeks before, and her cat is fine...

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Yes, poisoning her... it is not because your neighbors cat is ok that it hasn't killed thousand of cats.
Spot on treatments such as Heartz sold on retail stores, pet stores and supermarkets are really really dangerous and can and have killed many. Many.
http://www.hartzvictims.org/
http://hartzkills.wordpress.com/
http://www.hartzsyndrome.org/

Zodiac has a bad track list, too. At least one person on here risked it and ended up with a sick cat.

maggieq: Lets not argue as to what is making your cat so sick at this point. She's in bad shape. When an animal or human loses the ability to regulate their temperature they can die. Organs stop working how they should. I'm sure you know what hypothermia is.
Toss a small blanket or large towel in the dryer, warm it up. Warp your kitty in it and head to the vet. Please.

If you have to, sell/pawn something at a pawn shop tomorrow to pay off the vet bill or put something up as collateral at a loan place. There's also care credit.

Also worth mentioning that not every cat is the same and not all respond to the same medications as others. She could have a sensitivity or anything, I haven't used flea collars in years and I haven't used any flea treatments from retail stores for longer than that.
You should try to apply for Care Credit if you can, that will at least help when an emergency arises.
If it is totally impossible to get her to any kind of vet, at least call for some advice if possible. Otherwise, all I could say would be to make sure she's eating and drinking water. But she really does need to see a vet. No more flea meds like you've used though, IMHO.

Also, a quick check of reviews of Zodiac spot on treatment for Cats and Kittens (please double check your package to make sure it is for Cats and kittens and not dogs) show a lot of unhappy customers, complaints of irritation and general ineffectiveness of the product.

I hope your kitty will get better..

Originally Posted by maggieq

Well, i forgot to mention but 2 days ago i removed the collar after she started getting sick... She's still not feeling so well

But poisoning her? Its a flea collar that is designed for adult cats, infact its the exact same brand that my neighbor used on her cat a couple weeks before, and her cat is fine...


The flea drops i was using are "Zodiac Spot On II" and under it says "With Precor Insect Growth Regulator"... it came with 4 containers inside. Instructions said to use one every 4 weeks. I only used 2 before i stopped

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Here is one person who almost lost her 2 cats to Zodiac spot on and collar. She shivering is a very bad symptom - please go to the ER.
http://www.hartzvictims.org/2009/03/...th-of-my-cats/

Originally Posted by Snickerdoodle

Also, a quick check of reviews of Zodiac spot on treatment for Cats and Kittens

Click to expand...

It is, the box says "For cats & kittens, and has a picture of a cat and 2 kittens on it...

Im absolutly shocked that i've never seen these sites before... how can these companies sell this? I've always thought of flea medicines as a common and safe pet medicine... kinda like cough surup for children...

Originally Posted by maggieq

Im absolutly shocked that i've never seen these sites before... how can these companies sell this? I've always thought of flea medicines as a common and safe pet medicine... kinda like cough surup for children...

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The EPA (in the US) loosely regulates flea treatments because they're pesticides. Unfortunately, loosely is the key word here. Many are under investigation at this time. But too little has been done so far.

If you get your cat to a vet and they can definitely prove one of the products you used poisoned your cat you may be able to sue the manufacturer... a slim possibility.


And it would be good to remember that OTC medications for adults and children get recalled fairly often, too. There was a big recall on several childrens pain relieving medications not to long ago and I think another one on generic benedryl recently - and this is with FDA regulation.

Originally Posted by maggieq

I've always thought of flea medicines as a common and safe pet medicine... kinda like cough surup for children...

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Well, I guess you could say it's almost exactly like cough syrup for children. . .the most recent recommendations on all childrens' medication is that they aren't to be used at all in children under 2, and only with a doctor's approval in children ages 2 to 6, because of all the children who were harmed by those meds. It really is "buyer beware" out there.

I did know a cat who had damage from OTC flea meds. They didn't take her to the vet at the time, but later found out her kidneys were damaged from it. She lived to be 19 but was always very skinny because of the health issues. I hope your kitty does OK .

Originally Posted by maggieq

It is, the box says "For cats & kittens, and has a picture of a cat and 2 kittens on it...

Im absolutly shocked that i've never seen these sites before... how can these companies sell this? I've always thought of flea medicines as a common and safe pet medicine... kinda like cough surup for children...

Click to expand...

Sweetie, you are indirectly poisoning your kitty, not once, not twice but three times over. Pleas DO NOT hesitate and get your kitty to a vet NOW. Take all the crap you have that you have put on her, flea collar, shampoo spot on treatment with you so they know. I just hope it isn't to late. I am not angry with you-you had no idea that this stuff was bad for cats- but it is. ALWAYS get any flea treatment; shampoo, sprays, topical from your vet only.

I hope your cat survives this- so many have not. And if you want to know why it on the grocery shelves and at pet supply centers- it is the same reason all the medications are available to us as humans that turn out to be bad news and get yanked off the shelves weeks, months or even years after they are first introduced. It boils down to one thing- cats don't have rights and they don't vote, so they don't count. their stuff stays on shelves until the public outcry reaches the roaring level. Ours gets yanked pretty quickly

Please get your kitty to a vet ASAP! Good luck!

Originally Posted by hissy

It boils down to one thing- cats don't have rights and they don't vote, so they don't count. their stuff stays on shelves until the public outcry reaches the roaring level. Ours gets yanked pretty quickly

Please get your kitty to a vet ASAP! Good luck!

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You would hope that but unfortunately it is not necessarily true... My dad is crippled for life because of a medicine for cholesterol he started taking about 1 year ago. Turns out this medicine has crippled and killed thousands Worldwide by attacking the patients nervous system. It is still FDA approved and being legally sold under prescription. All my dad can do now is live in pain, walk with the aid of crutches, and hope the damage stops. Since it is nerve damage, it can not be reversed.
The pharmaceutical industry is a giant m*fia too - try fighting them and you will see you are as "insignificant" as a cat hurt by flea meds.
But that is besides the point.... get the kitty to the vet - I hope you are there already - you should not be online anymore. I do hope you realize this is serious.

I felt the same way when I discovered the Hartz Victims website a few years ago, and just from it not working at all from since I was a little girl with cats and my parents used it, we stopped using it (Thankfully) we never had a cat get sick over it, thankfully again, but too few people know about the dangers. See if your vet will allow you to apply for Care Credit. I applied for mine right in the vet's office and got a response almost instantly.

Praying for your kitty

What is happening with this kitty? I hope she's okay!

Call around, maybe if you're lucky like me, there will be a vet that will do payment plans.

I'm one of the guilty ones to give a cat store bought flea treatment. Hartz too...I had no idea how bad it was. My kitty was pretty sick in the days following...throwing up (several times a day for about a week), lethargic, not eating or using the box. I got him to the vet in time, thankfully...but it was then I learned how bad this stuff can be for them. I still feel guilty. Almost killed my fur baby to save 10 bucks.
My vet is one in a million and would sooner treat an animal for free than turn them away if they are very ill.

Anyway, sorry for the ramble. Please be careful..and I hope your kitty pulls through ok.

So, maggieq, it's been a couple of days. How is your kitty? We'd really like to know. Every single kitty is dear to me. I feel your angst and dismay that something you did to help your cat, ended up hurting her.

Is she alright? I'm praying so. Please give us an update.


Robin

i hope the bad feeling I have when I read this post is wrong, but I have seen to many of these victims not make it. Here are two recent arrivals that were treated much the same way as the kitten here in the post. The people didn't know, they loved these cats, but they almost killed them in order to save a few bucks.

Majic-before




"Maggie" after:




Beanpole before:



"Noble" after:



their treatment consisted of a rush trip to the vets baths twice a week with holistic measures, strong antibiotic and anti-nausea pills- a special diet and quiet and rest. They still have a long way to go- but they are over the hump. they have also been renamed because they now have a new life and a new forever home.