HELP! My cat is really sick!

Hi, I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me...I have an issue with my cat, and can't get to a vet until tomorrow for sure. He was a stray that we took in last week, and we had him checked for heart worm (doesn't have it) FIV and Luekemia (doesn't have them either)...but they gave us Advantage flea treatment for him last Tuesday. On Sunday, he became really lethargic and that continued through Monday and he had diarrea. We had to go out of town until Wednesday and couldn't find anyone to watch him, so we gave him plenty of food and water, but when we came back last night, we found four piles of orange-tinted diarrea, he hadn't touched his food, and was skin and bones...he looks almost like a skeleton. He also seems to be loosing his fur. I sat with him, and he looked at his water dish like he really wanted some, but refused to drink it. I'm scared for him, cause I know something must really be wrong, but I don't know what to do for him. Does anyone out there know of anything I can do to make him feel better? We're going to try to get him to the vet tomorrow. This is so upsetting, because he was so thin when we found him two Mondays ago, and was really starting to gain weight and look really healthy up until Sunday.
Thanks,
Hannah

He is very sick, as you can tell. Is it possible to get him to an emergency vet TONIGHT? From your description he may not make it until morning. Since he hasn't eaten at least since Tuesday, he's probably in some stage of liver failure.

It would be a good idea to try to get him to eat. Get some chicken or turkey baby food (make sure it doesn't have onion powder) or his favorite canned food and see if he'll eat that. I would recommend force-feeding, but since we don't know the cause of this illness I hesitate to suggest it.

Is he dehydrated as well? You can tell by pinching the skin on the back of his neck--if it doesn't spring right back to normal he is dehydrated. If you can get some water into him with an eyedropper, that would be a good idea, but if you don't know how to do it right he could inhale some and get pneumonia, so be careful.

I really think an emergency vet is necessary in this case. Look in the Yellow Pages. . .if no emergency clinic is listed, start calling regular vets' numbers and listen to their recordings. They usually tell you what to do in an urgent situation.

Well you know you need to go to vet so no need to hammer that point to the ground.

If the cats not eating/drinking you HAVE to be force feeding(canned food with water added is one thing you can try or baby food)

A cat refusing food/water can easily go into organ failure(liver failure is how i lost a few cats

Keep him comfortable and warm and keep him to one place much as you can. Hope your able to go in soon. You may want to call an er vet for any other things they may recomend to try to keep him stable till the vet in am

Mega mega vibes for this kitty!

I would not wait for the morning... I would take him to the Emergency vet tonight. Call your regular vet, it will have a message with the nearest emergency clinic on their answering machine...
This cat needs nutrition before he goes into liver failure... Luckily he is skinny, so he is in somewhat less danger of that happening.
I second the baby food... Meat and broth only - no onion, no garlic...

Thanks everyone!!!! I don't know exactly what the problem was, but he's had an amazing turn around!! (Thank you Jesus! ) Last night he looked like death, but this morning, he's seriously like his old self again. He's eating and drinking regularly and is now purring like crazy as he's eating some boiled chicken I fixed up for him. His stools are back to normal! Thanks for all the support and advice!

Hannah

He REALLY should be seen other wise you may end up in a life or death emergency visit needed(its about 150 to just have vet exam and any additionals are at a higher cost in general then reg vets, at least by me thats the way. I spent 600 in less then 24 hours and had a dead kitten after it all(1 reg visit, 2 er visits-1 was to euth the kitten)

At least call your vet to let them know whats going on/add it to file. Also was any bloodwork run when you went to the vet for the first visit(besides the 3 in one combo test)

Wonderful to hear that your kitty is feeling so much better.

Was wondering if perhaps the 'Advantage' might have upset him as he was in such poor shape to begin with. I use it on my cats and they are O.K., but think some cats can be allergic to it.

Please keep us posted on your kitty's progress!

Hugs,
Christine

I'm glad your cat is doing better, I would still go to the vet, just incase!