!please help! very sick kitty & I really need some advice

I think my one and a half year old cat is slowly dying and I don't have a clue what is going on... I love him to pieces, but right now my family can't afford to take him to a vet until Wednesday and I'm scared he won't make until then.

His ears, feet, tail & body are very cold

He's been throwing up yellowish foam for the last 2 or 3 days

His breathing is slow & very scarily shallow

He's only been lying around and sleeping lots, not eating, drinking very little water

Please someone tell me what I can do for my baby.

  It sounds like he has been in extreme pain and distress for several days already. It is essential he sees the vet ASAP! I hope you can help him

ugh.. thankyou I hope I can help him as well. I wish the things we love weren't so expensive to take care of. But they're worth it.

I am so sorry to hear about your kitty. for you both! Have you tried calling any animal hospitals and see if anyone is willing to work with you on the payment of services? With him being that sick, I can't imagine anyone turning him away.

Please keep us updatedq

Go to the vet NOW and give them a check for Wednesday, but GO!!! They will treat your kitty, they will not let it die.... Just put your kitty in a crate and go to the ER - your kitty needs a vet, and needs it now... please go

You have to go to the vet asap. If you could wait until Wednesday, he wouldn't be sick, right? As the other person said, you can also take a check with you that is dated for Wednesday and give it to them and see if they will examine  him. If there are other people in the waiting room, maybe they will offer to help you.

No matter what, you have to just go. He could die of dehydration otherwise. You will be able to tell if he is seriously dehydrated by pinching the fur on the back of his neck. In a healthy cat, his fur should immediately relax when you let go. In a severely dehydrated cat it will stay rigid and take a longer time to go back down. 

The only other thing you could do, if you cannot go to the vet, would be to take him to an animal shelter, and beg the the people there to help you give him subcutaneous fluids and offer to pay whatever you can afford. You will have to put him in a carrier and cover the carrier with a towel. 

Wherever you go, you have to cry and beg people for help. If you go to the vet, just start crying and ask if the vet techs could just look at him so you would know what he needs to make it through until Wednesday. 

The problem is that none of us can tell you what to do because we don't know if he has a temperature or has ingested something toxic. Is his nose warm? Most often a cat's nose is cold and wet.

At the very least you need to find out if he has a temperature. That will help you determine if he has a virus or infection versus a physical injury. If it is a virus or infection you should be able to beg some pills from a shelter. You would need to give him those (usually clavamox) and you would need to force feed him A/D wet food with a plastic syringe from the vet's office or from the shelter.

No matter what, you need someone to look at him and you need to do it right away. Cats die very quickly from dehydration. It would be completely ridiculous if your cat died simply because he had a fever and could not get to the vet for diagnosis in time.  

Go online and look up "assistance for vet care" I work at a 24 hour animal ER and believe me I see people turned away with sick animals all day and my heart just breaks. I live in CO and there are a few clinics that see pets on a sliding fee scale.  Call the nearest 24 hour animal ER and ask if they know of any groups that offer assistance.  Ask them if they will see your cat if you give them a debit/credit card and allow them to take payments.  There is CareCredit and though it is an unsecured line of credit...I would give it a try...I see many surprised clients when they are approved.  Keep looking on the net and calling every animal clinic in your area.  Prior to working at the vet clinic I called several of the groups that offer grants and assistance and they sent small grants to the vet directly.

Your cat is very very sick.  Did he get into something?  Vomiting yellowish foam or bile can be a sign of Panleukopenia.  Cats can NOT go without eating, unlike dogs they will develop a very serious condition called hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver) which can be reversed if caught in time.

Lastly, and I do not say this lightly, if you can't afford vet care or find a clinic that will work with you think about taking your cat to a shelter.  I know they will euthanize him/her but that is better than slowly dying.

Please, please go online and try to contact groups that are out there that may be willing to help.  I just typed in "Vet Bill Assistance" and there were several threads that came up. 

Good luck and I will pray for your kitty. 

thank you all very much. you've all been so quite helpful and I couldn't appreciate it more.

I don't have a clue what he could have gotten into, but he is an outside cat and doesn't have his shots.

I also have 3 other cats... if it's panleukopenia, could they all be infected as well? if so, will treatments help them and are there tests vets can do to see if they have it?

my family has been in a financial rut for awhile and we haven't been able to take proper care of my cats, but that's going to change very soon.

I can definitely understand the strapped finances, for sure. Were you able to get a hold of any hospitals to see if they are able to work with you? My vet offers great care and I have read reviews where they have worked with people financially, so there might be some vets in the area who will be able to help. Also, like someone said above, sometimes a local shelter may help?

Keep us updated please.

Sending

Poor Oscar was meowing all night & his feces had blood in it... unforutnately, there is just no way to get him to the vet until Wednesday. We live half an hour out of town & barely have enough money to get gas for my parents to drive to work & back. I really hope Oscar can make it until then.

Thank you all so much for your support. It really helps a lot.

Don't you have a neighbor, a pastor, someone who could give you a lift?   A half hour out of town is not that far.  Can you not post date a check?  Care Credit?  Or just speak to the vet and make them understand you will pay Wednesday?

Your kitty is in my prayers.