My cat is dehydrated and there isnt a vet open on easter weekend

my cat is normaly very active I started to notice something was wrong on thurdsay but I thought that he was just tired and maybe was playing all day until i got home well i picked him up and his body felt like it was damp and very warm to the touch it was already late at night so I was just going to check on him in the morning, so on friday when i got up he felt normal but this time his ear are really pink and hot to the touch so i clean out his ears he had some small amout of black waky ear junk so i thought give it time for his ears to calm down well this morning on saturday he is hot to the touch and his ears are on fire and again the vet is not open because of easter weekend, he wont drink and when i pick u the skin on the back of his neck it doesnt go back to normal asfast as my other cats necks do so i know he is dehydrated ***what do i do****

I'm sure there's an emergency vet somewhere in your area. Try calling various vets. . .most of them will have emergency instructions on their answering service. I reallyreally think he needs to see a vet ASAP, this isn't something that will go away without help.

Until you can get him to the vet--Google "oral rehydration therapy" and make up some of the solution. Or buy some unflavored Pedialyte (it's the same thing). Get a large plastic eyedropper in the baby medicine section, and give him a small amount very often. 5 mls every 10 minutes would be super. Be very careful when using the dropper, because if he inhales the liquid instead of swallowing it he'll get pneumonia.

But I don't think he'll last all weekend without a vet, even if you get him rehydrated! So definitely find the emergency vet soon.

I second contacting emergency vets ASAP and getting him seen to find out what is going on. Running a high temp is not something to mess around with--could be an infection, or any other number of causes, including infection from ear mites from your description of the black gunky stuff.

Sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree about using Pedialyte for kitties as it contains ingredients not suitable for them e.g. dextrose [a sweetener] for one. I know vets often recommend this, but I'm not one to blindly follow without investigating ingredients in anything my vets recommend. Heck, when my CRF Angel kitty, Tuffy, was diagnosed and refusing food, garlic as an appetite stimulant was rec'd. Oy. I do realize that everyone has their comfort level with treatments, etc., so this is my opinion only; you need to do what you are comfortable with.

What I have done for my kitties: syringe small amounts of water orally (5-10mL) to combat dehydration. I've used Slippery Elm Bark (SEB) bulk powder or from capsule mixed with hot water to form a soupy slurry and syringed 5-10mL 3-5 times a day. When syringing a daily amount to shoot for is not more than 5-10mL per pound of body weight.

If you do syringe water, as Willowy said, go slowly so he doesn't aspirate it into his lungs. DO NOT squirt the water into his throat or tongue (from the front). Liquids are likely to go down his windpipe, making him choke. For water or other liquids, insert the dropper between his cheek and teeth (from the side).

All that being said, an immediate vet visit is in order for your sweet bubby.

and please update on how he is doing.

Jules and the Kitty Krew

CALL your vet's office and listen to the message.  There should be instructions on what to do after hours and on weekends in an emergency.

Call the vet ASAP when you can.  Until then I would take the advice given so far by the other posters.   This is really not something you want to mess around with. 

I have been giving him some pediatric electrolyte solution and giving it in an eyedropper and he is starting to like it, but he still isnt drinking water........ he is getting color in his gums i called my vet and told me to keep doing what i am doing until monday,

I didn't know that Pedialyte had crummy ingredients. . .I've always used the homemade rehydration solution. The sugar and salt balance is very important and hydrates far better than plain water.

Kitties also need to eat or their livers will shut down. You can give him chicken or turkey baby food (make sure it doesn't have onion or garlic powder!), give it through the same large dropper. Water it down a bit if it's too hard to suck up.

Awwwww I hope he will be ok the emergency animal hospital in my town is always open but idk if they are open on Easter I didn't leave the house today but he looks so cute in that picture I really hope and pray the best for him, hope he will be ok and better than ever soon!!

Willowy said:

I didn't know that Pedialyte had crummy ingredients. . .I've always used the homemade rehydration solution. The sugar and salt balance is very important and hydrates far better than plain water.

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That's just it, Willowy, sugar is not good for kitties in any form (http://cats.about.com/od/catsafety/qt/cattoxins.htm -- there are many other references if you Google 'cats and sugar'). Since he's not vomiting or having diarrhea, and just not drinking or getting enough in his food, then loss of electrolytes shouldn't be a factor. I understand where you're coming from, but until she can get him to a vet I would still recommend plain water. If one didn't need a prescription, I would recommend LRS (Lactated Ringers Solution) given sub-Q, but that isn't possible.

Also, another ingredient is potassium citrate, which is indicated for metabolic acidosis as vomiting is the body's way of making it more alkaline, so this wouldn't be a good idea for a kitty that doesn't have a need for this adjustment (they're not in an overtly acidic state).

Human kids can handle the dextrose (sugar) and other stuff in Pedialyte, whereas the ingredients just aren't suitable for a kitty kid. Water, SEB slurry mixture, homemade chicken broth (from real chicken parts w/bone, not bouillon cubes or canned), are way better.

The thing is, Pedialyte is formulated for humans, and although quite a few human supplements and a few herbs are safe for kitties, you have to be really careful in what you choose to treat them with. FWIW, I don't use a lot of "pet" supplements because the human equivalent has fewer fillers and unnecessary or dangerous ingredients.

If you take into consideration the delicate physiology of kitties, the potential side-effects and precautions for human kids is enough to give me pause: http://www.medicinenet.com/electrolyte_solution-oral/article.htm

Okay, I'm off my soapbox now.

Jules

WhollyCat said:

Sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree about using Pedialyte for kitties as it contains ingredients not suitable for them e.g. dextrose [a sweetener] for one. I know vets often recommend this, but I'm not one to blindly follow without investigating ingredients in anything my vets recommend. Heck, when my CRF Angel kitty, Tuffy, was diagnosed and refusing food, garlic as an appetite stimulant was rec'd. Oy.

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Dextrose aint no sweetener, it is the most basic of the sugars. The self ground stone of energy carrier in our bodies.   For me, the question is not if to use dextrose, but what is OK if you dont have dextrose and you are in a hurry, as you often are in such cases.  Some excellent cat expert thinks it is OK with common sugar too...  I would prefer honey. I guess white caro syrup it ok too, before desperately trying with common sugar.

That said, I think home-made pedialyte is OK, ie some dextrose, a trifle salt (or suitable salts), clean water... 1 soup spoon, 1 teaspoon, 1 litre... (=two pounds worth)

Industrial made pedialyte isnt necessary. Some experts believes even industrial pedialyte is overdone. Perhaps according to your lines.

{tx for the links, I will read through them later]

Garlic you do mention is another, interesting story. We do all warn against garlic, so do I. It is poisonous for cats.  Yet it cant be very poisonous,  there are high quality cat foods with garlic spiced.  So apparently in very small amounts it isnt harmful.

Dextrose......... pros and cons......

Since, commercially, just like glucose, dextrose is made from cornstarch, I would much rather use a homemade formula with more natural ingredients if I had to try to rehydrate a dehydrated kitty.

One easy homemade recipe I have in my files calls for boiling 1 cup water with 1/8 tsp salt and 3 tsp granulated cane sugar (this sugar has no added cornstarch). That's it. Let cool, start using. Can be refrigerated for a few days.

(Salt can make dehydration worse, so if dehydration is already severe it would be best to get the right kind of subcutaneous fluid from the vet ASAP and offer only plain water until then.)

My understanding is that, under certain circumstances, dextrose has its place in medicine. For instance, just one example

http://www.vetinfo.com/diabetic-ketoacidosis-in-cats.html

(Cornstarch can cause allergic reactions including skin rashes and asthma. Perhaps even other problems when manufacturing processes turn cornstarch into something else such as dextrose, corn syrup, etc..........Just something to think about and keep in mind.........)

Violet said:

Dextrose......... pros and cons......

Since, commercially, just like glucose, dextrose is made from cornstarch, I would much rather use a homemade formula with more natural ingredients if I had to try to rehydrate a dehydrated kitty.

One easy homemade recipe I have in my files calls for boiling 1 cup water with 1/8 tsp salt and 3 tsp granulated cane sugar (this sugar has no added cornstarch). That's it. Let cool, start using. Can be refrigerated for a few days.

(Salt can make dehydration worse, so if dehydration is already severe it would be best to get the right kind of subcutaneous fluid from the vet ASAP and offer only plain water until then.)

My understanding is that, under certain circumstances, dextrose has its place in medicine. For instance, just one example

http://www.vetinfo.com/diabetic-ketoacidosis-in-cats.html

(Cornstarch can cause allergic reactions including skin rashes and asthma. Perhaps even other problems when manufacturing processes turn cornstarch into something else such as dextrose, corn syrup, etc..........Just something to think about and keep in mind.........)

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Glucose (or its commercial name Dextrose) is no hokus pokus occasionally used in medicine, especielly on thursdays and months with r in it.

It is the base of life. The main energy bearer in animals.  Most food is seared and parted down into glucose, before it is turn into something else.  (pardon me if the exactly details I dont longer have in memory, but so it is. I did read biology at college once upon a time).

So getting glucose "dextrose" instead of say common sugar or canned sugar, means, you or the cat, get it directly into the blood, already in the mouths.   It doesnt need to be firstly broken down in the stomach and intestines.

The so called "physiologial solution" which they do give in if they have big blood shortage or you are Jehovas witness, OR if you cant drink, perhaps because of severly burn mouth, is btw essentially exactly our homemade pedialyte, although somewhat cleaner.

glucose "dextrose", salts, water.

Although I can admit, if you by any reason want to use sugar in your homemade pedialyte, it is probably better to use cane sugar than say sugar made from beetles(?).  Tx for the tip!   

Cornstarch or starch, is made up from long chains of glucose-molecules.  So what they do is to sear the bindings betweens them in the chains, and from one looong starch molecule they suddenly get 1000 glucose molecules.

After cleaning, drying etc, they pack in it, and sell as - Dextrose.

So if the process was properly done, dextrose has very little common with cornstarch.

The gasoline you do have in your car is not the same as crude oil it was in beginning.

So it is true, you dont want have crude oil in your car. Preferably not even diesel.

But well made gasoline is just what your car need when out of fuel.   

There's a very ultra-filtered water called Penta you can get at Whole Foods or a holistic food store near you. It has no ANYTHING. NO BPAS, no chlorine, no nothing but water and ELECTROLYTES. That's the only water I give my cats now. Since it contains electrolytes, it's a good water to have around. You can syringe it into kitty's mouth very slowly. But agree that kitty needs to go to the ER at this point big time.

Having Googled it, Penta water sounds like expensive hocus pocus.  I'd go with oral rehydration fluid made with boiled water and the right amounts of sugar and salt.  Or, if you insist, the cheapest bottled water from the supermarket.  This is pretty much what the vet gives your pet via IV - there are several slightly different versions of IV fluids around.

Glucose is also known as dextrose and as StefanZ says, is the most basic sugar that our digestions break food down to to provide energy.  Having the correct amounts of glucose and salt in the fluid makes it easier for the body to absorb which is what you need with a dehydrated cat or human.

It's not, but whatever. Our water here in our city is really hard and horrible. This water is the only thing my mom who has celiac disease, thyroid condition, heart condition, ulcers, on and on, can drink without getting diarrhea and cramps. Just making a suggestion.

OrientalSlave said:

Having Googled it, Penta water sounds like expensive hocus pocus.  I'd go with oral rehydration fluid made with boiled water and the right amounts of sugar and salt.  Or, if you insist, the cheapest bottled water from the supermarket.  This is pretty much what the vet gives your pet via IV - there are several slightly different versions of IV fluids around.

Glucose is also known as dextrose and as StefanZ says, is the most basic sugar that our digestions break food down to to provide energy.  Having the correct amounts of glucose and salt in the fluid makes it easier for the body to absorb which is what you need with a dehydrated cat or human.

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This (bolded) is not correct. When vets administer fluids via IV (intravenous, in the vein) or subQ (subcutaneous, under the skin), they use specially prepared formulas that are created for this purpose. Usually lactated ringers solution, but sometimes a specific saline solution. They do not use water.

otto said:

This (bolded) is not correct. When vets administer fluids via IV (intravenous, in the vein) or subQ (subcutaneous, under the skin), they use specially prepared formulas that are created for this purpose. Usually lactated ringers solution, but sometimes a specific saline solution. They do not use water.

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I meant using bottled water instead of tap water to make an oral rehydration fluid.  I know that plain water is never given in a drip, I didn't mean for my post to sound like it was a possibility.  But you seem to be agreeing there is more than one kind of IV rehydration fluid in use.

So, how's the kitty?  Did you get her to the vet today?

OrientalSlave said:

I meant using bottled water instead of tap water to make an oral rehydration fluid.  I know that plain water is never given in a drip, I didn't mean for my post to sound like it was a possibility.  But you seem to be agreeing there is more than one kind of IV rehydration fluid in use.

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Ah, okay, now I see where my misunderstanding came in. Thanks for clarifying. But I never heard of a vet actually making up their own solutions for IV or subq hydration. Don't most vets just use pre-made hydration solutions? You know the kind that come in the 1000 milliliter bags?

Yes, I'm sure vets buy in their fluids, in sterile packs and so on.  I was refering to what one might use to make oral rehydration fluid at home.  Here in Scotland I would happily use boiled tap water, but if not then cheapest bottled water should be fine, also boiled first.