Please help! Feverish cat unresponsive to ER treatment of antibiotics/fluid hydration

meouch · Jun 17, 2012

Hi everyone, my cat of 3 years old fell ill about 4 days ago, she completely stopped being playful all of her energy is completely gone. She has spent the last 3-4 days just sleeping constantly, between the 3-4 days i've gotten her to eat a couple maybe a few times at best. Her nose is dry, she has a fever. I took her to the ER this morning and they injected her with fluids for the dehydration and confirmed she did have a temp of 104.

They also prescribed clavamox an antibiotic which i gave her via oral syringe this morning.

I had to decline diagnostics because of finances and I wanted to see if her condition would change with the antibiotics/hydration.

IT HASN'T.

She is still completely wiped out, has no energy and she's slept a solid 8 hours since our trip to the ER. So far I've just left her alone to rest. After waiting gruelingly hoping she would get up on her own, I woke her up used the dropper filled it with water and made her drink. She looks really bad, just completely worn out. I feel completely lost/helpless watching her suffer.

My plan is to take her to a local vet/hospital first thing tomorrow morning where it will be cheaper to get the diagnostics done...

Also, this morning she was out in the yard and I saw her vomit a yellowish gooey colored discharge. She is primarily an outdoor cat ..

What could be going on? What can I do until i'm able to make it to the vet tomorrow for the diagnostics to make her feel better?

At the ER they gave me a syringe for food, should I make her eat? She fights me pretty strongly even when I try to give her the water via dropper.

ANY SUGGESTIONS would be HUGELY appreciated. I am FREAKING OUT and the thought of losing her just breaks my heart.

Please if there's anything you can think of reply to this post.

Thankyou so much!!!

barbb · Jun 17, 2012

I don't know what to suggest, since there is no way to know until you've had a diagnosis, whether or not she's ingested something toxic. What I would do is pinch her fur around her neck to check for dehydration- if it stays rigid-like, she is dehydrated, and if it falls back she is ok- and I would continue giving her water if she is dehydrated.

The other thing I would do is go back to the ER and make them give you larger plastic syringes (and ask them for a few with larger openings) since the dropper that comes with the clavamox is ridiculously hard to use.

Since she did just get fluids today and you are planning on taking her first thing tomorrow for a regular vet, I wouldn't go overboard trying to get her to eat food. I would wait for the diagnosis and then if they have ruled out poison, I would get A/D from the vet and use it along with subcutaneous fluids. If the vet hassles you about an early appointment time, tell them you would like to be a walk-in, hope they don't charge you an emergency fee, in this economy they should not do that.

emilymaywilcha · Jun 17, 2012

First of all, welcome to TCS.

I know it is very hard to pay for diagnostic testing, but in an emergency, you can't let that stop you. Give up something that is less important to pay for it. Nobody likes spending ridiculous amounts of money on blood, urine, and radiological tests, but there are times when they save the cat's life and you just have to accept the huge payment. I hope there is a way you can pay for testing incrementally if necessary.

meouch · Jun 17, 2012

Umm. I live by my means and I love my cat - if I could have afforded the diagnostic test at the ER I would have done it no question. Kind of hard to just "accept the payment" when you DONT HAVE THE MONEY!

stephanietx · Jun 17, 2012

It takes time for the antibiotic to kick in. Be patient and be sure to syringe feed her (you can get syringes from the pharmacy if needed). It's so very important that she eat. Get some meat baby food (no onions, no garlic, no ham) and some plain (clear) baby Pedialyte. Mix the baby food, Pedialyte (about a Tablespoon) and some regular canned cat food into a slurry like consistency and see if she will eat it. If you don't have a syringe, you can scoop it on your finger and feed her that way. Make sure her gums are nice and pink and the whites of her eyes are white. Also, Clavamox can make a kitty nauseous, so call the ER vet and see what amount of Pepcid you can give her. Make sure she stays warm. Make sure she has access to water.

tjcarst · Jun 17, 2012

I am sorry to hear your kitty isn't feeling well.

Have you checked into this with your vet? http://www.carecredit.com/vetmed/

lili2008 · Jun 18, 2012

Hello,

If you don't have money for vet, I would suggest you to feed her little bit with some wet food. I know she will be fighting but try it. She needs liquids for sure.

And then try to be with her as much as possible, make her feel comfortable.

I had money, spent a huge amount on my kitty and let her alone in the hospital, thinking they would help her. Nothing is worse than thinking she is dead without familiar people around her...

ldg · Jun 18, 2012

Oh VIBES she didn't get into some kind of poison.

I also hope you're able to get her to the vet this morning. :cross:

Here is some information you may find helpful, regarding the vet costs:
http://www.thecatsite.com/t/155462/cant-afford-a-vet-please-read
http://catcentric.org/care-and-health/financial-assistance/

But until you can get her to the vet, keeping her hydrated is most important. If your appointment isn't today, then getting food in her is just as important. :rub:

ldg · Jun 18, 2012

I looked for videos on how to wrap a cat to make a fighting kitty easier to syringe feed (we have cat bags). This looks like the best one - it's a demonstration for pilling, but if you're quick, and get those legs contained, it may work for syringe feeding. The videos I found for making a blanket burrito all required compliant cats to do THAT. :lol3:

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

detmut · Jun 18, 2012

meouch said:
Hi everyone, my cat of 3 years old fell ill about 4 days ago, she completely stopped being playful all of her energy is completely gone. She has spent the last 3-4 days just sleeping constantly, between the 3-4 days i've gotten her to eat a couple maybe a few times at best. Her nose is dry, she has a fever. I took her to the ER this morning and they injected her with fluids for the dehydration and confirmed she did have a temp of 104.

They also prescribed clavamox an antibiotic which i gave her via oral syringe this morning.

I had to decline diagnostics because of finances and I wanted to see if her condition would change with the antibiotics/hydration.

IT HASN'T.

She is still completely wiped out, has no energy and she's slept a solid 8 hours since our trip to the ER. So far I've just left her alone to rest. After waiting gruelingly hoping she would get up on her own, I woke her up used the dropper filled it with water and made her drink. She looks really bad, just completely worn out. I feel completely lost/helpless watching her suffer.

My plan is to take her to a local vet/hospital first thing tomorrow morning where it will be cheaper to get the diagnostics done...

Also, this morning she was out in the yard and I saw her vomit a yellowish gooey colored discharge. She is primarily an outdoor cat ..

What could be going on? What can I do until i'm able to make it to the vet tomorrow for the diagnostics to make her feel better?

At the ER they gave me a syringe for food, should I make her eat? She fights me pretty strongly even when I try to give her the water via dropper.

ANY SUGGESTIONS would be HUGELY appreciated. I am FREAKING OUT and the thought of losing her just breaks my heart.

Please if there's anything you can think of reply to this post.

Thankyou so much!!!

i had a very similar experience. the problem was the ER did not give my cat an antibiotic shot, just the clavamox on discharge. it all happened over a weekend. once i got my kitty to my cat vet, she got an antibiotic shot and different medicine (flagyl) on discharge, and she was eating by that night.

barbb · Jun 18, 2012

Please do let us know how your kitty is doing! I hope all is well! Am sending you vibes in hopes that she is fighting whatever it is.

Please help! Feverish cat unresponsive to ER treatment of antibiotics/fluid hydration

meouch

TCS Member

Thread starter

barbb

TCS Member

emilymaywilcha

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meouch

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Thread starter

stephanietx

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tjcarst

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lili2008

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ldg

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ldg

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detmut

TCS Member

barbb

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