My cat is acting really off. Need advice, thoughts.

My cat Lulu is a year old, she's always been a very playful cat, always getting into trouble, jumping on tables, counters lol, just an all around happy cat. Well, yesterday morning she acted really off. She was in the living room and I noticed that when she was sitting on the couch, she looked like she had bowed up, but I don't think she actually bowed up, but I put her down on the floor and she didn't wanna walk. When she stood up, she made her little squeaky meow noise and would walk a little then sit down. She seemed as though she was scared, or maybe in a little pain. I automatically thought something wasn't right, I called the vet and said to bring her in. So, she went to the vet, the vet said nothing was wrong with her. Said she had a fever, gave her a shot for that, and another shot with antibiotic. She didn't say anything about an infection. She said she should be feeling better. She was tested for lukemia and fiv and both were negative. That's the only blood work they done. Well, when she got home from the vet she seemed okay. Last night she acted like her normal self, she was playing, and not being mean to the other cats. She always plays with them by the way, and she was being herself.

Well, this morning, it happened again. I let her out of my room, she walked slowly into the kitchen, she ate some food and then she walked back to the living room and sat down. I got her up to walk, she wouldn't really walk, she just stood there, she's not making those squeaky noises when she walks, she might have done it once this morning, and when she jumps up in my lap she doesn't seem to be in any pain at all. She is hissing at the other cats again, very strange cause she loves them. And she's just wanting to sleep. She did cuddle with me and is nice towards me. It's weird because she acts like she is a bit scared of something, I noticed that she did bow up a little bit when I brought one of my other cats in my room. The way she slowly walks is like an animal that has a hurt leg or something.

I have no idea what is going on with her, she's eating, she's drinking. I am pretty sure she is using the litter box. I am keeping an eye on her today to make sure she is going. But I don't know if it's physical or just a behavior issue. I am trying not to think of the bad things, like a tumor, other than it being physical, a tumor is the only thing that I can think of it being besides maybe her tummy hurts, but for it to happen two mornings in a row I don't know. I just need some opinions. Thanks!

It doesn't sound to me like your vet really looked her over?  Did they take Xrays?  If so, she could have injured her soft tissue and that wouldn't show up on an Xray, she possibly sprained something or pulled something.  But if not, she could have a fracture or something. An injury could produce a "fever."  It could be a lot of things honestly and too many to go into on here.  Cats can get spooked over the silliest things as well.  Possibly if she was hurt, she could be afraid of doing whatever she was at the time she hurt herself.  Or, one of the other cats got too rough and are the ones responsible for hurting her.  Just keep them separated for now. Until she is "healed" or seems to be herself again and then do a positive reinforcement reintroduction.   

I would gently feel where you think she is hurt at and see if she reacts.  If she does, leave it be and maybe take her to your vet and point it out. 

If she is eating and drinking chances are she is fine.  Just keep an eye on her and make sure she seems to be getting better with the pain stuff in a couple of days, if not, go back to the vet and demand some answers. 

The vet did not do any x rays. She felt her and said she had no signs of a bladder infections and I assume they would be able to tell if she had a lump if it was a tumor or something. She isn't making any noises now when she walks. I have felt around to see if she felt any discomfort and she acts fine. Nothing seems to be causing her any discomfort when I press or feel around her stomach or back, or legs. She is an indoor cat, I took her outside just to see if she would walk around on a leash lol, I don't let my cats go outside and she walked around on the front porch and didn't act like nothing was bothering her.

She still seems like she is scared or something. Like she has seen something that might have scared her. She looks like she wants to bow up and shes taking whatever it is on the other cats again today. She seems to have this attitude. She just wants to sit down, she will play with a string but she will sit there and move around a little and play. It's so weird, never seen a cat act this way. So, it's just puzzling to me. Perhaps something did scare her or put her in this funk. I will take her back to the vet if this doesn't pass, she hasn't used the litter box yet today so I am still waiting for her to go. She's still eating and drinking and she is very loving towards me. She jumps in my lap, and purrs.

Well she probably pulled something or gave herself a minor injury and she is better now.  Like I said, it wouldn't show up on an xray anyway.  But, cats are strange and anything could have upset her.  Something we think as trivial can upset them and throw them off balance sometimes.  It's part of their charm, though!    Just keep her separated from the other cats for a couple of days and then try a positive reinforcement reintroduction... Also maybe look into the calming collar and feliway diffuser.  These do not work on every cat but they do help a lot of them in situations just like this.  Feliway can be expensive and it can often take a month or so to notice any results... So I would look into the calming collar through ebay or online is much cheaper... They work pretty much instantly and in the same way as Feliway does plus, much more reasonably priced.  It does wonders for my Birman baby's, Paige's, anxiety.  And when we had a tornado here earlier this year, my others were very upset and in a funk, too.  So I got them all calming collars and they were able to forget about it and be OK. 

As long as she is eating and drinking she is OK physically.  Just look into the calming collar, keep her separate from the other cats as much as possible and then once you get the collar, try a positive reinforcement reintroduction. 

Another thing I thought of.... Is she spayed?  If not, the bowing is a sign of being in heat.  They often act as if they are in pain while in heat and it can cause her to be aggressive toward the other cats.  If she is not fixed, I would look into having it done asap.

Yes, she is spayed. She was spayed last year after I got her. I am thinking maybe she has pulled a muscle because here's the thing, yesterday evening and last night, she did walk around a little more like I mentioned in the above previous posts, and she acted like she was in no pain. She didn't wanna walk that much but when she did, she acted fine. She still wanted to lay around and she was more friendly to the other cats. She went to the litter box and she peed and had a bowel movement and didn't seem to be any pain and wasn't constipated, no sign of blood. She seems perky, just laying around and not wanting to move a whole lot.

She's been sleeping in my room and sleeps on top of my printer which is on a shelf, she loves to sleep there lately and so all night she stays in my room and sleeps there. Normally, around 6am she will want out but she's not been getting up at that time, she's been sleeping until I get her up. Well, I got her off the printer and let her walk and she wouldn't go far again, then when I had her to try again she made that little sqeaky noise again. She only acts more like this in the mornings. Well, I went into the bathroom and left my bedroom door open to see if she would walk out of my room on her own and I stepped in the hallway and saw her stand up then when she saw me she sat back down. I got a piece of foil and threw it cause she loves playing with a ball of foil. And lately she's not even been excited to see when I throw it but today she tried to run after it and she stopped dead in her tracks, bowed up a tiny bit and sat back down. It's like she wanted to play but something was keeping her from playing. So, now I am thinking it's something physical and it seems to be affecting her more in the mornings. Like us people who pull a muscle, it's worse for us to move in the morning. She did slowly walk to the kitchen and went straight to the food bowl at what she wanted and walked slowly back to the living room, sat down. She didn't make many noises that time. And now she's back on my printer asleep. But the thing is, when she jumps up, she acts like it doesn't bother her.

I think her going back to the vet is probably what it's gonna have be done. If it's a pulled muscle and it won't show up on an x ray so how can they tell if that is what it is? I just want an answer. And I don't wanna have to continue spending money when I'm not getting an answer. There is something wrong, I think it's possibly something minor. If it is a behavior issue then it's only affecting her in the mornings. I just need to know what is going on.

Kristyj077 said:

I think her going back to the vet is probably what it's gonna have be done. If it's a pulled muscle and it won't show up on an x ray so how can they tell if that is what it is? I just want an answer. And I don't wanna have to continue spending money when I'm not getting an answer. There is something wrong, I think it's possibly something minor. If it is a behavior issue then it's only affecting her in the mornings. I just need to know what is going on.

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They can guess for the most part.  They can probably give her something for the pain, maybe even another shot to help it feel better.   But I would wait over the weekend, if it doesn't seem to be any better or even worse by Monday, make another appointment. 

She went back to the vet yesterday and the vet said she was slightly anemic cause of fleas, they treated her and gave her a steroid shot cause she was still running a fever of 103. For some reason, I was still not feeling better. Every time they give her a shot, she comes back feeling just fine. She acts like herself, until the next morning when it starts all over again.

This morning is the same as the last few mornings have been, only this morning she's growling more when she walks. And it really does look like to me that she has a limp when she walks. She doesn't hold up her paws but it's just a really weird walk coming from her hind legs. She didn't even wanna eat this morning, she may have but I don't think she did. She's just wanting to sleep. I am very mad because I have already spent almost 200 dollars on her and the vet is giving me the wrong diagnosis. There is something more going on, she seems to be in some pain somewhere and I wish they had given her an x ray. If she goes back, I do not think I should be charged, and I will demand an answer and an x ray. She has no meds for pain, she still has a fever this morning of 103. I am just very upset cause I hate that she's in some pain somewhere. That's the only thing I can guess. I don't think her being an anemic would cause her to walk the way she is, or cause her to growl. The vet can't see exactly how she is in the mornings when she wakes up. It only affects her more in the mornings. This was all told to the vet and still, nothing is being done. The vet is closed today so I will be calling Monday. I would take her to another vet but they are more expensive and right now I can't afford taking her to the other vet, the vet that I have been taking her to is in Mexico so another vet has been in her office doing the examinations. I feel she needs to look further into this. Cause there is something else going on. And I demand an x ray.

Take a video of what is happening in the mornings so your vet can see it. That may help them with a diagnosis. How old is your kitty?

Yeah, I could try that. I can't find the emergency number, their office is closed today. She's a year old.

If you call your vet, most vets give you, along with a recording of their hours and when open, a number to call in case of emergency ..that should give you an emergency clinic number.  Best wishes to your girl.

Kristyj077 said:

She went back to the vet yesterday and the vet said she was slightly anemic cause of fleas, they treated her and gave her a steroid shot cause she was still running a fever of 103. For some reason, I was still not feeling better. Every time they give her a shot, she comes back feeling just fine. She acts like herself, until the next morning when it starts all over again.

This morning is the same as the last few mornings have been, only this morning she's growling more when she walks. And it really does look like to me that she has a limp when she walks. She doesn't hold up her paws but it's just a really weird walk coming from her hind legs. She didn't even wanna eat this morning, she may have but I don't think she did. She's just wanting to sleep. I am very mad because I have already spent almost 200 dollars on her and the vet is giving me the wrong diagnosis. There is something more going on, she seems to be in some pain somewhere and I wish they had given her an x ray. If she goes back, I do not think I should be charged, and I will demand an answer and an x ray. She has no meds for pain, she still has a fever this morning of 103. I am just very upset cause I hate that she's in some pain somewhere. That's the only thing I can guess. I don't think her being an anemic would cause her to walk the way she is, or cause her to growl. The vet can't see exactly how she is in the mornings when she wakes up. It only affects her more in the mornings. This was all told to the vet and still, nothing is being done. The vet is closed today so I will be calling Monday. I would take her to another vet but they are more expensive and right now I can't afford taking her to the other vet, the vet that I have been taking her to is in Mexico so another vet has been in her office doing the examinations. I feel she needs to look further into this. Cause there is something else going on. And I demand an x ray.

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Well, the thing about shots is, they make them more sore and tender as well, along with producing a slight fever for about 24 hours.  And pulled muscles, soft tissue injuries, or bruises are very hard to treat... There isn't a whole lot they can do except wait on it.  And an xray won't do much good.  I am sorry, I know you are worried and frustrated but unfortunately this is true.... Just give it time.  If she isn't better or seems worse by Monday, then I would definitely call your vet again.  But, a lot of times if you keep calling and freaking out over this, they will just tell you the same thing.  So many people freak out over minor stuff that can't really be helped and demand something be done so that's probably why they gave your kitty the shot, to make you happy.  Most of the stuff like medicines and shots are used to treat more severe pain cases. 

Also some cats have a slight reaction to the flea treatment and it can produce a fever or lethargic reaction for about 24hours, as well.  Not to mention if she was anemic from the fleas, she was infested and it will take her time to replace all that blood and get better.  This is another reason they can't do too much... She is anemic and they can't give her too much of anything right now, it would do more damage than good.

Just wait, give her time to recover from all the vetting and shots she has had this week.  If on Monday she is still doing it, call your vet and maybe take a video of it.  It could be something like arthritis... It normally affects older cats but just like people, younger cats can have it too. I know this is easier said than done.... and you hate seeing your baby like this but she needs time to recover a little bit and her immune system has to adjust, as well.  Just be patient.  

This is kind of a tough one.  One the one hand it sounds like she is in pain somewhere - the bowing, walking etc.  On the other she's had shots, antibiotics etc. which could cause this type of reaction.  But the bowing etc. started before the shots?  If that is so then she has injured herself somehow.  Please let us know the outcome