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- Mar 10, 2013
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Hi all, my name is Manou and I'm new here. I came across these forums after endless looking online for a solution for our kitty.
About 2-3 weeks ago we got adopted by a cat. Adopted as in he came inside our house and has stayed with us ever since. He had no collar but was de-sexed so he belonged to someone but no one reported a lost cat. He was a bit dirty and his ears were sunburnt so we think he had been out on his own for a few days. We let him sleep outside or if we had to go out we'd put him outside as well.
Anyway, a week passed and then the first issue happened. He didn't eat/drink and was very lathargic. At one time he vomited (hairball, what seemed to be some food and gunk), after that when my he seemed to have diarrhea, and when my girlfriend picked him up, it all came out, lots. Luckily the next day he was much better and seemed fine.
Now last week I came home from work and since my girlfriend was staying at her mother's, he had been outside all day. I had left the back sliding door open and called him. After a few minutes I heard him climb our (2m!) fence. Then he came in, but the way in which he did was worrying. He was walking very slow, almost like he was in hunting stance. His tail was hanging very low as well. Every 5 steps he took, he had to (slowly) lay down. When outside he just laid in the tanbark, got up very slowly and started digging holes to have a poo/wee, like 5 one after the other but nothing seem to happen.
One thing I liked was that he was still eating (dry food) and drinking (water). He wee'd in his litter box but hadn't seen him poo, so hearing that was a good thing.
This had me worried so after 2 days I decided to go to the vet to have him checked out. Now since my girlfriend is incapable of working, my wages take care for the both of us, so we don't really have any spare money to pay expensive vet bills. They scanned him first but he wasn't chipped. Then she checked his back legs and tail but couldn't find any fractures. His tummy and bladder were both fine, there was a little bit in there but not much.
She said to make absolutely sure he'd have to get x-rays done, but at a few hundred dollars, it's tough for us. So she gave me a vial with drops of anti-inflammatories that I had to give him once every day.
We're lucky he's such a nice cat, giving him the drops wasn't a problem at all, using a seringe to do it orally. The next day I noticed a slight improvement in his walking and every day after that it improved more. Still a bit stiff in the hind legs but improving. Last night he even jumped on the couch with us, something he wasn't able or didn't even attempt for several days, so we were very happy.
Last night something changed though. He was laying next to me and on his back left leg I noticed a small wound on the inside (about 1/2 inch) with something hanging off it. When I touched it he flinched so could tell it was tender. We looked closer and decided to pull the bit off, it looked small and hard with a small clump of hair attached to it. He didn't like it much but was fine after that and we would keep it clean with a saline sollution.
When we went to bed, all was still good, he followed us to our bedroom and climbed in our bed with us, purring his little head off. (we wouldn't normally allow this but he's poorly so can't refuse it lol).
Anyway, this morning when we got up, something was obviously wrong. I noticed his breathing was heavy, like he's pushing out the air, his walking looked like he's drunk and he's drooling excessively. He's also purring, which they apparently do when they're sick as it works as a pain killer? He's also restless. He lays down for 5 minutes, gets up and goes to another spot, 5 minutes, to another spot, again 5 minutes and then back to that first spot. He's constantly moving between those three spots. His walking is wonky and sometimes he has to stop and stands there, wobbly. This morning we also found a poo infront of his litter box, rather than in it. It wasn't very solid either. He also seems to lost his appetite. Didn't want his water or dry food.
So this latest issue is worrying us, again. Sort of want him to throw up if it would make him better. We come to love him dearly in this short period and he clearly loves us so we want him to stay with us. We've named him Shadow because he follows us around like one hehe. But like I said, we can't afford expensive vet bills so I'm hoping someone has had a similar situation or knows the sympthomes.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but thought I'd give some of the (short) history with as much detail I could give.
Thanks so much in advance,
Manou, Katherine & Shadow
About 2-3 weeks ago we got adopted by a cat. Adopted as in he came inside our house and has stayed with us ever since. He had no collar but was de-sexed so he belonged to someone but no one reported a lost cat. He was a bit dirty and his ears were sunburnt so we think he had been out on his own for a few days. We let him sleep outside or if we had to go out we'd put him outside as well.
Anyway, a week passed and then the first issue happened. He didn't eat/drink and was very lathargic. At one time he vomited (hairball, what seemed to be some food and gunk), after that when my he seemed to have diarrhea, and when my girlfriend picked him up, it all came out, lots. Luckily the next day he was much better and seemed fine.
Now last week I came home from work and since my girlfriend was staying at her mother's, he had been outside all day. I had left the back sliding door open and called him. After a few minutes I heard him climb our (2m!) fence. Then he came in, but the way in which he did was worrying. He was walking very slow, almost like he was in hunting stance. His tail was hanging very low as well. Every 5 steps he took, he had to (slowly) lay down. When outside he just laid in the tanbark, got up very slowly and started digging holes to have a poo/wee, like 5 one after the other but nothing seem to happen.
One thing I liked was that he was still eating (dry food) and drinking (water). He wee'd in his litter box but hadn't seen him poo, so hearing that was a good thing.
This had me worried so after 2 days I decided to go to the vet to have him checked out. Now since my girlfriend is incapable of working, my wages take care for the both of us, so we don't really have any spare money to pay expensive vet bills. They scanned him first but he wasn't chipped. Then she checked his back legs and tail but couldn't find any fractures. His tummy and bladder were both fine, there was a little bit in there but not much.
She said to make absolutely sure he'd have to get x-rays done, but at a few hundred dollars, it's tough for us. So she gave me a vial with drops of anti-inflammatories that I had to give him once every day.
We're lucky he's such a nice cat, giving him the drops wasn't a problem at all, using a seringe to do it orally. The next day I noticed a slight improvement in his walking and every day after that it improved more. Still a bit stiff in the hind legs but improving. Last night he even jumped on the couch with us, something he wasn't able or didn't even attempt for several days, so we were very happy.
Last night something changed though. He was laying next to me and on his back left leg I noticed a small wound on the inside (about 1/2 inch) with something hanging off it. When I touched it he flinched so could tell it was tender. We looked closer and decided to pull the bit off, it looked small and hard with a small clump of hair attached to it. He didn't like it much but was fine after that and we would keep it clean with a saline sollution.
When we went to bed, all was still good, he followed us to our bedroom and climbed in our bed with us, purring his little head off. (we wouldn't normally allow this but he's poorly so can't refuse it lol).
Anyway, this morning when we got up, something was obviously wrong. I noticed his breathing was heavy, like he's pushing out the air, his walking looked like he's drunk and he's drooling excessively. He's also purring, which they apparently do when they're sick as it works as a pain killer? He's also restless. He lays down for 5 minutes, gets up and goes to another spot, 5 minutes, to another spot, again 5 minutes and then back to that first spot. He's constantly moving between those three spots. His walking is wonky and sometimes he has to stop and stands there, wobbly. This morning we also found a poo infront of his litter box, rather than in it. It wasn't very solid either. He also seems to lost his appetite. Didn't want his water or dry food.
So this latest issue is worrying us, again. Sort of want him to throw up if it would make him better. We come to love him dearly in this short period and he clearly loves us so we want him to stay with us. We've named him Shadow because he follows us around like one hehe. But like I said, we can't afford expensive vet bills so I'm hoping someone has had a similar situation or knows the sympthomes.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but thought I'd give some of the (short) history with as much detail I could give.
Thanks so much in advance,
Manou, Katherine & Shadow
