Is my cat gone insane? Please help.

Warning this is long - About a month ago, I noticed that my cat had not eaten all day. This is quite unusual for him. He eats regularly, poops regularly. He's quite predictable. He went on like this for a week. He ate out of my hand but not his bowl. Then I realized that maybe his teeth were bothering him. He was not blessed with perfect teeth and will bite my hand off if I go near him with a toothbrush. So, I buy him wet food (he only licked the gravy off) and took him to the vet. The vet said I was right, gave me "antirobe" to give to him 5 days before his teeth cleaning and then 5 days after. Meanwhile, my cat is acting strangely, not coming when I call, hiding, he peed on our bed and in his bed (he has never peed anywhere but his litter box ever) and just acting all around strange. So, he gets his teeth cleaned. The vet said that the antirobe was working, clearing up the swelling in his gums and his teeth polished up nicely. I brought him home and it took him a while to recover from the anesthetic (droopy eyes, second eyelid closed, a bit of drooling, etc. - called the vet to see if this was normal, he said yes.) So now it is three days later. He is still behaving strangely. He still will not eat his hard food, won't sleep on our bed, doesn't come when I call, etc. Although, he is very affectionate when I approach him and give me tons of "eye kisses" when I look at him. Tonight, while my husband and I were watching a movie he started pacing around our apartment. He wouldn't relax. So finally I coax him up onto my stomach and he promptly pees on me! I clean my self up and talk with my husband about why the heck he would he would pee on me. He hasn't stopped pacing yet. While we are talking he starts running around and as he is running he poops! Is he going insane? I figure it's because he doesn't like his new litter. So, I sent my husband out to get a different type. We'll try that. Hopefully, that will work. Could it be the antibiotics, do cats spontaneously go insane, is he pissed off about me getting his teeth cleaned? What? If anyone could shed some insight, it would be greatly appreciated. I'm not sure what to do.

Something's not right with your cat, and I very much doubt it's any kind of behavioral problem. A cat not eating properly, acting a bit listless, and peeing/pooping outside the box signals some kind of medical problem to me. If it was just peeing outside the box, it could be the litter, but combined with the other things, I'd take him to the vet and have him examined properly. If your current vet just tries to shrug it off, take him to another vet! The cat is clearly not feeling well, and should be thoroughly examined, blood tests and all.

I agree. The peeing coule very well mean a case of FLUTD (Feline Lowere Urinary Tract Disorder). He needs to be checked by the vet as this can be life threatening if left untreated. The vet should do a thourogh medical exam to make sure the cat doen't have that or any other disease before this can be addressed as a behavioral problem.

Let us know how he's doing!

He drinks a lot of fluids. He always has. I also have him on high quality food that I buy from the vet. He doesn't show any straining when he needs to pee. He pees a good amount when he does. Is this or is this not a sign of FLUTD? Last night, I noticed that he would pee in his litter box but when it came to pooping he would take off running. He almost seems a bit scared of his litter box. His poop is on the softer side but he is on antirobe which can cause diarrhea. I am so temted to take him off the antirobe, maybe it's making him uncomfortable? I'm going to call the vet today when they open. If you have any more ideas, please reply.

You may also ask the vet to give him a blood test to see if his liver levels are OK. My kitty suddenly stopped eating or was eating very little and it turned out to be a very dangerous liver problem. Please dont let this go on. Did the vet already do a blood test checking for this type of problem. If not, please take him back.

I hope your kitty is feeling better soon!

-Jacquie

I must agree, a complete exam with full blood work and urine labs is in order.

Something we must keep in mind with cats - when having a dental procedure, it is always best to request that the vet use ISOFLURANE gas, not KETAMINE as the anesthesia. Ketamine can be dangerous for cats and should not be used if at all possible. The gas is a little more expensive, but well worth it in terms of the health and welfare of our kitties.

ALWAYS request a complete metabolic workup (blood and urine lab work) be done before any anesthesia is administered, and make 100% certain all levels are well within normal ranges before preceeding unless another health issue forces you to go forward.

Please keep us posted, and let us know how things go?

Gaye

I took Baxter to the vet on Monday afternoon. She checked him over completely (heart, temperature (normal), palpitated his bladder (no response on his part, indicating no discomfort), teeth (improved, no red gums), breathing, etc.) She said that she couldn't think of any disease that would cause his sudden change in behaviour. She figures that it is behavioural, at this point. She disagreed with the possibility of a UTI because it should be cleared up with the antibiotics. Also he wasn't straining during urination and he urinated a fair amount when he did so. Apparently, they did use Ketamine on him. She said that in rare cases, there will be side effects to this type of anaesthesia. Also, he has been through a lot of stress. He is purely an indoor cat. So, having sore gums, change in food, a visit to the vet, being exposed to other cats (he's never seen another cat), being in a strange kennel, the teeth cleaning, antibiotics, etc, etc. So, she said to wait until tomorrow and if he hasn't progressed, I'll bring him in for bloodwork and a prescription for stool hardners. But she doesn't seem to think that anything will come of the bloodwork as he seemed to be perfectly healthy to her. She recommended that I discontinue the antibiotics immediately (only one day left) because they may be making him uncomfortable and his stools on the soft side (which might be the problem alone). If nothing comes of the bloodwork, we try antidepressants to help calm him down. They are calling me tomorrow to see if he's made any progress. At this point, he remains the same in the area of his litter box habits. He still hesitates to use it. Today, however, he did pee in the litter with some coaxing from me. He then attempted to poop but took off running, smearing the poop all over the carpet. He still hasn't gained his appetite back. He will eat out of my hand. I am smothering him with lots of affection. I can tell that he appreciates it a lot. So, I'm hoping that he'll eat more dry food, his poop will firm up, he'll then use the litter box and we'll all be happy again.

I am so glad to hear that you took him back to the vet and that it seems there is nothing majorly wrong with him. My kitty also kind of freaked when we took him to the vet after not being out of the house at all for years and not being in contact with other animals. Just keep giving him all the love and affection you are, and hopefully he will be back to his old self in no time! Good luck.

-Jacquie