Surrounding Vet Clinics Are All Closed

Just my luck. Yesterday Anya's meow started becoming more and more hoarse until eventually she'd open her mouth and no meow would escape it or at least now a full meow. Since then I've seen her appear to gag about three times. She has been incredibly lethargic. Usually she wakes us all up in the morning by running through the house like a bat out of Hell, but she didn't do that this morning. I'm very concerned and from what I've read, it's probably an infection. Unfortunately our local vet is a traveling clinic that is extremely shady and not available today anyway. I usually take them to a place in the next town over, but that is of course closed today too. The town has another few animal clinics which are closed as well since it's the weekend. I'm really worried, and I don't know what to do. I wish the symptoms had presented before the weekend. We live in a very rural part of the country out in the middle of nowhere. I can give her lysine in the mean time in the hopes of boosting her immune system. Does anyone have experience with this kind of illness?

It sounds like something that might be able to wait until Monday but I'd watch the lethargy that is a concern. It sounds like it could be a thyroid issue. Can you feel her throat and tell if there are any lumps? I had similar symptoms especially the running around like a bat out of hell part and the hoarseness with my cat that had thyroid Issues. It could also be teeth problems as well. There are just a lot of possibilities but if the lethargy is really an issue you probably need to get her to an er vet.

It could be anything, really. It could be a common cold or flu, an infection, but it can also be something a lot more serious.

Is she still eating and drinking properly? How are her stools? Does she have a fever? A cat being lethargic means she's really sick, because cats don't show much until it's serious. It doesn't instantly mean it's something deadly, but she's probably not feeling well at all. It's important to make sure she isn't getting dehydrated and if she's  still eating that would be great.

If she's not eating and drinking, pinch the skin on her neck and check if it's going back instantly. If it remains standing up or goes back slowly, she needs fluids asap.

I hope you can go to a vet soon if she's not improving, but it would be even better if she's back to her old self soon

hexiesfriend, sorry for the miscommunication - I meant that normally she runs around like a bat out of hell but didn't do it this morning.

I gave her some wet food but she only ate a little bit of it. She gagged while eating it. Now she's lying down in the closet in a cool, dark area. I pinched the skin on her skin and it was fine. Thanks for the replies.

Good news: she is eating her dry food now, but refuses to touch the wet food. I checked the skin on her neck, and it's still normal so I think she's getting enough fluids. Sometimes she's just really picky about her wet food so I'm about to give her a different flavor. She meowed a bit today, and I could hear it fine though not all her meows are producing noise. She's not lethargic at all anymore and seems to be back to her normal routine. I still plan to take her to the vet tomorrow but I'm feeling better about this because she seems to be. Thanks for all the responses!

I'm glad to hear she's doing better and also glad to hear you're still taking her to the vet tomorrow to get checked out.  Let us know what the vet has to say.  

That's good news. Hopefully you can get your kitty checked out tomorrow