Skipper is crying for no obvious reason

When I came downstairs this morning Deb said "we have to keep an eye on Skipper, he is crying and didn't come in to eat", and I also heard him  cry several times after she left for work. He is about 7 years old, we rescued him from our backyard as he was bitten by something and had cellulitis and the vet said "he's lucky, he would've probably died", is in good health otherwise, shows no signs of any issues etc. but after he was crying and looking at me this morning I went near him and he ran upstairs under the dining room table, so I got a string toy, he loves to play string toy, and he played which was good, so I got some treats and he ate them which is good, but a few minutes later he was downstairs laying in the window sill crying again. He is neutered, has never been a cat that we could get very friendly with, it's more like we see him and say "oh that's right, you live here too", so this morning after I heard him cry the second time I got a cat carrier but couldn't get him, he ran around then finally hid under the sofa and I had to go to work, but we are going to keep a close eye on him and take him if he needs help.  He at times does let us pet him, mostly my wife, but he is just a cat that prefers to keep to himself and the other cats rather than us!

A woman I work with who has 40 cats (lives on a farm) said if it was a blockage they usually go near the littler box and cry, but we haven't seen him do that. There also is some tension in the house yet as he and Sylvester whom we took in about 6 months ago have at times "issues" with each other, and the other night 1:30 in the morning we heard some hellatious commotion downstairs but who knows what that was? I also saw him actually cowering to his sister Sabrina last night and those two NEVER fight, but last night something was going on, so maybe it is an emotional issue? He did play string toys last night and seemed fine and seems in good health otherwise.

Any thoughts? We will keep a VERY close watch on him!!

Thank you!

It could be that he's feeling confused because everyone seems to be picking on him (in his mind)  .  It's very hard to tell with cats.  Do keep an eye on him and if he doesnt' eat, get him in to be seen, because that's a very telling sign that something is amiss.  Otherwise, just treat him like normal and see if whatever this is passes, if it's emotional. 

I've got a "screamer" who goes thru phases.  OMG what a screamer!  Plus he normally tells us every time he has to go to the litterbox.  Thankfully, if I NEED to check his urine or bowel output, I always know to just follow him in, since he kindly announces he's going in there   But every now and again he goes thru some phase or another and just stands around screaming.  When we go find him, he's just "there".  Nothing wrong, just "there".  I swear he's talking (loudly) to ghosts or something.  But he still eats, etc.  The one time he didn't, he was at the Vet about 2 hours later, since he's my little porker. 

We took him to the vet last night, she had to knock him out so she could examine him, ran bloodwork and took x-rays. His temperature and blood sugar levels were up but she attributed that to stress. I told her I had seen him twice looking to the left and making a "chewing" motion, she wondered if it was something neurological but said he responded just fine and in her words "he wanted to eat my assistant" which meant he was okay that way. She DID see a little bit of blood in the carrier, and he did pee in the carrier on the way down which we both knew was good meaning no blockage, so she gave him an antibiotic shot and an anti inflammatory shot in case of infection or cystitis and they told us he was there in 2013 for that too so maybe it is that? The x-ray also showed he had a lot of gas built up inside him but the stool was moving out normally. The only issue with his teeth was some buildup and inflammation around his back molars but otherwise good. He was crying yet during the night and this morning, but amazingly let both my wife and I pet him, almost like he was saying "thank you, I know you are trying to help me", but then went downstairs crying and hid under the sofa. I know he was just through tremendous trauma as he hasn't been to a vet since 2013, he doesn't feel well, gas is painful, he now has these shots running through him and that can make him not feel well, so we will see how it develops, but they seemed to rule out anything major.

If there are any clues in there that jump out at you please let me know, and thanks!

Well, cystitis can certainly cause pain, and excess gas can do the same thing.  Enough to cause them to cry out ?  I just don't know...what did the Vet thing?  I know I personally have had gas bad enough that I thought I was going to burst open (TMI, right ), so it's possible he might be in that predicament.  Have you recently changed his food or anything that might be causing this issue?  Did she discuss this at all with you?  What are you feeding him?  As to the possible cystitis, reducing stress is the best thing possible to prevent future issues. 

Here is an article on how to help reduce stress (in your cat )  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/six-surefire-strategies-to-reduce-stress-in-cats

We came home tonight and found Skipper dead, there was poop and pee and throwup around him, all the other cats were hiding. We just hope he didn't suffer, but he is not in pain now.....

God Bless you Skipper, we love you....rest in peace handsome boy.......

I am so sorry. That was a traumatic way to lose Skipper. There must have been something terribly wrong with him that even the vet couldn't find. I hope you allow yourself to grieve, and hold his memories close in your heart.

Les26 said:

 
We came home tonight and found Skipper dead, there was poop and pee and throwup around him, all the other cats were hiding. We just hope he didn't suffer, but he is not in pain now.....

God Bless you Skipper, we love you....rest in peace handsome boy.......

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Oh my gosh, how devastating!  Poor Skipper!!!  I'm so sorry for your loss.    As you say, he is no longer in pain.

Run free at the bridge, Skipper

Thank you for the support. He must've had something wrong with him, either hiding something as the vet last night "reminded" me that cats are masters at hiding illness from us, or had something sudden and catastrophic happen like a stroke or intestinal issue that didn't show up on the bloodwork or x-rays. The only way they could've found out was to put him through many tests like MRI's and such and he probably wouldn't have lived anyway, or it would've been a dangerous operation and/or his quality of life would've been poor.

He was one of many strays that we brought in from our backyard many years ago, and he was bitten by something and was declining rapidly; I still remember the vet saying "you saved his life, he wouldn't have lived out there like this", so he had at least 7 great years with food and shelter and love and companionship inside with his friends. He was not a people cat at all, he let us pet him only when HE wanted it, but other than that could've cared less about Deb and I, but he played string toys and laser light and we just accepted that he was like that. My mom summed it up last night when she said "that's all that he wanted, that's all that he needed.....that's all he needed" and it was true; had he wanted to become active with us we certainly were there and we tried MANY times to pet him and get affectionate with him but he wanted nothing to do with it 95% of the time, that's how he was. But we loved him, he loved us, he was our cat albeit in the "background" mostly, and he died at his home, not in a vet hospital. 

It is very sad to us, he was one of our boys, we couldn't get really affectionate with him but he lived his life the way that he wanted and died the way he would've wanted, at home, and he didn't suffer long or linger. I think even if they did know what he had we wouldn't been able to save him, but we saved him once many years ago and like a friend said "it is better to have a good short life than a long bad one", it must have just been his time to go.

But we miss him and love him, and will see him again someday. That makes 3 boys we lost in a little over two years....but I got the "sensation" this morning that they are talking to each other and saying to him "you'll love it up here....but boy weren't they great parents? That was Heaven on Earth, but this is the real Heaven, but they were great, we had a great life with them down there".

God Bless you Skipper....play in Heaven with all our lost cats and we will play string toys again someday. Rest in peace handsome boy.......

And I just looked on mrsgreenjeans post and he looked EXACTLY like Darko's picture from April 25th, 2016!

I am so sorry for your loss. Our cats are true hiders of pain. I can't even imagine the shock of finding him gone. Sometimes kitties have heart attacks like people and even if there was a vet-sometimes there is nothing you can do. You certainly didnt cause it and he decided on his own terms how he wanted things to be or it was something fast that there was nothing more to be done. Run free at the Bridge Skipper. So many deaths this week. My heart is heavy for all who have lost loved ones-both 4 legged and 2 legged.

I am so sorry to hear this news, it is always so devastating, but that must have been a terrible shock, especially after taking him tot he vet and getting no definite answers. I will no close this thread out of respect for Skipper, and I hope that you will feel able to open a tribute thread for him in the 'Crossing the Bridge' forum. Run free, Skipper.w