My 10 year old kitty started acting funny tonight. Very concerned. Hissing. Can't sit still.

I hope someone can help.

After being perfectly fine all day, one of my two cats suddenly started racing around the living room. Couldn't sit still. No idea why. I picked her up and she hissed at me... something she NEVER does.

She has been battling a bad case of fleas, so I thought maybe that had something to do with it. I don't use any pesticides on my cats (including toxic flea drops). I de-flea them using a mixture of 4-parts warm-water, 1 part Hydrogen Peroxide, and about 1/4 oz of Peppermint Extract that I comb through using a flea comb. I kill the fleas off rinsing the comb in the solution. Works great, but you have to do it daily over a week (as well as vacuum) to get them all.

So I de-flead her and found about 2 dozen of the nasty buggers. She was still growling through most of it and refused to let me comb her belly (most fleas were on her back/neck anyway). When I felt I had gotten most/all of them, I dried her off & set her down, where she promptly disappeared in the (dark) space between the couch-arm & wall (not her usual spot. Took me a while to find her.)

When I finally found her, she was still going nuts, twisting & spinning, eyes as wide as saucers. When she saw me, she hissed again and tried to claw & bite me. She was in obvious distress.

When I finally chased her out of the corner, she found a spot on the couch where she keeps licking the underside of one leg. No sign of injury or redness. If I pet her, she gives a low growl, calms down, but then may suddenly hiss for no reason.

She remained restless for another ten minutes, alternating between twisting/spinning activity & rest. While resting, I noticed she was breathing rapidly & drooling. And it is difficult to tell from touch, but her ears felt warm (compared to her sister.) My first thought was "rabies", but she's a strictly INDOOR cat and I don't have mice.

As I type this, she has finally calmed down, still licking her fur in that way that tells me I didn't get all the fleas.

My poor kitty has a history of medical problems, nearly dying from Salmonella two years ago, and nearly dying from e.Colli last April. Both have weakened her immune system, and left me too broke to pay for another major illness if she is having a serious problem now.

Does any of this sound familiar to anyone? Thanks.

Sadly, I would get something to rid her of the fleas. I know it goes against your feelings of pesticides, but revolution or any of the drops that go on the back of the neck will get rid of fleas and ticks. If you don't, she runs the risk of getting many ailments, including anemia and lyme disease. Plus, they are likely driving her crazy. That kind of itching is horrid.

Do NOT use ANY store bought flea collars--THOSE are horrid. The drops you get from the vet clinic are very affordable and I found none toxic compared to the flea collars/powders (they have no odor). 

If your kitty has a compromised immune system, I really, really urge you to do this.

if her skin has flea bites - which it surely does - the peroxide probably really burns, and may leave some residual burning, too  since you washing your cat would be the cause of the burning, she probably really wants to stop it from happening.  i tried to battle our indoor-only cat's fleas, but gave in and have applied a topical as it's less toxic for the cat than flea collars and he has developed mild anemia that can grow worse.

good luck with your kitty!

I too resorted to pesticides. Fleas itch like mad in a normal cat but if she has any kind of a case of flea allergy or flea allergy dermatitis one single bit will drive her insane for weeks. I've found comfortis tablets to do an amazing job and initially gave each of mine a dose of capstar just to get rid of what was already on them (don't give both within 24 hours of each other of course).

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

Her fever appears to have broken overnight and she is no longer twisting, spitting & hissing. Despite removing so many fleas, she was still biting last night so I combed some flea powder through her fur with her normal brush. I have doing this too often because the powder also dries out her skin, causing still more itching so I can't tell if the cause is fleas or the powder.

I've tried several different flea drops before and none of them did a bit of good.  I realized whatever was in those drops was making them feel terrible because every time my cats saw me coming with the package, they ran & hid. I've never seen a reaction to ANYTHING like that before (not even pet meds) so I knew they must be making them feel terrible. So I stopped buying them.

A couple of years ago, my vet charged me over $100 for the latest "Advantage" drops, which didn't do a bit of good. Complete waste of money.

When the fleas get so bad a simple peroxide rinse is no longer enough, the next best step is a bath using cheap dandruff shampoo, which kills the fleas and soothes their skin. But they HATE baths and the resulting mess takes a 1/2 hour to clean up. But clearly, that's what she now needs.

I'm just SO glad whatever was wrong seems to have been temporary. Her head doesn't feel particularly warm this morning and she isn't scratching. But she WILL be getting that bath!

Thanks again.

basschick said:

 
if her skin has flea bites - which it surely does - the peroxide probably really burns

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Thanks. I make sure to dilute the solution enough so it probably shouldn't burn, and she had calmed down by the end of the comb/wash to where I don't think it was the cause of any pain. But she sure had me worried last night with the twisting & hissing.

An added benefit of the peroxide is to kill any bacteria that might infect her scratches.

But today she's getting an actual bath and the house a vacuuming.

Thanks again.

Tobilei said:

 
I've found comfortis tablets to do an amazing job and initially gave each of mine a dose of capstar just to get rid of what was already on them

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I'm not familiar with "comfortis tablets", and getting them to take ANY pill is an ordeal. But I'll look into it. Thx.

I believe that Comfortis had a role in the death of my cat.  I would not use this product for anything!  You might do some research on it before you let them force this poison upon your cat and you!