Cat won't eat, drink, respond after vet.

mishka7

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Hi, hopefully this is the correct section to post!

On Friday around 11PM our cat Mishka was brought to a emergency vet (not by us but by someone that had found her) and suspected that she had been hit by a car.
We were notified and made it to vet at 1am to check on her. She'd been x-rayed and they'd attempted to take blood at the time but couldn't.
For context she's about 4 years old and was adopted from a shelter when she was 1. She's a domestic longhair and likes to spend a good portion of the day outside,
she doesn't go near strangers and disappears completely when we have visitors. She's very responsive to attention from those she trusts.
Even after attempted toilet training she doesn't know how to use a litter tray or clean herself properly which is why she's more of an outside cat now.
I have to include she's also a bit 'odd' she's very slow when she walks, but not fatigued. she sleeps as much as a regular cat and when it comes
to catching bugs and the odd bird she's as agile as any cat.
Her x-rays were completely clear and they had her in a little glass cage with an oxygen tank because they were worried about her blood oxygen levels.
The doctor had also given her Ilium Methadone (0.12 of 20ML) but we're not entirely sure why as she wasn't administered any anesthetics.
The doctor still couldn't tell us what had happened to her even when we picked her up at 8am the next day but it had been 40℃/104℉ so she could have gotten sick in the heat?
The fact that strangers were able to pick her up off the side of the road and put her into a car (her worst nightmare) suggests she was very unwell.
on the way home in the car with us she was howling as usual but was still nuzzling against my fingers through the cat carrier.
We got her home 9am Saturday and it is now 3pm Sunday and she hasn't eaten or drunk or barely moved.
She won't respond to being petted and as soon as we touch her she gets up and moves to another spot.
She's still unable to walk properly even though it was such a small dose of Methadone and she spent the night under a bush outside because she howled at the door til we let her out.
When I brought her in this afternoon around 2PM I put her in front of the food bowl and water bowl and she just walked away without even smelling and collapsed on the rug under the table.
I'm really worried but all vets are closed on Sunday and we can't afford another $2000AUD emergency vet visit.
She was on fluids and electrolytes while at the vet, could that be why she is uninterested in food/water still?
Today is 30℃/86℉ so I thought she'd be thirsty by now.

Just now we've cooked up some chicken (her absolute favorite) and have offered her it raw even now but she just turns her head away.
 

moorspede

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The Emergency vets in inner Sydney just require a deposit, I would think it may be the same where you are? You could ring them and find out. They will also talk you through how to keep her comfortable if you cannot afford the deposit.

She could be dehydrated, can you gently pinch her on her back and check whether the skin snaps back to normal quickly, if it doesn't she's dehydrated. You could also check her gums, dry or pale games mean that she is dehydrated. 

As for not eating you could try placing some ground up treat on top of the chicken. Have you any sardines handy? They are really smelly and cats will often eat those.

She may just be feeling very sore and sorry for herself, keep her as quiet as possible but I really do recommend talking to the Emergency vet. That much heat for a prolonged amount of time can be serious.

Please keep in touch and let us know how she is going. 
 
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red top rescue

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Methadone is not commonly used by vets in the USA but is very common in veterinary practice in Australia.  It doesn't last very long and is used for pain relief and relaxation so the vet can examine the animal. (See description below.)  That would be preferable to anesthetics when you don't know what is wrong with the animal and don't want to make things worse.  I would definitely get her to your regular vet and continue watching her.  If she were hit by a car, she would still be in pain even if nothing is obviously broken.  She could also have some internal soft tissue damage that would nt show on x-ray but could cause changes in her blood panel.  She should not go more than 24 hours without eating or drinking, so if I were you, I would take her to your regular vet today.

http://alreemvet.com/products/item/476-ilium-methadone.html
CLINICAL APPLICATION
Methadone is administered for relief of pain in horses, dogs and cats. Analgesia peaks between 10 and 20 minutes post-administration and persists three to five hours.

In combination with acetylpromazine injection, methadone is an effective agent of restraint and analgesia in horses, facilitating treatment of wounds, handling and loading of difficult animals, suturing, laryngoscopy, castration and minor surgical procedures. Following intravenous administration onset of action is rapid and clinical effect is usually sufficient within 3 minutes to begin the procedure. Horses rarely become recumbent or ataxic after methadone/acetylpromazine administration, even at high doses. Clinical doses produce a somnolent but aware state in which the patient is tractable, placid and sufficiently coordinated to minimise risk of injury to animal or operator.  In cats, methadone is used as a premedicant for inhalational anaesthesia. Compatability with acepromazine and propofol has been demonstrated. Repeat doses of methadone for analgesia can be given at 3 time points with 5 hour intervals.
 
 

cat-tech

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The emergency vet visit/followup would be worth it to make sure she's going to be ok.  Did the vet offer to do blood work before you picked her up, or did you decline?  That really should have been done to determine her vital organ function (after a night of rest on fluids and pain control, he really should have been able to get a blood draw from her before releasing her).

It could have been heatstroke, but the vet should have been able to recognize that immediately (especially if she had a significantly high body temperature etc).  If he said it wasn't heat stroke, then you have to determine her vital organ function (kidneys, heart, liver etc) - a heart condition (combined with the difficulty of high outdoor temps), should definitely be ruled out.  A toxin should also be ruled out, since she's exposed to the outdoors, there are so many potential toxins she could have gotten into - blood work and a urinalysis would determine that.

Since she is so ill, please, keep her indoors because you have to be able to monitor her closely.  If, for example, she was exposed to a toxin, she's exposed over and over by allowing her outdoors.

In the near future, after you and your vet have determined what's wrong, spend some time learning how to acclimate her indoors and using the litter box appropriately.  Some cats don't like certain types of litter, or, the litter box isn't large enough they're comfortable with, or the placement of the litter box isn't ideal - many variables to sort out, but training a cat to use the litter box CAN be done.  This also allows you to always be able to see changes in urine or defecation habits.  For now, try using two litter boxes, one with scoopable litter, the other with litter pellets, or simple paper towels folded over in the box, she may surprise you and let you know she prefers one or the other. 

For future reference, IF this were heatstroke, it can take time to recover fully, but you should know that once a pet suffers heatstroke, there is the potential they could be extremely susceptible to suffering it again, just another reason to keep her indoors for her health and safety. 

What is most important right now, though, is ruling out other problems, such as heart disease or toxin.  Please, re-consider getting her back to the ER, you can't risk her getting worse.
 
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