cat not feeling well? need advice please

Hi,

My cat Spike who is normally very active and playful, has been acting kind of strangely lately. He ignores my other cat when she wants to play and I often see him "crouching" somewhere.

But he does play sometimes, and seems to be eating fine, and using the litter box normally and because of this I thought maybe I was just imagining something (I am sort of a hypocondriac when it comes to my animals ) I thought maybe he is just slowing down a little as he is not a kitten anymore (2 1/2) although my other cat is very active at 4yrs old.

He went for his annual check up last week and they said he looked fine. Sometimes he seems fine for a few days and then -- he doesn't. (btw he is a strictly indoor cat, tho he has had some fleas in the past)

All this has been going on for a couple of weeks, and the only other symptom he has had is that he threw up once last week (unusual for him). I am thinking of taking him back to the vet, but I am afraid they will just do another check up and tell me to watch for other symptoms. (I don't have enough money for that) I am new to my town, so I have only seen this vet once before.

Right now my only idea - this is kinda weird - is that he might have been eating some shampoo or soap. He has been licking his feet alot, and this morning I found him drinking water from the bottom of the bathtub - don't know how long that has been going on!

Anyway, with all the combined cat experience on this board, I thought maybe you guys could give me some ideas about what could be wrong with him, maybe what I should ask the vet to check for. Or whether I should take him in, or wait and see. I have never had a cat act "sort-of sick" before and don't know what to do. I hope I AM just imagining it, but would rather be safe than sorry.

Thank you!
Erin

Hi Erin,

Cats are such a puzzle aren't they? I know it is worrisome when they are acting off, and usually any behavior that isn't their normal way to do things is a way for them to get our attention.

If he got into something toxic, depending on what it was and how much he got, he would definitely not feel well. But all he is doing is crouching? He is eating, drinking? playing, using the litter pans? Is he feverish? Dehydrated? Do you know how to check for dehydration? While he is on the floor lightly scruff his neck and pinch it into a tent, release it and see if if folds down quickly (in seconds) or if it stays tented up?If it stays peaked up, you should get him to the vet quickly.

He could have eaten something that disagrees with him, been injured by your other cat (which would be one reason he doesn't want to play) But really, you are his caretaker, and he depends on you for that care, so if he is worrying you- at least call your vet and talk to them and see what they say. My guess is, they will tell you to watch him, ask if you have taken his temperature and then tell you if he acts worse to bring him in-

Puzzles indeed!

The drinking water from the bath tub tells me he is thirsty and the licking of the feet tells me either his feet hurt or he has something foreign on his feet.

The only advice I have for you is this: You know your cat better than anyone else. If you ~think~ something is wrong, it probably is. When was the last time you requested that blood labs be drawn and interpreted? If is has been a while or if you have never had them done, maybe now would be a good time to ask your vet to do it?

Please keep us posted?

~gf~

Good luck with finding out if anything is wrong. I know it can be tough to figure out what the problems are sometimes. Best wishes.

Thanks for the advice and good wishes!

I called my vet before I posted, and they had said that they couldn't really say anything unless I brought him in.

I did the dehyrdration check, and he isn't dehydrated.
His temperature is 100.4.

What kind of blood labs do you mean? I had him tested for FIV/FeLV when I found him (he was a stray kitten) and I don't think he could have been exposed since then. Are there other kinds of tests they could do?

I don't want to pay for a vet visit if they aren't going to be able to do anything because of a lack of symptoms, but if there is something wrong with him I want to find out!

thanks!
Erin

Blood tests would be the same thing they would do for a human. Check white blood cell count; kidney and liver functions; and I'm not really sure what else. ( I'm just a fellow cat owner.) I do know that a blood panel can tell a lot about what's going on with a sick cat.

okay, just got back from the vet.

Got the blood tests done and retested for FIV/FeLV and everything came back normal except for something which made her think that he has some kind of viral infection. She said to just keep an eye on him, and come back if he gets worse
or doesn't improve within 2 wks. (I told her he has not been feeling well for about 2 weeks aready)

So I sort of feel better, but I am still worried about him. 2+ weeks just seems like a long time for him to be sick!

Just hoping that he will be back to normal soon!

thanks again everyone,
Erin

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Spike soon feels better. If he has been licking his feet a lot, I'd wonder if they were perhaps irritated due to a rug shampoo, cleanser, or detergent that you've used recently or use on a regular basis. Years ago, I noticed that our then dog and cat seemed to be licking their paws a lot on weekends. After I thought about it, I decided it might have been because of my scrubbing the floors every Friday, and switched from a commercial detergent to a bit of vinegar in water, and the licking stopped. Nowadays I only use steam to clean everything. You might want to look into "pet-safe" cleansers, etc..

The only thing I can think of is I did change to a different litter - a fine-grained clumping kind. Maybe the litter is getting in his feet?
After the new litter is gone I think I will switch back and see what happens. Not sure how bad it is for him to be eating little bits of litter, but it can't be good

Originally Posted by Serval

The only thing I can think of is I did change to a different litter - a fine-grained clumping kind. Maybe the litter is getting in his feet?
After the new litter is gone I think I will switch back and see what happens. Not sure how bad it is for him to be eating little bits of litter, but it can't be good

Click to expand...

That could be.