Hi, i joined this forum specifically to ask this question, i have two cats, one of whom was missing since tuesday afternoon.
We just found him tonight, up a tree, about two miles away. i doubt he was up there the whole time, since he seemed warm and dry (and it's been only about 40 degrees during the day here in WI and about 20 degrees during the night, and we had snow earlier today).
I wrapped him in towels to bring him home, got him inside, and he immediately greeted my other cat , his 'big buddy'. Then i fed him and he has eaten four helpings of food so far over an hour and a half. i mixed soft food with tuna juice, and heated it up so that it was smoother on his poor little throat.
He is breathing fine, his heart rate is normal, he doesn't seem injured in any way, he just seems slightly disoriented, really tired, and dehydrated (a state i constantly fight with him...he doesn't like drinking water so i have to either shoot it down his throat with an open plastic syringe, or mix alot of water into his soft food, or soak hard food in the water and then let him drink that).
He has gone 'missing' overnight before, multiple times, and always shows up in the morning, so he isn't a stranger to finding a place to bunk for the night, and has never shown much distress at cold temperatures (and even wet condtions on top of cold temperatures). Aside from being hungry, and sleeping all day when he came back, he's been fine.
My question is, what sort of special care should i give him for the next few days? Are there any signs i should look for in him that would indicate a trip to the vet is very necessary? Also, any tips on his feeding or getting him to drink on a regular basis would be welcome.
Thank you very much!!!!
We just found him tonight, up a tree, about two miles away. i doubt he was up there the whole time, since he seemed warm and dry (and it's been only about 40 degrees during the day here in WI and about 20 degrees during the night, and we had snow earlier today).
I wrapped him in towels to bring him home, got him inside, and he immediately greeted my other cat , his 'big buddy'. Then i fed him and he has eaten four helpings of food so far over an hour and a half. i mixed soft food with tuna juice, and heated it up so that it was smoother on his poor little throat.
He is breathing fine, his heart rate is normal, he doesn't seem injured in any way, he just seems slightly disoriented, really tired, and dehydrated (a state i constantly fight with him...he doesn't like drinking water so i have to either shoot it down his throat with an open plastic syringe, or mix alot of water into his soft food, or soak hard food in the water and then let him drink that).
He has gone 'missing' overnight before, multiple times, and always shows up in the morning, so he isn't a stranger to finding a place to bunk for the night, and has never shown much distress at cold temperatures (and even wet condtions on top of cold temperatures). Aside from being hungry, and sleeping all day when he came back, he's been fine.
My question is, what sort of special care should i give him for the next few days? Are there any signs i should look for in him that would indicate a trip to the vet is very necessary? Also, any tips on his feeding or getting him to drink on a regular basis would be welcome.
Thank you very much!!!!