Not Feeling Well

[cmedeiros17]

My 1 1/2 yr old kitty Shalimar did not eat very well last night. He ate....but not his usual. This morning he's been curled up in my bed and won't leave. I thought maybe he was chilly and wanted my body eat. I got up and got all the kitties breakfast. He never came out. So I picked him up and brought him out to his breakfast. He sat there for a minute, "covered" up his food like he does when he's done and then went back to my bed. His nose is also dry. Do kitties sometimes get stomach bugs like we do??? Obviously if this goes on for more than 24 hours or gets worse I will call my vet.

Oh. I did get him to eat a few greenies though (his favorite treats).

For now, I am monitoring him closely. Hoping he feels better soon!!!! He is making his mommy nervous!!!!

 

[stephanietx]

Has he eaten yet? Hope he's feeling better.

 

[ziggy'smom]

He's most likely not feeling well. He could have a fever which would explain the dry nose and the not wanting to eat. Try feeding him some wet food that has been warmed slightly in the microwave to make it a bit more smelly.
Cats can of course get little "bugs" too just like people so he may just be feeling under the weather temporarily. It could be a million things, really.

 

[cmedeiros17]

I did call the vet yesterday afternoon. They said because he is not vomiting or having diarrhea, and is defecating normally and urinating ok I could give it overnite and see what happens. This morning he does seem a bit more alert. I have tried warming his wet food up but he has no interest. I've been forcing him to drink (using a straw and dropping drops in his mouth) because I havent really seen him go to the water fountain. He did urinate this morning (I followed him to the litterbox).

I gave him a few choices for breakfast today. More warm wet food, some dry kibble, and some plain chicken breast warmed up. He did sniff at it a little and I thought he was going to attemp eating it, but nope. He covered it up and that was that. Yesterday he wouldnt even sniff the food......so maybe he's starting to feel better????

I'm going to call the vet again this morning and see what they think. I am trying to avoid bringing him in if possible as I was just there with my two pugs and one one of the kitties and that was a hefty bill. Why do these thigns always happen at the worse time???

He's not bloated and I've felt him over from head to tail to make sure there are no strange lumps or anything hard on his belly etc. His nose is also moist again this morning (checked prior to giving him more water).

The vet opens in two hours......hopefully he'll improve some more before then. Wish us luck!

 

[cmedeiros17]

We have an appointment this morning to see the vet.......wish us luck. I hope its nothing serious!

 

[darlili]

I hope it's nothing serious, and I agree - none of these things happen at a good time. But I'm glad you're taking him in, though - a cat not eating could be nothing terrible, or can go bad quickly. You're a good parent!

Please let us know what they say, and how he's doing.

 

[cmedeiros17]

I'm home.....nervously awaiting my visit back to the vet. I have spent all morning there. They ran some bloodwork and did an xray- That was an hour of waiting anxiously. They did find something in his intestine though, not sure if it just a gas bubble or some type of icky buildup. He does have a fever (104 point something) and she kept asking if I was sure he didnt ingest anything. She was supsecting poisoning I guess at first. I combed my house (he's indoor only) when I first noticed him not feeling well. There is absolutely nothing he could have gotten into. She did say she couldnt feel anything when she felt his abdomen and he didnt appear to be in pain when she pushed on it. His blood work did show some low levels of white blood cells. She wanted to keep him for another few hours and get him on some fluids. And then do another Xray to see if that spot has moved along.......not quite sure what the next steps will be. I'm glad i took him in, thats for sure. They were also doing another blood test for something....I honestly don't remember what.....everything is kinda a blur cause I was freaking out.

I go back in about an hour and half........I am a nervous wreck! I don't want to lose my baby

 

[darlili]

Many vibes that doctor can come up with a diagnosis - and that it's something easily treatable And, boy, I can imagine both how happy you are you went in, and how nervous you are. I'm a wreck just waiting for them after a dental - I can't imagine how I'd be walking the floors waiting for tests to come back in.

 

[ziggy'smom]

Thank god you trusted your instinct and took him in! Not wanting to eat is always a sign that something is wrong and, as this case shows, it could very well be something significant. Hopefully it's nothing serious and he will get better with treatment.

Just a note to anyone reading this; I think it's a very good idea to get a quick fever thermometer and learn how to take your cat's temp. If the kitty is feeling under the weather and won't eat it could very well be a fever so it's good to be able to check to see if that's what it is. That way you won't have to guess and wait for more symptoms.
I really like the flexible thermometers that are made to be used on babies. I have one that only takes 8 seconds which is great.

I hope Shalimar will feel better soon. Poor baby. I've got all my fingers crossed.

 

[cmedeiros17]

Shalimar was released back to me yesterday. Still not quite sure what is going on. The thing in his intestine did move, so we are hoping whatever it is will pass. He appeared to be feeling much better when I picked him up in the afternoon. He had been given lots of fluids and an antibiotic. I was given more antibiotics to bring home as well as a laxative and some cans of A/D. He did actually eat last night!

This morning he finally pooped. I scooped out his poop to take a look at........hoping to find whatever was in there. I didn't find anything. No strings, no foreign objects, not even a hairball. But what I did notice is that the first two pieces of poop were rock hard and very dry. I'm sure that could have caused quite a bit of an uncomfortable feeling. We go back Monday for a recheck and I'm sure they'll do another xray.

He isn't as peppy as he was last night, but since he only passed the poo a little while ago I'm hoping if that was it, he'll start to feel better again. I'm syringe feeding him the A/D mixed with water since he decided not to eat again this morning. He's not as bad as he was yesterday. But he's definitely still not himself.

 

[catnamedpanda]

I hope he starts feeling better soon, and whatever it is making him ill clears up fast.

 

[blueorchid]

I hope he feels better soon. Good luck on his check up

 

[cmedeiros17]

Just a little update- he's still not eating/drinking on his own. I have been giving him a mix of the a/d wet food with water via syringe. He looked slightly better - more bright eyed- this morning. But definitely still not himself. Our appt is tonight, hoping to get some answers.

 

[darlili]

Lots of vibes that the little one starts perking up, and that the vet has some answers for you. It's so worrisome when they're under the weather, and they just can communicate what's wrong to us.

 

[cmedeiros17]

Here's an update:

We had our appt. Monday night and had quite a scare. I saw a different vet this time but I like her better anyway

I was informed that one of the blood tests they did Saturday might have had false results and they needed to re-run it using a different method. My heart sank.....this was the test for FLV. He had tested negative by eye, but apparently the machine read positive and they didn't notice this till later on. So I had to wait while they re-ran the test which felt like forever. And of course I was balling my eyes out.........THANKFULLY HE WAS DEFINITELY NEGATIVE. He still was running a fever, and still not eating. So she gave him some more fluids since that did help him last time. And even though he had a fever it was down a bit. She advised me to see what happens the next day. We were hoping his fever would finally break and hopefully his appetite would start to come back. If not, then she would give me some meds to stimulate his appetite. The next morning his fever did break YAY. But still not eating (I have been syringe feeding him). So picked up some appetite stimulant pills Tuesday night and that helped get him eating. Wednesday night he started acting weird. Roaming around and meowing alot......he NEVER meows. So it was definitely out of charachter for him. I did call the vet, but since he was not throwing up or any other signs they advised me to wait overnight. We had a followup scheduled the next day anyway. Took him to his followup and they took another Xray.......poor guy- apparently he was constipated

So had to leave him there and they gave him an enima and more fluids. I guess just from the whole ordeal of being sick and not eating and then starting eating again it messed his system up. He feels much better today finally!!!! Its been a long exhausting week but he's finally back to normal YAY. He has been ALL over me lol......wanting to be pet and purring up a storm.