Sick Adult Foster

[sonyushashuman]

I am fostering a sick adult cat for a shelter. She is about 3, but looks like a senior cat. Her coat is dirty and unkempt and she is seriously underweight. She was adopted as a kitten and surrendered for her health. No good details provided.

Blood work and urinalysis showed nothing abnormal. She will sometimes eat a bit and sometimes not at all. Very picky. Right now she prefers Wellness and eats the pate only mixed in a slurry, which is just as well as she drinks no water.

She always seems cold and after I snuggle her and warm her up she will usually eat.

She hardly moves around at all, just stays curled in a tight little ball.

She will chatter at me when I go in to her, and loves to be held. She rarely leaves her tent bed willingly, seemingly even to urinate. The bedding is always smelly in the am, but dry. This evening I took in her evening meal and as I was chatting with her I heard a tinkle - sure enough she had peed right there in her bed. Then just lay there in it (until I moved her to clean her up and change the bedding.)

She ate most of her food and curled right back up in a little ball. I have her in a room with a fireplace and am keeping it warm. I have a heating pad for her. She still always seems cold to the touch, especially her ears. When I puck her up she snuggles under my chin and purrs and does an odd shuddering thing for a while almost like she is shivering. She clings to you and doesn't always want to be put back down.

She has been here only a few nights so I wasn't expecting a miracle. We were just hoping she would do better outside the shelter. I imagine she will need to see a vet again, but I don't know what they're going to look for.

Just wondering if anyone has run across something similar. She had been at the shelter for a couple of months and while her appetite has improved somewhat, she still seems either very depressed, very scared or very sick.

 

[dahli6]

You say she was surrendered for her health, do you know by chance if she was from an overcrowded household?
Her behavior and health seems like she is used to hiding for long periods of time.

If that is the case then the best thing for her might be emotional therapy. Grooming her, snuggling her in a warm blanket while you watch tv or read.
Move the litterbox closer to her tent and see if she comes out voluntarily to use it. Feed her small amounts of food several times a day until she starts eating more. Housecats that are bullied by other cats often have fear of the litterbox, food and water. They hide for long periods so they develop similar symptoms to anorexia too. They might have trouble with rich foods or only eat a little bit because they are used to being chased away.

 

[maggiedemi]

Poor little girl. Thank you for helping her. Has she been de-flead and de-wormed? Have they tried antibiotics?

 

[di and bob]

How was her white blood cell count? If high, it would indicate an antibiotic is needed. Peeing while she is laying there is very serious, she definitely needs help. You might offer kitten replacement/senior milk, and kitten wet food to encourage her to eat, I really think she is so run down she is near death. Get some Gerber baby food in turkey, etc, and see if she will eat. Most cats won't refuse bacon, fry her some up and see if she will eat. She most likely needs dewormed badly, but under a vet's supervision since she is so run down. Now is not the time to worry about nutrition, just get her to eat and worry about it later. Keeping her warm is good, cuddles and encouragement are wonderful. Get some puppy pee pads to keep under her bedding to keep it dry. On top of the heat pad, (it has a waterproof lining) but under a light blanket. It really helps with cleaning. Bless you for caring for her, I'll pray for you both.

 

[weemomma]

My first instinct is abuse. This cat sounds like they were terribly abused. Especially if there is nothing showing up in the bloodwork.

Your description of her body condition reminds me so much of when my girl had histoplasmosis. It came out of left field for us, but it made her look like she was ancient when she was only 7. She was down to 4lbs, listless, but she had an appetite. Now she's a happy, healthy, fat, loving 10 year old. However, it was caught with a blood test that showed abnormal white cells.

I hope that something can be found, but in the mean time, love her up!

 

[sonyushashuman]

I don't know if she came from an overcrowded house or not, though I can attest to the fact that she hates other cats. She is isolated from mine right now. The only time I have seen her with another cat, she screamed. Like a person, screamed.

I work from home, so she spends a good deal of time curled up with me by the fire while I work.

I have wondered about abuse myself, but really have no way to judge that. She seems terrified, but does love to snuggle up. I picked up some pee pads for her at the shelter today, so that definitely does help.

I may try moving her to a smaller space. My typical foster bathroom has another foster in residence and while she comes out, she is an older cat in kidney failure who often retreats to "her" space. I can't boot her out. The master bathroom may be less scary as it is at least smaller than the bedroom.

Absolutely nothing off in the blood work after at least one retest. I know that she was wormed on intake.

I did make her a slurry with some KMR as I just sent a foster litter off and had some left. She ate that fairly well, though I will find something more age appropriate.

She's a seeetheart and I hope we can figure it out, as she is so obviously unhappy right now.

Thank you so much for the suggestions and encouragement.

 

[dahli6]

What you have described sounds exactly like a cat who was being picked on by a pack. The previous owner probably did what they could but we're overwhelmed, since she isn't afraid of humans. I would really just keep doing what you are doing.
Giving her love and building her confidence.
She may never be ok around other cats though.

 

[sonyushashuman]

She seems afraid of everything. When I go into the bedroom she hides under the bed, but will come out with some coaxing. She purrs and clings when held and after a few minutes of this she will usually be willing to eat.


Today she was snuggled in my lap and I was trying to interest her in her food when she peed on me. I don't mean a dribble, this was a large amount of urine. She has not used the litter box at all. She pees in her bed and poops where she happens to be hiding.

I just relocated her to a bathroom, which has annoyed my own cats who are used to having a box there, but the other bathrooms have fosters already. Hopefully the smaller space will help her relax.

 

[dahli6]

Is it a bathroom that you use?
She still needs to spend a lot of time with you. The bathroom is good because it is enclosed and
easier to clean up. Fasten the cupboards(unless they are fastened already)so she can't hide in them.
This will make it harder for her to hide. Talk to her or just talk to yourself when you are in there and give her attention for short periods.
I actually set up a place to comfortably sit and read or watch videos on my tablet when one of my cats was ill and needed to be separated for convalescence.
If you give her too much space she might regress.

 

[di and bob]

She truly appears to be terrified to the point of being unable to move. My heart goes out to her. I almost cried when I thought she finally relaxed enough to pee when you were holding her. She is starting to trust you, what a way to show it! Would it be possible to get her to take a calming med? I wonder if it would help. It is made up of supplements and herbs and I get mine on Amazon. It helps tremendously with petrified cats that go to the vet. You are her guardian angel now, best wishes to you both.

 

[sonyushashuman]

It is a bathroom I use, yes. It is upstairs where my office is located.

Since I work from home, I usually do my morning email tasks with her and babble at her about work etc.. She was actually more relaxed this morning and lay in my lap for a while like a "normal" cat rather than tensed up so tightly. She seems to like to be groomed, so I do that a few times as well. She's a DSH but her coat is looking a little rough.

I'm stocked up on hospital scrubs, old towels, Natures Miracle, extra beds, bath mats and pee pads. It isn't exactly pleasant being urinated on but I am prepared.

She peed on me again. Here's hoping this phase doesn't last much longer. It's odd how little smell I notice from her urine. She doesn't drink anything that I can tell, yet I don't smell a strong odor from her bedding (which is always wet in the morning.). I've only ever noticed that in my CKD fosters who drink a lot. Her kidney values are fine and she still drinks almost nothing.

If I can get her to pee in a box, I picked up some litter for a urine catch to rule anything out there - it turns out they have not done a urinalysis, yet. I'm not sure at this point if I will take her in to have her urine drawn if this doesn't work. I'm afraid of just traumatizing her more than she is right now.

 

[sonyushashuman]

I have a feliway dispenser in with her but I could try a calming med if I can get it into her!

 

[dahli6]

You should definitely do a urine draw to rule out health completely, that way you can focus on the spirit, mental health.