I have a 6 year old cat named Baxter. He's been perfectly healthy his entire life, is neutered, and is up to date on all of his vaccinations. He could stand to lose a pound or two, but it's been fairly recently that he's gained the weight. He's slowed down a little bit since his mom died a few months ago, making him an only cat for the first time in his life. We live in the country so we don't have to worry about cars, so we let him go outside (supervised) for a little bit during the day.
Anyway, now that the background information is out of the way, he started acting weird this afternoon. He was playing outside this morning, and when I went to let him in, he was pretty dirty. My mom didn't want him tracking dirt around the house, so I left him outside for a little longer so he could have a chance to clean himself up. He was completely fine then, and was fine with me touching him and picking him up.
But this afternoon he started acting weird. He's suddenly shedding all over the place, and he was moving around weird. Almost like he was crouching low to the ground and slinking around when he walked. He immediately went under our buffet, and has been lying there for hours. But it's different from his normal laziness. When I got out his treats, he was interested in those, but immediately went back under the buffet when he was done eating them. I didn't see any wounds on him, and he didn't mind being pet on his head or his back, but as soon as I went near him stomach or tried to pick him up, he hissed and moved back. And he never hisses at anyone. So I'm not sure if he's hurt, or if he just really didn't want to be picked up. The only thing I could come up with was that we had an ice storm recently, and today it was warm enough that everything was melting, so chunks of ice were falling off of everything, and maybe some of it fell on him. I really have no idea what's wrong with him, but if he's not acting better in the morning I'm taking him to the vet.
I'm sorry this post is so long, but I just wanted to be really detailed. If anyone has any ideas of what could be wrong, and/or how to keep him comfortable for the night, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks in advance.
Anyway, now that the background information is out of the way, he started acting weird this afternoon. He was playing outside this morning, and when I went to let him in, he was pretty dirty. My mom didn't want him tracking dirt around the house, so I left him outside for a little longer so he could have a chance to clean himself up. He was completely fine then, and was fine with me touching him and picking him up.
But this afternoon he started acting weird. He's suddenly shedding all over the place, and he was moving around weird. Almost like he was crouching low to the ground and slinking around when he walked. He immediately went under our buffet, and has been lying there for hours. But it's different from his normal laziness. When I got out his treats, he was interested in those, but immediately went back under the buffet when he was done eating them. I didn't see any wounds on him, and he didn't mind being pet on his head or his back, but as soon as I went near him stomach or tried to pick him up, he hissed and moved back. And he never hisses at anyone. So I'm not sure if he's hurt, or if he just really didn't want to be picked up. The only thing I could come up with was that we had an ice storm recently, and today it was warm enough that everything was melting, so chunks of ice were falling off of everything, and maybe some of it fell on him. I really have no idea what's wrong with him, but if he's not acting better in the morning I'm taking him to the vet.
I'm sorry this post is so long, but I just wanted to be really detailed. If anyone has any ideas of what could be wrong, and/or how to keep him comfortable for the night, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks in advance.