Worried about my cat

[Jaileth]

I am really starting to stress about my cat. :( She's gotten a whole heap thinner lately, her nose is rarely wet (which is weird for her) and this morning I found a scrape on her side.

She is a purely indoor cat, so the chances of her having worms is minimal (the way that I understand it anyway) but she'll be wormed tomorrow regardless. She's still using her tray regularly (for both things) although some days she almost floods it.

I have no idea how she got the scrape. It's on her left side, right near her back leg. It looks like what happens when they kick themselves too hard, or they've been scratching in the one area too long - but even though she's a cat, she can't get her back claws to that height!

Please help! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I really don't know what's wrong with her. All her behaviour (or what I see of her anyway) seems normal - she might be slightly more sleepy than usual, but that could be due to the heat.

I may be stressing over nothing, but I'm really worried about my little girl! :(

[aardvark]

Sounds like a trip to the vet is in order.

Have you made note of her inputs and outputs? The vet will ask if she has been eating and excreting normally.

I'd tend to hold off on the worming medication until I had seen the vet. If there is something going on with the gut (such as an obstruction), it could possibly make things worse.

[JellyBean06]

I'd go with the obstruction too...cats are shocking for twisting their bowels/intestines.

With the excessive urinating it could also be kidney failure or something along those lines. I'd get her to a vet. How old is she?

[Jaileth]

An obstruction? Hmmm...

She turned five last August. She seems to be eating and excreting normally - although she didn't eat her breakfast this morning (she gets fed twice a day).

With an obstruction, wouldn't her belly be sore? As in, wouldn't she flinch or back away when you touch it?

Thanks for replying! Given me something to think about. Now I just have to find out when the vets are open!

[JellyBean06]

My cat dropped down dead at Four from congenital heart disease and I had no idea! (could have shot the breeder!). Check her gums....are they still a nice pink? How do her teath look for plaque and gingivitis? Most good vets are open until 9pm with emergency after hours.

[Jaileth]

OMG!! Hope you had words with the breeder. That's really not fair!

Checked her gums - lovely and pink. A little bit of plaque - and (another silly question) what's gingivitis? What does it look like?

Thanks so much for helping out. I completly forgot about checking her gums. Just too stressed out to think straight, I guess! :o

[JellyBean06]

Pinks good and all cats (one of mine is shocking!) get Plaque. Gingivitis will look like red puffiness around the base of the teeth. They can get poisoning from it. Is she really peeing alot? Is it all in her tray or anywhere?

This might be an overkill but have a look anyway -

http://www.gladesvillevet.com.au/indexPrev.php?updaterUrlPrev=NewsArticleDisplay.ph p&artId=111

She could have also gotten a tick and been trying to scratch it, fleas can also cause blood poisoning. It could be FIV. My (idiot) cat caught Feline Chlamydia by being in the vacinity of a neighbours cat who had it (he's an indoor cat - just looked out the screen door). Now he has it for life and gets colds from it!

[reAllytee]

She may even have a UTI but yeah i head off to the vets asap its not worth taking a chance IMO as it could really be anything as most vets say cats can be difficult to "fix" as they often dont show signs of a problem until too late or just drop dead :(
Catch it as early as possible i did with my cat when her kidneys started failing she was approx 7yrs & she lived till she was 12yrs without any suffering because it was found early.

[Jaileth]

You know what? The little rat is looking (and acting) so much better today! :rolleyes: Sometimes I think she does it just to scare me. Will see how she goes tomorrow, and if she even hints at going down hill, off to the vets for us.

Thanks again for all of your help everyone!

[reAllytee]

Hahahahah !!!!
That sounds like my sisters dog who conveniently has a "sore" foot when she wants attention limps & even whimpers when doing a good job lol then when my sister turns away from her or goes inside she is miraculously cured ! Playing games or the like.
Funny little buggers :p

[JnA]

Hi Shaelia

this might sound strange, but my cat did some wierd illness type things just before I gave birth. I stressed and took her to the vet who (although gave me some antibiotics) also said that the cat might be attention seeking, because of the impending birth. Is your cat female? Seems they can 'tell' when it's almost time and perhaps they sense a loss of attention? (sounded wierd to me at the time, but there *may* be something in it hormone changes and such they might be able to smell)

Anyway, I hope your cat gets better and best of luck for your birth (I can see it's soon!)

[LilShenanigans]

It reminded me of one of my cats that actually had kidney failure.. urinating a lot, thinning etc etc...

I haven't noticed a prob with my current kitty who is struggling for attention (shes just over a year old).. noticed the change, but has adapted quite well.

Definately hold off any meds, get to the vet and checked out. They will probably want to keep the cat over night to monitor it just incase...

[aardvark]

I can relate to the attention seeking cat with impending birth.

My little black thing has been all over me like a rash for the last 48 hours - since the head has engaged. She follows me to the loo, she wants to sit on my chest.

I'd still be concerned about your cat if it is peeing a lot. Also be concerned if she takes to a corner. Cats often nick off to die, and will find a dark corner where you don't know where they are in the house if they are fading. One of my cats hid in the spare bedroom with a bowel obstruction, we were lucky to find her among the boxes etc in time. She needed urgent surgery to save her.

[Clio]

Hahahahah !!!!
That sounds like my sisters dog who conveniently has a "sore" foot when she wants attention limps & even whimpers when doing a good job lol then when my sister turns away from her or goes inside she is miraculously cured ! Playing games or the like.
Funny little buggers :p

Ha ha! My dog does that sometimes. When she was a little puppy she was outside playing in the garden when I heard her yelp. She came out from behind some bushes limping. I quickly picked her up and ran inside and put her down to see her sore foot. She just lay there whimpering. I got so concerned as I thought maybe a snake had bitten her ( it was the middle of summer) so I called the vet.:o As I turned my back on her to talk to the vet she leaped up and attacked me. She thought it was a great game. Cheeky bugger!
Sorry I have gone off on a tangent here.:)

I don't have much experience with cats- I have never owned one due to being allergic to them and my mother's phobia of them, but a few years ago my friend's cat suddenly got sick- turns out it had some type of cancer and had no chance of surviving. They didn't notice the symptoms until it was too late. If you are concerned I would get it checked out.

[Jaileth]

lol - she probably is palying games too.

Tried to check the scrape on her side again this morning, and I can't find it :confused: I know I'm looking in the right spot, so maybe its cleared up? It wasn't that bad to start with - but ooohhhh! I hate it when she does this!!! She's only done it about twice before, but both times I get all worked up and worried, and the little 'darlin' is fine! :rolleyes:

She might be able to tell, she's letting me hold her for longer periods now (in the last week or so) - before, she'd jump straigh out of my arms :rolleyes: Now, she doesn't want to leave them.

She's not peeing too much - been wondering if it's cause of the way dh (who's changing her trays atm) fills her trays up.

And she's pretty good - she's laying in plain site - her new fav spot is on the washing machine box, which is on it's side. It has a big bow in it from her jumping up on it! :D