My kitty might be sick

[veggiegirl]

My cat Pookie threw up a few times last night and he's still acting weird this morning. He meows really loud once in awhile and he looks upset. It looks like he threw up hairballs which is something that all my cats do once in awhile. He still seems sick though and I'm worried about him. He's hiding under the bed right now, but he always hides under the bed so its hard to tell if something is really wrong. He's a very nervous and paranoid cat and he gets scared and upset easily. Do I need to take him to the vet now or should I just keep an eye on him today?

Oh and he seemed fine last night before I went to bed. I think this started in the early morning.

[Jade]

Is he urinating okay?

[kittygurl823]

Oh no, Stephanie. I hope everything is ok. Was it mostly hair? How is he now? Give him a head scratch for me.

[CTChin]

I say go with your gut instinct. 9 times out of 10 if a cat owner thinks there is something wrong with their cat, they are usually right. This is because cats are masters at hiding illness. When you finally notice something, this means there most likely is something brewing. Noone knows your kitty better than you. If you can pin down whether he is still eating, drinking and urinating, that would be helpful for your vet should you decide to go. Take care and I hope it is nothing!

[veggiegirl]

What a day! I just got back from the vet. I ended up taking him right after I posted because he kept trying to go to the bathroom and nothing was coming out, and he was meowing and acting distressed. Poor guy! There was also a lot of clear liquid on the floor (yuck) and I'm not sure what it was. Anyway, I took him in and he had to stay all day. I stayed in the area all day too because its a long drive and ended up going to see a movie by myself because I had nowhere to go! The x-rays and tests showed that he had an inflamed stomach and intestines-probably from the hairballs. He also had a temp of 104. They gave him fluids and antibiotics and some stuff for his stomach. He seems a lot better now and he was very happy to see me when I picked him up. I have meds for him, some special food, and hairball stuff. Hopefully he will be ok now. I was so worried that he had eaten something and it was tangled inside, or that he had bladder stones. But his bladder looks fine and his intestines do too, except for having fluid in them and being inflamed.

Well I'm exhausted after a long day. Its so freaking hot here too-it was over 100 and I wasn't dressed properly. I had to leave for the vet early this morning without even taking a shower!

[CTChin]

Awww...I'm glad to hear he will be o.k. Good job for being a perceptive cat owner!

[veggiegirl]

Well Pookie seemed better yesterday but now he looks like he's not feeling well again. Its so hard to tell with this cat because he's not very active even when he feels good. He usually sleeps in the bedroom all day on the cat tree. Now he's sleeping under the bed and there is just something about him that doesn't seem right. He just seems too lethargic, like he feels sick. He also threw up again tonight. It was clear watery stuff with a little hair in it. I have seen him eating and drinking, and he went to the bathroom this morning. It was a little runny but I figured that could be from the antibiotics and hairball medicine. I don't know if I should take him back to the vet or continue with his meds and see what happens. I guess I will call her tomorrow and see what she thinks. I have never had a sick cat before because all of my cats are very young, so this is my first time dealing with this. Its really bad timing too, being the week before my wedding. I don't know if he's sick or if he's just depressed and hiding because we've been dragging him out for his medicine twice a day. He had a fever before. Should I be taking his temp? Can you buy thermometers for cats, or is there another way to tell if they have a fever?

[kittygurl823]

Oh man, Stephanie! Poor Pookie! I'm so sorry to hear he is not feeling better.. I agree with what you said, I would definately call the vet in the morning and find out what she says. I would think he would be feeling better. How is his eating and drinking? About the temperature.. the most accurate way is a rectal thermometor, like they do at the vets. We don't think we could keep them still enough to do that, so we have an ear thermometor on hand. It seemed to work for Smokie, but I don't know how effective it really is. That was even hard enough! Cats are smart! He would have never sit still for us to do it the regular way. But, our vet said we could try the ear thermometor, and his temp was almost the same as it was later on at the vet, so ours seemed to work well. A normal temp is about 100-102. I wonder if since he is acting so lethargic he does have a fever. I found this website about cats and taking a cats temperature as well as other tips/signs, if you wanted to try, or if Pookie would let you..

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/howto8.html

I would definatley call tomorrow and keep us posted. You and Pookie are in my thoughts! ((hugs)) Give him a hug for me!

[veggiegirl]

Thanks for the info and hugs Jackie!

Well after I posted, he started acting like he was feeling better (of course ). He came out from under the bed and kind of lurked around waiting for someone to give him attention. He does that all the time and thats why his real name is Sneakers LOL, he's always sneaking around in the background. Anyway, he drank what seemed like a lot of water and then ate a little of the wet food the vet gave me, which is good because he wouldn't eat it before. I fell asleep on the couch a little later and when I woke up, he was on top of my blanket purring and kneading it! Mike was sitting on the couch too petting him, and he was like "I guess he feels better!" So I don't know whats going on, but he seems a lot better now so thats what matters. He ate more this morning and wanted to be petted so hopefully he's better now. Right now he's totally focused on watching the hamster with Tiger and Ollie LOL.

I'm having a hard time with his meds though. They are liquid and its so hard to get him to swallow! I've tried putting it in the side of his mouth and also squirting it in the back of his mouth and either way he ends up foaming at the mouth and drooling all over. I can get most of it in but not all. And thats with Mike holding him down and wrapped in a towel!

[kittygurl823]

Awww Stephanie, I'm so glad he seems to be feeling better now!!!! That's great news!

I know what you mean about the cats and the medicine! I would hold them and Brad would give them their liquid medicine, and they would all basically spit it back out at us! Smokie went running when he knew it was time for his medicine! Aww! I was worried they weren't getting it all. Since the cats love the canned food, with Snuggles, I put a little food in a bowl, put the liquid medicine in the middle and cover it up with more food, and put him in a seperate room and he ate it right up! That might be an idea?? I don't know how fast Pookie will eat it, since he's just starting to eat the food the vet gave him, but it might be worth a try? Cats are too smart, they are like "Get that stuff away!"
I hope everything is ok now and I'm glad he is feeling better!

[kittygurl823]

How is Pookie doing today, Stephanie? Is he taking his medicine any better? I hope everything is ok.

[veggiegirl]

He doing great Jackie. Thanks for asking! Giving him his medicine is such a pain and we have missed a couple doses because we weren't able to catch him. I'm starting to wonder if everything she prescribed was even necessary but I'll keep doing it until its gone. The reason that I'm suspicious is because she prescribed food that was $6 a can without even telling me. And they are the small cans! I'm so glad he's ok.

[lixx]

I'm glad to hear he's doing better! Here's to continued improvement!