Worried

[shipperx]

I'm a bit worried about my cat. She has been acting strangely all evening. When I came home she had thrown up in the living room. When I cleaned it up, I noticed that she was being all 'creepy' and by that I mean she's not her usual rush to greet you self but like a little-old-lady cat looking like she was being careful not to move too fast or in the wrong direction and her tail is down.

I tried to feed her -- TURKEY! -- and she ignored it. Turkey is her second favorite. I tried to offer her some melted ice cream (her favorite) and after a sniff she didn't seem interested. I picked her up and there was poop on her butt. Took her into the bathroom and cleaned her up with toilet paper and she was quite pissed about it (the being pissed about her but being touched isn't a particularly unusual reaction). When I put her down, she creeped off to the dining room and crouched in some perfectly bizarre position. When I tried to pick her up, she growled, hissed, and maintained bizarre crouch, then I noticed that she was pooping... in the living room. Despite her hissing, I picked her up to carry her to the garage (which is where her kitty litter is) and she pooped as I was carrying her (that's never happened before). I made it to the litter box and she just stood there. I wouldn't let her leave, petted her, and she eventually had a (for her) enormous poop. Took her back into the kitchen and pulled out the hairball remedy (that she hates) and forced her to take some. Also pulled out the expensive canned food, and she did seem to perk up a little. She ate the gravy off the food immediately. About a half-hour later I found that she'd thrown-up liquid in the living room again. However, at some point she must have returned to the kitchen because the food portion was eventually eaten (but the turkey remained ignored).

She's been up and down the hall repeatedly all night, tail down. Occasionally the tail goes up if she's jumping or sometimes when I try to pick her up and she runs (othertimes she stands or lays placidly when I pick her up.)

Usually she goes through a LOT of water in a day and yet I noticed that her water bowl is mostly full. And she would go in and just stare at the bowl. I cleaned up both bowls of water (because she's known to go through two bowls in a day) and she would stoop over the water but not drink. I ended up chasing her into the guest bedroom and she's thrown up there a couple of times as well (Why do cats search out carpet to throw up on? I have one room with carpet in the entire house, and this is where she tends to choose to throw up.) It's all watery but it was fresh -- the canned food she had eaten. And now her tail has an oily feel to it, which feels like the hairball remedy, but I don't think she got the actual remedy on her tail, so I'm not sure. And she also seems to have it beneath her chin.

She alternates between listless, nearly normal, and slightly possessed. She did eventually drink some water from her bowl and she hasn't taken to hiding in the closet (which is what she did when she was really sick last summer). But she's acting oddly enough to have me rather worried.

I've turned on the ceiling fan in the bedroom (which she doesn't appreciate under the best of circumstances) so she's now retreated to laying on a blanket in my study instead of climbing in bed with me as she normally does at bedtime. I'm not sure whether it's due to the fan or to her strange ailment tonight. Hopefully this is just a hairball or something and she'll perk up by morning. Vets are expensive. But if she's behaving this oddly in the morning, I think I'll have to take her. Something is definitely not right.

Update: It's close to midnight but she's made her way back to the kitchen and now seems interested in the turkey and the water and her tail isn't as tucked as before, so maybe she's feeling a bit better. Fingers crossed.

Update II: She seemed to have a pretty good night. She obviously returned to the kitchen during the night and had eaten, and she has visited her water bowl several times. She did climb into bed eventually, and she seemed eager to be fed this morning (and her tail went up). I'm hoping that whatever it was worked its way through her system. I raised the blind in the bedroom window so if we get any sun today she can sun herself and my mother said she'd drive by the house later this morning and check on her to see if she was still acting in her usual manner. She seemed bright eyed this morning and grooming herself in addition to wanting to be fed so she did appear to be feeling better. Hopefully whatever-it-was was temporary. I had changed her food earlier this week (back from a food she didn't like to a food she did. I've had her on an expensive organic food since the whole plastic from China in the pet food thing last year, and swapped her to a different (less expensive) organic last week. Cats can have problems with feed changes, so maybe that contributed to it. Maybe it was constipation or something. I'm going to pick up another bag of her old food and mix it with the new so that she still has some of the old, and I'm going to keep a close eye on her. She at least appeared to be feeling better this morning.

Comments

[morgantree.livejournal.com]

If I were you, I would call an emergency vet and talk to them over the phone about what's happening now, rather than waiting for morning.

One thing I want to point out -- I don't know your cat's history, but I'm pretty sure it's extremely unusual for cats to drink that much water. And two bowls a day is really extreme. Has she always been this way? I wonder if there is some underlying health thing going on there.

My two cents, for what it's worth (er, two cents I guess).

Hope she does that classic pet thing of being completely normal by morning and looking at you like, "what's your problem?" :-)

[spikewriter]

Here's hoping she perks up -- vets are definitely expensive. So says the person who's already spent an appalling amount of money at the vet this week. Our 15-year old has a severe urinary tract infection and may be suffering from kidney failure.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

The water thing has been going on her entire life and she's 13 and been super-healthy 99% of her life, so I tend to put it down to either her nature or the nature of being a 100% indoor cat.

I don't know if we have an emergency vet around here. The vet near the house was supernice when she was sick last summer (she had an infected anal gland, which is part of why she's so protective of her butt now. I checked but I haven't seen a noticeable recurrance of that. She seems a bit better now, having eaten again and had some water. And she's seemed happy to get up on the bed.

Hopefully I'm just getting worked up and it's nothing but one of those odd instances where cats throw up.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

She's eaten and had water in the last fifteen minutes. Maybe she's feeling a bit more like herself. Fingers crossed.

And hope your kitty feels better soon and that it's not kidney failure. My sister's cat was extremely ill and close to kidney failure last year, but once they gave him insulin he's recovered all his old weight and is pretty okay. Hoping for the best for your cat.

Carly (my cat) seemed more herself this morning so I'm hoping it was just some mild stomach or intestinal upset that worked its way through her system. She had eaten during the night and had taken water and seemed in good spirits when I left. My mother said she'd drive by the house and check on her later this morning, see if she's still feeling well.

[framefolly.livejournal.com]

It sounds so worrisome -- and also involves so much cleaning for you...

Hope she feels better soon (hug).

[morgantree.livejournal.com]

And why do these things always have to happen after hours?!

I tend to get worked up easily as well -- my dogs are getting up there in years and one of them has developed a heart problem.

Really glad your cat seems to be doing better!

[queenofattolia.livejournal.com]

JFYI, these symptoms are very similar to the ones my cat had last year when she developed kidney problems (she also had some intestinal thickening which went away with prednisone). She's 14 and unfortunately kidney disease is endemic in elderly cats (she's a 100% indoor cat too).

For a while I had to take her into the vet at least 3 times a week for subcutaneous fluids, but she got better and we've tapered off on that. I will say that if your kitty continues to throw up, loses a lot of weight very fast and there are continued changes in her litter habits, do take her in to the vet. My own cat got very sick within just a few days and had to go into the hospital for almost a week. She got better, but I wish I'd been more vigilant - it would have spared her pain and us some big bucks. Vets are horribly expensive, but unfortunately a fact of life for pet owners. :/

I hope your cat is better soon.

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

sending best thoughts your way!

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

That is very odd so I'd call the Vet today and at least discuss it with him/her. And maybe a visit on the weekend wouldn't be out of place.

[ldyavalon.livejournal.com]

Poor kitty!!! *pets*

I certainly hope she's feeling better. Maybe it wasn't anything serious and she just ate something she shouldn't have.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

She's always been the weirdest cat with fluids. From the time she was a kitten she drank (and peed) like a horse. That's why it really bothered me last night when she wasn't drinking water. She usually drinks regularly enough to drain a bowl relatively quickly (or at least low enough to begin insistently demanding fresh water because it had been in the bowl a whole 8 hours and that no longer counts.) And the way she goes through litter has always been astounding.

I'll have to keep check whether she's peeing as much as usual (which tends to be a great deal). She's acting more like herself this morning after perking up just a tad just when I went to bed, so maybe it was a hairball or something (it's spring and shedding season even for an indoor cat like her). But yours is good advice. Hopefully I'm just overworrying. But we do tend to know our pets' body language and she was not a happy cat last night.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

She seemed more herself this morning, so hopefully it was just a hairball or constipation or something. Will definitely watch her carefully for a while.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

There's a vet just down the block that I've used before, so if she gets back into that condition, I'll definitely take her. She seemed more herself this morning so I'm hoping it was a hairball or constipation or something but she definitely bears watching and luckily her vet is close (though I wouldn't know their after hours number. I probably need to look it up.) Mom said she'd go by and check on her later this morning, but she seemed okay this morning when I left. She had eaten food during the night and was eager to be fed this morning, and her tail was up, so she appeared to be feeling better. Hopefully it was something negligible.

Thanks for your concern.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Hopefully. She seemed to be feeling better and she did eat her food during the night and has been back to the water bowl several times. I changed her food last week (back from what I had been feeding her, which she didn't particularly like.) So maybe she was reacting to the change in food. I'm picking up the other food she had been eating and am going to mix the two (She prefers the "Newman's Own" food, which is what I have now. But I have had her on the All Organic "Wellness" ever since the whole melamime in the pet food thing last year. She hates the "Wellness", but it had all ingredients you could read. I'm going to pick up another bag of that. Hopefully that was part of the problem. Cats don't change feed well (even when it's to something they prefer). Hopefully it was just something caused by that or constipation. She seemed to be feeling better this morning, so hopefully it wasn't as serious as I had feared.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I don't know why pets always have to choose the carpet to be sick on. I have linoleum in the kitchen. Can't she ever choose to be sick there? (Just kidding).

She did seem to be more herself this morning so I'm hoping it wasn't anything serious but a hairball or constipation that's over once it worked its way out of her system. Mom said she'd drive by and check her later this morning, and she seemed okay when I left. Hopefully, it was just something temporary.

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

Sending *hugs* to you and your cat.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

It's good that I'm reading this after she improved, or I would have been pushing you to call the vet ASAP. I still think you should call and talk to him/her about the symptoms, and bring her in if s/he says to. This was probably just a temporary thing, as you say, but with an older cat, it's better to be safe than sorry, and this is worriesome enough that I think, despite the expense, you need to talk to the vet.

Please post again and tell us how she's doing/what the vet says.

[lindaseton.livejournal.com]

This is Carly, right?
I hope she will be back to normal. You've had your cat longer than I had both of mine, altogether.

(BTW, this is Jess P., your roomate on your London trip. I have several accounts here just for storing data. This is one of em)

[cordykitten]

Glad to hear your cat is doing better now. I was very worried when my cat didn't eat, it's almost always something up. Maybe she just had eaten something wrong *crosses fingers for you*

[queenofattolia.livejournal.com]

Changing food is actually what saved our cat, I think. After her big illness, she started throwing up every veterinarian-prescribed or high-end food we could feed her, until we found the Lick Your Chops brand at Whole Foods. It's made a huge difference - she loves the food, she's filled out again, her coat looks great, her litter habits are normal, she has "cat hell" again and complains constantly the way she used to, etc.

It has been better for her than all the super-expensive vet foods we tried to feed her. Yeah, it's not cheap, but it was instrumental in getting her off subcutaneous fluids and restoring her health.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I'll have to try that. Carly, like most cats, is a stubborn eater. She'll eat her regular food -- grudgingly -- but generally she would prefer to live off of Whiska's Cat Treats and deli turkey, which I don't allow, but it usually doesn't stop her from constantly begging for it. That's why she seemed so odd last night. Usually she's constantly begging for the treats and she wasn't begging last night.

Mom went to check on her at lunch today and she said that Carly was begging for treats, so that's a good sign.

I'll have to try the "Lick your chops" one and see if she likes it.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Hopefully whatever it was has passed. She seems to be doing okay today.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

She seems to be doing okay today, although poor kitties can't talk to tell you if all is well. But her tail is up and she's eating and drinking well, so I'm going to give her the benefit of a doubt.

I don't want it to seem like I'm avoiding the vet due to cost. It's not that. It's just that the last time my mother's cat wasn't well she took her to the vet and spent $200 on blood tests only for them to find nothing, the cat pass a hair ball, and be fine. Since whatever it was/is came on so fast and she did seem to take water eventually (I was worried about dehydration and thus only reassured when she took fluids). Hopefully it was just constipation or a hair ball. If she gets sick like that again, I'll take her directly to the vet, though.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Yep. It's still Carly. And she seems to be doing better today.

And long time no hear! Keep in touch. How are things going with you?

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Maybe. Or maybe it was a hairball or constipation. She seems pretty normal tonight so hopefully whatever it was has passed.

[rahirah]

Poor Carly! I'm glad she seems to be improving though - hopefully it was just the food change.

[spikewriter]

I'm glad Carly's doing better. The news is...not so good for Jaffar. We're looking at a few months at most at this point, though he may surprise us.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry. *hug*