Something wrong with my cat?

You need to take the cat to a vet for tests. He needs to checked for signs of infection and fever. You should take him immediately, the longer you wait the more serious things can become.

Hairballs can lead to intestinal blockage and infection which can mirror some of those symptoms. Did he use the litter box?
Do as Green witch sez, we are not vets and you shouldnt wait for some Know nothings like us to give advice over a chat line if your cats in real pain.

Howd you like if your mate just dialed up a pbb if you had a severe infection?

I'm going to join in on the urging to get kitty to the vet, ASAP. Your instincts about what's abnormal behavior for your cat are probably right on.

Sounds exactly like what my dog is going through right now. We have been dealing with this on and off for almost 6 months.

Get him to a vet. I hope they can help.

He's acting more normal now and I have a vet appointment tomorrow for him. Hairballs are a good possibility because lately he has be shedding a lot and as we all know, cats enjoy cleaning themselves.

Although you gave a serious response farmerman, I'd appreciate it even more if you would leave out the sarcasm at the end of your post, it wasn't necessary.

I don't think he was exactly being sarcastic, more just trying to be sure you realize not to mess around with getting possibly bad adivce from some dopes online when your hairy pal's health is at stake.

You know how many people there are who just don't bother to do the right thing for their pets when it comes to getting them medical attention.

I understand, and apologize for taking it the wrong way. The thing is, I wouldn't have taken the time to find a website like this to ask my question if infact I had a means of transportation to the vet earlier this morning. All of our vehicles were in use and I couldn't get ahold of anyone so I tried to find some comfort in the subject by coming here to hopefully get some advice. Tomorrow we're getting him an appointment, I know too well the unfortunate feeling of losing a furry loved one so please don't think I was being lazy or not bothering to care for my animal.

Man, I know that feeling-- waiting for the vet appointment is so hard. Not long ago my rabbit had a seizure, and of course it was on Saturday, so we had to spend the whole weekend thinking he was going to keel over before we could do a thing (he was fine). It was awful!



I didn't think that at all, your concern for him was clear. Please keep us updated on how the appointment goes, I'll be thinking of you both and wishing kitty all the best!

I do know the effects of not going to the vet when the first concern arises. My last cat had a complete 180 degree turn-around overnight, from going to very playful to lethargic and heavy-breathing (you can see why I was concerned about this cat, but the symptoms are very different). I told my parents that we should take the cat to the vet for about a week and finally we got him in for tests. After dropping the cat off, about two hours later my parents got a phone call saying that my cat died of heart problems that nothing short of a transplant (which, to my knowledge, they don't do for animals) could have fixed. Had we not taken him to the vet I would've came home alone to my cat dead. The point is though, regardless of when we took him in he would've died due to the heart problem, but atleast if we had taken him in sooner we might have been given the chance to put him down to ease the suffering. I'm not going to do that again.

and, Dude, welcome to a2k...

Yeh, I could see how it could be taken as sarcastic. Sorry, I just dont want it to sound like I know what Im talkin about. I am a dog and cat lover and cant see some poor dumb animal suffer if theres a way to get them some real help.

Buds?

It could be many things, some serious and some not, but I'm glad you're taking the cat to a vet because that's the only way to know for sure.

Have you checked for a puncture wound? When cats fight (and sometimes play can degenerate to a fight), sometimes one will bite the other hard enough to puncture the skin. Cats teeth have a groove in them that allows their saliva to go into a puncture like that, and then the puncture can abcess -- causing pain, fever, going off food, etc. A vet will clean the wound properly, and probably give you some antibiotics to give the cat.

(And then you get the joy of discovering all the ways that cats can avoid swallowing pills.)

Just crush the pill and mix it into soft food or a little tuna.

Boy, howdy, does this thread ever bring back memories! It never ceased to amaze me how long a cat could be sick before it became an emergency. The most common cause of my night calls for sick cats in twenty-five years was leukemia. Anyway, to cut to the chase, lethargy and body pain are about as nebulous a set of clinical signs as you can name. In this case, there is simply no substitute for a good physical exam, possibly followed by blood chemistry. I fully realize that the nature of veterinary medicine has changed in the past decades, but I can still wish you well in finding an old-fashioned critter doc that is more interested in medicine than a Mercedes.

Well I took my cat to the emergency animal clinic tonight a couple hours ago. Turns out he had a bladder infection, so that explains the irritability when we tried picking him up. Doctor gave us pain medicine and antibiotics for him. He's back to his same ol' self, which is funny since he's "under the influence" yet he's acting normal.

Thanks everyone for their suggestions and those who had concerns.

Oh, good, I'm so glad you figured out what it was and it's something relatively easy to take care of. Glad to hear he's back to being himself, too!

That makes sense. Pain reduction causes a helluva quick change in attitude. Be warned that this condition tends to be repetative. It's a good idea to feed a low "ash" feed, or at least to add a bit of salt to his food to increase water intake. The less he drinks in the future, the more concentrated his urine will become, and the more likely you and he will experience this fun time all over again.

Dude, listen (well, consider listening, to CowDoc)...

Just an update, more focused towards you Bella Dea since our animals are/were going through the same thing it sounds like:

My kitten Juju is 100% better now thankfully. We took him to an actual vet (though I'm not saying the vet at the emergency animal clinic isn't qualified, I feel more comfortable with an actual vet) and he very quickly assessed the problem how he saw it.

He did what I'm assuming is typical check-up: took Juju's temperature, squeezed his stomach (which did not trigger his irritability at all), and ran his fingers down his spine. Surprisingly around the middle of Juju's back is where a lot of the pain seemed to be coming from since he meowed, growled, and hissed like he was when we would pick him up. I thought it a bit ironic if my cat had a back problem since I had back surgery of my own almost five years ago. Anyway, the vet considered the options and figured it was just a simple kitty flu, and the reason my cat was so irritable was because he was just sore. He told us to continue the antibiotic (which would reduce swelling)and also gave us a steroid to give my cat every 12 hours, then said that if he wasn't better in a few days to bring him back for further blood tests, most notably the possibility of FIP (feline infectious peritonitis).

I did a bit of quick research on feline infectious peritonitis because like I explained earlier in the thread, I've had cats die to all sorts of problems and I wanted to know what I might be faced with. Thankfully Juju showed none of the symptoms described by what I found out about FIP, because I also found it to be "invariably fatal."

--

I skimmed over your topic about your dog, mostly just your original post. I'd have to agree that taking your dog to the new vet is the best thing for it. As you hoped for myself and my cat, I hope for the best for you and your dog.

[Cliffnotes for the lazy: took cat to another vet, vet gave steroids, cat is 100% better kicking his littermate's butt for bothering him while he was sick. Final diagnosis: kitty flu while resulted in aching bones, irritability, lethargy.]

Thank you everyone who wished me and my cat well, it was a very warm welcome to A2K.