Is there a Vet in the house?

corymomma

Hi MFP fam...I either need some advice or to be told don't worry, it's fine...

I have 2 cats. My female is a little thing and she runs between 8 and 10 lbs (age 15). My male is like a small lion and runs between 20 and 25 (age 7, but acts like a kitten). Usually they wrestle (he initiates the fight), of course they sleep tons, and can be seen at the food bowl multiple times of the day, and watch out if you open a can of wet food you may be ran over. Oh and they are both fixed.

With that said, the past 36 hrs my female (Cleo) just hasn't been acting right. She usually will meet you at the door and tell you everything that's happened (or that's how it seems). I can usually find her crunching away at some point in the day from the dry food bowl. She sleeps wherever she feels like, and in the night is usually in bed. The past couple of days she hasn't greeted me at the door, I had to go find her. She's sleeping in the bathroom on the tile or the rug. (she does this but doesn't usually stay there most of her time) And when I pick her up to check her she will let me without a fight, and even let me hold her wrapped in a blanket earlier. And when I opened a can of wet food last night to entice her she walked off. Later I caught her "slurping" a bit of the broth but not her normal self.

She isn't dehydrated, I did the skin looseness thing around her neck and it went back fairly normal. To make sure she isn't dehydrating I read where you can give cats unflavored pedialyte and have been do that with a baby medicine dropper since last night. Not a lot at once as I don't want to over do it. Last night she did throw up but it was all bile. She feels a bit warm to me as well, but I know cats run warmer than humans.

So what do ya'll think does she just have a tummy ache maybe? Or should I be trying to figure out how I'm going to afford a trip to the vet? (the funds just aren't there I just paid rent and money is going to be really tight for the next week and a half)...Any help and/or advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks...

AmeChops

Sorry, can't really offer any advice. If she really doesn't seem herself I think a trip to the vets is probably the best option. Hope she gets better soon :-))

LittleMissAlx

Hello!

I'm a vet student (2 years to go until qualified). Given her age, I'd recommend taking her to a vet if you're concerned about her. It's definitely good that she doesn't seem to be dehydrated though - as a major problem with older cats is their kidneys.

If you're not in a position to take her to a vet at the moment, you could continue to keep an eye on her and watch to see if she seems to be getting worse. Encourage her to eat - if it's a stomach bug you could try her on bland food like chicken and rice. Or if there's anything she particularly likes to encourage her to eat. Make sure she's got access to water.

Also, I don't know where you are, but in the UK there are vets like the PDSA which are charity vets and you could see if there's anything like that around you?

corymomma

Thanks LittleMissAlx...I made her some "chicken and rice soup" and put a bit of pedialyte in it to cool it off...she just sniffed it and walked off, while my orange beast then went up and ate it (he's such a pig!) I scrubbed down their pet fountain (I swear I just did this) but took it apart, found my special scrub brushes (no soap) and scrubbed the life out of it...looks almost new. Refilled it with cold water, a few ice cubes, and a bit of pedialyte (figure whatever I can get in her will help and it won't her the other one). After sniffing it she began drinking and drinking and drinking...finally walked away and just laid in the middle of the living room in front of the fan. She's since gotten up and drank some more, went to the litter box to investigate (it got cleaned last night, thanks to the boyfriend...he really is a doll, and is worried about her), came back out and drank some more. Now she's back in the bathroom on top of the "to be washed" stack of dirty clothes. I'm taking this as a positive sign. Neither cat has touched the dry food that is out, even though I freshened it with some new...

With how she went to the cold water, I'm thinking it's the weird hot and muggy weather we've been having...I too don't feel like eating, much less anything warm. I am looking for a "free or reduced" clinic to take her too just in case...

Thanks, and any other advise is welcome...