Any ideas - young cat still poorly?

[MrsCocoa]

Our much loved and energetic two year old girl was in rude health on Saturday, but on Sunday became quite ill quite quickly. She's been hiding by the radiator, wretching, licking her lips, and sort of coughing. Was so worried I called the 24 hour on-call vet who wanted to see her the following morning. She was checked over; swollen glands but no temperature. She was given a pain-killing shot and the possibility of a GA to enable a more through investigation was mentioned for the following day, although the vet was keen to avoid if at all possible.

She perked up a bit at home and although still withdrawn was eating normally. So we passed on the GA, but she seems to be gong downhill a bit. She's still retching, sneezing and licking her lips, and looks like she might be light sensitive or have irritated eyes.

I will take her back to the vet in the morning - but has anyone got any ideas what this might be? Tonsillitis was mentioned as one possibility by the Vet . Anything I should be doing for her in the meantime? Would you be going for the GA now?

Thanks in advance.

Possibly a hairball that has become stuck internally? Is she a long haired cat? One of mine had to have one surgically removed. It was huge. Other than that is she an outdoor cat? Could she have eaten e.g. poison, anti-freeze?

No, shorthaired. Yes, outdoors,; a prolific hunter, but she doesn't usually eat her prey. I usually catch her playing with relatively undamaged mice and birds, which I can quite often rescue and release.

How was your cat's massive hairball diagnosed?

She might have a foreign body stuck like a bone or a blade of grass, does she chew on grass?

She was generally a bit "off colour" , nothing drastic for a day, then following day went very floppy and listless. You could stroke her and pick her up without losing an arm (a sign something was very wrong). Vet gave physical exam and could feel something, so followed with abdominal scan then surgery to remove palm sized mat of fur and grass. She was very long haired and prone to hairballs though. You said yours was still eating, is anything coming out the other end?

Thanks both. She's still very withdrawn, sneezing and wretching as though she is trying to dislodge something. Taking her back to the vet in a minute. Her digestive system seems to be working OK although she does seem more tender around her hips. Despite being a shadow of her normal self her appetite is still good which is part of the puzzle.

Not see her eat grass as much as previous cats. She is hugely playful and has cat toys with feathers which I've wondered about.

Happy Ending! And props to InsaneDame for her diagnostic abilities. Just before she was knocked out for investigations at the Vet's this morning she let out an almighty sneeze. The nurse spotted a fragment of something protruding from one nostril. They managed to get hold of the end of it with tweezers, and pulled, and pulled, revealing a full 12cm of spider plant leaf has been stuck in her airway. She's bouncing back, and I'm spared an eye-watering bill! Thanks everyone for your suggestions. (Don't actually have a spider plant so all a bit of a mystery...).

Mystery solved! Glad it was something relatively simple (and cheap) to sort out! Cost £1200 to have furball cat repaired and that was 10 years ago - very pleased for you.