how to help my sick cat?

[bimbimbap]

our 4 year old house cat had been sleeping more than normal for a few days, seemed really lethargic & wasn’t eating. we took her to get checked out at the vet yesterday - they kept her in overnight for fluids & tests. we brought her home today with general antibiotics & steroids as her x-rays and bloods were all normal so they advised just keeping an eye on her.

anytime we take her in the car she gets panicked & hyperventilates but since we brought her home she’s just been lying panting and has wee’d herself (probably due to fluids and (anti?) dieuretic injection time help flush her system. she’s wrapped in a blanket in a quiet room with regular checks but what else can/should we do?

I would call the out of hours vet for advice.

what did the vet diagnose? is she hot if she is wrapped up in a blanket. like pp says you need to call the vet.

I don't want to scare you but could she have heart disease and be going into heart failure?

How is kitty tonight

she’s not wrapped up as such, more lying on a folded up blanket. the vet didn’t diagnose anything, but said the antibiotics & steroids would help with any genera infection (although no temperature and blood tests all clear so don’t know what infection it could be). they advised bringing her home because we know from experience she gets very stressed away from home & was more likely to be calm and eat in her normal environment. i’m not sure what the out of hours vet could say given that she was there 4 hours ago, so thinking of seeing how she is tomorrow...?

she’s just breathing really fast and lying down but not asleep

Poor kitkat. Could it be her heart or kidneys. The diuretic would have been to get rid of fluid. Has she got worse since you saw the vet.

thanks for replying happyhammy. the panting only started as we took her to the vets yesterday (before that she was just lethargic & not eating for 2 days) but she always gets worked up going in the car. after the vet couldn’t find anything wrong (bloods, urine tests, physical examination and x-rays) we thought she’d start to improve at home. she’s been lying with her head down and breathing fast since 5pm.

My cat had this the other day, lethargic, breathing shallow and really fast and he was quite hot to touch.. his ears and back were burning! Took him to the vets and he had a fever and stuff, they put him on a drip and he's ok now. But if the fast breathing only started recently i don't think thats a good thing 😭 i would take your cat to the vets at your earliest convenience but watch for any fast decline in the meantime! 🤞🏻

I would definitely call the OOH vet. You can usually speak to a vet nurse so they will advise on what you should do. Hope kitty is ok.

@bimbimbap how is your cat today?! 🤞🏻

thanks for asking! we called the emergency vet last nite for advice as she kept spitting her pills out & we didn’t want to distress her by trying too many times. we took her in to the vets again this morning - heart sounds ok so they’re treating as if it’s a bacterial chest infection. she had today’s meds by injection and is back home to rest with chicken bought (even though we’re vegan) ready to help the pills go down when she’s ready to eat.

The best thing to get pills down cats is Gourmet Gold pate. It helps to keep it in the fridge to make it firmer. They love it and it's sticky so you can hide the pill inside a little ball of it.

thanks thecatneuterer! she’s just had some water so hopefully will feel up to eating soon & we got some of the ‘cat soup’ so loves to also help hydrate her. it’s stressful being a cat parents!