What’s wrong with my cat…

[Kitkat189]

Has anyone had a listless cat who won’t eat or go to the loo? What was it and what did you do please?

We took our cat to the vet today as she vomited bile yesterday and hasn’t eaten since then, hardly drank, and has been v lethargic. The vet checked her over this afternoon and said everything looked normal, no lumps, no tenderness anywhere, no temperature. She is an indoor cat so poisoning is highly unlikely. We also try to keep plastic and string away from her at all times. The vet gave her an anti nausea injection to encourage her to eat

She had a tiny amount of canned tuna (as she won’t touch her usual food) and she’s had water to drink. She hasn’t been to the loo for 24h now.

other facts: the vet said she had a full bladder this afternoon, and she also noticed gingivitis and tartar and bleeding gums - she got a colleague to come and check the gums and they said it looked like a small cut due to a piece of tartar having come loose, so not systemic

I’m worried sick! She looks so sad and is definitely not herself 😢

She needs to go back to the vet. The not using the litter tray is worrying.

How old is your cat? When one of ours was off her food and I took her to the vet, it was because of tooth decay. They were going to descale her teeth under anaesthetic, but found they had to take two of the teeth out. She was much better after that.

Back to vets. She needs a full blood work out
How old is she? My elderly cat was vomiting bile, off his food and was diagnosed with end stage kidney failure

That’s v interesting- her breath is pretty awful since a few days, even the vet remarked on it, so this is definitely something we will be exploring further

She’s only 6 years old… I really hope it’s nothing serious but the vet said that if she doesn’t turn the corner tomorrow we have to come back asap

@Kitkat189

im so sorry to hear she's not well.

Hopefully it's something they can sort for her quickly. 🤞🏼

My cat was exactly like this and turns out he had a UTI. He was given antibiotics and by the third day he was back to normal. Take her back to the vets and ask them to check your cat for this.

Thank you, my gut feeling is that this could be it. Still hasn’t done a wee

You need a blood test urgently

Thanks everyone for your support. I’m devastated, our cat was just hospitalised and the vet said it’s not looking good. He suspects kidney failure or FIP, the latter would be unlikely as she is indoor only. I still can’t quite take it in.

I’m so sorry to hear that. It’s worth having a read about FIP - indoor cats can absolutely still get it as it’s caused by feline coronavirus that kittens can get at an early age from their mother. It’s also now extremely treatable with antivirals

So sorry KitKat. I hope the vets are able to work some miracles. Sending love ❤️

Oh no. If it is FIP, happy a look into treatment as it can give them a very good chance of recovery (though at a £ cost).

Poor kitty 😞

It’s kidney failure, very very acute. They don’t know what has caused it but now it’s all about stabilising her until they can see what her residual kidney function will be. The vet called me back and said she would die today unless
we intervene. He wasn’t sure she would even survive the drive to the hospital but they stabilised her before the journey, so fingers crossed.

I am beside myself

To clarify they were initially going to hospitalise her in their own clinic but as things are so much worse than they initially thought, she needs a specialist hospital. Hence the transport

My son, who is very close to our cat, sits his 11+ tomorrow so I’m doing my best not to alarm him too much. We've said the cat just needs some overnight rest and care

Oh no, what awful news. All paws crossed here for her.

I also feel that the vet missed the signs of serious illness when we first saw them on Tuesday. One key sign was my cat’s awful breath which was new since a couple of days. It’s hard to describe the odour but it was very specific, totally unlike anything I’ve smelt on her before. The vet we saw today spotted it immediately and said it was a sign of kidney damage.

Had we caught this at an earlier stage she would not have been in this stage of acute kidney failure and the odds of a positive outcome would have been greater; the treatment far less invasive; and also cheaper. The treatment is basically administration of fluids, following a blood test.

Now we had to pay £140 for the first emergency appointment, £900 for today’s appointment which also included treatment to get her urea and potassium levels down to stabilise her, a 2h one way drive to a specialist hospital which charged us £2500-£3000 for the assessment. Treatment is another £450/day, surgery for £8000 could also be needed. The outcome would still be very uncertain.

Had this been nipped in the bud, the prognosis would have been so much better and we would most likely still have had our beloved little cat

Oh that's awful. I know vets are people and everyone makes mistakes but it sounds like she was already fairly poorly when you first took her. Do you have good insurance?

I hope she pulls through

We signed up to an insurance last week but you can’t claim for the first 14 days, so we have to pay for all of it ourselves. Already £4000 and counting. We stupidly allowed our old insurance to lapse and took out time to shop around for a new one, huge mistake

Thank you 🩵

She died and we are all heartbroken

If anyone comes across this thread looking for advice, I can only say that a change in the way your cat’s breath smells is a sign that something needs to be looked at. It could be kidney failure

Oh , that is very sad and so sudden .
Poor cat and you of course . Hope your DS exam went ok .

And thank you KitKat for the heads up , I know you will be absolutely gutted by the loss of your cat , but hats off to you coming back on to raise awareness . I know your own cat has gone but your advice will hopefully help another cat owner .

And it makes you think doesn't it , when you know your pet , you know there's something amiss , But often animals hide things .

I am so sorry to see your news