How to Determine if Your Cat Needs Medical Care
Careful observation of daily activities and habits is key to recognizing early signs of illness in your cat. Disguising symptoms is a cat's specialty, so he may be sick for days before you notice. Read on to learn more about when he needs medical attention.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Rectal Thermometers (for Animals)
- Cat Beds
- Cat Carriers
- Cat Collars
- Cat Combs/brushes
- Cat Dishes
- Cat Toys
- Catnip
- Veterinarian
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1
Watch your cat closely. Become familiar with his normal habits and patterns of activity. The slightest variation may indicate the beginning of illness or disease.
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2
Learn to monitor your cat's heart rate and respiratory rate and to take his temperature. Normal is 101.5 degrees F.
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3
Listen to his chest with a stethoscope placed on his rib cage, behind the front leg, noting his normal resting heart rate of 100 to 200 beats per minute.
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4
Observe his normal respiration at rest: 20 to 60 breaths per minute. Cats rarely pant unless they are in extreme heat, overly excited, unduly stressed or in pain.
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5
Groom him daily (cats love this), checking for masses, swellings and sensitive areas.
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6
Take note if your cat refuses food or water, is lethargic or seems reluctant to play. These are often the first symptoms of illness. Sick cats become dehydrated quickly, so a prompt response is essential.
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7
Take your cat's temperature if he seems listless. Even the slightest elevation in temperature can account for a change in behavior.
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8
Call your veterinarian for advice if you notice symptoms such as sneezing, runny eyes or nose or labored breathing, which can indicate a respiratory illness.
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9
Be alert to coughing or hacking. These symptoms could mean just a hairball, but if they persist, call your veterinarian.
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10
Know that straining to urinate, especially in male cats, is considered a sign of urinary-tract obstruction. Get medical help immediately, as this can be life-threatening. This is often accompanied by deep vocalization or howling and licking at the genital area.
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11
Be aware that violent retching, attempting to vomit or unusual panting are symptoms of serious illness or pain in cats, so call your veterinarian right away.
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12
Call your veterinarian as soon as you think your cat is sick. Delaying the call often leads to greater risk for the cat, prolonged recovery and increased expense.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Cats are finicky eaters, so refusal to eat a new food may not indicate illness.
Ask the kids. They often observe things that busy adults overlook.
Use caution when handling a sick cat. He may react suddenly and bite or scratch when he normally would not do so.
Urinary obstruction in male cats is life-threatening and should be treated as a true medical emergency.
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Comments
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Inez1984
Jun 16, 2007
My cat, Tigger-Marie, is urinating blood after four years of never using her litter box. She's only seven. For the first three years of her life, she used her litter box and the litter box of our other cat, Jeremy, without fail. After my mom and Tigger-Marie discovered Jeremy's dead body, she stopped using her and Jeremy's litter boxes and despite changing the different types of litter multiple times in case it's just her being picky, she still won't use the litter box. Now in the last week, she's been urinating blood and can no longer control her urine and now pees on me and my bed when she never did before. Her behavior is still the same though...hyper, lovable, eating as much as she ever did, hasn't lost any weight, (but she's not drinking as much), and is still very happy. But the urinating blood thing...it scares the hell out of me. I have no money so I don't know what I can do. -
Aug 08, 2006
Unlike other pets, cats are not efficient at metabolizing fat. So if a cat stops eating, even for a day, it risks developing a condition called fatty liver disease, or hepatic lipidosis (HL). This happens when the body breaks down fat and sends it to the liver, and the liver becomes overloaded and stops working properly. Overweight cats are particularly at risk for this disease. HL is a life-threatening condition and can progress very rapidly. It has a 100% mortality rate if it is not treated. Caught early enough, however, it has a very high recovery rate. It is very unusual for the same cat to get HL twice - mostly because the owner becomes educated about the condition and knows how to avoid it in future! The cure for HL is very low tech - get food into your cat! Unfortunately, once the cat's liver is not functioning properly, the cat will not want to eat, and you must assist it to eat. It is important to get a lot of food into the cat, not just a few pieces of kibble or a half jar of baby food. The cat must maintain its weight so that the liver can begin the process of rebuilding itself and getting rid of its fatty deposits. If the cat continues to lose weight, then the liver will continue to be overloaded with fat it cannot process. Therefore, it's important to weigh your cat frequently during assisted feeding and increase the amount of food you give your cat until it is no longer losing weight. Some cats with fatty liver disease can be fed via syringe, but most will need some sort of tube surgically placed. These tubes are not painful, and will allow the owner to feed the cat without having to "force" it to eat. Usually the tube only has to be in place for a few weeks, to a couple of months. Please note that this is an extremely urgent situation with a 100% mortality rate if it is not treated quickly. Every hour counts - this is not a situation that can wait until the vet opens in the morning - take your cat to the ER immediately! There may not be any outward signs of HL until your cat is fairly far along in the disease process. One sure symptom is jaundice (look at the skin inside your cat's ears - if there's a yellow tinge, your cat is seriously ill).
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Jul 05, 2006
My family cat is such a picky eater, the only food she will eat is her dry cat food. So when we needed to give her a pill every day, we knew there would be trouble. We tried hiding it in tuna and her cat food, but the pill's oder ruined our attempt to disguise it. We asked around and heard about this pill dispenser. We bought one at our local pet store, and were stunned when after we tried it the pill was not spat back up by our cat. This dispenser could also be known as a pill plunger or pill gun. If it worked for our cat, it will work for yours!
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Jul 05, 2006
My family cat is such a picky eater, the only food she will eat is her dry cat food. So when we needed to give her a pill every day, we knew there would be trouble. We tried hiding it in tuna and her cat food, but the pill's oder ruined our attempt to disguise it. We asked around and heard about this pill dispenser. We bought one at our local pet store, and were stunned when after we tried it the pill was not spat back up by our cat. This dispenser could also be known as a pill plunger or pill gun. If it worked for our cat, it will work for yours!
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Nov 22, 2005
If your cat is now making a habit of urinating, or worse, in places other than the litterbox (and you are diligent about keeping it clean and easily accessable) this is another warning sign that something is wrong. Don't get angry. Call your vet!
