Rose our cat Isn't Being Herself

by Angela
(US)

Rose is about 10-12 years old. She has been lethargic for the past couple of days. She doesn't appear to be drinking water or eating food. Well, she's eaten a little food, but I think it's too little, a few pieces of food... and I'm giving her water through a pipette. I don't if I'm giving her too much or too little water. How much water do cats drink a day? mL or liters?

She peed this morning and she might have peed and pooped yesterday, but I'm not sure because I accidentally left the door open... another cat could have come into the room and used the kitty litter I set up for her. Her legs seem to be weak. When I call her from her pillow, I can tell she wants to come over, but she doesn't. She hasn't left her pillow for at least 12 hours, and the one of the times she left it, she only left to pee. She's been on the pillow for over 24 hours. She seems somewhat alert. I played with her a little with a few pieces of ribbon. She purrs and rubs against my hand when I put it near her, after I've been petting her for awhile.

What's wrong with her? I've looked up a lot of things... but I don't know. I took her to the vet and the vet basically gave her a clean bill of health, but... well, she isn't being herself...

She was open-mouth breathing a little bit. She isn't now, but I thought I'd tell you anyway... and I was told by the vet that her temperature was a bit low, but the vet didn't seem concerned by it.

Thank you! I'm Angela, by the way. (:

I didn't see anywhere to put an e-mail... shexxlovesxxhim6@aol.com

Thank you again!

Reply
Hi
You say you took her to see the vet. Was that very recent? Did he do any tests blood work etc?

i ask because sometimes these illnesses can happen within a few days and may need several trips to the vet before a proper diagnosis is found.

My own cats recently had to go back three times before the vet diagnosed their illness.

You know your cat best and if you think she is not herself or that something may be wrong, i would say to take her back to the vets and explain this and perhaps talk about doing some tests, as sometimes this is the only way to discover the cause.

If her condition has only been for a few days then it may be that she has a virus which is fighting off, this can make them less keen to eat and move around and are quite common. In most cases the cat shakes it off themselves but if it goes on for too long ie not eating or drinking then they need extra help from a vet.

As for how much she should drink. well there is no set amount. usually cast either get their moisture from their food and supplement it with drinking water but the amount varies from cat to cat.

You can check for dehydration by lifting up the fur at the back of your cats neck, if it is slow to return to normal then she is dehydrated. In which case she may need help from the vet.


i don't want to scare you with all this, as i say it may just be a virus that will go away in a day or two. i just want to let you know that if it continues you should take her back to see the vet.

i have a page about cat flu which is a common virus and comes in several forms and levels of severity. The symptoms can be light or severe. You may find it of further information.

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-flu.html

Hope she is better soon

kate

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