What's wrong with my cat?

by Raechel
(Indianapolis, IN USA)

Not sure if my cat has a virus or just a cold, perhaps ate something bad, but he's really acting out of character & I don’t have money for a vet, so if anyone has any words of wisdom, that would be great.

On a normal day, Bruce would greet me at the door when I come home from work, rub himself against my hands with his nose - you know, like cats do - and he would meow at me to feed him, etc. Same thing every day, like clockwork.

I took him to the vet about a month & a half ago for his annual check-up. The vet said he was slightly overweight & to put him on a diet, and we also bought some Fish Oil (omega) for his dry skin, because he would shed & flake constantly.

The fish oil seemed to help his skin, and it said to give it to him twice a day, but he didnt like to eat it all the time, so I started giving it to him if needed. About that same time, we had him from eating twice a day to once a day without any problems.

About two weeks ago, Bruce stopped eating, but not in a sick way, more like he was just not hungry, so I just let it go for the time being. I just figured he was adjusting to his new diet.
A couple days ago, I noticed my cat was sitting behind the recliner in the corner of the living room, basically hiding. As he only does this when he's not feeling well, I assumed he was sick. His eyes were dilated, he wasn’t moving or meowing, almost like that feeling humans get of "If I move, I'm going to puke". I left him alone thinking he just needed some time to feel better.
Last night I noticed that he is starting to look very weak, and he can barely keep his head up. He moves a bit throughout the day to different spots around the apt, sits for a couple hours, then moves again. I checked his ears, mouth, eyes, paws, etc, and nothing out of the ordinary. Checked his litter box, and his stool is green, kind of like he has too much iron.
After looking online for further advice on this issue, it seems that it could be a number of things: he goes out on the porch, so it could be a virus from outside - the weather has been brutally hot & I've heard of pets not eating because of the heat, but we have A/C - we have one house plant, but never had any issues with him eating it, but I haven't checked yet - could be the Fish Oil & he has too much iron in his system - possibly something from my downstairs neighbor, since she has cats that sit outside. But we're on the 2nd floor & she's on the 1st, but not sure if bacteria from her cats can make their way to my porch/apt from hers - also, I would be able to take the cat to the vet, but it wouldn’t be until Sept, since that's when my school refund comes in, but it may be too late by then. Hopefully I'm just overreacting & he'll be fine in a few days.

Answer by Kate
Hi
What can i say, it is impossible to say what the problem is but there definitely is a problem going by your cats symptoms.

I don't know what kind of food you are feeding him but I have heard reports of low quality food especially some low quality dry food making cats sick as it can contain a lot of ash (Go Cat for instance )and this is not good for them at all.

if there is any way to get your cat to the vets then i would recommend it and sudden change in behavior with these sorts of symptoms needs checking out to be on the safe side.

Can i also say, feeding once a day seems rather drastic, all the adult cats I have ever known need at least two to three meals a day up to their daily recommend amount on the food label.

I hope it is nothing serious and that he is OK again soon., make sure he gets plenty to drink as dehydration can also be an issue.

best wishes Kate

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