My cat is acting strange. He is slow and will not play with me or my other kitten. He is eating, drinking, and using his litterbox as normal. He does not have diarhea and is not vomitting. His gums are fine, and his ears feel normal. I am worried about him. I've raised this kitten from when he was two days old, he was abandoned by his mother. He is now 5 months. What could be wrong with him? Note: I do not have enough money to take him to a vet and have all kinds of tests run, not at this stage.
2006-09-26 07:49:15 · 12 answers · asked by jeffradka 2 in Pets ➔ Cats
If you love it, you will take it to the vet. That is what I did when I suspected my cat might have a problem.
2006-09-26 07:53:36 · answer #1 · answered by hello 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Allright...raising kittens after their mother abandoned them is hard to do...as I'm sure you've found out. Of course, a vet visit would probably be optimal at this point, so I would scrape some money together and make an appointment. Anyway, first thing first, if the cat has fleas, this can extremely lower its immune system, making it suseptible to illness. You need to buy Advantage for kittens if your cat has fleas. Don't buy the cheap stuff, it only makes the cat feel lousy. Also, you say the cat is eating and drinking, but to check for signs of dehydration, pull its fur on the back of his neck, and if it goes down slowly, it a sign of dehydration, which then you need to get to a vet. Also, is the cat sneezing or making weird coughing noises? Is his third eyelid visible and does it look like his eyes are watery or discharging fluid? If so, these are all signs of a possible sinus infection or eye infection, or the cat has a cold (which cats do get from time to time) If he has these symptoms, then he probably needs a course of antibiotics. There are other tests that a vet runs such as cat leukemia and cat AIDS, which can be rather costly, but when you decide to get the cat spayed or neutered, the vet usually checks for these things anyway. I would take the cat in, and tell the vet you have very little money, and to do the minimum amount of testing at this time. Sure, they will look at you like you're a bad pet owner, but if this country really wanted to care about the stray cat population, they would make spaying and neutering free. I digress.
In the meantime, They sell at the pet store cat vitamins. He may be undernourished because he did not recieve the proper amount of vitamins at birth from his mother's milk. Just a thought. If he doesn't snap out of it in a couple of days, then I would definately take him to the vet. Call your local shelter and ask around for low cost vet care in your area. Ask if you can make payments instead of a lump sum. Pet care is expensive, so you have to decide if its worth it to you or not. If not, give the cat to a home that can afford the bills. I'm sure you love your cat, just from now on, set aside money for emergenicies like these.
Good luck and I hope things work out.
2006-09-26 08:18:28 · answer #2 · answered by nellie_3000 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sometimes animals just have off days. If there are no other signs and he's eating and drinking fine, then wait a day or two before panicking. If you aren't sure about waiting, call your vet. It's free.
While I commend you rescuing this kitten, if you don't have the money for a vet visit, you should have given him to rescue or put it up for adoption once it came of age. He needs to be fixed, needs vaccinations, and needs annual check-ups. If you don't have $1000 available (even by a credit card) to take care of him correctly, then he deserves a home where someone *can* take care of him in hard times. I don't tell you this to be callous, but you tell me, if this cat is truly sick, or gets sick down the road, how are you going to feel not being able to afford vet care and either leaving him to suffer or having to kill him? Especially when he possibly could have found a home with someone who *can* afford him? I'm going to link to some organizations and some sites that can help you rehome him, should you decide to.
If you decide to keep this cat, start a savings account right away to plan for unforeseen circumstances and for standard vet bills. Also, keep the kitten inside if he's not already an indoor cat. It's much less likely that he will be injured or killed by living his life inside. I'm also going to give you a link on how to get low income vet care. At the minimum, you need to get this cat fixed and have a check-up to ensure that he is ok.
Good luck to you.
2006-09-26 08:02:22 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
To all those who say that who can't afford to take their pets to the vet, don't need them. That is soo wrong! You are saying that just because a person can't afford to do most of the things that a vet sees necessary, (most of the time is not!) that the don't need the love a pet can give, or that they can't love a pet as much or more than a person with a lot of money! Horse feathers!!! You should be ashamed of yourself!!!!!
Well, to answer your question, the best thing you can do is to call the vet, if he/she really cares about animals, they will at least let you know what you can do @ home! If the cat gets worse, see if your vet will put you on a payment plan. There is always things you can do, if you find a vet who really cares.
2006-09-26 08:27:20 · answer #4 · answered by ? 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
the cat may be jealous of your other kitty and has to adjust to the new kitty. if after a week the cat is still acting different then call the vet and arrange a visit for the cat. they will most likely do a cat combo test(for FELV and FIV). this shouldn't cost more then $35 for them to run the test. explain your situation to the vet. there may be a low cost vet in your area that will wave the office fee. also contact your local shelter, they may offer assistance for people with lower income
2006-09-26 08:31:05 · answer #5 · answered by Jenn 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
my kitten was the same way. he was lethargic, i rushed him to the hospital, and found out he had phnemonia. he didnt make it through the night because he was soooo tiny (he didnt have the right nutrition, i found him at 3 months old, just skin and bones) so maybe your kitty just has a virus. if he is eating and drinking down worry about him too much, but if he isnt moving at all (but is still alive) you could take him to the doctors just incase.
i wish you luck.
2006-09-26 08:10:42 · answer #6 · answered by . 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
nicely sounds to me like she is buttering up anybody only to get out area possibly she sees yet another cat and favor to shoot the breeze with it it could be from seeing different loose to questioning whats it like accessible and seeing different.as for the moist mouth in the experience that your feeding your cat can nutrients she will be making waiting to loose some have her mouth checked at 9 years previous it really is about that aspect to loose some shop in ideas each a million 3 hundred and sixty 5 days for us is 6 for them.get a harness for her and at 9 years previous enable her cling out out area take her for a walk do no longer go away them at the same time as collared they could cling them self's.yet i imagine she is attempting to butter up a fool to enable her out.examine her teeth and take the former lady out time to time Plus she choose the alkaline contained in the grass for her abdomen and sunlight mild makes her body make supplementations B-6 B-12 and ok
2016-11-24 20:37:32 · answer #7 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
AT LEAST CALL A VET OR CALL YOUR LOCAL ANIMAL SHELTER AND GET SOME FEED BACK FROM A PROFESSIONAL....HE MAY OF ATE A BUG OR SOMETHING ODD AND IT HAS AFFECTED HIM GOOD LUCK
2006-09-26 09:25:13 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Take it to the vet, most vets will let you make payments (I know mine will)
2006-09-26 08:19:11 · answer #9 · answered by katlvr125 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you can try to make payment arrangements with your local vet, so will do this...
2006-09-26 08:07:20 · answer #10 · answered by ama 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋