Cat sick, and vet visit in 14 days.. what to do?

moreknow

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Hello,
My 3yr old-spayed-mostly indoors-semiferal cat has been sick since last week. Starting this year she's had troubles with fleas, worms, and a flea allergy. I took her to her first vet visit in July and they helped me out with those problems. Prior to the visit, she was always grooming in between her legs and her lower stomach, to the point where she was losing fur and could see her skin. She still hasn't recovered that fur back and typically still grooms herself there, but since last week she's been low energy. She's always been a very picky eater in comparison to my 22 semiferals, only eating specific wet/dry foods, real chicken and turkey, and would only eat it if it's in a specific location and situation. Since last week she's been walking kinda weak, it seemed she was in pain but isn't making any noises besides licking her lips typically. She's walking differently and has to really prepare herself to jump to bed, something that's not normal of her. Apart from all that, she appears to be still wanting to eat, as she makes the jump to the table to see what i can feed her. Again, she'll only eat specific foods and sometimes I have to encourage her to eat, and she does drink water, but right now, the only activities she's done are eat, sleep, drink, and sometimes scratch the cat furniture, all while looking low energy. I have a vet visit scheduled in the morning for Monday Sept 20, but I feel that that's too far. I have a really busy schedule now, and I would try to see if the vets can take her in earlier but it would also have to be in line with my schedule.. what can I do to take care of her in the meantime? Feed her real chicken, tuna? I read from another thread I posted last week that I could try to find antibiotics from live feed stores. I plan on doing that soon if i can find a good store nearby. Sorry if i made any grammatical errors im about to go to work and get off at 11, when I'll reply. Thanks for feedback in advance :)
 

fionasmom

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The lip licking is usually nausea. To me, her symptoms seem problematic enough that you should probably see if you can get her in sooner. She is lethargic, not eating well or on her own, weak, and probably nauseated. These could all indicate something serious going on. I don't have any experience with using antibiotics from a feed store, so can't advise on that. It also presupposes an infection which she may or may not have.
 

neely

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I read from another thread I posted last week that I could try to find antibiotics from live feed stores. I plan on doing that soon if i can find a good store nearby.
Sorry I did not see your previous thread from last week but would not advise giving her antibiotics from a live feed store without speaking to your vet first. It would be in your cat's best interest to get an appointment with the vet so they can diagnose and treat her most recent health issue especially since they know her medical history. Good luck, please keep us posted. :crossfingers:
 
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moreknow

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The lip licking is usually nausea. To me, her symptoms seem problematic enough that you should probably see if you can get her in sooner. She is lethargic, not eating well or on her own, weak, and probably nauseated. These could all indicate something serious going on. I don't have any experience with using antibiotics from a feed store, so can't advise on that. It also presupposes an infection which she may or may not have.
She hasn’t thrown up at all though, and she hasn’t made any noises besides meowing. I’ll have to call tomorrow morning and see if I can find a earlier appointment that can fit in to my schedule.. it just seems weird to me because all my other cats go through so many things outside yet they hardly get sick. And if they do, they usually recover on their own.

yesterday she got on the cat furniture and gave it a little bit of scratches before i interrupted her by feeding her chicken, so that gives me a little bit of hope that she’s doing a little bit ok

I justhope that it isn’t anything severe and the same problem as before , like worms or flea allergies
 
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moreknow

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Sorry I did not see your previous thread from last week but would not advise giving her antibiotics from a live feed store without speaking to your vet first. It would be in your cat's best interest to get an appointment with the vet so they can diagnose and treat her most recent health issue especially since they know her medical history. Good luck, please keep us posted. :crossfingers:
Yes you’re right, I’ll have to call tomorrow morning
 
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moreknow

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brief update: she’s still the same. But i want to say that she’s getting better despite the fact that she’s still kinda lethargic.. she’s able to jump and move fast when necessary. Yesterday she was purring when she saw me and was kneading and bumping her head against me. Alongside that, she went outside for a little last night, and I’ve been feeding her real chicken and wet food and she eats about half, which is way better than how she’s been eating the last few months

the vet told me that they’ll put me on the cancellation list in case anyone else cancels their appointments

im hopeful she’ll get better soon but i cant be too confident just yet
 
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update: she's still the same in a way. Didn't go outside today and stayed sleeping for most of the time. I was at school from 8-6 today so i didn't get to see much but i imagined she moved to the kitchen to find the dry food plate i leave out, and at night she ate a little bit of chicken and wet food. Only noticeable thing was when i was petting her she's still purring and kneading the blanket she sleeps on, and also i was trying to play with her by hiding my hand under the blanket and wiggling my finger around and she was trying to grab it and had really big circular eyes, an indication of being playful
Still she's sleeping and im still hopeful she'll do ok, the visit is in 10 days now

right now she’s sleeping and he she’s upside down :) an indication that she’s feeling a little less sick and more comfortable?
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update:
sorry i haven't posted an update yesterday but thankfully she seems a little better. She's still not as active as she usually is but she's eating the chicken and wet food but again, she always eats less than half. She's drinking water and the last 2 days she went outside when i come home at 11 pm. I haven't gotten a chance to spend enough time to pet her for more than 5 minutes to the point where she purrs but I'm sure she would purr and be comfortable since i see her more active. Earlier this week she would spend about 90% of her day in one bed and only moving to eat and drink. She's still meowing softly and moving kinda weird, not running and wanting to keep her distance from the outdoor cats. Hopefully it continues on this gradual recovery and that she'll be ok to go to vet in 10 days :)

I also wanted to thank y'all so much for following this thread and the others i post,, it means a whole LOT to me and I truly appreciate the fact that people out there would take the time out of their day to help me out with these 'cat struggles'. I will sure find a way to reciprocate that energy out to this community soon, and hopefully i can try to rescue more cats later on in my life :)
 
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I am glad that you are seeing signs of improvement. How are her stools and pee habits? Is she eating probiotics?
I haven't gotten the chance to see her using the litter box, Im at work all day yesterday and today. I'd assume she's worm-free right now. And no, the closest thing i have to help with her digestion is the Weruva pureed pumpkin supplement but she won't eat anything that has that on it. I'll definitely look into finding probiotics, thank you so much 🙏🙏
 
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moreknow

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update:
with the tropical storm coming onto the Gulf Coast i kinda started to shift my worries towards my outside cats as it was unexpected to me that it would hit us by tomorrow. Im working on making some platforms and makeshift shelters for the cats while i can in between the times i go to work. Hopefully they'll be ok

Bebe is doing better once again, and im glad im able to say that last night she did her first big stretch and flipped over on the carpet and allowed me to pet her belly when she was upside down lol. She's still eating the same, but maybe it's because I still haven't found out what kind of wet food and chicken she really likes. She's sleeping right now, and I hope that when I come back Bebe doesn't randomly get hit with another wave of being low energy and ill
 

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Praying for safety for you and your crew 🙏🙏🙏💖💕. In case there is anything helpful, here is a link:
How to protect community cats from disasters
I remember that one lady put styrofoam coolers in the crawlspace of her house for the ferals under there and somehow all kitties lived although a snake (harmless) got into one & she had to get her husband to move it.
 
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moreknow

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update:
the storm has passed but it's still cloudy and rainy at times and all my cats are still here dry and safe :D
I'm making it a priority to get a porch roof in my backyard and make different cat houses around the house by the end of the year

Bebe is doing well and it almost seems like she's back to normal, playing a little more but not fully running and jumping yet. She scratches her furniture and her daughter Celsa (sell-sa) tries to chase her around the house but Bebe just plops on her back and has her paws up as if she's inviting her to try and attack her. She still eats about the same and goes outside for a little bit at night and her stool seems normal. I can say that she's only going to get better from here, now all that's left is to get her more healthy after the vet trip. I'll post another update on Friday, thank y'all so much again :hellocomputer:

Regarding the probiotics, catsknowme, what product are you using for your cat(s)? (i don't know how to tag people sorry)
 
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