Hair lifted all over body?

[sweetleo]

Hi, my boy Leo is having a bit of a stomach flare up of sorts this week. He is doing better and eating more, but one thing that I noticed that isn’t going away is his fur is standing up on his entire body. I can feel when I go to pet him that he is fluffier than usual, and it will smooth out momentarily and then fluff back out. My first instinct was maybe he has a fever, but his ears feel pretty cold to me. I also googled and saw that maybe he is dehydrated, which is possible, but he’s having really good poops. I pinched the skin on his back and it definitely didn’t tent but it also didn’t spring back as quickly as it does on our kitten. My last guess is he’s scared, but he doesn’t look like he’s terrified, and I’ve seen him poof up out of fear and it’s usually just his tail. Anyway, does anyone know what this could be related to? We were thinking we could hold off on the vet for a week or so, since we have to go soon for his rabies vaccine anyway, but the fur thing is really making me worry.

 

[LTS3]

The fur standing on end is called piloerection. Cats do this for a variety of reasons: to keep themselves warm if the air temperature is cold or if their body temperature is low, they don't feel well, being scared of something, being aggressive, etc. I'd at least give the vet a call to discuss it.