Help, Cat Seems Very Sick. Doesn't Have The Strength To Stand Up.

[Marasha]

So a little baby cat arrived at our door and we took him to our balcony so he can grow up safely, away from all the cars in my neighborhood.

On the first 2 days, we let him in the house for a few hours and he was very energetic and playful. On the 3rd day we let him stay outside and on the 4th day (today) we let him in again cause he seemed like he was sleeping all the time.

Now, when I pick him up and let him down he doesn't seem to have the strength to stand up and he doesn't care about any of the toys he loved a couple of days ago. He doesn't eat the treats that he also loved or drink any of the special cat milk formula I have from some time ago. He doesn't seem that young to need milk but I tried to give him just in case. Even with a bottle, he didn't want any.

Edit: I noticed some liquid under his nostrils. Not the kind that they have when whey are cuddly.

Edit: He just peed on our couch where he is lying. I tried giving him water with a bottle and he didn't want that either. His temp is 38-39 Celsius.

Edit: So he stood up about 30 mins after peeing on our couch. But he was limping. Maybe he jumped off our balcony and hurt his legs. Could it be that the lost appetite is due to him hurting?

I need some help so if he is sick, he can survive for a couple of days in which we will be able to take him to the vet.

Here are some pics of him next to my glasses for comparison:
http://i.imgur.com/zoCopn1.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Bh1tAcC.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/u105fBB.jpg


Thanks a lot for any of your help, much appreciated!

 

[valentine319]

How much is he eating and drinking? How often pooping and peeing? Have you checked for dehydration?

Here's some info to check.
How to Check Cats for Dehydration: 12 Steps (with Pictures)

Basically if the cat is too weak to walk I would get it to a vet. If he's not eating or drinking you're going to need to syringe feed (needless ones you can get free from pharmacy) and give water until you can get to the vet

 

[Marasha]

How much is he eating and drinking? How often pooping and peeing? Have you checked for dehydration?

Here's some info to check.
How to Check Cats for Dehydration: 12 Steps (with Pictures)

Basically if the cat is too weak to walk I would get it to a vet. If he's not eating or drinking you're going to need to syringe feed (needless ones you can get free from pharmacy) and give water until you can get to the vet

We tried bottle feeding both milk and water but it didn't work, he gave quite a fight. Since he was on the balcony, we couldn't monitor him closely. He was definitely eating the first couple of days though. Every time we looked at him he was sleeping but he did pee a lot a few moments ago. I tried a few steps on the link you provided and everything seemed normal (like his skin elasticity and the paws temp). We measured his temp and it is around 38-39 Celsius which I think is the norm.

 

[ASingleNugget]

Hi! You can also try Gerber Chicken baby food if he's refusing to eat, that's what we used to do at the no kill shelter I was working at when we had a kitten who appeared to have no motivation for food, and it was something we had to do for my own kitten. If the little guy still refuses that, then syringe feeding is the way to go. You can syringe feed the baby food (he might be more apt to swallow that and let you feed that to him over the milk) or the milk (also something I had to do with my kitten.) Illness wise, it could be a variety of things. It could be FIV and he's weak from the anemia, diabetes, panleukopenia, coccidia, giardia, and a whole range of other things. If he crashed suddenly and is young, I would be concerned primarily about panleukopenia, but kittens are so prone to so many things you can't know for sure until fecal and blood samples are run. I would suggest keeping him very warm, you can use a heating pad underneath towels or blankets, and syringe feeding him slowly with kit milk, goat's milk, or the baby food (to ensure he gets some hydration.) With nasal discharge, the only thing you can really do past a diagnosis and medication is wipe it off gently and keep his nose clean and free of getting crusted up. It doesn't help so much medically, but I've found being kept clean does make them feel a little better. Best of luck, and I hope he makes it to the vet!

 

[Marasha]

So he stood up which made me very happy. But he was limping a bit. Maybe he jumped off the balcony and hurt his leg or something. Could it be that the lost appetite is due to him hurting?

 

[ASingleNugget]

So he stood up which made me very happy. But he was limping a bit. Maybe he jumped off the balcony and hurt his leg or something. Could it be that the lost appetite is due to him hurting?

That's great that he's standing up, but was it one of his back legs? He could have easily injured it, and that's a good reason for a cat to have behavioral changes, but weakness in back legs is also a symptom of a lot of illnesses. If it seems to get worse, or affect the other leg, I would personally consider it an illness over injury, but if over the course of time before you take him to the vet it stays local, then it could very well be an injury.

 

[Marasha]

That's great that he's standing up, but was it one of his back legs? He could have easily injured it, and that's a good reason for a cat to have behavioral changes, but weakness in back legs is also a symptom of a lot of illnesses. If it seems to get worse, or affect the other leg, I would personally consider it an illness over injury, but if over the course of time before you take him to the vet it stays local, then it could very well be an injury.

Seems it is both of his legs. Now he is sleeping but his back legs are trembling. We will take him to a 24/7 vet first thing in the morning tomorrow (it is 1 am where I live ATM) . I hope he can survive till then. I recently had to bury two newborn kittens because their mother abandoned them and we couldn't save them. Don't wanna have to bury another one.

 

[valentine319]

Seems it is both of his legs. Now he is sleeping but his back legs are trembling. We will take him to a 24/7 vet first thing in the morning tomorrow (it is 1 am where I live ATM) . I hope he can survive till then. I recently had to bury two newborn kittens because their mother abandoned them and we couldn't save them. Don't wanna have to bury another one.

Newborns are difficult even when you know what you are doing. I didn't and had one die.

If the kitty isn't dehydrated and has eaten in the last 48 hours you should be able to get to the vet and go from there. I know you won't know what's really going on until a vet visit. You're doing the best you can so I would just get kitty to the vet when they open. So plan on the carrier and keeping inside in the meantime. I don't know if twitching is dreaming or something else. Wishing you the best

 

[surya]

He's was using a litter box right? Can you see if it looks like he had diarrhea in the box? You can give him some unflavored pedialyte mixed with water and give it to him with a syringe. It sounds like he is dehydrated.

 

[Marasha]

He's was using a litter box right? Can you see if it looks like he had diarrhea in the box? You can give him some unflavored pedialyte mixed with water and give it to him with a syringe. It sounds like he is dehydrated.

We had him on the balcony and there is a tree connecting my yard to the balcony. Many cats come and go using that tree and I know that the sick one went downstairs a few times. We don't have a litter box for him so I am assuming he was going down the tree and doing his business on the yard.
I have searched for pedialytes in the past but I couldn't find any. I live in Greece so the variety of vet items is not that great. Hopefully the doctor tomorrow can point me to where I can buy some or something similar if he is dehydrated.

 

[Marasha]

So I checked on the cat and he is trembling a lot. He hasn't moved much since the last time I checked. I tried to give him water with a bottle but again, he didn't want any and gave quite a fight. We will take him to the vet in about 6 hours by the time this comment is posted. Hopefully he is fine till then.

 

[katlady-18]

I hope he makes it. Please keep us updated when you can.

 

[surya]

We had him on the balcony and there is a tree connecting my yard to the balcony. Many cats come and go using that tree and I know that the sick one went downstairs a few times. We don't have a litter box for him so I am assuming he was going down the tree and doing his business on the yard.
I have searched for pedialytes in the past but I couldn't find any. I live in Greece so the variety of vet items is not that great. Hopefully the doctor tomorrow can point me to where I can buy some or something similar if he is dehydrated.

It's not actually made for cats, people give it to their children when they are throwing up. It's just water with electrolytes, so you could ask at a pharmacy if they have something like that with no added flavor. I'm sending good vibes out to the poor kitty, let us know.

 

[Marasha]

I hope he makes it. Please keep us updated when you can.

It's not actually made for cats, people give it to their children when they are throwing up. It's just water with electrolytes, so you could ask at a pharmacy if they have something like that with no added flavor. I'm sending good vibes out to the poor kitty, let us know.

So we took him to the vet. He has quite a few problems. We took radio graphs and nothing seemed to be wrong expect that he is not pooping. So the vet told me that that means that it could be that something on his spine is compressed and makes him unable to walk or it is some illness but she didn't take any blood samples for now. She gave the kitty some shots and we will see how he goes. The vet also told me that as of right now, it doesn't seem like it is something really important like the kitty not being able to walk again, which makes me really happy. He did poop once we brought him home but he still doesn't eat or drink (eats very little I should say) so if this goes on until tomorrow, I will take him back to the vet and put him on those feeding tubes (don't know the English term). I will also try giving him water with the bottle. Hopefully until tomorrow he will be eating more and we won't have to take him there. He is a stray cat and as a Greek, spending a lot of money on him won't be the easiest. He also has flees, scabies on his ears and icterus (jaundice). Not the healthiest kitty but those are minor.

So, summing up, either it is some illness or something wrong on his spine although nothing really important as of right now. I will keep you updated. Thanks a lot for your help!

 

[surya]

I'll say a prayer for him. What is his name?

 

[Marasha]

I'll say a prayer for him. What is his name?

He doesn't really have one right now since we only have him for about a week. We call him Mr. Baby for the moment.
We are thinking of a name but we haven't come up with something good.

 

[katlady-18]

I wish you luck with him and thank you for giving him a home.

 

[Draco]

How's he doing today?

When I first adopted my cat (as a kitten), she had a virus that made her very weak and pain to her leg joints. She couldn't walk and spent a lot of time sleeping and not eating. I had to take her to the vet to get her on antibiotics.

I thought maybe she slipped and hurt herself since she refused to stand. Took about a week for her to get back to her playful self.

Do take her back to the vet if she shows no signs of improvement. keep us posted!