Please Help: Both Cats Suddenly Sick

CreamsiclePuff

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Sounds to me like something she's digested was toxic. I recommend taking her to the vet as quickly as you can. Sometimes throwing up can exasperate the problem. Have her electrolyte levels checked at her vet appointment as well. The vet will be able to help her if she's not too dehydrated.
 

Pucks104

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Both Louie and Newman got sick this past weekend. Louie first then Newman. Louie’s temperature got up to almost 106 and he got dehydrated. I spent Monday afternoon at the vet with him get fluids and ice packs to get the fever down. They gave him a B12 injection, Clavamox injection and Metacam injection and sent us home with 10 days of Clavamox and 5 days of Metacam. He is doing much better. Newman had some diarrhea Saturday night and Sunday and seemed better Monday but the diarrhea returned Tuesday am early (I think because we fed him Instinct food again which is what I suspect caused this). This morning he had a slight fever. My vet is closed on Wednesday so I decided to start him on the Clavamox and gave him a dose of Metacam and he has perked up. Both kitties are on a boiled chicken and low sodium chicken broth diet until they are better.
 

cheesycats

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I would either get rid of the tree or block it off with a high dog gate when you’re not around. I’d also suggest getting more than one litter box. Two cats should have 3 boxes total. And do you monitor thier eating habits? You say they eat different foods but could they be cheating and stealing each other’s food. There could be one brand that’s changed or is just off for whatever reason and that’s what’s making them sick. I highly doubt the got any kind of “bug” since they’re indoor only and not exposed to that type of thing.
 

Kflowers

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Get rid of the tree. Why take a chance? SCotch tape your ornaments to the wall.

As for the cat food - the brand doesn't matter so much as the manufacturer for changes. For example Mars Corp makes Petagree, Sheba,Royal Canin, Whiskas and many other foods under different names. Manufactures buy and sell pet foods regularly. Check to see who makes their food. If the same company makes both the change could have affected both. If not, then that's one question answered.
 

Kflowers

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Even if the cats don't chew on the tree, if they scratch the trunk they will get pine sap on their claws and lick it off. This is the reason you don't use pine or cherry wood for scratching posts.

YES, the trees have pesticides on them. People would be screaming and boycotting if Christmas tree sellers let their trees bring bugs into people's houses.
 

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As a plant grower I can tell you that few companies are organic so they do use chemicals. Get the kitties back to the vet to tell them of your suspicions! Tree needles do not always pass through the digestive systems either so no sign of them in the poop is not unheard of. It could be toxins or the needles or something unrelated to the tree like the food but o find that ha omg love trees is fascinating for my indoor kitties. I now use a fake tree and even with that I make sure it is in a room without unmonitored kitties. Cats just get into everything! Poinsettias are a problem this time of year along with other festive plants and even decorations. Very old glass ornaments were sometimes mercury glass. Not good to eat. Any broken ornaments found? Once you have checked , food, litter, water, and new cleaning or scented things put in the house, any new fabrics, plants or decorations just recently added then there isn’t a lot left to check. The house wasn’t sprayed by pest control lately was it? No new perfumes you or using or soaps? We had one member who had a cat eat a clothes detergent soap pod. Kitty got sick but recovered.If none of the last things apply then the tree or just plain illness from something are all I can think of. I know that is a long process of elimination but think through it and if they are still sick.... back to the vet. So sorry they are sick! I hope they recover quickly. Now would be good!
 
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danielle4522

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dan32 dan32 this is just horrible! I don’t know what to do for them.

My one boy has IBD and I thought that was what this was, but then she got sick a day later...( his IBD symptoms are always vomiting and he isn’t vomiting just diarehha) and then she caught it. Same for me, neither go outside except on my porch something three floors up...

What in the world can cats catch that is contagious this fast? My stool samples for them were clean, no fever, blood good, pancreas test was normal....

They are both eating but diarehha won’t stop so the vet wants to give me steroids for them for the inflammation but that makes me very nervous.

My boy keeps licking himself constantly does that mean He is irritated and uncomfortable?
I don’t know what else to do for them and I’m just so sad about it because they have been healthy for so long!!

The weirdest part is... my cats both eat different foods due to my boys food allergies. My girl eats some of his food every once and a while but very limited, she eats basically her food only. They drink filtered water

I feed him fancy feast and she gets wellness. They don’t get any dry food. My wet food isn’t expired, any way it could go bad?


I’m at a loss because the vet has no idea what it could be either and I don’t know if I should switch their diets since they are both sick but eat different diets, I feel like that can’t be it?!
 
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danielle4522

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M momof3b1g so if I ever go to the pet store I always pet all the cats there but I always wash my hands well after and wouldn’t believe they would get anything from that?? They are me vet around other cats either. Could it be from the pet store? Seems weird to me


K Kflowers so I had a real Christmas tree in my place that they play under, they don’t chew on it and the water is blocked off, but maybe there were pesticides from the tree? But it seems my girl caught something from my boy since her symptoms showed a day after his, so I just don’t know. It’s always possible I brought something into the apartment but I won’t really ever know

I just want it to stop:(

Vet wants to do prednisolone steroids which worries me a bit
 

Pucks104

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Newman got sick after Louie as well but I started Newman on th Clavamox today Since Louie responded so quickly. He seems pretty much back to normal though I am still feeding the boiled chicken and chicken broth with just a tsp of canned chicken pate so they recognize the boiled chicken as food. I don’t really know what this is but clearly it hit them fast and hard.
 

Kflowers

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Nothing is absolute right now, these are only things to consider and eliminate as possible causes. Make a list of any thing new in the house to tell your vet, anything they've gotten into they haven't been around before. If the tree is it and you've told him. That's fine, that part is done. It's just to help him figure this out.

You are taking care of your kits, no doubt about that.
 
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danielle4522

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Thanks to everyone responding, I love reading all your thoughts.

I got rid of the tree and all my Christmas decorations that they could chew on. I scrubbed the litter box and the bathroom today. Neither of them have pooped all day but I’m sure they will have diarehha tonight, the vet said it’s not going to go away without meds

So my boy typically can have food allergies but has been good on his food over a year, does anyone think this could be it since his sister got sick the next day? I would think not since she got sick and never has before.

The doctor wants to give me prednisolone but should I be asking for a different medicine instead?

Sometimes the girl eats a half can of fancy feast that my boy eats but her symptoms didn’t show up until a day after his so I would have to believe he got some sort of bacteria and then she caught it through his feces or by licking him?

He never has diarrhea typically even with food allergies.

I just want to make sure I’m doing what’s best as I am a crazy person right now so worried. I want to cure their gut so this all stops, I’m Getting their meds tomorrow
 
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danielle4522

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M maggiedemi no she did not, she said a steroid would be better because their gut is probably inflamed since the diarehha won’t stop and they have been given diagel for diarehha which did nothing.

Would an antibiotic be better? Not really sure the difference between a steroid and antibiotic and which is easier on kitties?
 

maggiedemi

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I don't know anything about steroids. I just know that antibiotics can help with bacteria. You could ask your vet about it.
 

dan32

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Hmm. I thought Clavamox was for breathing issues. I had just finished a full Clavamox script for one of my cats that was sneezing. Maybe it can also be used for digestive issues.

I went through a week of 2x daily dosing of Metronidazole which "stopped up" my 3 guys, but once they were off the med for a few days - it sort of came back. They are doing better now, but it has been since late Oct. when my problems started with one, then another, then all three. It seemed like something contagious.

I also had petted two kitties at PetSmart and didn't think to wash my hands before I got home, but was that the cause?
 
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