- Joined
- Sep 17, 2015
- Messages
- 105
- Purraise
- 113
Hello there,
I have a cat (7 years old) who within this past week (maybe before, I'm not sure as I'm afraid I tried to brush it off until recently) has not been himself.
First of all, let me just say that I am posting this because I am hoping very much to avoid a trip to the vet (although that hope seems to be fading) as these visits can cost more than I can afford. I am of course willing to take him if needed because I don't want anything to go untreated or for him to suffer, I just would like to see first if it's something that he's just trying to get over (like a bug) or something more serious. Also, if I have to make a trip to the vet, I would like to go in with at least hopefully some idea of what the problem might be.
Okay, symptoms: my cat (Bendel) has been rather lethargic lately and sleeping a lot more than normal as of late. He also today exhibited some signs of fear (we had an electrician doing some work at the house) that he has never exhibited before. Sure, sometimes in the past he'll show normal signs of caution/curiosity/etc. in those situations, but today he was bordering frantic.
At night he usually sleeps on my bed or sometimes on the floor, but now he avoids the bed and hides himself in the room during the night. Again, sometimes before, he would change and find a new favorite sleeping spot every now and then, but after a few weeks he would generally go back to sleeping on the bed. But I get the feeling that this time it's not just changing sleeping spots - if everything else were normal, I probably would, but he just doesn't seem to be well. Along with hiding himself at night, he is sleeping A LOT and seems to lack energy. He basically chooses a spot and then parks it there all day (last night I had to move him myself - I only did this b/c I don't think he would have wanted to sleep in the same room as the family dog... ;^P ). He just doesn't seem to have energy and truthfuly, sometimes, just doesn't look well.
Before, his normal habits would be to to be pretty active in the morning as he would try to get me or someone else in the house to feed him. Then he would pick a spot and sleep there for a little while before getting up again for another meal. This pattern would repeat a few times a day, but now he just sleeps and doesn't seem to need to eat. I brushed it off for a couple of days but am now pretty concerned.
What is confusing me a little is the lack of some common symptoms: he hasn't been vomiting, no diarrhea, when he is up he eats/drinks - so I really am curious as to what the problem could be. I would say maybe it was some joint/limb pain but he can jump up onto things... Someone please help!!
Some things that could be factors are: he has been having some trouble with fleas for a bit now and licks/chews his back side quite a bit and is also sensitive back there. I have been trying some natural treatments (not wanting to use treatments like advantage) - would that have anything to do with it? Everything I have been using for the fleas I have always done research on to make sure that they were safe before using. I have flea combed him a couple of times, applied aloe vera (100% pure) to hopefully sooth his itchy skin, and sprayed him with apple cider vinegar. As far as internally, I did buy him some new food a couple of weeks ago - it is Orijen's food (the six fish blend). I bought it because he has dandruff and doesn't like wet food. I was excited to find it because it seemed to have the benefits he needed without having to try the wet food route.
Could any of these things be playing a part in this behavior change?
The only things I can think of myself are: (A.) he ate something outside, (he's an indoor cat but I do let him go in the backyard some) (B.) my bombardment of flea treatments is stressing him out (he did NOT like the apple cider vinegar one bit! I used a spray bottle to apply it and he kept meowing and trying to run away - so I was following him through the backyard while spraying him), (C.) the new food is not agreeing with him (I have been alternating between this food and his previous food - I give him less amounts of the Orijen's, though) (D.) maybe somehow the fleas are affecting him?
To sum it up, the symptoms are: lethargy and odd behavior.
Again, when up he DOES eat - he just won't get up during the day to do so. He just jogged back to the bedroom (he does this sometimes, he likes to eat ) so again, I am utterly confused; other than the two key symptoms, he seems to be normal in most other aspects.
I apologize for the overload of info - since this is so much and may not be quite clear, feel free to ask specific questions! (I may post an update if I feel like I need to be more clear on anything)
If anyone could give me any insight into what might be the problem, I would be eternally grateful!!
Thanks bunches!
P.S. As a side note, something else I have noticed which seems to have been just confirmed, is that he will jump onto things but once up doesn't want to come back down - I don't know if that sheds any more light into the matter but I do find it interesting.
I have a cat (7 years old) who within this past week (maybe before, I'm not sure as I'm afraid I tried to brush it off until recently) has not been himself.
First of all, let me just say that I am posting this because I am hoping very much to avoid a trip to the vet (although that hope seems to be fading) as these visits can cost more than I can afford. I am of course willing to take him if needed because I don't want anything to go untreated or for him to suffer, I just would like to see first if it's something that he's just trying to get over (like a bug) or something more serious. Also, if I have to make a trip to the vet, I would like to go in with at least hopefully some idea of what the problem might be.
Okay, symptoms: my cat (Bendel) has been rather lethargic lately and sleeping a lot more than normal as of late. He also today exhibited some signs of fear (we had an electrician doing some work at the house) that he has never exhibited before. Sure, sometimes in the past he'll show normal signs of caution/curiosity/etc. in those situations, but today he was bordering frantic.
At night he usually sleeps on my bed or sometimes on the floor, but now he avoids the bed and hides himself in the room during the night. Again, sometimes before, he would change and find a new favorite sleeping spot every now and then, but after a few weeks he would generally go back to sleeping on the bed. But I get the feeling that this time it's not just changing sleeping spots - if everything else were normal, I probably would, but he just doesn't seem to be well. Along with hiding himself at night, he is sleeping A LOT and seems to lack energy. He basically chooses a spot and then parks it there all day (last night I had to move him myself - I only did this b/c I don't think he would have wanted to sleep in the same room as the family dog... ;^P ). He just doesn't seem to have energy and truthfuly, sometimes, just doesn't look well.
Before, his normal habits would be to to be pretty active in the morning as he would try to get me or someone else in the house to feed him. Then he would pick a spot and sleep there for a little while before getting up again for another meal. This pattern would repeat a few times a day, but now he just sleeps and doesn't seem to need to eat. I brushed it off for a couple of days but am now pretty concerned.
What is confusing me a little is the lack of some common symptoms: he hasn't been vomiting, no diarrhea, when he is up he eats/drinks - so I really am curious as to what the problem could be. I would say maybe it was some joint/limb pain but he can jump up onto things... Someone please help!!
Some things that could be factors are: he has been having some trouble with fleas for a bit now and licks/chews his back side quite a bit and is also sensitive back there. I have been trying some natural treatments (not wanting to use treatments like advantage) - would that have anything to do with it? Everything I have been using for the fleas I have always done research on to make sure that they were safe before using. I have flea combed him a couple of times, applied aloe vera (100% pure) to hopefully sooth his itchy skin, and sprayed him with apple cider vinegar. As far as internally, I did buy him some new food a couple of weeks ago - it is Orijen's food (the six fish blend). I bought it because he has dandruff and doesn't like wet food. I was excited to find it because it seemed to have the benefits he needed without having to try the wet food route.
Could any of these things be playing a part in this behavior change?
The only things I can think of myself are: (A.) he ate something outside, (he's an indoor cat but I do let him go in the backyard some) (B.) my bombardment of flea treatments is stressing him out (he did NOT like the apple cider vinegar one bit! I used a spray bottle to apply it and he kept meowing and trying to run away - so I was following him through the backyard while spraying him), (C.) the new food is not agreeing with him (I have been alternating between this food and his previous food - I give him less amounts of the Orijen's, though) (D.) maybe somehow the fleas are affecting him?
To sum it up, the symptoms are: lethargy and odd behavior.
Again, when up he DOES eat - he just won't get up during the day to do so. He just jogged back to the bedroom (he does this sometimes, he likes to eat ) so again, I am utterly confused; other than the two key symptoms, he seems to be normal in most other aspects.
I apologize for the overload of info - since this is so much and may not be quite clear, feel free to ask specific questions! (I may post an update if I feel like I need to be more clear on anything)
If anyone could give me any insight into what might be the problem, I would be eternally grateful!!
Thanks bunches!
P.S. As a side note, something else I have noticed which seems to have been just confirmed, is that he will jump onto things but once up doesn't want to come back down - I don't know if that sheds any more light into the matter but I do find it interesting.