Scared or something else

[crystal dawn]

Lil bit has been sitting or laying in the litter box if she gets scared or if I put her down from my lap. I'm not sure why. She seems to be peeing and pooping fine. Shes also eating normally and stuff. Not sure if I should take her in for an appointment or not. As that will scare her more if thats what's going on.

 

[di and bob]

They lay in the litterbox because it has their scent and they feel reassured in it. As long as she is NORMAL in everything else, eating/drinking/using the box and not hiding elsewhere, monitor her, reassure her, and try to figure out why she is doing this. Something is really scaring her or she is physically sick. I hate to tell you, but most of the cats I had do this were very sick or dying. Has there been any major upheavals, construction, company that has come over, new cats hanging around outside? Anyone banging on the door, any deliveries, any kids around? If not, definitely bring her in, this may very well be a medical issue that needs attention. If she soon starts coming out, then bring her in when she calms down some.

 

[crystal dawn]

I'm going to try to get her a vet appointment soon after last night. As she coughed and was wheezing some after I found her in a litterbox and she had a bit of litter stuck around her mouth.

She seems ok otherwise and is comming out of the box on her own and also if I pick her up she'll lay with me. I did that last night and she slept on me all night.

There has been some high winds lately plus the neighbors cats around the house.

 

[crystal dawn]

Lil bit has a vet appt at 4pm tomorrow just to make sure she's ok if nothing else.

 

[di and bob]

You might have an xray done, they are pretty inexpensive and can tell a lot. It worries me she had litter around her mouth, if she ate some, it swells and can cause a blockage. Please keep us informed on what you find out. I'm so glad you have an appt. I pray its nothing serious!

 

[crystal dawn]

yes, I know I'm concerned too. Not sure if they can do an x-ray at my usual vets office. I don't think she ate any, but she did spit out some after I brushed it off her lips and face.

She's eating pretty well, she's not wanting to drink though. I had to put some tuna in water to get her to drink earlier. I finally got her settled in to a box that isn't the litter box. I'm hoping it's something minor and easy to treat if it's anything health related. It could just be that My other two cats got sick back to back, so I've been stressed, so she's stressed. We also had to change how we fed them quickly. Both of them are doing well now.

It's moments like this when I wish one of us spoke the others' language so I could understand what's wrong and help more, or even fix it.

One thing that seems to have helped is I closed the window that was forgotten open earlier, so that's cut the noise from outside.

Also noticed today for sure that when she's laying on me purring, I'm also hearing what I would describe as a wet popping sound at times. Not sure what that is, but hopefully the vet can help with that. I'm also not sure if she's heaving or burping, she did it several times last night and today after eating/drinking.

I'm noticing all kinds of things, and I'm not sure if it's my anxiety or if something's really wrong. Hopefully the vet appointment helps put that at ease. I will also be going back to therapy to try to get my anxiety under control which will hopefully help lil bit feel more secure as I ideally won't be freaking out at every little thing and freaking her out.

 

[crystal dawn]

Lil Bit is still acting freaked out and "hiding" in a box. She spent most of the night sleeping on me or in a box next to me that I covered partly with some light fabric to help her feel safer.
That wet popping I was hearing seems to have stopped, but her breathing been a bit off. Though I noticed when I went and got some fabric and covered the box her breathing evened out. She's eating and drinking, but I haven't seen her use the litter box all morning though I did find her hunkered down in a litter box when I woke up this morning.

4 and a half hours til her vet appointment. Hopefully it's nothing serious, if it's really anything at all. If it's only her anxiety that can be managed with some time and safe place creation and controlling noise and maybe medication if it gets to bad pretty easily.

Hopefully all of this is making sense, as I'm sleep-deprived. At least one cat's been ill for about a month now.

 

[crystal dawn]

Back from the vet. Lil bit is super itchy from fleas she got an injection to calm that down hopefully that works. The other guess was a uti or something like that so if shes not doing better in a few days we need to at least call them for antibiotics.

 

[crystal dawn]

Lil bit seems some what better today. I still have to walk her to the litter box for her to use it. i do that about every 4 hours. She pees every time. She did a poop last night so not to worried about that.

I had her on my lap and gave her pets scratches and a little massage, and she totally relaxed, and she didn't go hide in her box for a few hours then I think there was a loud noise or something and she returned to her box and has been there since. About to get her out to go potty and see if she'll stay out for a while. Hoping she'll relax soon and start taking herself to the litter box.

 

[crystal dawn]

Lil bit now seems to be terrified of the litter box. She puts in her front paws in then jumps out and runs away. She usually jumps into her box. The vet doesn't open again til Monday. Its gonna be a long two days of comforting and taking to the litter box every few hours for a bit til the meds clear things up. Hopefully we can find the money for the meds. Otherwise the uti lil bit has will remain untreated for at least two weeks possibly longer. Wish I could work or prove myself disabled. But I can still walk so I'm judged as able to work but no employer will hire someone that can only work 3 weeks a month and is only able to stand/sit for 30 mins at a time.

Ps we have left over antibiotic rhats under 60 days from our other two cats. We may be able to use that. Will ask when calling mon as the vet charges 32 dollars for 15mls.

 

[crystal dawn]

Lil bit is the same this morning she runs away when I take her to the litter box to try and potty. Unless she went herself she hasn't gone in over 12 hours.

 

[fionasmom]

She could be associating pain with the litter box if she is attempting to go but can't. Try to see if she is going elsewhere in the house.

 

[crystal dawn]

She could be associating pain with the litter box if she is attempting to go but can't. Try to see if she is going elsewhere in the house.

I looked and didn't see anywhere. But that doesn't mean she didn't get into somewhere I can't see/get to last night and went. I took her over to the litter box and it took a few minutes and me telling her " No you need to go potty" but she peed in the litter box. So I feel more relaxed now. I understand that she may be associating the litter box with pain as she's having issues. The vet will be called first thing Monday morning to get this sorted out for her. Now she's sleeping in the box she likes to "hide" in. I'm just glad to know that she can pee and isn't blocked.

 

[crystal dawn]

Lil bit peed that I saw between 12pm and 1pm and hasn't since as far as I know. I also noticed she's not drinking plain water. I've been adding a bit to her food, and I've started putting in a bowl of water with some canned chicken or tuna in it not much but enough to draw her interest and get her to drink. Not drinking enough could be the issue. I'm exhausted, and I need to get through tomorrow before calling the vet for meds. Doing what needs to be done bleh.

For reference, it's now 9:44pm. It's also totally possible that lil bit is leaving her box and going potty without me noticing as I do other things.

 

[crystal dawn]

Lil bit's much the same today. I did get her out of her box and gave her scratches and pets for a while, and she stayed out relaxing on my lap, then I took her to go potty, and she landed back in her box. I figured out she won't use the box if there's pee or poo in there, so I have to sift it each time before I take her over.

 

[crystal dawn]

emptied out the box lil bit prefers, cleaned it and put in fresh litter and lil bit hopped out of her box and used the littler box by herself. So I've been able to relax some.

Em had a coughing fit today and was wheezing. Concerned about him now, though, it could have been from a hairball. I finally got some egg yolk into him. Hopefully it was enough to break up the hairball and allow him to easily pass it out the other end instead of constantly vomiting them up. He's been doing that about weekly for a month now. He also had a little bit of a soft stool. It wasn't much though I'll be keeping an eye on him.

 

[crystal dawn]

Xena seems to be about the same. She's been meowing quite loudly, but we go check on her and she seems to be fine and is quiet. She's not laying like she's in a lot of pain, either. So I think the fleas are getting to her. I gave her some canned food as well and that seems to have helped. She's eating drinking and as far as I can tell using the litter box, still worried about her though as something seems off, and I can't pinpoint what. So she's under observation. She's feisty and has no problem taking a chunk out of someone if she's bothered too much. I'm concerned about her greatly and feel helpless as there's not much we can do for her. We barely have enough money to live on right now and my mom's about to be out of town for two days for medical testing so all of our money is going toward that, and it sucks not to have the money to take her to the vet to get this sorted properly.

Lil Bit is much the same, she does hop out of her box to use the litter box now and comes onto my lap sometimes if I'm sitting in the living room near her box, but she mostly lives in that box. I'm working with her to get her to come out when she's not scared and looking for somewhere else to hide.

Em seems better he's not throwing up anymore. I think the cause of that was some food I had put away back in may in vaccum sealed bags and then gave as we ran out of catfood. I may need to toss and replace the lot. It looked and smelled okay as I am now out of the pack of that I was using and giving a fresh bag of food from the store and he's no longer vomiting twice a day. Also could of been from the hairballs he got rid of the other day. Not sure entirely and don't want to experiment on him.

As for me my anxiety is up due to Xena's behavior but other wise I'm okay. Mostly I'm just confused by her behavior as when I see her laying down she's laying in one of her normal positions for a chilly/rainy day like today so don't know what's going on. All we can do is watch over her and if it changes for the worst rush her into the vet and pay. Hopefully that happens before my mom leaves or after she gets back and not while she's out of town but if it does I will have transportation if I need it. I just feels so scared and so helpless and guilty and I can only hope that the box with the towel I placed near Xena for her to lay in and try to be more confortable helps. As I'm not sure what else to do though I could set up a box with my heating pad in it on low with a towel over it and see if the heat helps her any just not sure where to set that up at right now. I might try to find a place and do that.

I can't wait for this day, month, week, year, to be over with already.

Hopefully therapy on Monday also helps, I need some new tools.

 

[crystal dawn]

Everyone's doing pretty good now. Xena's comfy and acting normally again. Em's doing well. Lilbit's at her new normal.

Thank you everyone who's advised and supported me.

 

[fionasmom]

This is really good news that everyone seems to have returned to baseline. You have been through a rough patch lately.

 

[crystal dawn]

This is really good news that everyone seems to have returned to baseline. You have been through a rough patch lately.

Thank you. Being here as been great for me and everyone's been wonderful. However, I am in need of a break. So I may not be around here for the foreseeable future.