As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

My cat's acting strange

Skull2185Skull2185 Registered User regular
My cat's been acting a little strange lately, and I'm hoping maybe I can find some help here before I give up and take her to the vet.

Since maybe Sunday, she's been acting kind of lethargic. Moreso than her normal cat self. She'll pick weird spots like the bathroom, or cat beds she doesn't normally use to just hunker down and sleep or space out. She sorta doesn't have much of an appetite either. She's a fatty cat (losing weight tho) and has to eat in a room separate from the other cats because she gets a special diet food. Usually when I let her out of the room the bowl is empty, but lately she doesn't even touch it.

So here's why it's confusing:

It's not an all the time thing. The reason I'm hesitant to take her to the vet is because she just had a check up 2 weeks ago. I figured maybe she caught some ick from the vet's office and it would pass in a couple days. Her nose is cold and wet, though, and she's not coughing or sneezing or anything. She'll also do her normal routine of getting exciting with the other cats when it's feeding time, and chases the laser pointer around with tons of energy. I'm thinking maybe it's her mouth or a tooth?

Today when I fed the cats, she didn't eat any of her food. She went to one of the other cat bowls and ate some of the left over morsels from it. I put another cat bowl down that had more left over food in it and she pigged out on it too. After she finished, she kept rubbing her paw against the side of her mouth. Something she apparently did yesterday morning as well. So, I dunno what the heck's going on with her. He check up went well. The vet said she was doing great, anfd she even lost a pound. He also said her teeth looked fine, just a little plaque but nothing bad.

I also looked in her mouth this morning, and didnt notice anything immediately bad. Her teeth looked ok, and her gums didn't look red or inflamed. She was like "why are you doing this, this is weird" but not overly sensitive to me poking around in her mouth. So yeah... I dunno what's up. I'm hoping someone here has any possible suggestions. Otherwise I'm just going to have to take her back to the vet =/

One last thing: I have 4 cats total and the other 3 are their normal selves. The last time one of the cats got sick, it spread through all of them super quick, so if it was some kind of ick I feel like the other cats would be displaying similar symptoms/behavior by now.

Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.

Posts

  • So It GoesSo It Goes We keep moving...Registered User regular
    So when you say she's not eating, what you mean is she's not eating her diet food but will eat the other cats' food?

  • Dark Raven XDark Raven X Laugh hard, run fast, be kindRegistered User regular
    how old is she?

    sleeping in new places is an indicator of illness, but it can also be a sign that she's just too hot due to summer rolling around. My oldest cat, Cat, will start sleeping in the bathroom if she's too warm, cause it has the coldest floor.

    Oh brilliant
  • Skull2185Skull2185 Registered User regular
    Dang, I can't remember when we got her... she's between 6 and 8 years old.


    She's not eating her diet food. She's been eating it less and less since Sunday. Today was the first time I've noticed she didn't eat her food at all. I normally pick up the other cat bowls before I let her out of her room, but I didn't today. She went right up to check for any leftovers and ate them with no issue.

    Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
  • FeralFeral MEMETICHARIZARD interior crocodile alligator ⇔ ǝɹʇɐǝɥʇ ǝᴉʌoɯ ʇǝloɹʌǝɥɔ ɐ ǝʌᴉɹp ᴉRegistered User regular
    Skull2185 wrote: »
    I'm thinking maybe it's her mouth or a tooth?

    Out of curiosity, is there any difference in texture between her food and the other cats' food?

    If her food were dry kibble and the other cats got soft food, then I'd suspect a mouth problem. If they both get the same texture of food, then nah.

    BTW, I used to have a cat with a chronic tooth problem due to an old injury and she would eat dry food if it were available, but she would tilt her mouth to one side so the kibble would fall towards her non-injured teeth.

    every person who doesn't like an acquired taste always seems to think everyone who likes it is faking it. it should be an official fallacy.

    the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
  • Skull2185Skull2185 Registered User regular
    Her diet food, and the regular food for the other cats are both dry kibble. Interestingly, she ate a good portion of food just now after some water was added to soften it up. We couldn't get her to go into the room she normally eats in, though. I suspect it's because she pooped on the floor in there today.


    I wasn't sure if the floor pooping was related so I didn't mention it earlier.

    Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
  • FeralFeral MEMETICHARIZARD interior crocodile alligator ⇔ ǝɹʇɐǝɥʇ ǝᴉʌoɯ ʇǝloɹʌǝɥɔ ɐ ǝʌᴉɹp ᴉRegistered User regular
    edited April 2017
    Edit: apologies, wrong thread.

    Feral on
    every person who doesn't like an acquired taste always seems to think everyone who likes it is faking it. it should be an official fallacy.

    the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
  • So It GoesSo It Goes We keep moving...Registered User regular
    Skull2185 wrote: »
    Her diet food, and the regular food for the other cats are both dry kibble. Interestingly, she ate a good portion of food just now after some water was added to soften it up. We couldn't get her to go into the room she normally eats in, though. I suspect it's because she pooped on the floor in there today.


    I wasn't sure if the floor pooping was related so I didn't mention it earlier.

    It's actually good to mention because it means she most likely doesn't have a blockage, which is one thing that can occur to make cats stop eating (or at least, did for mine).

    Sounds more like a mouth problem, if she's preferring soft stuff and rubbing at her face.

  • JusticeJustice Registered User regular
    edited April 2017
    Cats also sometimes just "go off" one kind of food, because they're capricious. Also, once we had one bag of the usual food that must have been an off batch or something, because we bought a new bag and she was fine with it (and has been ever since). Did you just open a new bag of the diet food?

    I'm trying to think of a way to troubleshoot this that doesn't cost a lot of money. Odd that she'll eat both the other cats' dry kibble unsoftened but also the diet food softened.

    This feels like a logic game.

    Justice on
  • Skull2185Skull2185 Registered User regular
    The food she eats is only available through the vet, so that's partly why she just had her check up. It's a new bag of the food, so I'm thinking there's either something she doesn't like about this particular batch of food or she's got some kind of mouth thing going on. Gonna see how it goes for another couple days and then see about taking her to the vet if she doesn't start acting like her normal self.

    It's just rough because when the cat's act different or get sick, my anxiety riddled brain immediately goes to feline leukemia or something awful like that...

    Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
  • JusticeJustice Registered User regular
    I'd swing by the vet for another bag, then test that. And if it works, try to get your money back on the first bag.

  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    It might be worthwhile to do an x-ray if it's not too onerous. We got our second cat around the same age and while her teeth looked okay from what our vet could see an x-ray showed the gums had receded heavily.

  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
    Sounds like teeth to me. Our cat went through something pretty similar last year.

    Either way, if you're concerned call the vet's office. They should be able to give you much better answers even moreso because they just saw her.

    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • MagicPrimeMagicPrime FiresideWizard Registered User regular
    Has the vet checked your cat's blood sugar? My cat acted very similar and he turned out to have diabetes.

    BNet • magicprime#1430 | PSN/Steam • MagicPrime | Origin • FireSideWizard
    Critical Failures - Havenhold CampaignAugust St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
  • Skull2185Skull2185 Registered User regular
    Well, she had much more of an appetite this morning. She was hungry and boy did she let me know... I softened her food up again with some water, and she ate it all. She also did not rub her face after eating, and is more sociable this morning. Laying around with the other cats and stuff, so I dunno what her deal is but it seems like she's improving.

    Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
  • Magic PinkMagic Pink Tur-Boner-Fed Registered User regular
    It's almost definitely a tooth thing. When cats have inflamed gums indicating a tooth problem it's really hard to tell; I just had my cat in for it and when they pointed out the bad tooth I couldn't even tell the difference.

    The fact she's eating, drinking and pooping means it will be fine tho. It very easily could have just been something stuck in her teeth or gums that she may have gotten from eating out of her bowl which is why she started avoiding it

  • Skull2185Skull2185 Registered User regular
    Got it figured out I think.

    She was back to her isolated grumpy looking mood when I got home today, and when I was checking her out I noticed a long strand of drool just hanging from her mouth. Did a more thorough check of her mouth, and there's some kind of reddish looking flap of skin along her lower jaw on the left side. She really didnt like me touching on that area either, and hid under a table when I let her go. She kept making a weird clicky noise in her mouth, and looked like she was trying to push something out of there too. Dunno if it's a tooth or the gums, but I made her an appointment with the vet for tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully the mystery is solved!

    Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    Its probably an abcess. She might need to lose the tooth. You vet will tell you more.

  • Skull2185Skull2185 Registered User regular
    edited April 2017
    I have no idea what the fuck my cat has been up to...

    My mom took her to the vet, so far the vet's saying two puncture wounds on her stomach, multiple lesions/sores in her mouth and on her tongue, and possibly a paw injury. Not sure on the paw, she could've been licking it or drooling on it. Vet says the lesions are something they typically see when a cat chews an electrical wire, but I cant find any chewed wires in the house. Don't know where the hell the puncture wounds would come from either... I pet her and roll her around while petting her tummy all the time, and I've never noticed any blood on her or the floor.


    Like... WTF?!



    Edit: Vet says the punture wounds and the mouth thing are unrelated. Most likely a bite mark. I'm guessing she got into a scuffle with one of the others while no one was home. No clue on the mouth sores though... they gave her some antibiotics and a steroid to help with the inflammation. She should start feeling better by Monday he said. My poor little cat's been suffering with this stuff for a few days now... I feel like a horrible jerk!

    Skull2185 on
    Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
  • OrogogusOrogogus San DiegoRegistered User regular
    Skull2185 wrote: »
    I feel like a horrible jerk!

    I mean, kind of, yeah. Who makes a cat thread with no pictures?

  • BasarBasar IstanbulRegistered User regular
    Orogogus wrote: »
    Skull2185 wrote: »
    I feel like a horrible jerk!

    I mean, kind of, yeah. Who makes a cat thread with no pictures?

    And we'll need photos of all of them. Not just the wire chewer.

    Happy to hear the kitty will feel better soon :)

    i live in a country with a batshit crazy president and no, english is not my first language

  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
    Orogogus wrote: »
    Skull2185 wrote: »
    I feel like a horrible jerk!

    I mean, kind of, yeah. Who makes a cat thread with no pictures?

    It is an official unwritten rule of this category.

    I was going to let you slide this once, but as long as it's out there...

    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • Skull2185Skull2185 Registered User regular
    I was going to post a picture of my cat yesterday. I'm an old man who does things the hard way, so I took it on my phone, emailed it to myself so I could upload to imgur to post it here... except I don't remember my email password and now I have to make a new email account because I got locked out of the old one. A fitting punishment, I think.

    Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
  • Skull2185Skull2185 Registered User regular
    Whelp, maybe if I had a USB drive or something I could get this picture off my phone and onto my laptop... I tried to show off my little cutie-fatty fuzzball, but it looks like a no-go. Just picture a small-ish fat cat that is 1/2 grizzly bear, 1/2 panda bear, and 1/2 cat (the match checks out, don't worry)

    I can offer a final update on Lucy though!

    She is doing 100% better since the vet. Playful, sociable, and back to her normal self. She's been eating all her food with no issues. We've still been softening her food, but tomorrow she's going back to just having it regular. Thanks to all who replied offering suggestions. Happy to say my cat is no longer acting strange :D

    Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
  • HappylilElfHappylilElf Registered User regular
    Skull2185 wrote: »
    Whelp, maybe if I had a USB drive or something I could get this picture off my phone and onto my laptop... I tried to show off my little cutie-fatty fuzzball, but it looks like a no-go. Just picture a small-ish fat cat that is 1/2 grizzly bear, 1/2 panda bear, and 1/2 cat (the match checks out, don't worry)

    I can offer a final update on Lucy though!

    She is doing 100% better since the vet. Playful, sociable, and back to her normal self. She's been eating all her food with no issues. We've still been softening her food, but tomorrow she's going back to just having it regular. Thanks to all who replied offering suggestions. Happy to say my cat is no longer acting strange :D

    If it's any consolation I'm literally nine months overdue on kitten pictures on our no longer so tiny Roxie girl who is both adorable and a terrible creature that delights in terrorizing big kitty and old dog for her amusement and/or access to a warm spot to curl up in.

    Also like three months overdue on pictures of the rescue kitten we took in for a week while he found a new home that when his new family came and picked him up it suddenly got super dusty in here for the entire night shutup I wasn't crying you were crying what do you want from me he literally slept cuddled up with me the entire week

  • GonmunGonmun He keeps kickin' me in the dickRegistered User regular
    I'm glad things are working out with Lucy.

    Something to consider as cats get older also is that they can actually go through a tooth resorption. My cat went through this recently and we've had to switch her over to a mainly soft food diet now (she's about 15 years old). The vet we go to says there isn't an exact reason for it but as cats age they can at times have their teeth re-absorb into their jaws, causing the teeth to fall out of be swallowed and giving the gums a more swollen appearance as the jaw is enlarged due to more mass now in it. Something to keep in mind should you notice the behavior later on as she ages.

    desc wrote: »
    ~ * swole patrol flying roundhouse kick top performer recognition: April 2014 * ~
    If you have a sec, check out my podcast: War and Beast Twitter Facebook
Sign In or Register to comment.