Sick kitty?

Lyzelle

Active Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2012
Messages
2,826
Likes
0
Points
36
Location
Colorado
#1
Cat woke up acting a bit strange today. He's doing the teeth chatter thing dogs and cats do when they are excited and he has a bit of drool going on. Teeth chatter thing and drooling isn't normal for him, but I know it can be normal for cats to do. Voice is about a pitch lower. He otherwise seems fine. He's happily hunting bugs right now.

He was doing the slow chatter thing last night a bit, but last 3 days has been normal. Saturday he managed to get out and we didn't know until later that evening when we got home and noticed him gone. Found him, I checked him over and other than looking a bit shaken up, few scrapes and scratches, he seemed fine. We assumed he may have fallen off the balcony somehow. He was normal after a nice cat nap. No limping, no heat anywhere, no swelling or major soreness. Kept an eye on him, ruled out any poisoning and other major worries of an escaped cat.

Vets around here don't open terribly early, but when they do I'm going to call and get their opinion. But until then, I'm just googling. Oral pain is the best I can come up with. He's had his basic vaccines.

Ideas?
 

Saeleofu

Active Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2009
Messages
9,036
Likes
0
Points
36
#2
The drooling can be pain in the mouth, upset stomach, even seizure activity (we have one dog where his only obvious sign of seizures is excessive drooling, and the phenobarb completely takes care of it).

I don't think you can really rule out poisoning. Many poisons don't show any signs until days later. Warfarin and ethylene glycol both have a bit of a delay, and those are the two most common poisonings we see. Not saying that's it, just saying that you can't know that's NOT it.
 

Lyzelle

Active Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2012
Messages
2,826
Likes
0
Points
36
Location
Colorado
#3
Vet said wait it out since he has no other symptoms and is eating/drinking/playing otherwise normally. Appointment this week to check in his mouth and schedule a neuter. But just in case, I have two e-vets within an hour of me if anything happens suddenly.

I noticed he can control the chattering long enough to eat or meow. And it isn't constantly, just when he might be slightly more worked up...like wanting inside, wanting outside, purring, stalking a bug, etc. So at this point I'm not sure if it's involuntary or voluntary. And if he was a chattering/drooling in excitement kitty, I would have thought it would have shown up by now. He's at least a year old.

I'm not sure what to think about the possibility of poisoning after 4 days of no symptoms, but I know Warfarin can be a bit sneaky. What other symptoms would you look for?
 

Saeleofu

Active Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2009
Messages
9,036
Likes
0
Points
36
#4
Vet said wait it out since he has no other symptoms and is eating/drinking/playing otherwise normally. Appointment this week to check in his mouth and schedule a neuter. But just in case, I have two e-vets within an hour of me if anything happens suddenly.
I meant not out as in you could still see symptoms pop up later. Warfarin can definitely go undetected for 4+ days. Keep a close eye on bruising or unexplained bleeding, blood in stool or urine, etc.

After 3-4 days ethylene glycol should be able to be ruled out, unless he's in kidney failure and seriously doing a good job at hiding it.

Anything besides those two are much less likely to be found in the open for a curious kitty to get into.
 

Lyzelle

Active Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2012
Messages
2,826
Likes
0
Points
36
Location
Colorado
#6
Last night and this morning he started declining a bit. Didn't want anything to do with anything, managed to eat a bit then gave up, hid away under the bed for most of the time.

So went to the vet today, they were able to restrain him easier so we could finally get a look at his mouth. Yep. Giant ulcer on his tongue. Went ahead and did bloodwork anyway in case it was a chemical burn...all bloodwork came back great. He has one torn pad from his escapade over the weekend and they cleaned it up. Small fever. One shot of antibiotics and we were sent home with some lidocane to somehow magically get in his mouth. He burrito'd him up and I think I managed it.

He's cleaning himself now(first time in a few days) and I made a mash out of his dry food. Poor Cat. ETA: He just ate a bit!

We have a check up on Monday, so fingers crossed he heals up over the weekend! I've never had to deal with a cat with an ulcer before.
 

Members online

No members online now.
Top