Signs Cat Needs the Vet ASAP-Not Grooming, Not Eating, Not Moving, Drinking a TON of Water, ETC. Pay Attention!

Facebook April 27:

I had a friend who suddenly lost a cat last week, not to HCM but to a virus or sepsis or kidney failure or something. A week in the hospital, two antibiotics, all the tests they could muster, and still they couldn't find what happened. The liver and glucose and kidney values were through the roof, higher than I've seen with HCM (in our experience with our cats.) One was in the hundreds, clearly due to organ failure but what was the cause? She noticed that the cat hadn't been grooming well for a month or a few weeks; she noticed the cat drank heavily but that it always had, just suddenly more. She noticed that the cat wasn't active but then it was 8 yrs old.

I'm sure all of those signs had become more prevalent than usual because when a cat is sick, "normal" behavior can increase to being extreme. 

A lack of grooming is a good sign the cat is sick; and lethargy is a good sign. This is why we must pay attention DAILY to the behaviors of our cats so that we may hopefully notice when normal behavior is now off. We must look for the minor changes, that look that says "I'm not well today; I've not energy today; I'm not myself." Look for a lack of grooming, wet eyes and nose (virus, irritation, damage to eyes); dry mouth and skin that tents (sign of dehydration due to an illness); yellow eyes in the whites and yellow skin around the ears (liver trouble); abscess teeth or injury or a skin rash or infection (can be signs of a disease, can lead to sepsis); and changes in eating and litter box use and energy levels.

 And is the cat suddenly needing you, being more of a lap cat, is snuggling more or not as much with the other cats; is the cat more vocal, anxious, worried, unsettled? So many signs of changes are possible and all should be monitored, catalogued, and discussed soon with the vet.

Of course, even if she had noticed sooner and had taken the cat to the vet, it's likely she may have still lost the cat because the vets couldn't find what happened (she's didn't do a necropsy-autopsy to know for sure).