r/catcare Jan 29 '21

Does my Cat Need to See a Vet?

159 Upvotes

If you're here wondering whether your cat needs to see a vet right away, here's a few things that call for an immediate vet visit. Please bear in mind that this is far from a comprehensive list, and that if you're seriously wondering if your cat needs a vet, the answer is probably "Yes". Better safe than sorry.

-Unexplained, dramatic behavioral changes. e.g. Hissing and spitting from a cat who has always been friendly

-Not eating for 48 hours is a medical emergency

-Vomiting/diarrhea that lasts more than a day or two

-Swallowed object

-Not urinating/straining to urinate

-Blood in urine

-Open wounds

-Urinating in inappropriate places/outside the box

-Sudden loss of vision or hearing

-Sudden loss of balance

-Sudden inability to walk or move normally

-Seizures / Convulsions

-Open-Mouth breathing / panting

-Uneven pupils

-Hives

LINKS:

Cat Emergencies: Contact Your Veterinarian When Your Cat Shows These Symptoms

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2144&aid=2896

11 Cat Emergencies That Need Immediate Vet Attention

http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/11-cat-health-emergencies-immediate-veterinary-attention-ask-a-vet

Common Emergencies for Adult Cats

http://www.petmd.com/cat/emergency/common-emergencies/common-adult-cat-emergencies


r/catcare May 07 '26

Rule 6: No AI usage in posts or comments

30 Upvotes

Sorry, but we need to disallow all forms of AI posting and comments. If you have nothing to say, simply saying nothing is far, far better and more useful than resorting to an AI chatbot.


r/catcare 3h ago

My cat has been sneezing since yesterday, when to worry?

1 Upvotes

I am unsure of her age but we've had her for a few years and has been constantly sneezing with no other symptoms

This has happened before but only lasted one day and I am worried, what should I look out for or do?

this lasted throughout Saturday-Sunday, stopped Monday, and began again today


r/catcare 4h ago

Is there a taste/smell difference in Royal Canin health features? (Urinary) and (Urinary + Calm) and (Urinary + Calm + Aging)? Dry or wet.

1 Upvotes

My senior female cat has bladder stones and she has authorization for different Royal canin health features. Urinary, urinary + calm, urinary + calm + aging. This is just so she has more food options to choose from as she’s extremely and dangerously picky, and I’ve spent hundreds of dollars just to figure out which prescription urinary food she will eat.

I ordered a small bag of the urinary + calm dry kibble and she really likes that one. I was thinking I might as well change it to urinary + calm + aging, but I’m worried it might smell or taste different and she won’t like it.

She also likes wet morsels but I got just the urinary version. I’d like to also move that one to the urinary + calm. I don’t think they have that specific flavor in +aging.

She hated the wet loaf flavor. Those I got in U+C+A (there another $80 😔)


r/catcare 5h ago

Has anyone else had a problem with their cats getting constipation from purina cat food?

1 Upvotes

I have been feeding my cats purina seafood medley and purina canned cat food for their whole lives. One of cats keeps getting constipated even though I feed him wet food with a lot of water. My new kitten also now was constipated and meowing while going to the bathroom. I was wondering what kind of cat food do you guys recommend switching to? Should I only feed wet food? Or should I look into making my cats their food?

Thank you guys in advance.


r/catcare 6h ago

Mysterious wound on cat leg not healing

1 Upvotes

Hello. My 10 year old FiV neutered male cat indoor/outdoor cat (now fully indoor) came home Jan 27 w a wound on his back left leg. I have no idea how he got the wound. It doesn’t look like a scratch or a bite, to me it looks like he got caught on or in something and he pulled his leg away and “degloved” his leg (vets verbiage) and since then the wound has not healed. The vets first thought was to stitch the wound together and that was mid February. There was barely enough skin to stitch it together but they did it, and the stitching ended up being useless because something called “granulation tissue” started to form in between the stitching. So back to square one. Every other day I was taking him to the vet so they could do hydro therapy and laser therapy.. that wasn’t doing much. The vet went to a seminar and found out a special kind of bandage called Calcium Alginate, that she found out works great for wound healing. So we’ve been using that for 3 months now. I take him to the vet every mon, wed, and Fri so they can clean the wound and apply a fresh bandage. The Special bandage did seem to be working for a little bit and the wound started to shrink but since all healing seems to have slowed down drastically. He’s on gabapentin and has had 2 different round of antibiotics. He’s eating and drinking fine and is still playful. They did mention a skin graft and possibly an amputation. But that has been put on hold since the bandages were working for a while there. I don’t really wanna go that route because if he’s not healing from a seemingly small wound like this I’m afraid that he won’t heal from something like an amputation. My thoughts are he’s not healing because he’s FiV positive and has a weakened immune system. Any help in any way would be much appreciated!

Link for pics!! https://imgur.com/a/w0LLAUW

Kitty pic! https://imgur.com/a/Vl9TeWQ


r/catcare 6h ago

Cat food allergy getting worse

1 Upvotes

My 11 month old cat has been having skin issues for the past 6 months. She gets these huge scabs around her mouth, chin, above her eyes and behind her ears and occasionally on the back of her neck.

When it started out, we were told it was cat acne and treated it with wipes, cleanings, new bowls, new food that was less greasy and new water bowls.

Then it got worse so we took her to a new vet. The vet treated her for mites as he was concerned it was demodex. So he gave her nexguard and tresaderm drops for her ears and scabs. We did the drops for a week, then stopped for a week and then resumed for another week. When using the drops, they go away. But they came back so we took her back and he treated her for demodex mites again. And told us to do another round of tresaderm.

The scabs and hair loss came back AGAIN so we started her in a food elimination diet using HA purina. She is on week 2 out of a 8-12 week trial.

Her scabs and patches of fur loss is overwhelming. Poor baby has such bad scabs that she’s picking them off and having bleeding wounds on her face. He told us to continue the tresaderm for now. But I’m just so concerned. He said he does not think it is FIV at all and is almost certain it’s a food allergy. She was tested for ring worm and it was negative. No blood test done yet.

Does anyone have any advice or insight they can offer? We’ve been to the vet 3 times in the last 1 1/2 months and we will continue to take her back until we have answers but I’m wondering if anyone can think of anything that maybe we’re missing.


r/catcare 20h ago

Can someone make me feel better about Mirataz?

2 Upvotes

To preface I have severe OCD and medication is one of my main themes. I’ve had horrible reactions to meds in the past including ssris and even otc cold meds.

Anyways my kitten was seen at the vet today and they put mirataz on his ear and also sent him home with some because he’s had lack of appetite after a move.

I’m afraid to touch him at all after reading about the dangers and side effects and it’s stressing me the hell out to be honest. Anyone else have anything to share that may make me feel better? I know you need to wear gloves to apply but I feel afraid to touch him even hours after application without gloves because I feel the medication will still transfer and affect me.

Thanks.


r/catcare 19h ago

Mysterious wound on cat leg not healing

1 Upvotes

Hello. My 10 year old FiV neutered male cat indoor/outdoor cat (now fully indoor) came home Jan 27 w a wound on his back left leg. I have no idea how he got the wound. It doesn’t look like a scratch or a bite, to me it looks like he got caught on or in something and he pulled his leg away and “degloved” his leg (vets verbiage) and since then the wound has not healed. The vets first thought was to stitch the wound together and that was mid February. There was barely enough skin to stitch it together but they did it, and the stitching ended up being useless because something called “granulation tissue” started to form in between the stitching. So back to square one. Every other day I was taking him to the vet so they could do hydro therapy and laser therapy.. that wasn’t doing much. The vet went to a seminar and found out a special kind of bandage called Calcium Alginate, that she found out works great for wound healing. So we’ve been using that for 3 months now. I take him to the vet every mon, wed, and Fri so they can clean the wound and apply a fresh bandage. The Special bandage did seem to be working for a little bit and the wound started to shrink but since all healing seems to have slowed down drastically. He’s on gabapentin and has had 2 different round of antibiotics. He’s eating and drinking fine and is still playful. They did mention a skin graft and possibly an amputation. But that has been put on hold since the bandages were working for a while there. I don’t really wanna go that route because if he’s not healing from a seemingly small wound like this I’m afraid that he won’t heal from something like an amputation. My thoughts are he’s not healing because he’s FiV positive and has a weakened immune system. Any help in any way would be much appreciated!

Link for pics!! https://imgur.com/a/w0LLAUW

Kitty pic! https://imgur.com/a/Vl9TeWQ


r/catcare 21h ago

Caring for cat with chronic dry eye

1 Upvotes

Hey guys! My cat (M8, spayed) has been having watery eyes for a while now. It’s usually only one eye acting up at a time. My roommate and I thought maybe he was allergic to something like his litter or something outside as he goes out pretty frequently. We took him to the vet and they said he has chronic dry eye. No info yet on whether a different underlying condition is causing his dry eye. The vet said we will have to give him eye drops every 6 hours. I’m a bit concerned at how doable this will be for us since we both work and are going to school, and also how that would work out while we are sleeping during the night. If anyone has had experience caring for a kitty with dry eye in this way, how did you go about it? how important is it to stay on schedule? and are there any alternative treatments we could talk to the vet about? Thanks!

TL;DR My cat has chronic dry eye and the vet says we will need to give him eye drops every six hrs. I’m looking for other cat owners who have dealt with this to share their experience and any advice they may have on caring for a kitty with chronic dry eye.


r/catcare 1d ago

My 5yr old Cat isn’t eating, please I need help.

5 Upvotes

Context: Took my cat to the vet a little over two weeks ago & was told he’s having kidney issues, that he has a heart murmur, & that his heart isn’t pumping enough blood. No diagnosis yet waiting on the ultrasound results but this vet has been irresponsible in telling me these things.

He hasn’t been eating & these last few days it’s only getting worse. I’m giving him SQ fluids every three days, they prescribed Mirtazapine, & I asked for nausea meds (Cerenia) to see if that would help but it barely helps. My cat has always been super picky, so buying toppers/treats to entice him to eat has been a struggle. So far he only wants to eat churu, Pet Honesty multivitamin treats, & these Choolip Kidney support treats. I heat up his food (fancy feast in gravy, he doesn’t like pate), I’ve bought other food, but he only drinks the broth & takes one bite. I desperately am asking for help. Anything please, I just can’t keep waiting for the vet to do something when I’m actively seeing my kitty get worse as the days go by. I’m thinking of taking him to another vet & getting into credit card debt, I just want to find a good place to take him to so I don’t waste my time/money again.


r/catcare 23h ago

Cat accidentally pooped while coughing/gagging?

1 Upvotes

Hi all. This is my first post here. My cat is a female, spayed cat. Ex-feral with history of at least 2 litters, I adopted her after she spent a year in the shelter being adjusted to humans. My cat sometimes gags, like once every other month or less than that. My vet has said she is healthy and happy she probably just has a hair ball that wants to come up, or fur stuck in her throat. Her last checkup was this February. She never throws up hairballs. She’s older between 7-9 years old. She was doing this and pooped on the floor. I’ve never had that happen. Should I bring her in for that or could it have just been an embarrassing mishap for her? She came to get me instantly, as it was like 5am, and meowed as I cleaned the little drop (not a full pass). She is acting normal now but still seems a little embarrassed and is 100% sucking up to me now lol so I’m just a little confused


r/catcare 1d ago

Cat (6y) on Fluoxetine - Constipation?

2 Upvotes

Hello!
Before I start -- Babbs (cat) just started Prozac on the 13th of August. She had some peeing issues and territorial issues which resulted in me trying this out for her as the vet suggested it --

Week One - Vet suggested starting her off with .25 dose
Eating, pooping, drinks and all habits were normal minus being a bit upset over needing to take her pills

Week Two - Vet Suggested bringing her up to half (.5) dose
Eating less, pooping less, drinking less, more distant

Week Three - Vet suggested going back down to .25 as I expressed behavioral worry.
She has been eating more since Saturday but now she hasn't pooped since Friday.

It is now Monday (31st) and she has yet to have another bowel movement since Friday. I'm waiting for a response on wether to bring her in or not to the doctor as she hasn't shown any form of uncomfortableness during the bowel movements except laying down near her litter box.

I called her vet hoping for some advice on when to bring her in but they haven't responded to me. Might need to get her an enema and I'd prefer to not spend 112 dollars on a visit just to have my cat poop (thats a joke ^^ if it means she is safe then so be it)

I am going to give another call after I work today but if anyone has advice on getting those poops shooting I'd appreciate it ^^


r/catcare 1d ago

Tummy Troubles

1 Upvotes

Hi there!

One of my girls (6 months old) threw up yesterday. I wasn’t there, I only heard about it from a text from my roommate - I got home, checked on her, and she seemed mostly fine but maybe a little less playful than usual. She still chased her toys, and she played with her sister for a good chunk of last night, but she hasn’t had as much energy.

Now, I cleaned the litter box last night, and one of them (not sure which) has been having some crazy diarrhea - no blood, just really soft. After cleaning it last night at about 7-8pm, I checked this morning at about 7am, and there wasn’t anything there. I had my roommate check it just now (I’m at work) at 2:30pm, and they said that there wasn’t anything there.

She seems to be eating and drinking just fine, maybe a little less playful still, but I’m worried about her not using the litterbox. I’m not sure if I’m overreacting. She also grooms her sister regularly so I’m not sure if it could just be a hairball or something.

TLDR;
- Cat threw up yesterday
- Ate food and drank water, took a churu with no problem
- Still playing, a little less receptive to playing with her sister
- Nothing in the litterbox since last night, where there was diarrhea
- Prone to eating bugs

Hairball? Bug? Something random off the floor? Should i schedule an appointment, or should I keep monitoring?


r/catcare 1d ago

Cat tapping hind paw on ground repeatedly?

1 Upvotes

We have seen a vet and sought a second opinion but I'd like to know if anyone has noticed this kind of behaviour before and found out the source of the problem.

Our boy (neutered, Russian Blue aged 3-4, indoor) started occasionally tapping his rear paw (right) on the ground, like a rapid staccato lasting a second or so. He'd also lick the paw in question and pull at his claw with his teeth. This started several months ago. At the time, we checked out his paw and couldn't see anything amiss, and decided to leave it and keep an eye on it. The tapping only seemed to happen every few days that we noticed.

A few days ago we noticed him tapping way more frequently, like a few times within an hour, as well as a swelling in top of the rear paw (knuckle area) and I decided to take him in to see the vet.

He has been eating, drinking, passing waste and sleeping pretty normally, although lost a small amount of weight over the last several months.

The vet found some irritation and inflammation around the base of his claw, which she said could have been because of him pulling and licking it. Couldn't find a puncture wound or obvious injury. Said it could be a foreign body or could be a bone/ligament issue.

She put him on a combo of topical treatment (disinfectant plus steroid cream) plus antibiotics and said to see how that goes then come back in a couple of weeks for an x-ray if still an issue.

Since our boy does go outside supervised on a harness, it's possibly a splinter or shard of something which has embedded itself in there, but I thought I'd ask the good people of Reddit if they'd had any similar experiiand how they turned out.

TLDR: cat tapping rear paw repeatedly on ground and wondering what the cause could be. Vet advice has been sought.


r/catcare 1d ago

Cat Meows Loudly And Foams At The Mouth Occasionally When I Feed Her

2 Upvotes

Hi. I'm 25+ from the PH and I joined the subreddit because I wanted to look for answers.

When I deliver food to my cats (all indoor cats and no exposure to other outside animals), my five-year old cat would sometimes meow very loudly, her eyes dilate, and her ears would be half pulled back. And then five seconds later, she would smack her lips and a bunch of foam and saliva would come out. I would wipe it off with a tissue but she gets jumpy during this time. A minute or two later, she's right as rain and ready for her meal. She has no symptoms of illness or any other strange behavior.

I contacted a vet and she's mystified as well but can't really come to a conclusion unless the cat gets thorough (and personally expensive) examinations. This particular cat is usually quiet but very affectionate. I feel like she has been purring 24/7 since she was a kitten and had no mean bone in her body. I would hate for her to be sick because she's very sweet and vet treatments usually leave my bank account empty.

A friend who also keeps cats suggested that it might just be behavioral. That as a very loving cat, she might have been overstimulated to see me and her favorite food at the same time. But that would be really funny if true. 😭

Did anyone ever see a cat act like this? I would love to hear about it.

Additional information to abide by the rules, she is an unspayed domestic shorthair (nearly most of my cats are spayed and neutered, just saving up for her surgery). I can afford some vet care but transportation and travel time is a pain.