Sick Cat

[Shadowknight]

I'm a bit stressed, so here's everything in cliffs format:

Have a feral cat that lives with me, but hates me.
Since getting home, he's been lethargic, and letting me touch him, albeit with flinching
Both eyes are dilated, and he's having trouble keeping one of them open
Perks right up when I bring out cat treats
Has been drinking water

Is this probably something temporary, or at least can wait till morning to take him to the vet, or do I need to hit the Emergency Vet tonight?

UPDATE: This morning he's acting like his normal, energetic, spiteful self. Whatever it was was just a temporary thing, apparently. I'm still going to see what I can do to take him to the vet for boosters/health exam, but he's okay right now.

 

[Sea Moose]

be careful about what you say when you take it to the vets. If you use the word feral and cat in the same sentence they may want to simply put it down.

 

[Blunc]

could be distemper or feline leukemia, if it's one of these...you won't have to worry about it hating you for long. 🙁

 

[lxskllr]

Kidney problems maybe?

 

[spidey07]

If you care about him you'll get him to a vet immediately. Those are not good signs (the eyes).

 

[Gooberlx2]

Being that its feral (in which case I assume you're letting it outside to roam), it could be a lot of different things.

However, extreme change in behavior and lethargy are both pretty obvious indicators that something is wrong. Eyes could be dilated because he's scared, though unable to move....or because he's seriously ill.

I posted 4-5 years ago about my cat that exhibited similar symptoms. Sudden and extreme behavior change and lethargy. She ended up having FIP, which is fatal and incurable. We had to put her down so she didn't suffer a slow drowning. 🙁

 

[Pacfanweb]

He needs to go to a vet. Tell the vet it's one you've had for awhile, was a stray, but you don't know how old it is.

If it has a fever, chances are a shot of antibiotics will fix it. Regardless, it needs a doc.

 

[Doomer]

Sounds like he had a stroke.

 

[waffleironhead]

What are the chances he ate something he was not supposed to? Plants? Look for loose stool in the litter box or throw-up.

 

[Shadowknight]

No vomit that I can see, and they all cover their waste so well I won't be able to check on the stools. I put him in the carrier, and he was very very mad, and I let him out because I was actually scared. His energy level is definetly higher now, though still below normal. I'm going to keep a very close eye on him for the next 2 or 3 hours. If he seems reasonably okay, I'll try to take him to the local vet in the morning. If his energy level drops again, I'll do everything in my power to get him to the emergency vet tonight.

 

[IronWing]

Is he eating? This is key. If he isn't eating then go straight to the vet. When cats stop eating they suffer liver damage very quickly (two things happen: they tap fat reserves which puts a lot of stress on the liver and stress on the liver causes the pancreas to freak out and if this goes on too long auto-digestion kicks in).

 

[Shadowknight]

Originally posted by: ironwing
Is he eating? This is key. If he isn't eating then go straight to the vet. When cats stop eating they suffer liver damage very quickly (two things happen: they tap fat reserves which puts a lot of stress on the liver and stress on the liver causes the pancreas to freak out and if this goes on too long auto-digestion kicks in).

Well, he was fine and eating this morning, and he was scarfing down treats earlier, so he should be okay till morning. He's still a little sluggish, but he's showing more energy now and seems more normal. I've been meaning to take him to the vet for a rabies/distemper booster anyway, so even if he recovers overnight, he's still going to the vet.

 

[Shadowknight]

Update in the OP.

 

[edro]

Weird... my cat spent most of yesterday sleeping under our bed.
He has been acting very strangely as well, but we assumed it was because we got a new kitten a few weeks ago and she was pestering him.