My 12 year old cat who even last week was still fairly active and was fully able to jump onto my bed has suddenly become incredibly lethargic, refusing to move from her cat bed for the past two days and she now smells badly and when I put her on my own bed she seemed very slow compared to normal and seemed to struggle to jump back on my bed after she had jumped off the first time. Now for the past two days she’s been sleeping in the same spot only moving to change positions, and hasn’t seemed to eat anything (though she has drank water and used the litter box once I moved it closer to her bed). I wouldn’t think anything of it except for the smell and sudden loss of mobility. I plan on taking her to the Vet but it isn’t open on weekends so I have to wait until Monday for the verdict. Should I expect the Vet to say she’s dying and it would be better to put her down?
My cat, who lived to be almost exactly 19 and passed away at 18:22 on 15 September 2019, all but stopped eating six months earlier and had regularly been peeing on the floor for months before that. His last couple of days were basically what you describe (the morning before he died, I found him curled up in his cat box).
In his last month, I had him given fluid therapy to keep him hydrated. He had already been diagnosed with kidney problems, which probably contributed to his demise. But he had almost completely stopped eating by the beginning of September and basically starved to death. Nothing I did could get him to eat.
His last trip to the vet was on Friday, and he died on Sunday. Not a pleasant experience. Your cat is much younger than mine was, so she may respond to therapy whatever is ailing her. I hope so.
12 is not that old. A cat who isn’t eating and doesn’t smell right is probably a medical emergency. I’d take her to the vet. Now. Is there an emergency vet in your area?
No the closest one is 20 miles away, she’s still moving around but I’ll take her to my local vet first thing tomorrow morning at 7am.
What do you mean, she smells bad? Does she smell like urine? Stool? A fruity odor?
Take her to the emergency vet in the morning, and let us know how she is, and how you are.
? Twenty miles is such a problem that you’re okay with letting your cat die rather than drive that far?
I’m sure that sounds like a very rude question, and I apologize for that. But it’s impossible for me not to feel bad for your cat, knowing that a drive that would take, what - maybe 30-40 minutes? is such an imposition that you would rather let your cat suffer, perhaps unnecessarily, than make the effort.
I have to drive over 10 miles to the nearest grocery store and my post office box is about 22 miles away. I’m not gainfully employed at the moment, but in other periods of my life I had jobs that I drove/took public transport to every day that were more than 20 miles away. That makes it hard for me to relate to the idea that 20 miles of driving is such an incredible inconvenience that your cat’s well being is not worth the efforts.
Sorry if this is too harsh, I know we’re not in the pit. You may have a good reason for waiting, like no car or very limited funds for gas. If so, I apologize. And certainly I wish you and your cat well. I hope she makes a full recovery, and one that doesn’t break the bank.
Check her teeth, she could have abcess making it hard for her to eat, infection can travel up the tooth and into the nasal cavity which causes them to become snotty like they have a cold.
Rotten teeth also responsible for unpleasant smell.
Whatever the issue, get to the vets soonest
I would also again recommend the vet. now, not tomorrow.
The smell may be her kidneys failing; and she may have something treatable, if it’s caught fast enough. Again, 12 is way too young to be dying of old age.
If she’s not drinking, and you absolutely can’t get her to a vet, you could try giving water via an eyedropper squirted into her mouth (wash it out well first, especially if it’s not a new one.)
No need to go further. A cat who won’t get out of bed - not to eat? not to drink? not to pee? - for two solid days is a goner.
Of course there’s a bad smell. If you didn’t get up for two days - with the attendant biological necessities that TWO SOLID DAYS entail - there would be some smells, too. Piss, shit, possibly worse depending on what’s going on.
purplehorseshoe, while the signs aren’t good cats have survived after considerably longer than that without food or water.
And ill cats may smell wrong even if they’re clean.
Cats get abscesses with appalling ease and that can make them super sick but having the mess drained and getting onto antibiotics can get them perked right up. The smell can be appalling as well–I had an unsociable black cat who got an abscess on her face that was apparently bubbling away for days before it suddenly swelled her face up to twice its size, prompting a trip to the vet. After it drained it sloughed off a lot of skin and flesh for a while, had to be dressed every day and looked godsawful but she recovered and once the fur grew back you’d never know she’d had it.
I hope you got your cat into the vet and got a diagnosis.
Sending good thoughts for the kitty.
My cat got a wound on her back (possibly from a bite or scratch) that became infected. Yes, it made her lethargic and yes, it smelled bad, but with antibiotics she made a relatively quick and full recovery.
I hope you’ve taken your poor kitty to the vet RIGHT NOW.
Cats have very thin and delicate skin that heals very quickly, often to their detriment. When they get a penetrating wound, like a deep scratch or bite from another cat especially, the surface heals right up leaving a pocket of nasty anaerobic infection casing bacteria underneath that can eventually blow up to really impressive proportions. I had another cat, a big Maine Coon, who got into what appeared to be a minor scuffle (he came home with some tufts of fur missing but otherwise appeared to be fine) but in a few days he had a huge abcess on his side that required a vet, drainage and antibiotics (and pilling an annoyed 20 lb tomcat is an adventure, trust me on this) but after that he was fine. And those two examples are the reason my cats are strictly indoor only now. I can’t handle that mess!
@Asuka how is the cat? Please update us when you have a chance.
I hope your kitty is well. 20 miles isn’t that far to drive to save her life. I hope she got the treatment she needs.
Thank you for your concern.
Unfortunately my cat passed away yesterday, it turned out her condition was terminal. She was diagnosed with leukemia Monday morning when I took her in (after a 24 hour turn around for blood test results), Doctor did a physical and took some x-rays but determined that she most likely had leukemia but decided to withhold all answers until the blood tests came back. Yesterday it was decided to put her down peacefully. She had almost 13 years with me, having raised her as a kitten and the leukemia was surprising since she is one of two cats I own and almost never goes outside, and her yearly tests late last year didn’t show anything abnormal so I’m assuming she must have gotten it going outside towards the start of the year at some point and it took its toll on her over the course of the year. I will now be taking my other cat in to see if he has it, however I don’t think he does since he rarely interacts with my passed cat and doesn’t share her food, water, bedding or toilet.
My passed cat still was able to move under her own power up until the end, and last week was still full of energy but this week was when it was very obvious something was wrong, I don’t know if it all happened all of a sudden or if my cat was simply strong enough to not show any outward signs of pain until it became too much. It was drinking water and using the litter box up until three days ago but wasn’t eating anything that wasn’t tuna with juice. It was only the day before I put her down that she really started to show outward signs of pain, simply sleeping at the foot of my bed and not getting up except to simply look at me. I’m glad at least she spent the last few days of her life in my presence, her face showing the same loving looks towards me she always had still not looking in pain.
So sorry you’ve lost her. Hopefully your memories of her love will be a comfort.
Let us know how your other kitty does. Again, my condolences.