Today I came home and she had a little froth beard and her tongue was hanging out a bit. She seemed otherwise ok. Maybe a couple of dry hacks and she occasionally acts as is she trying to get something out of her mouth.
She is calm and doesn’t seem to be in distress. Should I wait or take her to the clinic ($95 I don’t have).
Thanks in advance.
She could have something stuck in her mouth, a bad tooth, could have licked or eaten something irritating or chewed an electrical cord.
Will she let you look in her mouth? If you can see something obvious you might be able to get it out, but please don’t try to stick your finger down her throat - that’s a great way to get bit and cause further injury to your cat. If you see something but can’t get it out then I’d say you need to spend the money tonight because she could cause herself injury trying to get it out herself and depending on what it is, it could be much worse by morning (i.e. sewing needles can get stuck in the mouth and travel all sorts of places from there).
If you see any ulcerations in her mouth, notice a strong or foul odor or she seems to be having trouble breathing then she should be seen tonight. She could have a chemical or electrical burn or kidney issues. With any of those the sooner they are treated the better.
Do you ever have sewing needles or thread around the house? Any houseplants she could have chewed on? Any electrical cords she could have chewed on? Any chemicals, like cleaners, that she could have licked?
Maybe the cat ate some of that tainted cat food.
Have you had the cat checked out yet?
Differentials would include:
[ul]
[li]upper respiratory infection (calici virus) [/li][li]oral foreign body[/li][li]uremia (kidney failure) causing oral ulceration[/li][li]dental lesion[/li][li]chemical burn (usually cleaning product)[/li][li]various oddball problems[/li][/ul]
The likely order of these may be switched according to your particular situation. For instance, if the cat goes outside at all, viral URI is more likely than if the cat is indoors.