From: dawn@umiacs.umd.edu (Dawn Vance)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Please Help... I think my cat is ill
Date: 28 Aug 92 17:31:49 GMT
Organization: UMIACS, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742

This is the first time I've posted, so please forgive any aberrations of 
net protocol.

My 4 y.o. adopted female cat is showing some odd behaviors that have me
quite concerned about her health. I am taking her to the vet tomorrow (Sat.)
but thought that it would be a good idea to get some suggestions from other
cat owners and perhaps some questions that I should ask the vet.

Mimi has problems with tartar and had her teeth cleaned last week for the 2nd 
time since I've owned her (2.6 years). The vet that did the cleaning told me
that it took a long time to put her down because she is overweight, and
it would also take a long time for the anesthesia to wear off. I was
prepared for her to be groggy for 6 hours or so, but it took approx.
30 hours!! I called the vet after approx. 20 hours and was told *again*
that because she is overweight, the medicine takes longer to leave her
system. I was advised to call back the next day if Mimi wasn't better.

It might be necessary to mention here that the week before, Mimi was being 
cared for by my boyfriend's brother while we were away for 1 week. He was 
asked to stop by every other day to refresh her water and food. He told me 
that he only had to refill her food once -- she wasn't eating. The vet told 
me when I picked her up from the cleaning that she was dehydrated and 
perhaps she was angry that I was away for a week or she might have stopped
eating because her gums were inflamed.

Anyway, it's been 1 week since the cleaning and she is eating and drinking 
next to nothing. It appears that she has lost weight but I won't know 
conclusively until they weigh her tomorrow. She won't eat more than a morsel
of the soft food I gave her (she normally eats dry SD light) and she will
only taste a tiny bit of the tuna fish I offer. She looks at the food 
almost as if she is frightened by it. A couple of times this week, I've seen
her go to her bowl, begin to slowly eat a little, then let out a painful noise
and run like hell to her sanctuary (under my bed). I've also seen her gag
on the food and drop it. Yesterday, I found a chunk of the food in the middle
of the hallway as if she'd dropped it mid-run.

Needless to say, there isn't much action in the litterbox. Before I left for
vacation, however; I disturbingly noticed that after a bowel movement, she
would sort of scrape her behind on the carpet next to the litterbox as if
she were wiping remnants of cat do. I'm sort of a clean freak and was getting
more than a little pissed at this activity. I scolded her everytime I caught
her in the act and haven't seen her do this in a while, but obviously there's
nothing to scrape right now :)

I don't know if all of this is related or what. She last weighed in at 13 lbs.,
has occasional ear infections which are promptly treated and was spayed before
I adopted her from the D.C Animal Rescue League. My boyfriend and I have
both become attached to Mimi because she is almost the perfect cat. She loves
to be held (almost demands it), clean, playful and strictly an indoor animal.

Any suggestions and/or ideas?

Thanks in advance for any help. E-mail replies are welcome.

Dawn    
dawn@umiacs.umd.edu