Cat Experts Please help...Something is wrong with my cat.

[debden]

We have a 4 year old male cat.He has always been healthy and docile and quiet.Yesterday afternoon he started acting really strange.He kept hiding,acting skiddish and would cry if anyone touched him.We kept an eye on him and as the afternoon wore on it became worse.He started attacking me,my husband and my kids! We put him in his carrier(we had to throw a towel over him to subdue him!) and took him to the emergency vet last night.
They took x-rays to see if he was injured and found nothing wrong.They sent us home at midnight after giving him a sedative.When we got home we realized it did not help.He was acting like he did not know us or where he was.
We have kept him in his carrier all night long with food/water and litter.We tried letting him out this morning and he attacked us again!
Does anybody have ANY idea at all what might be wrong? Our regular vet does not open until 8:30am Monday morning.
I just don't know what to do.
Thanks for any comments,suggestions or advice.
Debbie
PS and yes his Rabies vaccinations (and all other shots) are up to date.

 

[Maleficent13]

Did the er vet check for a urinary tract infection? Those can be very,very serious in male cats and it sometimes causes them to behave strangely.

I'm sorry I can't be more help. to you and the kitty...

eta: did perhaps something happen to him...I'm thinking like a toddler pulling his tail or something...that might cause him to distrust family members? Just a shot in the dark...

 

[The Mystery Machine]

You need to see your regular vet, asap. Diagnosis is key here. So the cat did not have a urinary blockage?

Sudden onset means something "medical" has happened to your cat despite what the e-vet said.

 

[milkabum]

Well, I'm just giving it a shot, our dog Jessie was hiding and doing everything but attacking when he had (what we thought) was a pulled muscle. I recommend seeing your regular vet, he probably sees it often.

Hugs to you and your kitty!

 

[debden]

You need to see your regular vet, asap. Diagnosis is key here. So the cat did not have a urinary blockage?

Sudden onset means something "medical" has happened to your cat despite what the e-vet said.

No he does not have a Urinary blockage.They checked and said his bladder felt fine.No blockage.
We thought he was in pain and figured that's why he was attacking us.He doesn't seem to recognize us or where he is.I know this could be a very serious situation and I have tried calling three or four vet's to see if they could take a look at him but no one seems to have emergency hours any longer.I am so worried.I'm afraid he might not make it till tommorrow.
I know there are alot of diseases cat's can get but he's an indoor cat and gets his shots and check-ups on a regular basis.
I just don't understand what could be wrong.
I am terribly worried and feel helpless...
Thank you for your replies.
Debbie

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I am so sorry. I suppose just keep him quiet until you can bring him to his reg. vet tomorrow.
Maybe he had a stroke or something?

 

[debden]

I am so sorry. I suppose just keep him quiet until you can bring him to his reg. vet tomorrow.
Maybe he had a stroke or something?

Yes.We are keeping him quiet and comfortable the best we can.We thought it might be a brain tumor or something like that.We just don't know and I think that's the scarry part.
Thanks so much to everyone for their good wishes and replies.
Debbie

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

My first thought was urinary blockage also. I'm still betting that this is what is wrong, regardless of the fact that his bladder wasn't full. Our (late) male cat started getting blockages at around that age. With the first one, his bladder was not distended but he still had grit that was irritating him. We took him to the emergency vet and they acted like our cat was not blocked up at all. He had been blocked, but again he was just irritated by that point because he passed the grit I guess. He was also very aggressive. He had many, many more blockages for years, followed by unsuccessful surgery to stop the blockages.

If your vet cannot find any cause, don't rule out that your cat may have been blocked up. If he was it WILL happen again (in my experience), so don't leave him alone with someone just coming in to feed him when you go away. Board him at the vet or have an observant person come stay with him.

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Keep after the vet until they find something wrong. If your regular vet says nothing is wrong, go to another vet and get a second opinion. I don't want anybody to go through what we went through 5 years ago when we lost our Precious.

Precious was a foundling we adopted when she was about 6 weeks old. We had found her under a bush at the apt complex we were living in at the time. When she was about 3 years old, something happened to cause her to behave a lot like your cat is behaving now. She'd always been the dominant cat in the household (we had 3 at th e time..now we just have one) and tended to be a tad agressive. But we thought that was just her nature.

One night, my husband was sitting in his home office with the window open (screened of course) and Rumpleteazer (one of our other cats, and one who'd been with Precious since P was 12 wks old and R was 8 wks old) was sitting on the window sill. A cat jumped up on the outside sill and freaked R out. DH calmed R down and put her out in the hallway where Precious was. Rumple did NOTHING but Precious attacked her viciously anyway. DH got into the middle of it and ended up with scratches all over his hands and arms. We seperated them for the rest of the evening, but it didn't help.

The next day, we took Precious to the vet we were using at the time. He couldn't find anything wrong and told us to take her home, that she'd calm down eventually. 2 days later and she was still attacking everybody and everything within her reach. We took her back to the vet, who did some bloodwork and still claimed there was nothing wrong with her. He gave us a scrip for some medication to calm her down. He called it Kitty Prozac. It did nothing but make her more agitated, however and after another 24 hrs of watching her suffer, we decided to put her down. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my entire life.

To this day, I regret not getting a second opinion because I still feel the vet we used was wrong. We have not been back to him since.

TOV

 

[debden]

My first thought was urinary blockage also. I'm still betting that this is what is wrong, regardless of the fact that his bladder wasn't full. Our (late) male cat started getting blockages at around that age. With the first one, his bladder was not distended but he still had grit that was irritating him. We took him to the emergency vet and they acted like our cat was not blocked up at all. He had been blocked, but again he was just irritated by that point because he passed the grit I guess. He was also very aggressive. He had many, many more blockages for years, followed by unsuccessful surgery to stop the blockages.

If your vet cannot find any cause, don't rule out that your cat may have been blocked up. If he was it WILL happen again (in my experience), so don't leave him alone with someone just coming in to feed him when you go away. Board him at the vet or have an observant person come stay with him.

We will definitley keep an eye on him.If he appears to be getting worse we will bring him back to the emergency vet.
It's not my first choice but our only choice.
Thanks.
Debbie

 

[debden]

Keep after the vet until they find something wrong. If your regular vet says nothing is wrong, go to another vet and get a second opinion. I don't want anybody to go through what we went through 5 years ago when we lost our Precious.

Precious was a foundling we adopted when she was about 6 weeks old. We had found her under a bush at the apt complex we were living in at the time. When she was about 3 years old, something happened to cause her to behave a lot like your cat is behaving now. She'd always been the dominant cat in the household (we had 3 at th e time..now we just have one) and tended to be a tad agressive. But we thought that was just her nature.

One night, my husband was sitting in his home office with the window open (screened of course) and Rumpleteazer (one of our other cats, and one who'd been with Precious since P was 12 wks old and R was 8 wks old) was sitting on the window sill. A cat jumped up on the outside sill and freaked R out. DH calmed R down and put her out in the hallway where Precious was. Rumple did NOTHING but Precious attacked her viciously anyway. DH got into the middle of it and ended up with scratches all over his hands and arms. We seperated them for the rest of the evening, but it didn't help.

The next day, we took Precious to the vet we were using at the time. He couldn't find anything wrong and told us to take her home, that she'd calm down eventually. 2 days later and she was still attacking everybody and everything within her reach. We took her back to the vet, who did some bloodwork and still claimed there was nothing wrong with her. He gave us a scrip for some medication to calm her down. He called it Kitty Prozac. It did nothing but make her more agitated, however and after another 24 hrs of watching her suffer, we decided to put her down. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my entire life.

To this day, I regret not getting a second opinion because I still feel the vet we used was wrong. We have not been back to him since.

TOV

So sorry about your kitty.Hopefully we'll have better luck with finding a diagnoses.It's going to be a long night.
Thanks.
Debbie

 

[smartestnumber5]

Cats can act very very weird when they are sick or hurt. A lot of cats will hide in a dark place and attack or growl at anyone who tries to come near. Your kitty sounds much more p***ed off than this, but still consistent with a medical problem. When they are in pain, they (obviously) can't tell us what hurts, and they get very scared, thus sometimes lashing out. This can be misinterpreted as agression by owners.

It's hard to hazard a guess at what exactly is wrong, but a UTI, an abcess (very common in cats -- a very painful infected old puncture/scratch wound under the surface of the skin), or even some kind of respiratory or intestinal infection might cause weird behavior in a cat. Please don't worry -- something like a brain tumor that I think you mentioned earlier really probably wouldn't have such a sudden onset.

Placing your kitty in a cool, dark, quiet space (a second bathroom if you have one, or a guest bedroom?) with food, water, and litter will probably be good. He/she might even calm down a bit overnight if you're lucky. Good luck, and let us know what happens at the vet's.

 

[debden]

Cats can act very very weird when they are sick or hurt. A lot of cats will hide in a dark place and attack or growl at anyone who tries to come near. Your kitty sounds much more p***ed off than this, but still consistent with a medical problem. When they are in pain, they (obviously) can't tell us what hurts, and they get very scared, thus sometimes lashing out. This can be misinterpreted as agression by owners.

It's hard to hazard a guess at what exactly is wrong, but a UTI, an abcess (very common in cats -- a very painful infected old puncture/scratch wound under the surface of the skin), or even some kind of respiratory or intestinal infection might cause weird behavior in a cat. Please don't worry -- something like a brain tumor that I think you mentioned earlier really probably wouldn't have such a sudden onset.

Placing your kitty in a cool, dark, quiet space (a second bathroom if you have one, or a guest bedroom?) with food, water, and litter will probably be good. He/she might even calm down a bit overnight if you're lucky. Good luck, and let us know what happens at the vet's.

Yes,there are alot of things it could be.It is hard to hazard a guess.We do have him in a second bathroom and it is quiet.We are keeping him comfortable.
I will let everyone know what happens tommorrow and how he's doing.Thanks so much to everyone for their replies and good wishes.
Debbie

 

[L107ANGEL]

You must be beside yourself with worry! Keep us updated

 

[jjohnson]

Is he an outdoor cat? It sounds like he has some kind of emotional trauma & his agressive behavior is being caused by fear.

 

[pfishgirl]

im sorry for your poor kitty's pain as well as the family's worry...

we went throught the same thing and it WAS a Urinary Tract Infection..
our cat (3) male and fixed.. had so many crystals and blood in him, he could hardly use the litterbox or he stayed in the box.. meowed alot and constantly cleaned himself.. he too attacked Me.. who he has never given a second of trouble,..

he went through 10 days of antibiotics and he still had blood and crystals.. he was then put on a pill for muscle relaxation..

now he is all better and healthy again..



BEST WISHES for a quick speedy recovery and I hope they can fix whatever is wrong..

 

[debden]

I can't say I'm any less worried after talking with the Vet.She said to try a spray for cats that relieves anxiety.I was told if the spray doesn't work and he keeps up his aggressive episodes he'll probably have to be put down.
We are asking for a full-panel blood test to be done on him.He's only 4 years old! This doesn't make sense.He was fine up until Saturday.You would think she could offer some kind of hope or another suggestion about finding out what the problem may be.
I have an app't tommorrow morning to bring him in and I will let her know then I want blood tests done.
I am very worried and frustrated at this point.My cat's life depends on a 'spray' that gets rid of anxiety!!Give me a break.
Debbie

 

[eclectics]

I can't say I'm any less worried after talking with the Vet.She said to try a spray for cats that relieves anxiety.I was told if the spray doesn't work and he keeps up his aggressive episodes he'll probably have to be put down.
We are asking for a full-panel blood test to be done on him.He's only 4 years old! This doesn't make sense.He was fine up until Saturday.You would think she could offer some kind of hope or another suggestion about finding out what the problem may be.
I have an app't tommorrow morning to bring him in and I will let her know then I want blood tests done.
I am very worried and frustrated at this point.My cat's life depends on a 'spray' that gets rid of anxiety!!Give me a break.
Debbie

I'm not a vet but I've had cats all my life. It certainly doesn't sound like just "anxiety" to me. He needs blood tests and all his organs checked to see if they are working properly. If your vet refuses your request, my advice is to take him to one who will address your concerns. Hope he's feeling better soon! Good luck. Please keep us posted.

 

[chyam]

Please try and find another vet in your area and get in today......I don't see how a vet can say it's anxiety when they just talked to you on the phone, and the fact that they cannot see you til tomorrow..........please this could be serious and they should not have made a dignosis over the phone in the first place. You know better than anyone that the cat just suddenly started acting this way (out of the blue) therefore you better than anybody should know it could be serious.....I just don't think the vet you are talking to is taking it to seriously and I personally would want to think that my vet would take my cat in sometime today if the I the owner were so concerned. And to recommend putting him down even before seeing him..........I think was very unprofessional to even say something like that. As far as emeregency vets, well from my experience most of those clinics just stabilize until you can get to your regular vet at least that is what happened to me. Please try and call a few other vets in your area

 

[Rajah]

Heck yeah, try to find another vet that can get him in today. I don't like the sounds of what that vet said.

The Feliway is probably what she recommended. That might help, but that is a "bandaid". You need to find out what's going on (as I know you're trying)

Do *not* put him down without getting another opinion, please