(Cat post ~ scratch it, Alex) ~ Penni - Please don't be scared. The vet will fix him up, promise. He's got a cold or something; really sick kitties don't eat. You're doing just right, you watched and made the appointment.
Recommendation for later: You can learn to take your kitty's temperature, and that's one of the best ways to see whether to worry or not. I'm not saying don't go to the vet whenever you even wonder if you should. We do.
I called my vet then because most vets won't talk to people on the phone and I wanted to ask him about one of ours too. You could ask yours if we followed the right procedure.
The most common serious thing our cats get is infections from minor wounds (aka Shy? ~ no indictments yet, so.....). The males bite the females, the females bite the females sometimes, and the males bite the males. Their mouths and claw-paws are germ galactica. This is also part of the reason we take true feral cats to the vet for spaying. They are a health hazard to other cats and themselves. For instance, we would catch Shy, if he is un-owned, in a cage you can sometimes borrow from the vet, and take him in. That one trip, with the un-neutered cat to the vet, can save another kitty's life, and the vet bill for that kitty. It can also, very often does, save the neuteree, as it prevents a life of infectious combat.
With an infection, they lay around sleeping a lot, look a little sick, then more, and don't eat. Often you can pick them up and find out they've been poked; bitten, somewhere; and although it be a bit gross, this puncture usually forms an abscess and you can find it. They'll have a tender spot. In nature they ride it out, but here they go to the vet for antibiotics, which have always worked. That's where being able to take their temp comes in; you can tell if they have a fever early. (Then there is the antibiotics and resistance debate; a valid one.....)
Another common ail, unfortunately, is feline leukemia; I presume he's tested for that. (I was tested myself for it once ~ I had such a rare combo of diseases, they [I?] thought for a second I might be the first human to have ever contracted it. They have been able to grow feline leukemia cells on a human liver, as I understand it, but there is "NO" crossover to humans.) Fui, our favorite cat, tested positive for leukemia 10 years ago and is sitting by her bowl right now. (Alive, Jeff.) (I did get camphylobactor from Fui once, boy let me tell you that was fun.) Honestly, with leukemia, it doesn't, as I understand it, matter when you take them in, because they're on their own.
I should have suggested calling your own vet about the laryngitis and minded my own business, because because, it was probably inappropriate, and you would feel better, and what if our comments were wrong. No inappropriate behavior goes unrewarded. Or unnoticed. Sheesh.
There is also another more practical and subtle reason not to over-vet. You know, you get there and it's "nothing". (Altho, HOW are you supposed to know?). In a lot of places, they are overbooked in demand, and an unnecessary appt is fouled away into the seats, while everything waits. Everyone but me makes those unnecessary appointments. (Just kidding, for pete's sake.) And in my town, we get the luxury of being able to call and ask, so it changes the spectre of things.
We've been to the vet probably 60 times, and never had a bad outcome in situations like these. Chances are he'll get a shot and be outta there getting better. Really. Almost always. Don't worry. Get some work done near where he is or keep an eye out. They (cats) don't be extra nice to you because you worried, you know. Sure, they get the attention now, but they forget about it later. And when you bring it up, they say they don't remember. Because they've, personally, never been any trouble. "Moi? What is your problem?" It's very frustrating.
PS: Give him a hello pet for me. Tell him I want to be friends, but I'm just a stupid kitty-quack who needs forgiveness. (And who's on to him.)
~ Me - Ow. |
