This morning, I followed the Sacrament of the Cat, which is that first I must use the bathroom and allow our cat to watch, and then I go to the kitchen and give her a nice big spoonful of Fancy Feast. This is a ritual that has been followed for time immemorial. She gets very cranky if I don’t follow it, and if I do, she gives constant yowling commentary.
I was alone in the bathroom. It was very strange.
I walked to the kitchen alone. She heard me open the tin of cat food and walked in quietly. When I served it on her plate, she sniffed at it, and then sadly walked into the living room and hopped up onto her easy chair. Here she is:
I opened the door to the sun room, where she has a blanket laid out for bird watching. The birds were making their usual racket. The cat didn’t budge.
I scratched her behind the ears, which usually triggers a paw swipe and a twist around to try and bite me. Not this time. She closed her eyes and didn’t move.
Uh-oh.
I let her be. She hasn’t left that chair all day. Tonight, I opened a can of tuna, which usually has her coiling around my ankles and demanding a taste. Nope. She didn’t leave her chair. She hasn’t eaten all day.
If she hasn’t bounced back tomorrow I guess I’ll be walking to the vet with a cat in her carrier, which she hates, and would normally have her snarling and hissing and spitting. I’m not even sure I’ll get that reaction out of her. She failed the tuna test! This is very ominous.
How old is she?
I’m not sure. She’s a rescue cat. 7 or 8 years maybe?
whoa, first glance freaked me out, as I used to have a cat, now deceased, which is basically a twin. Fully black with the same blaze under his chin. Mine was adorable, with very few evil instances. sigh
Vet is a good idea. When they stop eating, they’re usually pretty ill. :-(
My dog is finicky some days. If she refuses the Paul Newman jerky crack I get worried. She’s had puke spells when she was much younger before I started giving her plain yogurt (not sure that’s a good idea for cats).
But the time she had some weird allergic reaction to some unknown thing that had her puking, pooping pink earthworm-like stuff, and breaking out in splotches I freaked really bad and took her to the expensive emergency vet on a Sunday assuming the worst. Several week ordeal after that with child Benadryl and forcing bland yogurt and rice down her gullet and ensuring water intake with a medicine dropper.
If she’s (your cat) way outside the norm a vet check may be wise. Hopefully all is well with her.
A cat that refuses food should be at the vet now.
I hope she’s feeling better soon.
Might have had some bad rat. BTW saw this today:
https://www.boredpanda.com/vegan-girlfriend-wants-man-get-rid-of-cat/
Man Gets An Ultimatum From His Vegan Girlfriend Who Demands He Give Away His Cat
Would she ask him to get rid of a kid from a previous marriage?
I hope she’s OK. She looks like my cat. My cat didn’t want to eat earlier this year. It turned out to be a problem in her small intestine. I had been feeding her lamb flavored cat food which caused an allergic reaction. The vet said chicken is best; beef and other proteins can cause issues. See if you can have them check her B12 levels too. They were so low on my cat it was undetectable. When we started giving her meds she bounced back right away.
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/09/27/satanique/
I’m strongly in favor of the vet. I hope she turns out to be okay, or at least easily healable, but it’s definitely time for the vet.
Mebbee the cat found Jesus, but the rat was full of worms.
A few years back we had two kitties under our roof: Victor and Fred.
Victor was a big, dumb, cheerful tuxedo cat who was really more canine than feline. When new people would come into our house he’d run up to meet them. He’d sit in the lap of a complete stranger’s laps without a bit a bite or a scratch, purring away merrily.
Fred, was a tabby misanthrope, he’d hide when anyone he wasn’t used to. While he appreciated petting, he’d let you know when to stop with a sudden nip at your hand. I seemed to be the only human he trusted completely, as he’d always come to my room to sleep with me.
Both were epic mousers. Occasionally one would pop in through our house’s pet door with a field mouse. Other times, one would leave the half-eaten carcass of one lying on the carpet. One time, Fred brought in a baby rabbit that he hadn’t killed outright. We heard the thing shriek as Fred brought it in. After we frightened Fred into dropping the little bunny, it led my father and I on a merry chase to capture it and getting it out of the house.
A few years ago, we had to euthanize Fred due cancer that spread into his lungs. About a year after that, Victor’s kidneys failed and we were forced to put him down too.
I miss my kitties dearly.
slithey tove @ #3
I used to have a cat who looked exactly like her, also. Ours was a male who adopted our family. He was a sweetie called KC (for Kool Cat).
Our 16 year old Maine Coon just passed away on Tuesday. According to the vet, it was either a stroke or a blood clot.
We’re grieving and missing him, and so are our two girl cats.
Please, PZ! Take your beautiful baby to the vet!
Our oldest (~17 year old) cat, Misty (the one in the avatar) quit eating last year. The vet said kidney failure. She spent three days in the hospital getting intravenous fluids, and now we give her subcutaneous fluids. Initially, that was three times a week, but the vet didn’t like her test results (perhaps because she rarely lets us give her the full dose), so he upped it to five. Plus, she’s eating mostly prescription kidney support food, which it turns out is very expensive. But she seems to be doing well now.
She doesn’t sound happy. Yeah, might be a good idea to haver her checked out. Hopefully it’s nothing serious.
I wouldn’t fret. Cats, like humans, can sometimes get random minor infections – tummy bugs, colds, etc. I’d recommend giving her a couple of days to see if she perks up again before rushing to the vet, unless she starts exhibiting obvious distress.
Another vote for the vet, ASAP.
I’m sorry to hear your cat is ill. Hopefully it will turn out to be nothing, and she will be back at it again tomorrow. I agree on the vet thing. If she isn’t doing better tomorrow, then it’s time for the Vet.
As DexX says, all animals get sick from time to time. Most times it clears up on it’s own, if the beast doesn’t respond well to transport and vet (few cats do) an unnecessary trip might do more harm than good.
This is one of the major downsides to having pets, can’t say I envy you today.
The same syptoms had my cat (but she was around 15 at the time). Kidney failure.