How To Know If your Cat is Sick

Taking care of your pets is something to take seriously and keeping up with your cat’s health should be priority for you if you’re the carer of this creature that depends on you.

Even if nutrition and care are top on your priority list, cats can still suffer from sickness.

When the symptoms strike, knowing what to look out for is essential to combat the illness before it takes over your cats well being.

Knowing what to use and what to do to cure your cat’s illness is also worth knowing if you want to keep your cat with a full bill of health.

Step by Step

Look for Fleas. If you’re cat is itching frequently or you spot bites on the people in your household. Use some white paper and groom your pet over it to see the fleas more clearly. Look for fleas or flea dirt that ends up on the paper.

It looks dark and is curved; place it on damp cotton wall to check for blood streaks. there are different adult flea killing products on the market so ask your vet for advice on the best one.

Remove Hair-balls. Hair-balls start in the intestine or the back of the throat until it forms a lump. If your cat has dry coughing, bad breath, is reluctant to eat or vomits allot it means he might have a hair ball.

Combing and brushing is a good idea to avoid this especially with long haired cats. Cat hairballs are 50% fat so you an easily help to break down the balls by adding a Egg Yolk-based Lecithin to the diet.

Use hairball remedies. Add Elm Bark to the diet to lubricate the hairball passage as well as canned pumpkin pulp to build up fibre which also helps push out the hair balls.

Include these with treats and snacks like fish or chicken livers on occasion to prevent hairballs. Seek your vets advice to make sure it’s not a more serious problem.

Symptoms of Feline Diabetes. These include tiredness, increased urination and thirst, weight loss, unkept fur or irregular breathing. If you notice any of these symptoms in your cat, take him to the vet who will check it’s blood/urine sugar levels. These symptoms can be seen at any age and are more common amongst obese male cats.

Litter box Habits. Be wary of any unusual behavior like jumping into the bath tub or sinks, exaggerated or inappropriate urination, loss of appetite, blood in the urine, and or licking of the genital area. These can be signs of feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) which can become fatal very quickly (24hrs or less).

Some of the most common causes are lack of water intake, urination retention, viruses, bacteria and or diet. In males the diet is especially important as some foods can cause urinary infections. If any doubts arise, take it to the vet, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Discharge in the eyes and nose area. Look out for excessive meowing or signs of crying, this could mean your pet has an allergy or sinus infection. This could also mean the start of kidney failure especially if you notice excessive drinking/urination and or lethargic movement. Again, see a vet if these symptoms arise as it could be fatal, and know that this is most common in older cats.

Tips

Watch new behaviors your cat exhibits. Sometimes this is normal if you’ve change litter brands or if they suffer any other type of environmental change. If the changes are frequent, don’t wait more than 3 days to take them to the vet.

When combing or brushing, be sure to look and feel for any lumps or bumps which might need checking by your veterinarian.

Notes

•Your cat can ingest fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) which carry the Dipylidium caninum tape worm and cause internal problems. If exposed to kittens, they may become anemic.

•Cats can develop allergies to fleas which can result in extra scratching and or skin disease. You can tell fleas are around if you feel itchy around your ankles where they would usually suck blood form humans.

•If your pet loses interest in food for more than 2 days and is reluctant to take part in physical activity, this could be a tell tell sign that your cat is possibly undernourished and unhealthy.

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