Cat Illness Symptoms: 3 Major Categories
If your cat isn’t feeling good, you can imagine it’s hard for her to clearly communicate that to you. To make it easier, then, you have to be very observant. Here are a few major areas of cat illness and symptoms to which you should be alert.
Pay attention to changes in your cat’s behavior as this can indicate signs of illness. Cats tend to disguise signs of pain and illness as a throw-back to their wild days.
Elimination problems — Cats may experience a number of issues involving urination, defecation, and litter boxes.
FLUTD (feline lower urinary tract disease) is a group of problems and can involve stones, crystals, infection, or inflammation. Some of these urinary tract problems can be life threatening.
Cats self-groom regularly, but excessive licking in the anal or groin area can be a sign of illness. If your cat is urinating more often than normal, this can be a sign of an illness such as diabetes.
Occasional constipation is common in cats, and is most often caused by hairballs. Treatments are available for this, and include store bought hairball remedies as well as veterinarian prescribed treatments such as lactulose.
Constipation over the long term may lead to a serious bowel condition known as megacolon. Impacted anal glands may present and will require treatment.
If your cat makes frequent but unsuccessful trips to the litter box, or is howling or crying out while attempting to use the box, she may have some physical problem that needs attention. Also, a common sign of trouble is the act of scooting across the floor while dragging the rear end.
Inappropriate elimination is very prevalent and has any number of physical and behavioral causes. If you notice that your cat is not using the litter box, always assume a physical cause may be at work. If your cat is not urinating or defecating or is missing the litter box, contact your veterinarian.
Other things to look for are evidence of blood in urine or feces, including black tarry stools. Diarrhea may indicate intestinal disease and can lead to dehydration, which can be fatal.
Eye and mouth problems — The haw, or nictating membrane, is a “third eyelid” that you will sometimes see when a cat’s eyes are open. This is often an indication of illness. Check your cat’s eyes for cloudiness, pupils of uneven size, or discharge.
Pallor of the lips and gums is a sign of disease and could indicate anemia. Other possible cat illness symptoms include bad breath, ulcers in the mouth, and obviously, loose teeth.
Hair and skin problems — Poor coat or problem skin can be a sure sign of cat illness. In fact, the coat and skin of your cat can be used as a measure of overall health.
Certain cat illnesses will manifest as poor or oily looking coat. In addition, if a cat stops grooming, it’s a sure sign of trouble.
Parasites are usually easily spotted on the skin or coat on the belly. Your cat should be checked at least once per week. Also look for excessive dryness or flaking, hair loss, skin growths, and any kind of swelling or skin eruption.
There are certainly other health problems that your cat may encounter, but these are a few of the major categories. Keeping alert to your cat’s routine, and being sensitive to any of the possible above problems is an integral part of cat care.
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