WHAT COULD BE WRONG WITH THIS CAT?

I have a friend whose cat seems very sickly. In the times I go over this friend's home, her 3 yr old female cat is drooling, and looks ungroomed, and looks to be getting thinnier and thinnier. I am irrate that she hasn't taken this cat to the vet. The cat used to be a beautiful girl. Now her hair looks very dull and unclean (I never see the cat groom herself), she is skinny, and drools all down her chin. My friend says her cat isn't eating well and seems to have a hard time with dry cat food. The cat has never been outside, is strictly indoors, too. I know when she adopted it from the shelter when it was a kitten, all tests came out negative. The cat still wants to get affection, but after I touch her I feel like I should wash my hands right away, which I do. I am afraid to "bring home" what ever is wrong with her cat to my cats. I told my friend she should ashamed of herself for letting the cat be in this shape and if money was an issue I would pay the vet bill. What could be wrong with this cat, has anyone had this experience? I really would like to help my friend do the right thing and get her baby to the vet to be looked at. I hate to see her cat look this way after I have 10 wonderfully taken care of cats of my own.

 

Hi. We could only guess what may be wrong with the cat. However, this cat really does need to see a vet right away. If you have the money it would be very kind of you to take this cat to the vet if your friend is not willing to. I feel really bad for this poor cat. I hope you can help. Let us know what happens.

 

The cat definately needs to see a vet, the drooling, reluctance to eat dry food and not wanting to groom herself could just be down to an infected tooth. Of course theres a lot of other things it could be also but whatever it is its unlikely that the problem is going to go away by itself and the cat, as well as maybe just not feeling good could also be in a lot of pain.

 

kitty needs a vet....asap.

 

That cat is obviously in alot of pain. You friend needs to take that cat to the vet now, no excuses. There is no reason why someone would just sit there thinking "aww poor kitty" and not do anything about it. I bet if it was her child she'd be hysterical.

 

is this cat old?? to me it sounds like a tooth issue also, but it could be other things to..the only way u will know is to take it to a vet a/s/a/p.. the poor thing is suffering... my jason went though that b4 he died he had a bad infection b/c of a tooth and refused to eat groom him self etc... that is a very very kind thing for u to offer to pay for the vet bill... i dont understand why ur friend wont let u do that and pay u back over time...shes lucky to have a friend like u...but i do agree she needs to take this cat in a/s/a/p b4 its to late... keep us posted...

 

one of my older cats when i lived bk in MA had the same issue..and she had a giant absess on her gums...drooled constantly and smelled horrible bc she wasnt able to clean herself..we didnt get to it in time..and had to have her put down..

good luck

 

I have similar thoughts as some of the other posters....I think it could very well be a bad tooth or other mouth related problem. I sure hope she will do something about it and soon.

 

THANK YOU EVERYONE

Thank you all for your responses. I had never encountered a cat that had these problems, and am glad I came here. I was able to get my friend's kitty to the vet and it was a mouth infection. You guys/girls are good!!! Poor Princess had to loose a tooth, but now she's on meds and hope to make a good recovery. I am "fostering" Princess until she is better. I am just thankful that I was able to do something for her. Her poor suffering with that bad tooth. My friend was very thankful, and I understood that she couldn't care for her kitty properly, so I had to lend a hand. Cats are just such a part of my life, I am sure you can all understand. Well, I have to get my little 8 week old fuzzyball unstuck from leg!!! LOL!!! Thanks again everyone!!! I will be back again when I need your expertise!!!

 

kitty needs a vet.....

 

thanks for the update..glad the kitty is doing much better thanks to you!!

 

Good to hear the kitty is on the mend, your friend is lucky to have you as a friend.

 

Just a quick update, Princess keeps improving day by day. Since the vet gave her a bath, she is grooming herself again. No more smelly cat. She smelled horrible before she was bathed, it was gagging. My vet told me to take a warm washcloth to "show" her to wash herself again, but she seems to have "remembered" without assistance. The meds must be helping her and since the bad tooth has been removed, she is eating wet food. I think soon she will be able to start eating dry again, but I will let her go at her own pace. She looks just in the last few days to be putting on weight. She is more active and her coat just looks so much nicer. Once she is given the clean bill of health, I am going to give her back to my friend, who misses her dearly, but is coming every other day to see her "baby". I am just glad that she's doing better, I hate to see any animal sick. My friend is so thankful for the help and I am thankful that I could as a loving friend and a pet lover give her and Princess a little help. Next visit I will make sure she has her shots she needs and send her back as soon as I can. I have given my friend my vet's number, who told me that he would work with her in the future if she ever had a problem and couldn't afford to pay, I hugged my vet for that! In this day and age it's hard to find a vet like this one! I hope to see Princess now live to be an old lady with lots of love and good care.

 

Great Job!! Give yourself a hug!!