accidents on the floor...

[Csara]

I woke up this morning to my furball having had a little accident on the carpeting right outside our bedroom door. It didn't seem like anything she couldn't hold so I can't understand why she did that. *GROSS ALERT*: It wasn't a loose stool, but rather a pretty hard one that picked up easily. She has not been going much lately versus her usual ones that are quite abundant. :gag: I am going to call the vet tomorrow and make an appointment to bring her in, but does anyone know what might be going on with her?

[jana]

:huh: No idea. My cat is very picky about her box being clean enough for her. If it's not, she goes on the floor. Doesn't sound like what's going on with you, though, since that's been a preference of mine since she was a kitten.

Poor Janny! :( I second taking her to the vet if she hasn't been going much lately. Is she still eating well? Maybe the dog stressed her out & she's holding it in for some reason? :huh:

[Csara]

Actually no, her eating has been off for the past couple of days too. :( The dog was only here for a couple of hours the other day so I don't know if that would have affected her this way. Poor little girlie. :(

[jana]

Poor kitty! Sounds suspicious to me. It probably has nothing at all to do with the doggy, but I hope you get it all figured out. Give her a hug and a kiss for me. :(

[FarmGirl]

I am sooo glad you have a vet appointment. We are currently fighting cholangiohepatitis (http://www.gcvs.com/internists/cholangiohepatitis.htm) in our kitty Belle (6 yrs old). Unfortunatly, this is the second time she has come down with this liver disease, and we have really learned what to look out for. I am not saying I believe this is what is wrong with your kitty, these sympotns could be an indicator of just about anything. I have learned that by the time a cat starts showing signs of illness, they are already very ill. Here are a few things to look for... loss of appetite, loss of weight, change in attitude, not using the litter box, hiding more often, less active then usual, quit drinking water, vomitting, basically any tiny little change could be an indicator. To check to see if your kitty is dehydrated, grab a handful of her skin above her shoulder blades (gently of course, lol), then let it go... the skin should pop back into place within a second. If the skin stands for a moment, or does not "pop" right back into place, she might be dehydrated. Another thing to look for is discoloration in her skin or the whites of her eyes. My favorite place to look is her ears (she doesn't let me open her mouth, and she trys to attack when I look at her eyes, lol). I don't remember what all the different colors are, just that yellowing means jaundiced (thats we are always looking for). Just remember that if a kitty has orange hair, she may be slightly yellow looking normally (our Belle is orange). If kitty is getting on in her years and is also overweight, there is a possibility of Feline Hepatic Lipidosis (aka Fatty Liver Disease). Your vet will be able to explain everything much better then I can.

When a cat stops eating, it is very serious. My vet has always told us that the most important thing for a cat, is that they eat. If they stop eating, for whatever reason, it could lead into more problems. Say a cat has a nasty little hairball and can't cough it up, she gets an upset belly, and stops eating because of it... what started as a hairball problem could turn into a fight against liver disease and/or failure. What we do when notice a change in eating is go and buy those little Friskie's Tender Bite pouchs (she normally eats dry food, so the moist stuff is a real treat for her). If that doesn't encourage her to eat, we buy a few jars of baby food (such as turkey and gravy, chx and gray, etc), cats cannot have garlic, so read the label. Normally by the time we get to the vet, she has started eating on her own again, but there have been times when she was so sick we had to force feed her with a syringe. Last year we had to force feed for nearly 3 weeks before she would eat on her own.

I'm not trying to scare you, just trying to show different things to look for. When Belle first came down sick last year, I was near to panic. No one I knew had ever been through anything like this with their cats, so I had no one to turn to for support and help. More then likely your kitty is fine, and does not have anyting wrong with her, but if she is sick, I will be more then happy to tell you some of the tricks we have learned in the past year. I have my fingers crossed for you! Please let us know what you find out.

Oh.. if kitty is sick, I really recommend having her nails trimmed. Not only are cats more "testy" when they are ill, sometimes they have trouble using their claws properly when they are weak. Belle would try to walk across tthe carpet or couch, and her nails would constantly get stuck in the fabric, which would in turn stress her out, etc. Best of luck to you and kitty, and hopefully she just needs a change in diet (sometimes, for whatever reason, cats decide they no longer like their food, lol)

[Csara]

Thank you so much for your lengthy reply FarmGirl! :D I appreciate it so much.

Well, I think I posted that on Saturday and for the past two days my little angel seems to be just fine. She woke me up this morning to feed her and when I went downstairs, her dish was empty (good sign) and as soon as I filled it up again, she was eating away. I have already checked for dehydration and as far as I can tell, she is not. So, she has been eating and drinking normally for the past two days and doesn't seem to be sick at all. Maybe she was just having an off day or two?? She might have eaten something in the house that made her feel sick....and maybe she was constipated which ofcourse would make her not hungry. I am watching her litter box and she does seem to be making (stool) less. Is that something to be concerned about? I have not called my vet yet but will continue to watch her for any signs of illness and will call right away if I suspect anything again.

[FarmGirl]

I am so glad kitty is ok. Sounds to me like maybe she just didn't feel good, maybe a little cold or something, and wanted you to know. Or who knows... maybe you ticked her off by not petting her when she wanted you too, and thats why she went on the floor. Cats can be such stinkers like that, LOL. I know that if I go out of town for a couple days, my one cat will NOT use the litter box until I get home. It really ticks poor hubby off, who is stuck here having to clean it up, lol. :D

[Deana]

Whenever something is different in our house, Peepers will poop outside of his box (usually right next to the box, and he prefers carpet :rolleyes: ). She may have been irritated by the dog and is being teritorial.
I'd watch her eating and elimination, just to make sure she's ok. Poor baby, they are very sensitive.

If eating is the sign of a healthy animal, then my little piglet is very healthy!!!