Is Your Cat Sick? How to Tell…

There are certain symptoms you want to be looking for when trying to figure out whether or not your cat is sick.

1. Your cat’s behavior
2. Appetite
3. Nose, ear and mouth (mucous membranes)
4. Fur/coat condition
5. Temperature
6. Hydration
7. Obvious runny nose and/or eyes and coughing

Most owners tend to notice a difference in behavior first. For a cat that is super active and playful to begin not being so active and unhappy are first signs that something may be wrong. But because your vet has no way to diagnose your cat just “not acting right”, you will want to be more descriptive and compare what he would normally be doing compared to what it is now doing that is so different.

A loss in appetite is common when most animals and humans are sick and is a huge sign to look for. You will also want to find out if he’s uninterested in just his food or any food – treats too? If you just recently switched foods that could be a huge part of the cat eating less.

The color of the skin around the noise and mouth should be slightly pink for a healthy cat. Unhealthy colors would be yellow, white, or even blue.

Your cat’s coat and fur should be soft and clean. An unhealthy coat will appear oily, dry or dull. This merely could indicate poor grooming.

As far as hydration is concerned, it may sound sort of mean but I promise it won’t harm you cat to do this hydration check.You can actually tell if your cat is well hydrated by GENTLY pulling the skin between the shoulder blades up slightly and letting it go. If the skin snaps back into place immediately, your cat is just fine.

Some sneezing, coughing and throwing up hair balls are to be expected from your pet cat and aren’t to cause any concern. Excessive of any of them, though, is. Especially if accompanied by discharge from the eyes or nose.

Unlike us humans, cats have a higher average temperature of 100-102 degrees. A cat’s temperature is best determined when done rectally (which you can imagine he won’t approve of you doing!) but you can also take the temperature via the cat’s ear or armpit just to get an idea if you’re highly nervous of your cat being seriously ill.

And always, always consult your vet for help if any of these symptoms appear in excess that you’re uncomfortable with. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Tags: cat, cat sick, darby, how to tell if your cat is sick, ill, illness, sick, sick cat, signs, symptoms, vet