Is Your Cat Sick?

Be very wary of your pet cat exhibiting sick cat symptoms; disregarding them is not a smart thing to do. Because you know your cat intimately, you can easily pick up any peculiar changes in the way it behaves; these may be the sign of an illness. For instance, the tell-tale signs your cat has diabetes are a significant and sudden increase in its intake of water and the loss of control of its bladder.

Coughing a Symptom?

For both animals and humans, coughing is normally an indication of something lodged in the throat; while there is no reason to be alarmed if your cat starts coughing, if it lasts longer than a week or so you should consider this a sick cat symptom and take your cat to a doctor. It may turn out to be just a blockage in the windpipe; or it may be pneumonia or bronchitis, conditions which are decidedly graver.

In fact, coughing is not the ‘harmless little thing’ it appears. Lung tumors and cardiac arrest are on the list of ailments along with bronchial disease which it might be pointing to. So coughing needs to be taken seriously and your cat needs to be examined by a veterinarian to rule out these conditions.

FIV

One of the more serious medical threats your cat can face is FIV or the feline immunodeficiency virus. It is a retrovirus; the feline equivalent of HIV which afflicts humans. It evades detection by the cat’s immune system until its numbers are large enough to overwhelm it. Then, the virus starts picking off antibodies, crippling the immune system and leaving the cat vulnerable to all sorts of diseases, any one of which could then kill it easily.

The signs of this battle between the virus and the cat’s immune system are very obvious. A sudden drop in weight, lethargy, an absence of hunger, swollen lymph nodes are all typical of this disease. To make things worse, FIV leaves the cat prone to leukemia. It is extremely important to get your cat screened for FIV the moment you see any matching indications.

You and Your Cat

You pay special attention to your children and care for them meticulously, striving to ensure their health and happiness. You should afford the same level of care and attention to your cat. A cat can’t tell you it’s sick. For your cat to live a healthy, happy life, you have to be alert to its condition and vigilant for any sick cat symptoms, providing them the necessary medical support when required.