Our kitten is depressed ... need some advice

Our kitten is depressed ... need some advice

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5harp3y

Original Poster:

1,960 posts

205 months

Wednesday 17th February 2016
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Hi Everyone,

We have a 10 month old kitten called Pickles.

She's been a very normal kitten, very playful, hugely inquisitive and a bit of a terror (in the best way) she's never been super effectionate but very cuddly in the mornings and loves playing outside and with toys in the house.

3 weeks ago my wife saw her slide and fall off our conservatory roof (she likes sleeping up there as its in the sunshine). we didnt see her land so dont know if she landed badly.

for the rest of the day she was fine

in the evening that day she bacame very reclusive, wouldnt be picked up and was not eating anything.

i took her to the vets 24 hours later (first appointment) and the vet found that she was very sore around her Thoratic spine area (hissing and whining when inspected) she was checked over and eveything else seemed fine (eyes, gums, limb movement)

she was given a painkiller and some metacam and we took her home.

That day / night she was back to her normal self (painkillers working) but we restricted her movement to one room as we weren't sure of her injuries. she ate well and slept

she had metacam for 10 days as perscribed and was kept inside and slowly recovered her movement and seemed to be well on the road to recovery. not quite herself but better.

2 weeks on and her behaviour has not gone back to where she was:

shes very withdrawn, eats very little but still drinks and visits her cat box. She is very reluctant to go out, where as before she would be chirping to go out first thing. She doesnt come for cuddles, doesnt knock on our bedroom door and isnt really grooming herself. she spends most of the day sleeping and shows no interest in any of her toys or anything to be honest.

shes like a completely different cat and my wife and i are starting to worry.

a second visit to the vet was diagnosed as physcological and that she might take time to get over the trauma.

any advice from the forum?

bexVN

14,682 posts

217 months

Wednesday 17th February 2016
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I'd still be suspicious of pain tbh. If she were mine I'd be thinking of xrays just to rule out anything physical missed first time round or crazy as it sounds a vet physio to check no muscle issues etc due to the fall.

Otherwise maybe try mini play sessions with her to bring her back out of herself. Plug in pet remedy to de stress her and relax her again.

5harp3y

Original Poster:

1,960 posts

205 months

Wednesday 17th February 2016
quotequote all
bexVN said:
I'd still be suspicious of pain tbh. If she were mine I'd be thinking of xrays just to rule out anything physical missed first time round or crazy as it sounds a vet physio to check no muscle issues etc due to the fall.

Otherwise maybe try mini play sessions with her to bring her back out of herself. Plug in pet remedy to de stress her and relax her again.
thank you

we have the plug in remedy and have been grooming her / trying to play with her, but she's showing very little interest.

xrays are the next step according to our vet so will go for them if we dont see any improvement over the coming days

ali_kat

32,019 posts

227 months

Wednesday 17th February 2016
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It sounds like pain to me too

I think I'd be insisting on Xrays sooner rather than later...

5harp3y

Original Poster:

1,960 posts

205 months

Wednesday 17th February 2016
quotequote all
will get her booked back in at the vets

Jasandjules

70,420 posts

235 months

Wednesday 17th February 2016
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Did they check her jaw was not fractured? Just she may have landed hard on her feet and not had the power to stop the head drop that an adult can....

How does she walk?

5harp3y

Original Poster:

1,960 posts

205 months

Wednesday 17th February 2016
quotequote all
So i've just got back from the vets.

She's staying in overnight after having some bloods and an xray.

they have diagnosed that she has pus on her lungs and is stuggling to fight off the infection. Theya re going to drain her lungs and put her on antibiotics for the night along with som fluid therapy as she is dehydrated.

she's not broken anything and seems that the infection was a secondary symptom and therefore missed previously.

thank you all for your advice. we're a bit shocked and upset that shes in such a bad way but we'll find out tomorrow how shes doing.


moorx

3,789 posts

120 months

Wednesday 17th February 2016
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Bless her frown

Fingers crossed she recovers quickly.

ali_kat

32,019 posts

227 months

Wednesday 17th February 2016
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Poor little girl frown

I hope that her overnight visit helps her & she is back to herself soon

bexVN

14,682 posts

217 months

Wednesday 17th February 2016
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Wow, just seen this, so glad you went for xrays. I'm glad Ali was more assertive than me, I sometimes feel reluctant to push too hard in case people just think I'm being ott. Hopefully now they can get her back on track. Guess we will never really know what causes what to happen but the important thing is she gets better.

5harp3y

Original Poster:

1,960 posts

205 months

Thursday 18th February 2016
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the lung diagnoses was as a result of the xrays so thank you for the help.

ive spoken to the vets this morning and shes doing better than yesterday and they are going to drain again tok help relieve the pressure on her chest.

picture of happier times


bexVN

14,682 posts

217 months

Thursday 18th February 2016
quotequote all
Good too hear there has been improvement. It will take a bit of time to resolve and I would expect they'd need to drain her chest more than once but slow and steady is good. Wishing her and you all the best.

ali_kat

32,019 posts

227 months

Friday 19th February 2016
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Paws remain crossed for Pickles
Sending her kitty love
Beauty & Pepi

ali_kat

32,019 posts

227 months

Saturday 20th February 2016
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How is Pickles today?

5harp3y

Original Poster:

1,960 posts

205 months

Saturday 20th February 2016
quotequote all
She's gone to the out of hours vet for the weekend. we took her and got to see her which was nice but she was really spaced out from the methodone. She chirped at us which was ncie to see and she looks (even with all the tubes and bandages) miles better than when we took her in on wednesday.

Her chest drain op went well, she took a while to recover from the sedation and her body temp stabilised really slowly which worried the verts but shes fine this morning.

they are draining her chest every few hours and she is on a load of meds.

apparently shes perked up and is eating well so the vets are happy with her progress but say it might be another 4-5 days before she can come home.

we're desperate for her to be home but need to have patience.

Lucikly we have decent insurance as the bills are racking up massively. £1100 for our local vets so far and 3 days at the out of hours is another £1200


longshot

3,286 posts

204 months

Saturday 20th February 2016
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Glad to hear she is getting better. They are very good at hiding pain so it can be hard to figure out what is wrong.

ali_kat

32,019 posts

227 months

Saturday 20th February 2016
quotequote all
thumbup

Thank you for the update, so pleased you have insurance & that she's doing better smile

bexVN

14,682 posts

217 months

Saturday 20th February 2016
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All sounds promising. She will be under some fairly intense nursing care so OOH is the right place for her to be.

Thank you for the update. Will look forward to hearing about her going home soon.

ali_kat

32,019 posts

227 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2016
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How is she now?

Thevet

1,798 posts

239 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2016
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My rescue cat who has become a definite petrolhead, had a pyothorax at about 3yrs old, he's now nearly 15 and startng to slow down, so if Pickles gets over the challenge then there is no reason that a long happy life won't happen. Not much help but hopeful