When Is It An Emergency For Your Cat?
As we all know, humans as well as cats can survive quite a while without food, but they always need water. However, when a cat gets sick because of their secretive nature, a cat may not show just how ill it is until much too late. Hence, when we discover how sick our cat is, we all struggle with "do I need to take the cat to the emergency veterinarian or not"?
NOTE: A kitten does not have the same reserves as an adult cat. A call to your vet is always advised when a kitten is ill.
Dehydration
One way to know if a cat can wait to be seen until your vet's regular business hours is to check for dehydration. Dehydration in cats is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition as there is an excessive loss of water and electrolytes (minerals such as sodium, chloride, and potassium). Dehydration can cause physiological things to happen (i.e., major organs begin to fail, body temperature drops, shock, etc.) and the cat could die. The major causes of dehydration in cats are:
- vomiting and/or diarrhea;
- sickness – going off its food AND water and therefore not receiving enough fluids;
- Excessive urination due to a medical condition (diabetes and renal failure);
- Lack of available fresh, drinking water;
- Shock;
- Blood loss;
- Fever
Signs of dehydration can include:
- Sunken eyes;
- Dry mouth;
- Poor skin elasticity (see below to view a simple test for this);
- Lethargy;
- Increased heart rate;
- Constipation
There are a couple of sure fire ways to check to see if your sick cat is dehydrated and necessitates a trip to the emergency vet or can wait until regular business hours at your own veterinarian.
How to Check Your Cat for Dehydration
Skin Turgor Test
You can perform the Skin Turgor Test by pinching the skin between the front shoulder blades and gently lifting it up as far as it will go. Release the skin and if the skin quickly springs back down onto the spine, the cat is hydrated.
If the skin stays pinched together and/or falls back to the spine slowly, the cat is dehydrated.
The more severe the dehydration, the slower the skin will take to retract.
If you do not have the supplies to hydrate the cat by giving it Sub-Q fluids or orally giving it clear, unflavored infant Pedialyte, a dehydrated cat needs to be seen by a veterinarian ASAP. This may mean a trip to an emergency clinic.
NEVER put off having a dehydrated cat seen by a veterinarian or the cat could die.
In the case of a dehydrated kitten, it is imperative it be seen by a veterinarian as quickly as possible as kittens do not have the body fat (energy stores) of an adult cat. Therefore, a kitten could fade away very quickly and die.
Capillary Refill Test
A Capillary Refill test can assist in checking the cat's blood circulation and can also indicate dehydration, heart failure or shock. Lift the cat's upper lip and press the flat of your finger against the gum tissue. Remove your finger and you should see a white mark on the gum where your finger was. Using a watch with a second hand, time how long it takes for the pink color to return to the white spot. In a healthy cat, it should take about 1 -2 seconds to return to pink.
The cat needs immediate veterinarian care if the gums remain white longer than 2 seconds!