4 Cat Illness Symptoms You Shouldnt Ignore

It's important that you as an owner, are aware of most of the cat illness symptoms that can indicate your furry friend is in need of some help. Most cats will display a number of symptoms when they become ill and a little watchful observation by you will go a long way to maintaining their health. Some feline sicknesses can be dealt with at home, while others may require you to get to your veterinarian for a closer examination.

See below for 4 symptoms you should be aware of:

Depression: This is a tough problem to tackle, as our ability to communicate is at a significant disadvantage. Feline depression may be brought on by an untreated physical illness, or can be caused by loneliness, change in surroundings (I.e., moving to a new house, new owners), bullying by other pets, or mental illnesses that can be hard to diagnose.

Discharges from the eyes and ears: A discharge similar to mucous is normal from the eyes in small amounts, but if you see a lot of discharge from the eyes and/or the ears, it could be a sign of infection.

Frequent/Infrequent trips to the litter box: A healthy cat will urinate once every 2 - 3 hours and should move their bowels 2 or 3 times per day. If they are at the litter box every hour, or urinating all over the house, these are cat illness symptoms that cannot be ignored as they could be developing feline diabetes (especially if your cat seems to drink a lot of water) or have a urinary tract infection. Constipation can be serious, or they may need a higher quality food with more fiber content.

Hair-loss: This is one of the less common cat illness symptoms, but is usually caused by malnutrition or a variety of skin conditions such as dermatitis, fleas and bathing with the wrong shampoo (cats have oils on their skin that are essential to the health of their coat). Hair-loss and skin issues are cat illness symptoms that normally require intervention, so be on the lookout.