Cat Illness Symptoms: Know These Signs to Catch Deadly Diseases Early to Save Your Cat

Minor cat illness symptoms like vomiting appear all the time and aren’t a cause of worry, but if there are multiple symptoms it is very likely that should consider seeing the vet soon. Pet cats suffer from a variety of diseases like infections, ear mites, feline diabetes, leukemia, gum disease and so on. The symptoms are similar to each other and one disease is distinguished from the other on the basis of the combination of symptoms that happen to be present at the time. Skin irritation, lethargy, frequent urination and vomiting are common symptoms in most feline diseases.

Common Cat Illnesses and Symptoms

Cats suffer from ear infections and mites very often. Common symptoms of these are inflammation, scratching, excessive ear wax, tarry discharge and excessive head shaking. Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) is another common disease and is characterized by yellowing of tissues and eyes. Gums turn grey and the belly bloats. Its other symptoms are loss of appetite, diarrhea, fever, lethargy, breathing problems and seizures. Gum disease causes bleeding and receding gums, ulcers, and loss in appetite due to difficulty in chewing.

Hairballs are a persistent cause of trouble and result in vomiting, constipation, retching cough and intestinal blockage. Infections too are very common in cats. Infection of the respiratory tract has symptoms similar to those of common cold in humans. Urinary tract infection leads to frequent and painful urinations and sometimes blood may be present in the urine.

Chronic Feline Illnesses

A large number of over pampered cats suffer from chronic illnesses like feline diabetes, hyperthyroidism, fatty liver disease, and leukemia. Signs of feline leukemia are marked by difficulty in breathing and swallowing, coughing, weight loss due to loss of appetite, frequent infections and delayed wound healing. Lymphoma or cancer has the same cat illness symptoms as leukemia differing only in that lymph nodes are visibly swollen in the case of cancer.

Sometimes symptoms like loss of appetite, lethargy and unexplained behavior may not mean anything at all. These might be caused due to psychological factors like arrival of another pet in the household, change in taste of the food, etc. Cat illness symptoms should be evaluated very carefully as they overlap many a times. They can be easily misinterpreted and lead to incorrect diagnosis.