The ole kitty aint feeling well, what should I do?

Question

the cat was normal this morning, ate his breakfast, drank his milk from the left over cereal the kids had; later he crapped all over, and started throwing up a hairball. Now the ole kitty is just lying around on the couch looking pretty ill, like he's running a fever and wont eat or drink; anybody got any ideas? Should I give him an asprin or some tylenol? Maybe force feed him or force him to take in some fluids? Or should I let him ride it out a bit and see how he is in the morning?

Answer 1

Hi there... avoid giving any aspirin or any human medication to cats.  Nearly all are fatally toxic to cats.  See the following regarding the dangers of aspirin to cats: http://www.petplace.com/cats/aspirin-tox...  

Cats are lactose intolerant to milk and it will cause diarhheoa symptoms and sometimes vomiting. See the following regarding this: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?...

Consider offering wet food as this will help increase your cat's hydration level in addition to providing   fresh water  daily.  

Cats may appear to have a fever, however the only way to confirm is to take it's temperature.  Normal body temp for a cat is 100.4 - 102.5.  Here are the instructions on how to do this: http://cats.about.com/cs/catmanagement10...  If your cat does present with a fever it is very critical to rush your cat to the veterinary hospital as this is life-threatening.  Your cat will need intravenous fluids in addition to medical treatment respectively.

Please keep us updated on how your cat is doing.