My cat got lost for 12 hr & came back. He seems depressed and has changed a lot. What's wrong with him?
Ok, so my cat got lost yesterday, and came back 12 hours later. He is an indoor cat, he has never gone outside by himself in his life. When he came back, he was quiet. And since this morning till now (11 PM), he just sits on the couch and sleeps all day. When I call his name or pat him, he keeps his eyes closed. Usually he looks up and is very sensitive to sounds. But after that day when he wandered around outside, he reminds me of a traumatized child. He is full grown and is neutered. We are very worried that he might have caught some illness from stray cats or got in a fight with one of them. When he came back, his claws were covered with what seemed like cat furs. If he HAS fought with a stray cat, do you think he could have been hurt, or even shocked? Can animals be traumatized or shocked too? Any kind of info on this would be appreciated. Thanks!
rrm382009-01-09T23:42:08Z
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I've had indoor cats escape to the outside a few times and I recommend giving him another day or two to recover from his outdoor adventure. When an indoor cat experiences the outside it's often a very stressful situation for them. I'm sure he's still stressed from it all. The reason he's sensitive to sounds is because he's still frightened from being out. I'm sure he heard all kinds of new and scary sounds out there, so now he's hypersensitive to any sound that's sudden or out of the ordinary. I doubt that he got any rest during the time he was out, so that's why he's sleeping so much. I recommend just letting him be for now. Give your vet a call or take him in if he begins to show any signs of obvious distress or urgent illness like vomiting, fever, diarrhea or anything else that seems like it may be health related. I'm pretty sure that he'll be totally back to his old self within the next 24-48 hours though.
He might have been in a fight (look for puncture marks in his neck or face) and if he has, he might get an infection in the wound. He might have been knocked down by a car - look at his back claws and if they're scuffed then that's a sign of an RTA. If I were you I'd take him to the vet to get him checked over in case he has a high temperature or internal injuries. Whether he's injured or not, he will be very stressed for a while.
Take him to the vet and have him checked out. He could have internal injuries that you can't detect by looking at him. Or he may have been badly beaten up by other cats and just sulking now. Or he could have caught something from one of the cats.
Yes - animals can be traumatized and be in schock as well. I would DEFINTELY have a vet check him over.
That's happened to me before check his back and stomach for lumps because if his been in a big fight he may have an olsar.whenever he gets traumatized pick him up and make him lay down inside and put his food bowl in front of him may I suggest to you to not let him out for 24 hours if he is hurt or it may get worse if you are really worried for him you should get him to the vet immediately.I hope this helped :)
he may have gotten into a fight and gotten bit or something. him being "depressed" may be because he is getting an abcess. an abcess is like a swollen blister. for those its best to take him to a vet but when my cats get them they always open by themselves, but they cause a lot of pain. so thats probably why he doesnt seem like himself