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Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / March 2007URGENT - Please help my baby
I have a 5-year old cat, he's always been perfectly healthy if a little disturbed by any changes he might experience psychologically (he moved a lot before he came to us as his previous owner left the country and he didn't settle anywhere else and it took a while to settle here). Lately he's taken to hiding (his usual behaviour when something frightens him), which was not surprising since he came in from outside one day in a state of shock and hasn't tried to go out since (he is normally an indoor cat but we occassionally let him into the front yard when we're about during the day). Unfortunately we found him in one of his hiding places last night looking listless and lying in his own sick. We gave him a bath and put him in his favourite raised house next to the bed and looked after him, making sure he is eating and drinking water. He has been eating but he is incredibly listless and there seems to be some kind of liquid (with a crackling sound) just under his skin on his back. I'm very worried but we can't get to a vet tonight. Please help if you know anything that might help us. Yes, get to a vet any way. Stacey >I have a 5-year old cat, he's always been perfectly healthy if a > little disturbed by any changes he might experience psychologically [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Please help if you know anything that might help us. >I have a 5-year old cat, he's always been perfectly healthy if a > little disturbed by any changes he might experience psychologically [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Please help if you know anything that might help us. ----- Please, he needs to be seen ASAP. What you're describing sounds the same as the other cat who had similar crepitus (crackling sound) under his skin. It could be an abscess from a wound, or it may be that someone injected him with something in an effort to poison him. Maybe he was stung by some an insect. Please, have him seen ASAP. Best regards, ---Cindy S. > Please help if you know anything that might help us. At what point might it ocurr to you to take the cat to a vet? > I have a 5-year old cat, he's always been perfectly healthy if a > little disturbed by any changes he might experience psychologically [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Please help if you know anything that might help us. What you are feeling could be crepitus (also called subcutaneous emphysema), as someone else posted. It feels like little bubble wrap cracking under the skin. What crepitus is is actually air bubbles under the skin caused by leaking of air from the lungs. i.e. a collapsed or perforated lung. This is NOT something that should wait until morning. Could he have been shot with a bb or pellet gun or something while outside? Somehow gotten injured causing a rib to puncture his lung? If this is what it is, there is nothing YOU can do to help him. You need to get him to a vet ASAP. Good luck and keep us posted. Shel *Jaq wrote: *> *> Please help if you know anything that might help us. Without knowing a diagnosis, there's really not much to offer except best wishes and hope that you can get to a veterinarian soon, because it sounds like he has a serious problem. *What you are feeling could be crepitus (also called subcutaneous *emphysema), as someone else posted. It feels like little bubble wrap Crepitus may be caused by subcutaneous emphysema, but it is not "also called" subcutaneous emphysema. Crepitus is a crinkly/crackly/grindy/or grating feeling or noise which occurs on palpation of skin or joints. *cracking under the skin. What crepitus is is actually air bubbles *under the skin caused by leaking of air from the lungs. i.e. a Yes, that's one cause of subcutaneous emphysema. Another possibility is a wound from the outside allowing air into the subcutaneous space, and then healing over - sometimes this happens with a tunnel-shaped wound in my experience. Another thing that leaps to mind is an infection with a gas-forming bacterium, totally unrelated to any kind of trauma allowing air into the subcutaneous space. Hopefully the kitty gets some help... -h.  SignatureHillary Israeli, VMD Lafayette Hill/PA/USA/Earth "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it is too dark to read." --Groucho Marx > *Jaq wrote: > *> [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > -h. Yes, Hillary, thank you for clarifying this. I definitely worded this poorly. I am aware that subcutaneous emphysema is not crepitus, rather one of many possible causes of crepitus. Certainly crepitus can be caused by a lot of other, and much more benign, things... such as arthritic changes in joints. Unfortunately in the scope of my job, the most common cause of crepitus in the back (or chest/neck/face) area is due to a pneumothorax, or in a few cases, a ruptured trachea (not such a good thing). At least when the patient is in obvious distress, like the kitty is. I would assume you might see a wider variety of causes of crepitus than I would, as I care for humans. I think most people tend to seek medical attention for themselves or loved ones a bit sooner than some seek it for their pets... so generally we hope to see them before the infection (or whatever) is so advanced that the patient develops crepitus from it. Though not always. (Let me add that *I* think pets deserve excellent and timely health care, and mine get it.) I should have worded the post more appropriately. I did not mean to make it sound like the cat had a pneumothorax, rather that it was a possibility. The main thing I wanted to get across to the OP was that this might be very serious and it might not be something he/she wants to wait until morning before getting help. I hope the kitty is OK. I'll be interested to hear a follow up. Take care, Shelly |
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