How will I know when my cat is ill?

We human become familiar with the normal behavior patterns of our pet cats, and we can often sense that something is not quite right even if we are not sure exactly what it is.

Obvious signs of illness include:

• Runny or sore eyes
  
• Discharge from the ears
  
• Loss of balance
  
• Loss of appetite
  
• Difficulty in swallowing
  
• Coughing
  
• Labored breathing
  
• Excessive sneezing, possibly with a nasal discharge
  
• Lameness
  
• Matted coat
  
• Sores or abnormal swellings
  
• Vomiting
  
• Diarrhea
  
• Some signs of ill health may be quite subtle so that they can be spotted only with close observation. For example, excessive thirst is a very common sign of ill health in older cats, but among cats who drink outdoors, this change might be detected only as a change in drinking pattern; for example, the cat begins regularly drinking from a pond if it never did so in the past. Similarly, a cat may have diarrhea, but the only sign that the owner sees is some fecal staining around the anus, or perhaps just the cat grooming itself excessively in that area.