For 4 months I've been noticing physical and mental changes in my cat. I've been watching her closely in hopes of treating ASAP to avoid pain and suffering. My cat is about 10 months now and is black all over. I started to notice changes in the color of eyelids, nose and lips as they seem to be chapped or lightening. I let her out often and prefer it that way and she gets into many situations while frolicking in the bushes, ingesting objects she vomits up, getting stung by bees, chasing ducks and falling in the river, climbing up trees chasing squirrels, etc. I recently met my neighbor who is both physically and mentally ill and has confided in me with her symptoms, beliefs, and theories as to what may or may not be "killing her". After 3 weeks of knowing her I found myself more concerned with her constant tales of conspiracies and suspicions of being tormented by parasites she says are invading her body and her home. She's warned me to beware and keep a close eye out for the craziest things and found her very interesting with paranoid behaviors and delusions. She claims to have the last stages of Morgellons Disease and does not look well. She's abusing pain meds and claims her joints, muscles, and bones ache to extremes as a result. She believes that our apartment complex may also be infested with larvae, worms, and bugs and has exact names for them. She thinks they're in the carpets as silverfish and whiteworms. She claims my cat could be the main transporter of worms and parasites associated with Morgellons Disease. She's shaved her head and eyebrows, inspects fabrics, my hair, eyebrows, kitchen, carpets; SHE'S DRIVEN ME CRAZY. She recently got diagnosed with infection of ringworm in her scalp and has been all over my apartment with it. Now I'm paranoid. I clean constantly, shower, shave, inspect, and now I'm driving my cat crazy. I've researched online about the disease, ringworm, tapeworm, whiteworm, silverfish, roundworm. I constantly search for signs and symptoms and actually find some in areas of the kitchen both black and white. I've thoroughly inspected my cat and her feces constantly and notice that all the symptoms are all similar. Her hair gets greasy quickly and looks cloudy, she's been to the vet spayed and vaccinated and examined for constant diarrhea where I was assured she was not ill. She licks her but constantly and eats and drinks a lot remaining small and slender. Bowel movements are constant ongoing 24 hours with signs of blood, white specks, grass, and what I believed to be a tapeworm. I was not able to get it to the vet for testing right away due to lack of funds and had to dump the samples. I see no worms around her anus, and follow her waiting for something to jump out of her anus. She sleeps longer and heavier and no longer cuddles. Patches of hair are thinning here and there but she plays and meows with energy. It may be anemia, lukemia, feline HIV, a cold, hypothyroidism, chrones disease and the list goes on! I can't afford a complete physical. The vet asks for symptoms and I'm all over the map. My cats really starting to get violently irritated about my recent unnatural obsession of following her with a flashlight and a magnifying glass.I'm driving myself crazy with paranoia. Can anyone help me narrow down what sickness my cat may have?
You really need to calm down. First of all, really there isn't anything your cat can catch that you or your neighbor can catch from a cat. Their illnesses do not transmit to humans. Tapeworms and other intestinal parasites can transmit to humans, but if you wash your hands every time you handle your cat, and keep her litter box clean, you shouldn't even worry about catching those. You don't need to see a tapeworm, or any other parasite, all you do is take a stool sample to her vet. They can test it and tell you if there are any parasites that need to be treated. Silverfish are not harmful to pets or humans, so that isn't the problem.
Since you allow your cat to be outside much of the time, she may have contracted FIV or Felv, unless she had been tested and vaccinated for them. They are highly contagious between cats, and any stray could have given it to your cat. Your cat should be tested for Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, (FIV) and Feline Leukemia (FeLV). It is a simple 10 minute blood test done by your vet. It isn't expensive. Explain your financial situation to her vet, they will work with you. Take a stool sample with you to be tested for parasites, again they can check it in their office in a few minutes. You can collect the stool sample by putting only some newspaper in her litter box, and put the feces in a zip lock bag...it will be a good clean sample even if she scratches some of the paper into it. Your vet can advise you from there. If all is negative, you need to vaccinate your cat for FIV and FeLV. Then you need to make sure your cat is getting a quality diet, and your neighbor needs to get a life.
Your cat isn't responsible any illness she may have. She sounds like a bipolar hypochondriac. If she suffers from Morgellons Disease, diagnosed from a doctor, they would have told her that they don't even know what causes the disease. It may not be a parasite, they haven't found one. It is often successfully treated with the same medications as Lyme disease. People can be allergic to cat's saliva which floats in the air along with their hair and dander, but only if they are in the same apartment or house with them. and it is usually only typical allergic type reactions, such as stuffy nose, puffy eyes. Most people aren't allergic to cat dander/saliva. It usually looks much like a pollen allergy. It can be uncomfortable, but it isn't going to kill anybody. Someone with asthma may be affected by cats in their own home, so anyone with a history of asthma shouldn't own a cat because it can trigger an attack, although meds today usually keep that under control.
One more thing you should consider. Your neighbor. If she is unbalanced...and I think you know she is....she may be slowly poisoning your cat. If she blames your cat for her own "illnesses" it is not uncommon for those people to poison an animal, either accidentally by setting out rat and rodent poisons and insect poisons, or on purpose. She could be slowly feeding your cat rat poison or another toxin, or your cat may be getting into the poison she puts out. All of the symptoms you describe could be from gradual poisoning. That may be why your vet was unable to find anything wrong when you took her in before. My best guess is your neighbor is killing your cat.
duck tales! woo ooh!I'm driving myself crazy with paranoia. Can anyone help me narrow down what sickness my cat may have?
You need to get the funds together to get her to the vet. Call around and find one who would accept payment plans.
You are correct that it could be any number of things. And contrary to what the other poster stated...ringworm is HIGHLY contagious. She needs a wellness exam, bloodwork, and a fecal run. The white spots, that look like grains of rice are tapeworms. She needs to be treated as a severe infestation can kill her. If she is very infested, it could be the reason for her other symptoms as the parasites are weakening her.
And Im really sorry that your neighbor is such a nutbag.....
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