Poor Angus by Andrew Trevor-Jones

Our beautiful boy, Angus, had a bad day, yesterday (13 March).

He went outside with the 3 cats in the afternoon and within 30 minutes of being outside he was acting strangely. I brought him inside. He was constantly licking and scratching himself basically anywhere on his body he could reach. He was also very upset, panting quite regularly and meowing whenever he was left alone. I followed him around as he wandered from room to room. He could not sit still.

At 4pm we decided it was best to take him to the vet and have him checked out. The vet agreed he was not quite right. He had a temperature of 40.1ºC and all his pick bits (nose, toe pads, mouth) were all quite red, probably increased blood flow because of the high temperature. The vet suspected some kind of allergic reaction, perhaps to a spider or insect bite or sting. She gave him a cortisone injection as well as an injection of anti-histamine. We were to watch him closely over the following hours and bring him back in the morning.

We got him home and he seemed a bit better. He stopped licking and scratching but was still somewhat restless. He ate all his dinner (which doesn’t always happen) so that was an encouraging sign. Gradually, he settled down and was more restful. He was interested in playing a little later in the night. Just before bed he had a very big drink of water.

Overnight he seemed to sleep OK but was still acting a little odd. In the morning he seemed even better although a little lethargic. I took him back to the vet and his temperature had dropped to 38.2ºC which is in the normal range. This was very pleasing. We just have to keep an extra eye on him over the next few days to make sure he keeps improving.

It is very worrying when a beloved pet is unwell. It can be difficult to determine if they are acting normally when you watch them so closely. Hopefully, Angus will make a full recovery.