Please tell me if my cat is OK!!!!!!!!!!

[JKRJG24]

i think she is but I'm not sure!!!! OK just about an hour ago me my mom and dad were sitting in living room watching TV when all of a sudden she got her leg stusk in a plastic bag!!!! It was kindof funny at first but she thought it was attacking her!! See she has never liked plastic bags much since she was a kitten!!! I think she had a bad experiance when she was relly little before we got her!!!!!!! But anyway she thought it was attacing her so she ran as fast as she could and she ran right into the wall!!! She hit her head relly hard!!!!!! I picked her up and my mom held her and her eyes are really diolated!!!! Are there and signs i should be looking for? She seemes to be OK but she is still tarafied and if you even move she freakes out!!!!!!!! She is breathing fine and her heart seems OK!! Well at least from what I can tell!!!!!!!! Please write as soon as you can and tell me if there is anything I shoud check!! She is my baby and I want to make sure EVERY thing is OK!!!!!!!!

[Karen]

Yikes! We have an emergency, all-night vet the next town over, whom I would call in your situation. I found mine by calling my regular veterinarian's number late one night, and they gave the number. Is there any such thing in your area? You could try what I did, or check your phone book.

My local one would be long-distance for you, (it's in Needham, Massacusetts) but just in case you need to talk to someone and can't find anyone out there, their number is 781-453-0143.

Head injuries in people can be serious, but I have no idea what signs to look for in kitties!

Poor kitty, poor you, I'm gonna look online and see what I can find for you.

[JKRJG24]

Thanks!!!!!

[Karen]

Couldn't find anything definitive online - plenty of stuff about people needing CAT-scans, which is not at all helpful! Hopefully kitty's just spooked - gotta keep those rogue plastic bags away from her!

[JKRJG24]

Thank you very much!! Don't you hate that were you search for on thing and get everything else that has that word in it? Hopefully she is fust spooked!!! We are going to watch her and if she isn't getting better in a hour or so we may call the vet just to see what to look for!!

[gini]

My Calico girl was once shocked just like your kitty. The new neighbor's dog got out of his yard and came to our patio door. Patches totally freaked out and turned around in a hurry to get away. She ran right into the bookcase. She had the same look of terror you are describing. But after much consolation, she was alright.
(She wouldn't go near that door for weeks).
HOWEVER, if you notice anything unusual after a time tonight, I would definitely take Karen's advise and call a vet on an
emergency basis.

[JKRJG24]

She is slowly getting better!! She is a pretty afectionit cat but ONLY when she wants to be!!!!!!! She just growled at my mom for petting her wrong like she usually does and that made me feel better!!! But what is rely weird is now every time a dog barks on TV she jets all upset!!!! I don't know if she thought it was a dog or what!!! But my dad had to carefully make sure ALL plastic bags were put up!!!!!!!! She heard one and got upset so I think she may be a stressed scared kitty for a few days!!!! Thank you guys soooo much for your help I RELY appresiate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[This message has been edited by JKRJG24 (edited December 16, 2000).]

[Pam]

My cat, Andy, once got the handle of those plastic bags around his neck. All of a sudden he was running through the living room in a panic because he was trying to out-run it!! That wasn't going to happen with it around his neck! We finally caught up with him and took it off and his little heart was really thumping for a while!

I would definitely keep your eye on your little one (as I know you are doing). I had two dogs who used to play with a rubber toy. They would each hold an end and yank on it, throwing their heads back and forth (sort of like doggie tug of war). One night one of them was yanking so hard and banged her head against the wall. For a second or two afterwards she looked a little dazed and then she seemed perfectly normal. About a week later she had a seizure. I told the vet about the incident and he didn't feel there was necessarily a connection. She was a poodle and he said seizures were not uncommon in poodles, as well as some other breeds. She had to take seizure medicine the rest of her life. I will never know for sure, though. I hope this doesn't scare you. Here's hoping your little one will be just fine!!!

[JKRJG24]

Thanks!!! She is doing better but I don't think she knows what happened!!!!! She is looking around like crazy!! She will start to relax and then she will sit up and look around for stuff!! She dosn't trust anything!! I bruched my teeth and she was scared of the tooth brush!!! I think she is doing better!! I might take her in just incase!! Hopfully if we do it won't put any more stress on her!!!

[MzKitty]

I don't really have any advice, other than to watch her closely, which I'm sure you are doing and hide all those pesky bags, which I'm sure you've done. I just wanted to say 'poor little baby' and let you know that we are all thinking of you and wishing her well.

[4 feline house]

Since it's been several hours since your post, I'm sure everything is resolved by now. I had a very similar incident just a few days ago. I learned a long time ago to keep those bags out of their reach. They are attracted to them because they are made with lard or tallow, and a cat's sensitive nose can pick it up. This is why so many of them chew on them, too. But the other night, long after I had fallen asleep, one of them knocked over the recycle bin, and the bags were accessible. I was woken up to gosh-awful noise, and realized ALL FOUR of the cats were tearing through the house. They were hurtling so fast I couldn't even tell which cat was which, even though none of them are alike. I could also distinctly hear the crinkle of a plastic bag, but couldn't help because I could not stop them nor even determine which cat was in trouble. Finally they all settled down, to an extent. They were still really wired. I located them all but found no one tangled in a bag. I finally figured it must have been Cookie that was caught because she would not come out from under the bed and hissed at me when I tried to retrieve her. I went through the house to remove the bag, but could not find it. I picked up the bin and secured it, and went back to bed, even though I was nervous about not having found the bag. The next day Cookie was still under the bed, and my son found the bag behind his toilet. As you found out, the situation is made worse because they think they are trapped in the jaws of a predator and their instinct is to run for their lives. You can't say it too many times: keep track of those bags and make sure your pets can't get them!

[gini]

Spencer, I had completely forgotten! Years ago, when Sugar was a young cat, I would come home with groceries and he would beg for the brown paper bag. He just loved it! The first time I gave him one, when I went to put it away it was filled with cat pee. Well, wasn't that special? He didn't get many brown bags after that. Eventually he grew out of it and would just play in the bag.

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[JKRJG24]

Thanks!!! She is doing fine now!!! She is back to her old self!!! she is a little bit sciddish but not to much!!!!!!! She had me scared for a while!!!!!!! I am still keeping a eye on her just in case!!! I have learned a very important lesson!!!! KEEP ALL BAGS OUT OF REACH OF THE CATS!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Troy]

While we are on the topic - One of my cats occasionally becomes hyper-sensitive and spooked for 10-20 minutes and then returns to normal. This happens once a fortnight or so. I do notice that the best way to deal with it is to just grab him (carefully so he doesn't freak) and give him a good hug, pet, and overdose him with attention and he tends to forget about his prior state of mind.

Anyone else have cats that do this regularly?

Curious, Troy.

[Pam]

I'm glad to hear she is back to her old self!! Give her a hug for me.