Table of cat illnesses
Here is a table in which you can look up the symptoms of the commonest illnesses of cats, or work the other way round and tell, at least roughly, what your cat has fallen ill of. The table cannot claim, of course, to list every symptom and every disease.
| Symptoms of disease | Panleuko- penia (viral enteritis) |
Food poisoning / gastroente- ritis |
Hairballs (bezoars) | Colitis | Rabies | Respiratory virus infection | Herpes / Rhinotra- cheitis |
| Vomiting | ! | !! | !! | ||||
| Diarrhea | ! | !! | !! | ||||
| Constipation | ? | ? | ? | ||||
| Blood in feces | !! | ||||||
| Lack of appetite | !! | ! | ! | ! | |||
| Excessive thirst | ? | ? | ? | ? | |||
| Abnormal urination | |||||||
| Salivation | ? | ? | ? | ! | ? | ? | |
| Cough and sneezing | ? | ? | !! | !! | |||
| Protrusion of the third eyelid | ! | ? | ? | ? | ! | ! | |
| Discharges from the eyes | !! | ! | |||||
| Discharges from the ears | |||||||
| Discharges from the nose | ! | !! | |||||
| Anal discharges | ? | ? | |||||
| Genital discharges | |||||||
| Dehydration | !! | ! | |||||
| Loss of weight | ? | ? | ! | ||||
| Paleness of gums | ! | ||||||
| Difficulty in breathing | ? | ? | |||||
| Loss of consciousness | ? | ! | |||||
| Paralysis | ! | ||||||
| Sudden death | !! | ? | |||||
| Fever (high temperature) | ? | ? | ! | ! | |||
| Low temperature | !! | ? | ? | ||||
| Bloating | ? | ? | |||||
| Swelling under skin | |||||||
| Dermatitis | ! | ! | |||||
| Lesions of skin / mucosa / cornea | ? | !! | |||||
| Fur loss | ? | ? | ! | ||||
| Obvious pain | ! | ? | ? | ! | ? | ||
| Lameness | |||||||
| Abnormal behavior | ! | ? | !! | ||||
| Shock | !! | ? | |||||
| Absence of obvious symptoms | ? | ? |
| Symptoms of disease | Infectious anemia | Feline Leukemia | Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) | Feline urinary syndrome / urolithiasis | Renal failure | Heart failure |
| Vomiting | ? | ? | ? | ! | ! | |
| Diarrhea | ? | ? | ? | |||
| Constipation | !! | |||||
| Blood in feces | ||||||
| Lack of appetite | ! | ! | ! | ! | ! | ? |
| Excessive thirst | ? | ? | !! | |||
| Abnormal urination | !! | !! | ||||
| Salivation | ||||||
| Cough and sneezing | ? | ! | ||||
| Protrusion of the third eyelid | ? | ? | ? | |||
| Discharges from the eyes | ||||||
| Discharges from the ears | ||||||
| Discharges from the nose | ||||||
| Anal discharges | ||||||
| Genital discharges | ? | |||||
| Dehydration | ! | ? | ! | |||
| Loss of weight | ? | !! | !! | !! | ? | |
| Paleness of gums | !! | ? | ? | ! | ||
| Difficulty in breathing | ? | ! | ! | ! | ||
| Loss of consciousness | ? | ? | ! | |||
| Paralysis | ! | |||||
| Sudden death | ? | !! | ||||
| Fever (high temperature) | ! | |||||
| Low temperature | ? | ! | ? | ? | ||
| Bloating | ? | !! | ! | !! | ||
| Swelling under skin | ? | |||||
| Dermatitis | ||||||
| Lesions of skin / mucosa / cornea | ||||||
| Fur loss | ? | |||||
| Obvious pain | ? | ! | ||||
| Lameness | ? | |||||
| Abnormal behavior | ! | |||||
| Shock | ? | |||||
| Absence of obvious symptoms | !! | !! | ? |
| Symptoms of disease | Heat stroke |
Cancer | Wrong feeding | Roundworms (ascarids) | Tapeworms | Toxo- plasmosis |
Stomatitis | Conjunc- tivitis |
| Vomiting | !! | !! | !! | ! | ||||
| Diarrhea | !! | !! | !! | ! | ||||
| Constipation | ! | ! | ||||||
| Blood in feces | ! | |||||||
| Lack of appetite | !! | ! | ? | ! | !! | ? | ||
| Excessive thirst | !! | |||||||
| Abnormal urination | ||||||||
| Salivation | !! | ? | !! | |||||
| Cough and sneezing | ! | ? | ? | ? | ||||
| Protrusion of the third eyelid | ? | ! | ? | ? | ? | ! | ||
| Discharges from the eyes | ! | ? | !! | |||||
| Discharges from the ears | ? | |||||||
| Discharges from the nose | ? | ? | ||||||
| Anal discharges | ? | |||||||
| Genital discharges | ? | |||||||
| Dehydration | ||||||||
| Loss of weight | !! | ? | ! | ? | ? | |||
| Paleness of gums | ! | ? | ? | |||||
| Difficulty in breathing | !! | !! | ? | ? | ||||
| Loss of consciousness | !! | ? | ||||||
| Paralysis | ? | |||||||
| Sudden death | ! | ! | ||||||
| Fever (high temperature) | !! | ? | ? | |||||
| Low temperature | ? | |||||||
| Bloating | !! | ? | ! | |||||
| Swelling under skin | ! | |||||||
| Dermatitis | ? | ? | ? | ! | ||||
| Lesions of skin / mucosa / cornea | ? | ! | ! | |||||
| Fur loss | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |||
| Obvious pain | ? | ! | ||||||
| Lameness | ? | |||||||
| Abnormal behavior | !! | ? | ? | |||||
| Shock | ! | |||||||
| Absence of obvious symptoms | ! | !! | !! | !! | !! | !! |
| Symptoms of disease | Inflam- mation of cornea (keratitis) |
Inflam- mation of ear (otitis) |
Fleas; ticks; ringworm | Abscess | Haematoma (haemor- rhage) |
Poisoning | Heat | Preg- nancy |
Gyneco- logical diseases |
| Vomiting | ! | ! | ? | ||||||
| Diarrhea | ! | ! | ? | ||||||
| Constipation | ! | ||||||||
| Blood in feces | |||||||||
| Lack of appetite | ? | ? | ! | ? | ! | ! | ! | ||
| Excessive thirst | ? | ! | |||||||
| Abnormal urination | ? | ||||||||
| Salivation | ! | ||||||||
| Cough and sneezing | ! | ||||||||
| Protrusion of the third eyelid | ! | ? | ? | ? | |||||
| Discharges from the eyes | !! | ||||||||
| Discharges from the ears | !! | ? | ? | ! | |||||
| Discharges from the nose | |||||||||
| Anal discharges | |||||||||
| Genital discharges | !! | ? | !! | ||||||
| Dehydration | ! | ? | |||||||
| Loss of weight | ? | ? | |||||||
| Paleness of gums | ? | ! | ? | ||||||
| Difficulty in breathing | ? | ? | |||||||
| Loss of consciousness | ! | ? | |||||||
| Paralysis | ! | ||||||||
| Sudden death | !! | ||||||||
| Fever (high temperature) | ? | ! | ? | ||||||
| Low temperature | ? | ? | ! | ||||||
| Bloating | ! | !! | ! | ||||||
| Swelling under skin | ? | ! | !! | !! | |||||
| Dermatitis | ! | !! | ? | ! | |||||
| Lesions of skin / mucosa / cornea | !! | !! | !! | ||||||
| Fur loss | ? | !! | ! | ? | ? | ? | |||
| Obvious pain | !! | ! | !! | ? | ? | ? | |||
| Lameness | ! | ? | |||||||
| Abnormal behavior | ? | ? | ? | !! | !! | ? | ? | ||
| Shock | !! | ? | |||||||
| Absence of obvious symptoms | !! | ! | ! | ? |
What the marks mean:
!! — the chief and most characteristic symptoms, always present in the illness or condition concerned; ! — symptoms usually seen
in it, but not decisive; ? — secondary symptoms