Concerned about my cat!

[WorriedOne84]

He has a history of fighting the neighbors cat.  My cat is neutered but the neighbors cat hasn't been and likes to come spray in our yard.  My cat is territorial like a dog so they had been fighting.  It got to where this was an every day thing and I started keeping mine in the house most of the time.  He is 9 years old.

Well, I do let him out sometimes, maybe like an hour or so some days.  That's been going on for a while and the fights had pretty much stopped. until today...

Though I couldn't see where they were, I heard a cat squalling outside.  I did see the neighbors dog go to the area where this was going on and then heard it yelping.  My cat came home like 20 minutes later with some scratches on his head and a small place on his leg.  However, he hasn't moved from the couch, doesn't want me to touch him, and even let out a low growl when I tried to pick him up.  This is highly unusual for him because no matter if he has been hurt before he has never growled or not wanted anything to do with me.

I have tried to get him to drink water without success.  I don't know what happened, if maybe it just the cat fight or the dog got  him as well.  I don't see any invisible injuries, his stomach doesn't seem tender, he just wants to be left alone.  I know that cats can dehydrate rather quickly and he hasn't drank anything since at least 13 hours now.

What should I do?  Do I wait this out or try to get an emergency vet visit tomorrow?

[aligator79]

My Oliver is a fighter.  He will go after anything in the yard or even where he doesn't think they should be.  He's usually pretty sore after one so he lays around for a day or two.  Sometimes he doesn't get up for 18 hours or more- eventually he will get up and eat and drink.  I wouldn't worry too much for a day or so but keep an eye on him.

[zodiacqueen]

Hi, from reading your post it sounds like your cat got abscesses from all the fights he's getting into with your neighbor's cat.  I think it's an infection that will need antibiotics.  It sounds like it can wait until first thing in the morning right when the vet opens.  I'd bring him in as soon as they open.  In the mean time, if you have a syringe or dropper, I would give him some drops of water to keep him hydrated.  Please, do it super slow, like a few drops at a time.

Now, if your gut is telling you that this is an emergency, then I wouldn't hesitate to bring him to the emergency vet.  I wish I could see him to be able to judge this better.  Use your gut with this one.

Is there any way that you can talk to your neighbor about this problem?  This really is their fault that all of this fighting is going on.  If they neutered the cat, there would be little to no fighting going on!  It's not fair for your 9 yr old cat to have to deal w/ that other cat.  Maybe your neighbor will be willing to do something about this.  Maybe you both can work out times for your cats to go out where they won't run into each other.

Please, let me know how things work out!  Good luck!

[opus88]

Will he eat for you? Try giving him some canned food even mix a bit more water to be sure he's getting extra, canned cat food is 78% water an most cats don't drink a lot more when fed canned.
Other than that just watch him overnight an see how he is feeling/eating/moving by morning.
I do strongly urge you not to allow him outdoors again anytime soon....