My cat won't eat or drink. Could it be mastitis? How serious?

I'd be very concerned that Ginger could have mastitis, which is an infection of the mammary glands that can occur after kittens are weaned. Mastitis can be fatal without treatment, and it does require antibiotics. I would take her into a vet immediately for treatment. Best of luck.

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. The symptoms of mastitis are enlarged, swollen, hot and painful mammary gland. The gland may be discharging normal milk but it may be yellow/green puss. Most of the cats with mastitis have fever and are very lethargic. They may vomit and reject the kittens. If Ayesha does have mastitis, she will need a course of antibiotics and painkillers to get better.

Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do for Mami at home, she has to see a vet immediately. It sounds like she has mastitis, which is an infection of the mammary glands. Mastitis is life threatening and does require immediate medical attention. To treat it requires antibiotics, which can only be prescribed by your vet. The pus is not contagious, so you don't have to worry about your boys. Please take her into a vet now.

Your baby may be suffering from mastitis (inflammation of the mammary gland). This is very painful and you really need to take her to the vet for an exam. and pain medicine and antibiotics if called for. In the meantime you can put warm moist compresses on the teat. This should relieve some of the pain temporarily.

Your cat may have a blockage, nerve damage, or acute kidney failure. It's not possible to know without being able to evaluate her and running some diagnostics. In either case, this is considered an emergency and I recommend you take your cat to a vet immediately. Without immediate treatment, your cat may have life-threatening complications. If you have further questions or need further clarification, then you may consider having an online consult with one of our vets on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. This way, you can send unlimited pictures and have a text conversation with a vet. I hope that helps and your cat gets better soon.

There are no signs of mastitis from those pictures but there is no way to know about milk production from the photo. If the kitten have not eaten in a week they wiukd not have made it this long so they are getting something. At that age you can syringe milk to them or try kitten food to wean them. If she has milk still you would be able to express some

I am sorry to hear about Annabelle. If she is not eating and now not drinking these are definitely signs of concern that require evaluation by a veterinarian. In particular, if she is an overweight cat (it says on your information that she is 14 pounds) then she is at risk of developing a dangerous liver condition called hepatic lipidosis if she isn't eating. There are many possible underlying causes for her symptoms, including primary GI disease (such as inflammatory bowel disease, gastritis, stomach ulcer, gi tumors, gi infection, pancreatitis, cholangiohepatitis) or disease of the liver or kidney (either of these can cause increased thirst). The vet will want to do an examination and will likely recommend bloodwork and an x-ray to try to determine the cause of her symptoms. She may need to be prescribed an appetite stimulant, and may need fluid therapy if she is dehydrated.