Losing weight, twitching, can't stand

mhawker

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Hi all,

First post. I understand the value of forums so I will say thanks in advance to all those who offer advice (free) and give of their time.


We have a cat about 5 years old who has started to have a problem. He is a neutered cat who lives in/ outdoors. Over the last week, he has started to whine to us (more than usual). At first we thought he just wanted more attention. Then today we noticed him having trouble standing. He'd walk and then kind of sway and stumble as if he were drunk. We also noticed his legs would shake every now and then as if he was having a small seizure... but only in a leg.

We brought him in, gave him a bath and noticed he was covered in fleas. We typically keep up to date on flea meds, but I think we may have missed this last month. We also noticed how thin he was. He has never had a weight issue before and except for some eye clouding issues when he was young, has never had any health issues.

Any ideas would be appreciated. A visit to the vet is next but I thought someone here might have some insight.
 

dusty's mom

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Is he up to date on his shots?

I'd get him to the vet asap. Often cats don't show symptoms of being sick until they are very sick. I don't know what kind of flea meds you are using, but Advantage or Frontline is the only way to go. The OTC ones like Hartz can be toxic to your kitty. I learned this the hard way when I had to take a cat to the emergency vet for seizures.

Sending prayers for your kitty.
 

landwish

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I agree with the post above. These are not simple problems that can be addressed on a chat board. If your kitty goes outside, ANYTHING could have happened to him. He may have injested a toxic substance or have even been hit by a car or attacked by another animal. Even when they aren't bleeding, they can have experinced serious trauma on the inside.

Depending on the problem, your kitty may not have much time. I would get him to an emergency clinic ASAP if possible. It sounds like the poor cat is suffering.

Good luck and keep us posted on how things turn out.
 
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mhawker

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After we bathed him, we got him to eat some canned food. He stayed in the house overnight and in the morning looked significantly better so we decided to see how it goes. Two days later now and he continues to get better. He can walk without swaying and the tremors or seizures (whatever they were) are gone completely.

If he isn't back to full speed in a couple of days or gets worse, we will bring him to the vet to see what is wrong.

Thank you all for your concern.
 

ocicat_steph

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Originally Posted by MHawker

After we bathed him, we got him to eat some canned food. He stayed in the house overnight and in the morning looked significantly better so we decided to see how it goes. Two days later now and he continues to get better. He can walk without swaying and the tremors or seizures (whatever they were) are gone completely.

If he isn't back to full speed in a couple of days or gets worse, we will bring him to the vet to see what is wrong.

Thank you all for your concern.
you're taking a very large risk not consulting a vet and having bloodwork done. what you have described could be a very serious illness and could have symptoms that come and go with time as it attacks and destroys the body's nervous system. i really wish you the best and hope you have made the right choice for your cat. not the choice i would have made though with such serious symptoms. tremors and loss of muscle use can be caused by a few things, nerve damage, brain damage, poisoning, organ failure, blood defeciancies, and respitory problems. to name a few... i can't think of anything minor that would cause such symptoms. to ignore them could be very risky.
 

trouts mom

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I agree with Ocicat..those were very serious symptoms. Something that causes your cat to act like that won't just go away.

Please consider taking the kitty to the vet asap.

Keep us updated
 

ocicat_steph

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Originally Posted by MHawker

He is a neutered cat who lives in/ outdoors. Over the last week, he has started to whine to us (more than usual).

We brought him in, gave him a bath and noticed he was covered in fleas. We typically keep up to date on flea meds, but I think we may have missed this last month.
by these comments alone it would lead me to believe that you have just contridicted yourself. you say he's not been outside yet in this quote you state differently...?? also flea meds alone especially depending on what kind they are will not prevent injestion of fleas or other parasites(worms). if you have found fleas on your cat it is possible that he has worms, and i hope that's the only problem he has. he could also have ingested or caught a tick which can carry all sorts of diseases including lyme disease. some worms/parisites can actually enter through the eyes or ears and infect the brain and cause death or neurological damage. PLEASE TAKE YOUR CAT TO THE VETS. and don't lie to them about it going outside...
 
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mhawker

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Originally Posted by ocicat_steph

by these comments alone it would lead me to believe that you have just contridicted yourself. you say he's not been outside yet in this quote you state differently...?? and don't lie to them about it going outside...
I've been around forums for a long time. I have well over 10,000 cummulative posts and have been moderators on many forums. I've seen the good and bad. I also understand for the most part, people usually have the best of intentions with their comments so I'll refrain from commenting about your lack of reading skill and just try to explain what I wrote even thought I thought it was very clear.

The cat is an in/ outdoor cat. AFTER we saw that he was sick, we kept him inside.

Hopefully that will clear up any misunderstanding and allow you to retract your insult of calling me a liar and we can proceed in a more positive manner.

For the others, thank you for your concern and I understand your comments completely. Thank you for being honest with them. I can only do what I think is best as I'm sure you all would. I'll keep you up to date.
 

ocicat_steph

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Originally Posted by MHawker

I've been around forums for a long time. I have well over 10,000 cummulative posts and have been moderators on many forums. I've seen the good and bad. I also understand for the most part, people usually have the best of intentions with their comments so I'll refrain from commenting about your lack of reading skill and just try to explain what I wrote even thought I thought it was very clear.

The cat is an in/ outdoor cat. AFTER we saw that he was sick, we kept him inside.

Hopefully that will clear up any misunderstanding and allow you to retract your insult of calling me a liar and we can proceed in a more positive manner.

For the others, thank you for your concern and I understand your comments completely. Thank you for being honest with them. I can only do what I think is best as I'm sure you all would. I'll keep you up to date.
um excuse me but i think you're being a little silly and defensive. i'm a vet nurse and i work with vets and i'm trying to give you knowlegable information for free... i never called you a liar just asked you to be honest with your vets when you do take them in and not lie to them. i said you contridicted yourself not lied, thought maybe you might have misposted your information. i thought i might have been going mad at first because i thought i had read previously that you had him in and outdoors and found him with fleas. either way DEPENDING on what flea treatment you have used and IF you have wormed him with veterinary prescription worming treatment along with prescript flea treatment your cat still could be suffering from parisites that you may or maynot be able to see. keeping him inside isn't going to fix the fact that your cat's body could be getting eaten alive or shutting down slowly and is only showing signs of it occationally. have you spent every hour with this cat since the first episode are you positive this cat hasn't had another one whilst you were in his company? i can only stress AGAIN please take this cat to the vets. sorry for upsetting you i'm only worried about your cat as we have seen some horrible cases of similar nature come into the clinic.
 
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