paralysed -any hope?

was woken at midnight on sunday by my wife to come and see to our cat, edward.
he was on the floor, panting heavily, and trying to crawl around, unable to use his rear legs.
we called our vet, and took him in for examination. the vet could find no external signs of trauma, but thought there was chest damage as well as leg problems.
edward was given a pain killer and kept overnight at the vets.
the vet called today and said that the x-ray did not show any fractures, but that edward had no feeling in his tail or back legs. he suggested that the spine may have been broken, and then popped back into place.
edward has been kept under observation for another 48 hours, and today we
visited him at the vets.
the vet said that he does not seem to be in pain, but still has no feeling in his rear legs or tail, is incontinent, and he is recommending that we put teddy to sleep.

i have brought him home.
he is able to wag his tail, and tries (and succeeds) in moving about.

is there any hope?
is there anything that i can do?
obviously the last thing i want is for my cat to be miserable, but i had to bring him home today cos he was trying to jump out of the cage, and i couldn't let him feel like i'd abandoned him.

thanks for listening,
sy and edward
i hav

I suggest, before making any final decisions, that you have another vet look at Teddy. I'm not much help having no experience with anything like this, but I think before you make the decision to euthanize or not you should know more about what is wrong....what cause this all.

Originally Posted by white cat lover

I suggest, before making any final decisions, that you have another vet look at Teddy. I'm not much help having no experience with anything like this, but I think before you make the decision to euthanize or not you should know more about what is wrong....what cause this all.

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I agree. Get more opinions and try to find a specialist. I feel sorry for Teddy. Did he fall or something?

If I found myself in your position, I would seek out an opinion with a specialist. If there were a Veterinary school anywhere closeby, that's where I would go. These institutions generally offer hospital services to the public and have specialists on staff as well as the latest available technology...and, fees will be lower than those from private practices. Failing that, if there is a cat-only hospital/clinic nearby, it would be my pick.

I'm not reassured by your description of what you were told as a possible cause for all this...the spine broken and popping back into place???

I also believe you did right in not making a hasty decision...many of us have.

My vet adopts any animal she feels has a chance of a good life but the owners don't want to spend the money. She has 3 cats in her office that don't have use of their back legs. They slide around on the tiled floor, and even pull themselves up on the lowest level of the cat tree.

There are also wheelchairs you can purchase to replace the use of Edward's back legs. And diapers.

My friend had Cats like that and did not have them Pts. I will ask her to post here when I see her on. She uses diapers on them.

hi again

thanks for all your replies.
i have just been out and borrowed a square rabbit run to help keep him more confined.
at the moment, ted is curled up in a box in the front room.

i called the vets back earlier, and asked him if he knew he had tail movement.
not exhibited, he said, but added that this was an encouraging sign.
i have a bottle of metacam to medicate him with, and will be back at the vets on friday.
we talked about other causes and have ruled out blood clots due to the fact that his legs are still warm etc.

he is quieter now - earlier he kept making his "i-need-to-go-outside-to-the toilet" miaow, and he has tried to have a wash and is upset that he is wet all the time.
we are going to give him a quick bath later (after one more chorus of "smelly cat", bless 'im), and then see if he wants any supper.

we have no idea what happened to him; my wife just heard a bang and a crash (edward falling in thru the cat flap), and a loud miaow. she thought he might have caught something (a very rare occurence, thankfully - his prey of choice is usually leaves), but then saw that he was just crawling around on the floor.
there were no external signs of any injury, no oil or gravel consistent with an accident, in fact no marks on him at all. its all very strange.

i will update you all tomorrow,
thanks again,

sy h

oh yes, i forgot to add i e-mailed a place called eddies wheels on monday (they make pet carts), but they have not replied.
and i'm not sure i want to keep an adventurous cat on the floor, anyway.
i've also been out to buy nappies, but they're too small.

Be careful with the Metacam. It can cause Kidney Problems.

Originally Posted by mews2much

Be careful with the Metacam. It can cause Kidney Problems.

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syh- I just about choked when I saw the "Metacam", too. Are you in the UK?

Metacam has recently been licensed for oral use in cats in the UK. Because the drug has caused countless deaths and kidney damage to cats, it is not licensed for cats in NA. The UK licensing has left many experts in kidney disease scratching their heads in disbelief.

I would just urge real caution...if you're in the UK, check back with the Vet and ensure you're using the UK-approved dosage amount. If you're elsewhere, you might consider asking for an alternate drug.

There is also something called pulled-tail syndrome. If the cat's tail is pulled hard enough, it could cause injury to the spine.

As to the Metacam, I've heard that short term use is ok. Long term use needs to be monitored.

My cat was on it for about 3 years for arthritis and did not experience any ill effects other than stomach issues. That was the reason we took her off but her kidney function is fine.

I am so sorry you are going through this. I had a similar experience with a kitty that was heartworm positive. She threw a clot ( in this case it was a dead heartworm)

There is a problem in cats called saddle thrombosis, which causes rear end paralysis. It is often difficult to distinguish between this and "tail pull" that kataching mentions.

If I was in your position I would have Teddy's heart checked since no spinal abnormalities showed up on X-ray.


Sending lots of healing energy to your boy.

Below are links about Saddle Thrombus

http://www.thepetcenter.com/sur/sa.html

http://blog.embracepetinsurance.com/...myopathy-.html

http://www.web-dvm.net/saddlethrombus.html

The vet believed that it was Saddle Thrombosis that killed our Truman.

But with the loud bang, I wonder if he was chased into the house by a dog or something and was injured that way?

I was just going to mention the saddle thrombosis. A cat we saw at the vet's office had that, and made a complete recovery after weeks of low dose aspirin and massage therapy. The owners initially thought their dog accidently hurt him.

I agree, it's definitely worth trying to have the cat seen by a veterinary cardiologist (or animal emergency hospital or veterinary school). Even if your regular vet thinks it probably wasn't a stroke, a specialist might know better whether the cause is circulatory. There are circulatory conditions that lead to back-leg paralysis.

The crash you heard could have been the injury that caused this, or it could have been a result of the cat falling or thrashing around when the paralysis struck him. It's hard to know which.

The fact that he's got (or regained?) some tail movement is encouraging. Maybe the paralysis is due to something like inflammation, and is coming and going as the inflammation waxes and wanes.

Since he doesn't appear to be in any pain, absolutely, keep trying. There may be a better prognosis for him. I wouldn't waste any time -- I'd get him to a specialist tomorrow, because time might be crucial to treatment.

edward died at 7.55 this morning.

he is now in the garden, playing with gilbert and harry.

i had been up with him all night, and while it wasn't good to see him so frustrated, i know i would have felt much worse had i not brought him home and received a call from the vets.

i spoke with the vet this morning, and he says he is still convinced that it was some form of spinal trauma, and that he was happy for me to bring him home.
he said that if he thought that the outcome had been predictable, he wouldn't have allowed it.

thanks for all the messages of help and support.
i hope that i can post, or link, some photos of him soon.

sy + kath
pip (purr in peace) edward 1994 - 2008

RIP sweet edward.

Syn I am so sorry for you and your wife's loss.

you did all you could for edward, that much is obvious. it must have been so hard to see him like that.

my thoughts are with you and your family at this difficult time.

RIP little edward.

Hi there. I am truely sorry for your loss. I have a kitty that went through something similar and I would be devastated to see her go. Keep your head up and I am sending my best wishes

I too had a similar experience with my Bella, though she slowly returned to normal...

I am so sorry for your loss, just know that there is no more pain for him. <3