Aftermath of a stroke in a cat (advice needed for friend)

My friend's cat had a stroke about 4 weeks ago. She walked in circles and had some other symptoms of a stroke and is now on various medications to try and stop it happening again.

We read that cats often improve steadily after a stroke, even though they may never be themselves again. Her cat seems to have setbacks (and is having one today) where she has a bad day where the kitty is restless, does not eat well (she is losing weight and is CRF) and is very wobbly on flat ground and cannot do any jumps which she normally can. She may have had a second stroke.

We are curious if anyone here has had a cat who had a stroke and what kinds of things are normal or not to happen in the aftermath? What kinds of treatments was your cat on? Overall, we are just after information as strokes are not that common in cats. My friend is working with a good vet, but any extra information would be really appreciated if anyone here has experience with a stoke.

My dear OTB Shep had a series of strokes over the course of about a year before she crossed. Early on, her main symptom was weakness on her left side. I had a friend who was a Tellington Touch massage therapist and she taught me how to do T-Touch massage on her to help that side remain stable. She had trouble with high sided litter boxes so I gave her a very shallow pan (cookie sheet with 1" sides). She stopped grooming herself so I did it for her (grooming brushes and wipes).

Later on she developed more cognitive issues. She forgot where the food, water and litter box were. She had a favorite sleeping spot, and I set up food and water bowls around her, and carried her to the litter pan every few hours.

She was never on medication. She was 17 years old and what was going to happen was going to happen, and the vet didn't think that any medication was going to help her. My focus was on physical comfort and to aid her in things she could no longer do.

Her final stroke was massive and she lost the use of most of her body (no bladder or bowel control, and couldn't even stand). There was no question that it was time to release her to the bridge. Unfortunately, if a cat starts to have repeated strokes, it can get to this point. But it doesn't mean that it will happen, nor that it will happen tomorrow.

I'm so sorry about your friend's cat - poor baby is having a rough time.

I don't have personal experience with this condition, but as you've said, I know that it is uncommon. Sorry for this silly question, but is the vet completely sure it was a stroke? Some serious middle ear infections will cause the same symptoms you've described.

You've gotten good advice so far from Momofmany. I'll just add a couple of suggestions. You mentioned that the kitty has CRF. Is she being treated for that (sub-q fluids, meds)? If not, fluid therapy (sub-q fluids) would help her greatly.

Since the cat is losing weight, your friend should syringe feed her. There's a very helpful site that I used when I first started doing that for one of my cats: www.assistfeed.com
She can scroll to the bottom of that page and click on the link to subscribe to the assist feeding group.

Good thoughts and best wishes going out to your friend and her kitty. I hope she feels much better soon.

Please keep us updated.

Hi All,

I am the one with the kitty that had the stroke (Sophia)I decided to join,everyone in here sounds so wonderful and supportive.

Thankyou for your added knowledge and good wishes,my Sophia is having a rough time right now she is 15yrs and a CRF kitty ....although up until her stroke 4wks ago she was doing great,so this is a little hard to take since the vets don't seem to have alot of information about this...it being so rare in cats.

I do have Sophia on subq fluids as well as different meds for her heart and blood preasure also asprin every 3rd day as a blood thinner.As far as I can tell I am doing everything that I can to help her.I will keep you updated on her condition of course I am hoping for the best.

Thankyou so much

Hi Adorecats. Good to see you join in on the board.

Hugs to Sophia, your Princess.

I hope your cat feels better.
I lost a Crf cat to a stroke in 2000 because her bp was to high.
What are your cats numbers on her blood test?
My Stripe was pts after her stroke now I wonder if I did the wrong thing.
She could only move her tail and they said there was no hope.
Since then I have heard there is hope for cats with strokes.
What is your cats bp now?
My 17 old cat has Crf and is on bp meds.

Hi Mews2much,

My Sophia's bp the day of her stroke was 280 which is of course awful she did recover very quickly in a few days she had lost the use of her front left leg and could not seem to pick up her dry food,all that took a couple of weeks to resolve itself she is on a blood thinner as well as 2 other meds for bp etc...she is also a CRF kittie.

She has had 2 more episodes since the first one even with all her meds so my vet who is just wonderful said this could be a tumor growing on her brain and to be prepaired for that!!

As you said you thought you may have acted to quickly letting your baby go but I think there is no perfect answer so don't beat yourself up about it,you did it out of love for your cat and that's all that matters we all hate to see them suffer!!!

We are very lucky to have this sight to come to as we can learn so much along the way!

Sophia's bp as of last week is 130 to 140.

Thankyou so much for your email

My cat who is 10 years old didn't recover well after teeth cleaning about 6 weeks ago.  Tests at my vet showed diabetes and she was put on insulin.  After a week on insulin, she

didn't seem any better.  I made an appt. for her with a cat expert in San Antonio, Dr. Norsworthy.  He said she had a stroke.  She is wobbly and could hardly stand on her

legs.  All she does is lie around and sleep.  She has managed to wobble to the litter pans and, food bowls and water fountain in the morning. The rest of the day she doesn't liike

to move.  Dr. Norsworthy put her on a antiinflamory to reduce inflamation in the brain . It is not Predisone but a different one.  He said she did have a diabetic episode that was

related to the stroke.

I don't think she has improved after 10 days on the anti-inflamatory.  Monday I have a return appt. with Dr. Norsworthy.  He did say cats recover better from strokes than humans.  

I hope it will just take time.  I'm blaming it on the stress of teeth cleaning.  I'll update after her appt. on Mon.

Emily L

catlover

Scarlett 001 said:

My friend's cat had a stroke about 4 weeks ago. She walked in circles and had some other symptoms of a stroke and is now on various medications to try and stop it happening again.

We read that cats often improve steadily after a stroke, even though they may never be themselves again. Her cat seems to have setbacks (and is having one today) where she has a bad day where the kitty is restless, does not eat well (she is losing weight and is CRF) and is very wobbly on flat ground and cannot do any jumps which she normally can. She may have had a second stroke.

We are curious if anyone here has had a cat who had a stroke and what kinds of things are normal or not to happen in the aftermath? What kinds of treatments was your cat on? Overall, we are just after information as strokes are not that common in cats. My friend is working with a good vet, but any extra information would be really appreciated if anyone here has experience with a stoke.

Click to expand...

I had a 19 year old cat who had health problems due mainly to age, thyroid problem and seizures, he had a massive stroke and could not stand up, I rushed him to the vet, she told me he was one very sick little cat, I would have done anything to get him better but she said even if she left him on a drip overnight at the  vets he would probably die in the night so I made the difficult and heartbreaking decision to do the kind thing for him which was to let him go.  You did not say the age of the cat in question so if it is a much younger cat the vet maybe able to prescribe medication to help with the problem.  I wish you the best with your cat.

From EmilyLcatlover

My cat, Olivia, who had a stroke, had another appt. with the cat expert in the SA area, Dr. Norsworthy, this morning and things do

not look good.   She can hardly get up.  He thought she had another stroke.  He gave her an anti-inflamatory shot but he said

there is a possibility of a brain tumor.  She has another appt. for Thurs.  It looks like I might have to prepare myself.

Anyone have a cat with a brain tumor?  It doesn't sound like there's any hope.