Dragging back legs, lethargic, x-rays/bloodwork normal, vet stumped. Suggestions?

kady05

kady05

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Jan 23, 2007
Messages
150
Purraise
1
Location
Chesapeake, VA
My aunt's cat is having some weird health problems, and has her regular vet stumped. She is planning on taking her to get a second opinion somewhere, but in the meantime, I told her I'd post her symptoms on here to see if maybe any one had suggestions.

Here is the direct email from my aunt:

I wanted to let you know what is going on with Tammy. It started at the end of July. She started moving really slow & was staying in the basement. We took her to the vet, he gave her a prednisone injection & B12 and she perked up. Then, the same thing happened at the end of August. Took her to the vet again, gave her another injection and again she perked up. He also did blood work and it came back fine. Then it happened again in the middle of September. This time her back legs were not moving at all. She was dragging her back legs when she tried to walk. Vet did an x-ray, the x-ray didn't show any problems. He gave her another injection and sent me home with prednisone tablets. Again, she perked up and was acting like her normal self. We have been giving her the pills for a month. As she has been doing better, we have been weaning her off the medication. We were down to giving her the pill every 3 days, and now she is down again. She is moving very slow and laying in one place. So, I am back to giving her the prednisone for 3 days, then he said to go to every other day. During all of this, she has been eating & using her litterbox.
Click to expand...
Does anyone have any ideas of what this could be? They live in Hollidaysburg, PA, so if anyone around there has vet suggestions, that'd be helpful too. The cat DOES go outdoors sometimes, but is mainly an indoor cat. I was thinking maybe she got into something outside? She is not too old, I think she's between 6-8yrs., but I can ask my aunt if needed.

Any suggestions would be great!
 
farleyv

farleyv

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
4,796
Purraise
36
Location
New York State
If the blood work wasn't normal, I would think diabetes. My daughters cat had the weakness and the diabetes was getting out of control. I would get another vet opinion. This has gone on for some time with no answer. I think your aunt needs to start over perhaps with a cat only vet. Hope this helps.
 
carolina

carolina

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 17, 2008
Messages
14,759
Purraise
215
Location
Corinth, TX
This is a long shot, long long long shot, but if this cat has been fed Diamond's Premium Edge Cat Food, the symptoms are pretty similar, especially the neurological ones -

So, ask your aunt if she has fed this kitty Premium Edge, and if in case the remote chance is yes, to start the thiamine replacement therapy immediately...

http://vetmedicine.about.com/b/2009/...deficiency.htm

Good luck!!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4
kady05

kady05

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Jan 23, 2007
Messages
150
Purraise
1
Location
Chesapeake, VA
Thanks for the suggestions so far guys. She had an appointment today with another vet, so hopefully this one has some answers!
 
T

tnrmominla

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Messages
6
Purraise
0
Location
Lala Land! Los Angeles!
That the cat is responding to prednisone seems to indicate that there is inflammation happening. I don't think I saw the age of the cat mentioned, but could arthritis be a factor? I know the vet said that the x-rays looked find, but is the vet a general practitioner, or do they have a specialist come in to look at the x-rays? How many views did they take? Sadly, some vets are utterly incompetent.

The lethargy I would attribute to pain, without knowing about any other symptoms.

Hopefully they can keep the kitty on a heating pad for now, and it'll be interesting to hear what the other vet says.
 
sweetpea24

sweetpea24

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Feb 5, 2009
Messages
568
Purraise
24
Location
Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Originally Posted by kady05

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys. She had an appointment today with another vet, so hopefully this one has some answers!
Click to expand...
We just got a cat in that couldn't move his back end. The reason was spindilosis (I'm not sure of the spelling exactly) - it was affecting the vertebrae and causing his back end to be paralyzed. I don't know, maybe farfetched..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top