What's wrong with Ming Loy?

Well, this morning was interesting to say the least. I fed the cats breakfast, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Ming Loy shudder - not too unusual, she's got cerebellar hypoplasia, and she's shaky and spastic. Then she falls face forward into her bowl. But she gets back up and takes another bite... then the whole front of her body shudders again, and she falls face first into her bowl. What the.... ?????????????????????? I go to get a closer looks, and it happens again!

Now I pick up the bowl, and she is pawing at her mouth, working her mouth like crazy. She's not coughing, so not choking, but CLEARLY in distress. I stick my finger into her mouth to see if I can feel anything, and I get it part way down her throat. (You shouldn't do this, BTW, I found out later). I don't feel anything, but of course I can't be sure. But it happens AGAIN. The whole front of her body spasms, and she's pawing at her mouth.

So off to the vet we go.

The vet does see inflammation, redness, and a few small marks on the roof of the back of her mouth. X-rays show nothing other than some small bones in her stomach. Several look sharp, but small so they should NOT have been or be a problem. (Keep in mind, Ming Loy has a bit of PICA, and eats plastic, rubber - chews our headsets, phone cords, that kind of thing). Plastic doesn't usually show up on x-rays.

The theories listed in order of probability:

1) A bite of food with small sharp bones in it somehow had bones poke her. The pain caused the shuddering, and if they were stuck, temporarily, in the roof of her mouth, that would be the reason for the pawing at her mouth. They got worked out, and are now in her tummy, and should pose no further problem;

2) She had some kind of series of small seizures. This resulted in her falling with food in her mouth and sharp, small bones irritating her mouth.

3) No idea what happened. Epilepsy or some kind of seizures a possibility. Keep an eye on her.

If she ate some kind of plastic or small rubber thing or something, that was temporarily stuck in her mouth/throat, it made her way to her stomach, as her trachea and esophagus are clear and unobstructed and not inflamed. IF there is going to be any kind of problem with a blockage, she will either go off her food, or vomit. If either starts, we do an endoscopy. Since she got very little breakfast, my instructions were to feed her when we get home, and see what happens.

So I did, boneless food. She ate fine, was hungry. No vomiting. But she did do that shudder after eating, and kind of fell forward again. But this only happened once. She did keep "licking her lips" for a while after eating. That could be from the irritation in her mouth. ??

THEN... a while later. An hour? She's licking her lips and falling forward again! I grabbed the camera.

Anyone have ANY thoughts??????

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v335/gmglag/?action=view&current=MingLoyFeb242012a.mp4

I sent the video to the vet.

BAD toothache
When Gracie did this she had that nasty tooth that had to be removed.... remember? That nasty ones that gave her the fistula? If she is doing this eating or not..... I would bet something in her mouth hurts pretty badly..... I would get her teeth examined - carefully. This to me looks like a bad toothache.

The falling forward thing, to me, looks like what Kramer does when he's about to throw up.

But other than that, no clue. :dk:

Vibes for cute little Ming Loy!!!

I don't see her falling forward.... I see her taking her head to her paws.... to paw at her mouth.... that's a sign of pain to me.... but since she's got cerebellar hypoplasia, she might have less balance, causing what might be perceived as falling.... That is what looks to me.... I might be completely off here.... But....

No, that's a possibility. She slept all afternoon, but came when called for dinner, and didn't seem to have any problems. :cross: And so far, so good. But there were definitely times when she did just fall forward, without pawing at her mouth. :dk:

The vet OFFICE called, but not the vet. Apparently a number of them looked at it, and there's no consensus. Could be neurological problem, could be pain. They want us to bring her in for blood work, which we're doing tomorrow. I'll ask about the tooth then.

I was going to say that it looks neurological to me. Or an inner ear issue causing severe balance issues. When I look at the video it looks to me like she is bracing herself with her front paws at times. From the video, I would never suspect a problem with her mouth, it looks like more of a tick to me. 

Our dog with the spinal cord tumor fell face down frequently. The more advanced the tumor got, the more frequently he would fall. And waking up was always a difficult time for some reason. We elevated his bowl because having to lean over to ear increased his tipping as well. 

I hope it was just a temporary inner ear issue that is already resolving itself. 

My first thought was something in her nose? Did you check her nose? I noticed she rubbed at her nose in the video.

RAFM said:

I was going to say that it looks neurological to me. Or an inner ear issue causing severe balance issues. When I look at the video it looks to me like she is bracing herself with her front paws at times. From the video, I would never suspect a problem with her mouth, it looks like more of a tick to me. 

Our dog with the spinal cord tumor fell face down frequently. The more advanced the tumor got, the more frequently he would fall. And waking up was always a difficult time for some reason. We elevated his bowl because having to lean over to ear increased his tipping as well. 

I hope it was just a temporary inner ear issue that is already resolving itself. 

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Oh she is bracing herself with her paws - she has cerebellar hypoplasia. She has severe balance/coordination issues, but it's her lack of coordination from the CH, not an inner ear problem. She's the weeble that DOES fall down. :lol3: She just goes side-to-side with somewhat stiff front legs, not falling foward like this. She falls/flops on her side, and leans up against everything (including the other cats) to remain upright. And when she gets excited about something, her entire body trembles - her head looks like it's going to shake off her shoulders sometimes. :lol3:

http://lovemeow.com/2009/11/cats-with-cerebellar-hypoplasia/

Honestly, after watching the video and taking into consideration that she has cereballar hypoplasia - and I am no vet - but this is definitely something stuck in her throat. And her falling forward and catching herself is just from her condition. I believe that she has or had (meaning gone now - if she is better tonight :cross: ) a piece of bone or something caught in her throat that made her panic a bit trying to dislodge it. AND even if it was gone - if she has irritation - then swallowing could feel funny to her and would make her TRY to get that out of her throat.

OH SWEETIE.... I am sorry you had this experience with your little Doobie today. But I really think that you are past the worst of this. Her throat has to heal now - that is all. I think she will be just fine :rub: Please give that darling a little kiss from Auntie L. AND tell her that Presley is VERY concerned and send his love too :heart3: :rub:

Feralvr said:

Honestly, after watching the video and taking into consideration that she has cereballar hypoplasia - and I am no vet - but this is definitely something stuck in her throat. And her falling forward and catching herself is just from her condition. I believe that she has or had (meaning gone now - if she is better tonight

) a piece of bone or something caught in her throat that made her panic a bit trying to dislodge it. AND even if it was gone - if she has irritation - then swallowing could feel funny to her and would make her TRY to get that out of her throat.
OH SWEETIE....

I am sorry you had this experience with your little Doobie today. But I really think that you are past the worst of this. Her throat has to heal now - that is all. I think she will be just fine

Please give that darling a little kiss from Auntie L. AND tell her that Presley is VERY concerned and send his love too

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I'm not a vet either but after watching the videos and reading the responses I would have to agree with Feral.  I suppose it could be neurological but I didn't see anything seizure like in her actions.  At least not in the video.  You are a good mom Please keep us posted on Ming Loy's condition.  I, for one, am very interested in what you find out.  Vibes to you and Ming Loy

LDG said:

Oh she is bracing herself with her paws - she has cerebellar hypoplasia. She has severe balance/coordination issues, but it's her lack of coordination from the CH, not an inner ear problem. She's the weeble that DOES fall down.

She just goes side-to-side with somewhat stiff front legs, not falling foward like this. She falls/flops on her side, and leans up against everything (including the other cats) to remain upright. And when she gets excited about something, her entire body trembles - her head looks like it's going to shake off her shoulders sometimes.

http://lovemeow.com/2009/11/cats-with-cerebellar-hypoplasia/

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Just call me Capt. Obvious.    At least I got the big stuff right. 

How is she doing this morning?

Feralvr said:

Honestly, after watching the video and taking into consideration that she has cereballar hypoplasia - and I am no vet - but this is definitely something stuck in her throat. And her falling forward and catching herself is just from her condition. I believe that she has or had (meaning gone now - if she is better tonight :cross: ) a piece of bone or something caught in her throat that made her panic a bit trying to dislodge it. AND even if it was gone - if she has irritation - then swallowing could feel funny to her and would make her TRY to get that out of her throat.
OH SWEETIE.... I am sorry you had this experience with your little Doobie today. But I really think that you are past the worst of this. Her throat has to heal now - that is all. I think she will be just fine :rub: Please give that darling a little kiss from Auntie L. AND tell her that Presley is VERY concerned and send his love too :heart3: :rub:

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Lauren, I think you're right. :nod: There have been no further incidents! She did sleep all yesterday afternoon/evening, which is VERY unusual for her. But she came for dinner and the late night meal, and didn't have any more problems. Today she seems back to her normal, happy-go-lucky self! :cross:

We are taking her for blood work anyway. I'm pretty sure calcium and phosphorous levels are part of the normal blood work, but we'll make sure. Apparently high phosphorous can cause seizures, so we'll just rule that out. :nod: We'll also ask about her teeth, though the answer may be we have to schedule a dental for her...

RAFM said:

Just call me Capt. Obvious. :lol3:   At least I got the big stuff right. 

How is she doing this morning?

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Well, until we rescued Ming Loy, I'd never heard of cerebellar hypoplasia, and wouldn't have any idea what it meant if I saw it mentioned. :lol3: But you're right - especially in Ming Loy, it does look like an inner ear problem. :nod:

We've tried to get a video of her just being cute, playing normally as she does... but she zooms around so much, it's just hard to video. :lol3:

THANK YOU EVERYONE for your ideas and vibes for Mingle!

I have no idea what's going on, but she is so darned cute!  that it was just "one of those days" and nothing serious is going on.

I am very, very VERY relieved to hear that there have been no more episodes. I have seen that exact same thing in other cats when they #1 either taste something really awful (like Metro) or #2 something does get stuck in their mouths. Pipsqueak has done the same thing at times. AND Perla did that once to because she licked the counter right after I bleached hno: And she ran around like a crazy woman and did that exact same thing as Doobie in the video. It was scary to see Good luck on her blood work and the teeth check up :cross: :heart3:

I forgot to ask about her teeth. :anon: Since everything seems fine now, we'll hold off on the dental (which is what they'd probably recommend to see if that's an issue) until we get some of these vet bills paid down as it does not appear to be an actual emergency. :cross:

And Sally, we think she's darn cute too! :lol3: :heart2:

Sounds like everything is back to normal.  YAY

Ming Loy is absolutely adorable! I cannot see the video, but do see her picture. I am relieved that she's had no more episodes! What a sweet, wonderful, special girl!

Aw, thanks! (If you click on the picture, it takes you to a video that plays).

Ming Loy's blood work was back today, and everything looks "perfect." As there have been no more episodes, clearly it was some bone from her meal that hurt her mouth. :nod:

YAY for Mingle's bloodwork !!!!!!!!!!!! Perkins did the same thing this morning - yep - I am sure it was a piece of bone fragment that got stuck in his throat. :frown2: ARGH - those darn bones.....