New kittie has Myasthenia Gravis - help!

We found a cat 10 days ago in the garden at work and she seemed to be paralyzed so we took her straight to the vet and we are now faced with a diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis. Apparently it is very rare in cats and our vet has never seen it before, he has been in contact with the local veterinary faculty but they have also not come across it in a cat before so any experience anyone else has would be greatly appreciated. She's being treated with cortisone 5mg once a day and she can now take a few steps at a time (huge improvement from day 1 when she was unable to even move her head). Her appetite is great, we're keeping her clean and warm and fed but she's still the tiny 4 pound cat she was the day we found her. There is not an ounce of anything covering her bones but skin and I'm terrified I'm going to hurt her whenever I have to clean her and of course I also have to keep our 12 pound male cat Mack and Nadia the 65 pound Huskamute away from her which is not going down well with them! She only came home from the vets yesterday (the vet believes she will make more progress at home with one to one care than stuck in a cage in a very busy clinic) and it wasn't until I had to give her a wash that I realized she was still so very skinny - she's a fluffy cat so it's not that obvious until she's wet.. She seems to have control of her bladder and bowels and gets a little restless before she pees or poos but is unable to use a litter box as taking even 2-3 steps exhausts her. Any recommendations on how to deal with keeping her clean and comfortable? Does anyone have any experience with MG in a cat?

One thing that might help with hygiene is clipping some of the fur round her behind.

There is something at the FAB about it (part way down the page):

http://www.fabcats.org/breeders/inherited_disorders/abyssinian.php

OrientalSlave said:

One thing that might help with hygiene is clipping some of the fur round her behind.

There is something at the FAB about it (part way down the page):

http://www.fabcats.org/breeders/inherited_disorders/abyssinian.php

Click to expand...

Thanks, we already had to have her fur clipped round her behind as she was severely matted/caked with poo when we found her. I was thinking maybe kittie diapers or something for the time being - she is a very clean cat (the first move she made was to lick herself) and I know she hates having pee/poop on herself.

Thanks for the link, very helpful - I'm trying to gather as much as I can to take to my vet, at the moment she's only having cortisone treatment which from what I have read does not seem to be the usual first choice in treatment..

OK, just looked up Myasthenia gravis. Started at the Wikipedia, which I assume you've seen, but it states this:

Myasthenia gravis is associated with various autoimmune diseases,[8] including:

Thyroid diseases, including Hashimoto's thyroiditis and Graves' disease
Diabetes mellitus type 1
Rheumatoid arthritis
Lupus, and
Demyelinating CNS diseases


So if she hasn't been checked for thyroid function, she definitely should be. :heart2:

Also assume you've seen this, but wanted to provide the link just in case: http://myasthenia.org/

LDG said:

OK, just looked up Myasthenia gravis. Started at the Wikipedia, which I assume you've seen, but it states this:
Myasthenia gravis is associated with various autoimmune diseases,[8] including:
Thyroid diseases, including Hashimoto's thyroiditis and Graves' disease
Diabetes mellitus type 1
Rheumatoid arthritis
Lupus, and
Demyelinating CNS diseases
So if she hasn't been checked for thyroid function, she definitely should be.

Click to expand...

Looks like she should be checked for diabetes as well.

The best site I've found for caretakers of handicapped cats:

http://handicappedpet.net/helppets/

You are bound to find someone there who has taken care of a cat with Myasthenia gravis.

I have a cat, Zazesh, with a progressive neuromuscular disorder who has reached a point where he has to wear a diaper. It's a breeze once you get used to it. I use ones made for babies, the newborn size, and they have worked out far better than a few I tried that were made for pets. If you need more info about the diapering, let me know. Zazesh used to know when he needed a litter box but now it's random - leading to some chaotic messes when I've taken his diaper off in the bathroom, just like a baby's that pee can arch right across the room!  Zazesh is also very thin and he kept losing weight, having loose stools, etc. even though he was on a restricted diet. I thought we were going to lose him, so I gave him whatever he wanted to eat and bumped up the pred. and Metronidazole. It worked and he's now gained some weight, though he's still very bony. He lives on my bed and I have to position him so he can eat, otherwise he tends to spin around on his back trying to get to the plates.
 

Thanks everyone, she has a check-up tomorrow so I will make sure I ask them to check for thyroid issues and diabetes- I did wonder about that myself when she didn't gain any weight despite being very well-fed for 10 days. At the clinic she was first given Hill's A/D critical care which I am not particularly a fan of and then switched to raw so maybe she just needs time, I sure hope so. As she was abandoned we have no idea what her previous diet was like to continue the same until at least she is out of the woods. I managed today to stimulate her to pee (a happy accident when she needed a butt-bath to clean her bottom) so if I can get her stool solid I think we can avoid diapering by stimulating her to pee 2-3 times a day. She's pretty much totally laid up at the moment anyway so there's no chance of a mess.