has anyone experienced this

Hi folks. I am in need of opinions and wondering if anyone else had encountered this problem. Tuesday night everything was pretty normal, we went to sleep and munkey climbed up in the bed curled up in my legs as usual. She started moving around and I thought she had one of her little mice playing,she actually got my finger with her claw. She came up between the pillows and that's when we noticed something wrong. It's as if she was drunk and she was actually struggling to get up. She was alert but could barely keep her legs under her feet. She even tried to give me head butts but missed. We took her to the emergency vet and they checked her out but gradually started improving as she was there. They gave us a pain killer and told us to keep an eye on her and call our regular vet if she wasn't getting better. Well she has no problem at all now, she can walk fine is playing some, eating fine but still acting a little lethargic. That's not coming from the pain killers because she hasn't had a dose since 10 am Wednesday. Has anyone encountered this type of behavior in their cat? I'm really worried about what could be going on. Since she is walking fine now does a visit to the vet seem necessary. I don't want to put her through any unnecessary trauma. Thanks in advance fit any info!

Actually rereading my post her staggering was more of a balance issue. She went head first into the wall at the tip of the bed and her feet wouldn't stay under het as she was walking. Very much like a drunk walking.

Since you don't know what caused this, I would definately, take her to your vet.  Ask him/her to listen to her heart. Not being able to use their legs, is one, indication, they may have thrown a clot. There are other reasons, this is just one, and an important one, to rule out.

Do you have plants or flowers in your home? Some are toxic to cats.

Do you give her people food? Some is toxic to cats.

Could she have gotten into a cleaning product?

She may have an inner ear infection, this would cause her to walk funny.

I would ask for a CBC and Wellness blood panel, to see if any values are not normal, it gives the vet a place to start looking.

She might also have a neurological issue, that one you would have to see an internal medicine specialist.  Best to rule out other issues first.

If you think its plants/flowers/cleaning/people, let me know, and I will be glad to post the list. Hope she is feeling better soon.  

Hi bassman704..

How old is munkey? I think you may need to get her kidneys checked, especially if she remains lethargic, and certainly if she has appetite or weight changes. That kind of 'drunken walking' can indicate renal problems.

Good luck and us know how you're going with her.

Hi Flint! The vet tuesday night did all the normal things checking her out, although didn't do any blood work or anything like that. She checked for signs of a concussion, if anything was broken or had any sore spots, her eyes etc and didn't seem majorly concerned. She did recommend blood work being done just to rule out anything but since money was an issue said to keep an eye on her and see how she acted. Balance is no longer an issue, she is fine now, even was playing some last night. What has me concerned is the normally when she gets in your lap, she will normally get in your face for attention then curl up in your legs. She was in my wifes lap and when she got up she put her in my lap. Normally she would either get in my face or jump dawn and follow her and give you that " how dare you move me" look. Last night she immediately just laid down in my lap. My wife said all she did yesterday was sleep. The medicine they gave her was pretty strong but we called the vet back and they said that its only in their system for 6-8 hrs. Its been almost 48 hrs now.

We do have one plant, I want to say philidendron but not 100%. We've always been very cautious about plants in our house because of cats.

We rarely give her people food but she likes to lick rolls or things like that. The only people food recently was corn bread. She mostly just licked the top of it but did get a couple tiny bites.

I seriously doubt cleaning products is the issue. She likes to get in the bathroom cabinet but we know this and keep chemicals out of there. Other than hair gel thats about it. I know she wasn't in there lately because the door is always open when shes been in there. She can open it but not close it.

An ear infection is a maybe. I noticed her scratching both ears wednesday night, but the vet did take a look in both ears the night before.

Thats what is making me uneasy. She's tons better but still not herself yet. We did hear her fighting with one of our other cats right before all this happened, but when they fight its more vocal than anything. That and a little slapping. We checked them both for scars, blood, etc but neither have any marks at all. I just want to do whats best for her and I'm torn as to what that would be.

Thanks for the info! You've given me a couple ideas I hadn't considered.

How old is she? How much does she weigh? Is she fat or skinny? How has she been eating? It sounds like a hypoglycemic episode to me. . .but I've never had it happen to a cat, only ferrets. I don't think it's common in cats but I'm sure it's possible.

Hi Mani! Munkey is right around 4 years old. We've been keeping a good eye on her the past few days and her appetite is normal, if anything maybe eating slightly more, and her bathroom habits seem to be normal too. We had a cat that used to experience urinary tract infections. We had to feed him food specifically designed to prevent that. We haven't noticed any blood in the litter box or anything like that, although I know there doesn't have to be with renal problems. Thanks for the well wishes! She's my baby and I'm just really worried right now.

Hi Willowy! Munkey is around 4 and not overweight by any means. She weighed just under 8 lbs at the vet tuesday night. She is very petite for her age. I really can't comment on how she was eating prior to this but since it has happened she is eating normal. She has a good appetite and is right there with the others begging for treats every time you go in the kitchen. (they only get them a couple times a day tops) That was one of the possibilities I found researching this. And yes it can be fairly common in cats too although I've never experienced it either. But everything I've seen there are only 1 or 2 symptoms that match.

Thanks for all the info and support everyone! My wife took her to our regular vet this afternoon just to be sure nothing was going on and the vet said she was fine. She did a thorough exam on her and saw no signs of anything being wrong. She said that there is really no way to tell what happened but most likely either knocked herself silly playing too hard or got a hold of  something that made her a little loopy. We always try to be really cautious, and things like cleaning supplies are behind child locks, but cats can sometimes find things to get into no matter how hard you try. So it looks like we are in the clear and I can breathe a little easier. I still wish they would've run some blood tests but the vet saw no reason to, and she knows better than I do. Thanks again everyone!
 

Hi bassman!  

Not at all trying to scare you, but I know, what is involved, with an exam, its just looking. There are many issues, that can only be detected, by running tests. Its important to rule out some things. Hopefully, the vet listened to her heart, ask your wife, if they did.  If she had a heart murmur, the vet would have mentioned it. Thats a real biggie, you want to rule it out.

Blood panel is ballpark $45, and if you do it as a tech appt, they don't charge you an office visit.  Being that she is quiet and not her normal self, something is still wrong. The sooner it is diagnosed, the sooner you can start treatment. Its very important, being that she doesn't feel good, to see if any of her values, are not normal.

What do you feed? Have you changed her feed lately?  Hopefully not any Purina products, Fancy Feast or Friskies. 

 Here is a list of toxic plants, people food and cleaning products, just in case. 

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+1411&aid=1552

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1&aid=1029 

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+1411&aid=2280

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+1411&aid=2251

Do you use the magic eraser cleaning product?  Have heard, that can cause issues in people, so wondering, if you use it, if she walked on a surface, that was cleaned with it.

Best of luck, hope she is feeling better soon.      

Hey Flint! I'm still clueless as to what happened exactly but the good news is she appears to be getting back to her old self. We were greeted by her when we walked in last night and she has been playing and no balance problems at all. But rest assured we are keeping a very close eye on her. The vet did listen to her heart, checked her ears and eyes and said that everything in those areas were fine. And I made sure to ask my wife a couple times.

We feed her, and all our cats the goodlife recipe dry food. We've been feeding them thta for quite awhile now. I've always heard that switching food can mess with their system. My wife did buy a different type of treat but we went through 1 bag with no troubles. I plan on switching back to what they're used to.

I haven't had a chance to look at the articles you listed, they won't come up on my phone for some reason but will as soon as I can.

I have used that to clean the fretboard on my guitars but I've never had them at home. Its always been at work or band room. I will be sure to not let them in the house though. I'm a little over protective of her sometimes.

But like I said she seems to be getting back to normal. She was even grumpy when we got up this morning as usual! Thanks again for the help!!

Hey bassman! 

Had to laugh, when I got to the part, about your guitar. I thought you meant bass, as in fish, lol. 

I can tell you why, you should not feed Goodlife, I have show cats, and I am very knowledgeable about cat health and nutrition. I have to be, I have some kitties that have issues. But being a new person on here, don't want to get jumped on, lol, and I don't want to be pushy, lol.  If you are interested, please send me a message. I haven't figured out how to even do that myself, still learning how to navigate on here. 

In any case, I am very glad, she is doing better and feeling better. I do believe, you are my first friend on here, lol.  

Could she have had a seizure when you first felt her moving about that night? One of my cats used to have them & they left her confused, disorientated & unbalanced for some time afterward. At first she only had one every few months & always at night. Vet visits couldn't find anything so I eventually had complete bloodworks done but still got no answers. We were not sure if she had suffered some brain injury when my friends dog picked her up by her head as a kitten but as she was about 6 or 8yrs old when they started that seemed unlikely. She also used to drink out of the toilet a lot but I never used any cleaners in the cistern or the bowl but I have for years now kept the lid down at all times. Eventually she was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy. Over the years her seizures increased & began occurring in clusters. While she was in boarding for a few weeks before I moved house they increased dramatically resulting in hospitalisation & only three days before moving I had to have her put down as the vet could no longer keep them under control. I know all that sounds scary but there are medications available to prevent their frequency. My lovely Otter was 16 years old when I had to say good bye.

All that said, it's just a thought. I hope whatever it was was a one off & non serious thing Good luck finding out. Sometimes our cats just have weird things happen!