Losing balance in hind legs

Our 4 year old cat has recently seemed to have lost some control of her hind legs. We noticed it earlier this week. She will try to jump and fall. We even noticed she would stumble while simply walking. I had her in the garden with me yesterday (she only goes out with us) and she was stumbling, walking in circles and it was just really sad to watch. She's always been super agile and a great climber and can now barely walk. I became extremely concerned and took her to the vet yesterday. The vet was almost immediately sure it was her CNS but ran some tests and X-rays. Everything was normal so she gave us an anti inflammatory incase she was having an allergic reaction or her hips were possibly acting up. She's only had 2 doses at this point and I know It could take time but has anyone ever experienced this or know of anything like it? The vet said she would think over the weekend and check in tmrw for an update but we are just distraught. The vet was considering a neurological condition but we would have to go to another town for an MRI to find out. She has had no trauma that we know of and we have combed the house for possible allergens or toxins. Every time she stumbles I can't help but tear up. She is alert and lovey as ever but slightly despondent and definitely not herself. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Did your Vet do a blood test to rule out things like diabetes or anemia, and make sure her calcium and potassium levels were good.  Sometimes those things can cause a weakness in the back legs.  Also, I''m sure the Vet must have tested to make sure she had a good pulse in her back legs, right?  To make sure there is no blot clot there?  Did her heart sound good?

Those are the immediately things that come to mind.  Although, you mentioned she was walking in circles, which could be a sign of a stroke, but there are usually other signs too. 

Is her head bobbing, or are her eyes rapidly  moving from side to side or anything unusual?

Since you posted this almost 24 hours ago, has she improved? 

It's hard to tell if she's improving. I want her to be better so I am not sure if I'm being too optimistic or not. She jumped off the bed just fine but the stumbled a few steps later. She's still walking in circles and is just not her alert little self. She's moving very slowly (she did just wake up when I got home from work tho). They had a hard time getting a heartbeat b she was purring so loudly but the blood tests she ran seemed very extensive and she showed us pages of results. Only her white blood count was slighty high but the vet said that it wasn't too far from average and not anything to be alarmed about. Her X-rays showed that her spine and organs were perfect. I have her outside with me now and normally I'd have to chase her all over the place. She's barely moving and seems disoriented.

Hi Birdie,

I'm so sorry to hear about your girl. I once had an 18 month old kitten that suddenly developed a stagger. The vet thought it may be an ear infection and so he was started on an antibiotic. With no signs of improvement in 2 days, I brought him back and this time I was referred to the vet scholl at the University of Guelph, here in Ontario. He was put into the kitty ICU on a cocktail of meds as he had developed seizures as well. Unfortunately the outcome was grim. It turned out that he had a viral infection that involved the Cerebellar region of the brain (the balance center).

I'm sorry that I don't have any advice. I hope it resolves. Please keep us posted.
 

I will keep you updated.  Her stagger seems to be getting better although now she seems very distant.  She's been on the antiinflammatory since Saturday.  Spoke to the vet yesterday and she said she was hoping it was her hips but if she still seems off then it is most likely neurological (which i am sadly thinking it is at this point).  It's almost like she doesn't know who we are.  We have 3 cats, and Birdie has always been the love bug of the group.  She will follow you around, crying and climbing your legs until you pick her up and then won't let you put her down.  I could do dishes or dust the house with her perched on my shoulder just becuase she won't fuss at all...just wants to be held.  Now, she isn't the same.  It's really killing my boyfriend bc that's his girl, and it's like she doesn't recognize us.  She will sit in the corner and stare instead of begging for attention.  Yesterday I had her outside with me and instead of causing trouble or being her normal curious self, she went under our deck and sat alone.  It's just not like her.

I dont know much about strokes or seizures...but I am almost wondering if she had one or the other on Saturday when her balance seemed the worst?  That's the day we brought her to the vet.  She was still her lovey little self that day, but unstable.  Now her stability is coming back but her mind is elsewhere.  I am just not sure what to make of it and it's heartbreaking, although she doesn't seem to be in pain or sufferring from what I have observed.  We live in a very small town and the vet said if by the end of the week we are still concerned she will recommend a specialist in a nearby city.  Not sure what that will run us, but we have already decided we will be going that route if needed. 

Well, it could be the anti-inflammatory that is causing the personality change...not sure.  What is she on?  Any medication can have side effects.  She may just not feel well right now, and when cats don't feel well, they withdraw.  Hopefully that's what is happening at the moment.

With a stroke, usually their little heads will be held kind of cockeyed along with the staggers walking, and sometimes one pupil will be dilated while the other is not.  I just wondered if your Vet looked for those signs (probably did). 

How long are you supposed to give her the inflammatories?  Did you check on possible side effects?  I would call the Vet and tell her what is happening (the withdrawing, her not appearing to know who you are, etc.) and see if she thinks it's related.

The vet seemed to do a very thorough job. It's actually not our regular vet be she was not available on Saturday. This vet saved my friends dog by coming up with a diagnosis when no others in town could though so I do have faith in her. I mentioned her aloofness to the vet yesterday and she didn't mention a link btwn her meds and a personality change but I will look into that for sure. She is on metacam and we are supposed to call her back by the end of the week. She said if she is still off she recommends a specialist. I just want my little one to be okay. Her head is not cocked. Her pupils also seem okay.

Metacam is FDA labelled for one-time use only in cats because of possible kidney damage. Please do some research and discuss with your vet before giving another dose.

I agree; avoid the Metacam(as well as the vet who prescribed multiple doses). I would look into bringing her to a teaching hospital at this point or another place with specialists. http://www.acvim.org/ is one starting point, then you can google the names of vets for possible reviews and whatnot.

How are her ears? Have you recently given her ear medication? There are a lot of possibilities here. Are her back paws cold to touch? Does she seem to have normal responses when her legs/back paws are manipulated? Did you or the vet test her vision? Did they take her blood pressure?  

I would highly recommend seeing another vet(a cardiologist, neurologist, and so on) ASAP and getting some answers or at least ruling out the worst case scenarios. I would not wait as cats are very good at hiding pain.  Good luck to you both.

ok, we will no longer be giving her the metacam.  i read some positive, but mostly negative reviews of the drug online.  what bothers me the most is that the vet never once mentioned how potentially dangerous this drug could be.  i have made another appointment with our regular vet for tmrw, so hopefully she can give us some more/different info.  her balance is still slightly off.  when we have massaged or moved her back legs she does not seem to be in pain at all.  her paws do not seem cold or in pain. her ears and eyes were looked at the at visit on saturday, and the vet did say after looking at her vision she thought it was her CNS.  we finally got some purrs out of her last night which was wonderful, but now i am almost wondering if the drugs are making her feel ill or something.  bc on saturday, when she was at her worst, falling over with every step, she was still lovable and purring and wanted to be held...she was her normal self personality-wise.  now shes distant and off and stumbling, but just here and there.  our regular vet is wonderful so i will get birdie's test results and xrays from the emergency vet we used and get a second opinion. 

This is left field, and the symptoms probably don't all fit, but can we rule out sulphites (a common preservative) in her food?  These would cause thiamine deficiency (and other things can cause it too):

http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/digestive/c_ct_vitamin_b1_thiamine_deficiency#.UbASt0DI2So

So kind of great news. I took her to my actual vet on Thursday who was not thrilled about the medcam prescription. She pulled my records from the other vet and concluded that little birdie has vertigo. She said other cats she has seen with vertigo stress themselves out, and will pant and freak from not knowing what's going on. She said since birdie seemed so calm about it she would just suggest giving her a quarter of a.25 mg tablet of an OTC motion sickness med called meclizine. She said the reason she was probably acting off this week behavior wise was bc the metacam was messing with her. her stumbling was probably just getting better bc she has been coming out of the vertigo all week and it could last up to a minth sometimes. She's been on it for just 3 days and is stumbling less and back to her same lovey self. She's jumping more and doing really well. So glad I took her in for a second opinion before spending the money on an MRI. Such an easy fix and something we actually looked up over the past week but the first vet never mentioned it as an option.

Wow!  That IS great news