Hi everyone,
Long story short, my cat needs to regain muscle in his front end.
Without spending money, how can I help him? Are there physiotherapy exercises for cats?
Here's the long story, if you're interested.
Around two months ago, I woke up in the morning and noticed that my three year old male bengal was sleeping next to me. I noticed because he has never slept next to me. He always sleeps at the foot of the bed. I went downstairs and made some coffee. Our of the corner of my eye, I noticed him army crawl across the floor a few feet and then stop to relax. It was unusual for him to lay on the floor. He always lays on the couch. I didn't think much of it until about half an hour later when I decided to walk over to him and check him out. I picked him up and set him on the couch and he fell flat. His front feet couldn't support his body. Off to the vet we went!
An x-ray showed constipation so he was given and enema and a blood test showed inflammation and high calcium levels. The vet didn't seem too concerned about the high calcium levels. He was given a steroid and left there to be monitored. I believe the steroid was to treat a genetic disease that sometimes occurs in bengal cats. I can't remember the name but it was the vet's best guess even though it usually effects the hind legs. It was called something-neuropathy. He was also given pain killers as the vet believed he was in pain.
While at work, I remembered that I had received a vase with lilies in it, the day before. I called and they put him on an IV right away to flush out his kidneys because lilies cause kidney failure in cats. It doesn't cause paralysis though. He was transferred to a different vet clinic for the night and was assessed by the vet there. She was also puzzled. The next day, he was taken off the IV as his blood work did not show any issues with his kidneys. Back at the original vet, I was offered a referral to a close by university where they have a large vet program and lots of high tech equipment. My fiance and I decided that we could not afford to spent any more money. He was given an antibiotic shot good for two weeks and I took him home with pain killers and steroids.
He lay on his side, unable to move for the first few days and crying when his pain meds wore off. I was getting ready to contemplate euthanasia when he bit me and it got infected. After that, I had to keep him alive for ten days to rule out rabies. Otherwise, the government would have taken his body. I didn't want that. The enema which was given to him at the vet did not produce a result and he did not poop for eight days. I gave him a warm water enema on the seventh day and eight day.
A week or so later, he was able to lay on his tummy and hold his head up. He stopped showing obvious signs of pain and began holding his urine until I put him in the litter box.
A few weeks after that, he took a few steps but they were very wobbly. I ran out of pain meds and he seemed to be more himself (purring when I cuddled with him).
Since then, I ran out of steroids so he isn't receiving any meds. He has a poop on his own around every three days and holds his urine until I put him in the litter box. He can get out of the litterbox on his own and is able to walk half way across the room. It looks very hard for him tough as his muscles have deteriorated. He even jumped up on the couch by himself, a few days ago!
Right now, his quality of life isn't terrible so I'm not ready to quit trying. I'd like to try to help him regain some muscle and then go from there.
Thanks so much!
Long story short, my cat needs to regain muscle in his front end.
Without spending money, how can I help him? Are there physiotherapy exercises for cats?
Here's the long story, if you're interested.
Around two months ago, I woke up in the morning and noticed that my three year old male bengal was sleeping next to me. I noticed because he has never slept next to me. He always sleeps at the foot of the bed. I went downstairs and made some coffee. Our of the corner of my eye, I noticed him army crawl across the floor a few feet and then stop to relax. It was unusual for him to lay on the floor. He always lays on the couch. I didn't think much of it until about half an hour later when I decided to walk over to him and check him out. I picked him up and set him on the couch and he fell flat. His front feet couldn't support his body. Off to the vet we went!
An x-ray showed constipation so he was given and enema and a blood test showed inflammation and high calcium levels. The vet didn't seem too concerned about the high calcium levels. He was given a steroid and left there to be monitored. I believe the steroid was to treat a genetic disease that sometimes occurs in bengal cats. I can't remember the name but it was the vet's best guess even though it usually effects the hind legs. It was called something-neuropathy. He was also given pain killers as the vet believed he was in pain.
While at work, I remembered that I had received a vase with lilies in it, the day before. I called and they put him on an IV right away to flush out his kidneys because lilies cause kidney failure in cats. It doesn't cause paralysis though. He was transferred to a different vet clinic for the night and was assessed by the vet there. She was also puzzled. The next day, he was taken off the IV as his blood work did not show any issues with his kidneys. Back at the original vet, I was offered a referral to a close by university where they have a large vet program and lots of high tech equipment. My fiance and I decided that we could not afford to spent any more money. He was given an antibiotic shot good for two weeks and I took him home with pain killers and steroids.
He lay on his side, unable to move for the first few days and crying when his pain meds wore off. I was getting ready to contemplate euthanasia when he bit me and it got infected. After that, I had to keep him alive for ten days to rule out rabies. Otherwise, the government would have taken his body. I didn't want that. The enema which was given to him at the vet did not produce a result and he did not poop for eight days. I gave him a warm water enema on the seventh day and eight day.
A week or so later, he was able to lay on his tummy and hold his head up. He stopped showing obvious signs of pain and began holding his urine until I put him in the litter box.
A few weeks after that, he took a few steps but they were very wobbly. I ran out of pain meds and he seemed to be more himself (purring when I cuddled with him).
Since then, I ran out of steroids so he isn't receiving any meds. He has a poop on his own around every three days and holds his urine until I put him in the litter box. He can get out of the litterbox on his own and is able to walk half way across the room. It looks very hard for him tough as his muscles have deteriorated. He even jumped up on the couch by himself, a few days ago!
Right now, his quality of life isn't terrible so I'm not ready to quit trying. I'd like to try to help him regain some muscle and then go from there.
Thanks so much!
