My cat isn't doing so well and if anyone has ANY suggestions to what it may be my family and myself would greatly appreciate it.
I will give you as much info as I can.
On Thursday, 12-12-2013, my 18 year old cat "kitty" (8lbs) randomly stopped using her back legs. It was so random that maybe an hour before it happened, she was able to walk up a flight of stairs and go to one of her "comfy" spots in the house. Kitty seems to have arthritis, but nothing to the extent of not being able to use her back legs. She was still able to hop on to couches, walk up and down stairs, it just took her awhile to get going.
We also have two other cats in the house, one is 14 (a sweetheart named Freckles) and the other is a 12 year old (named zeppelin). Zeppelin doesn't get along well with the other cats, and at her age she is still very rambunctious. Zeppelin and Freckles always seem to fight, but never Zeppelin and Kitty.
on 12-12, I was in my room and heard two cats hissing and possibly fighting (which is the norm between Freckles and Zeppelin). I walked outside my room and saw that kitty was at the top of the stairs laying down. I decided to give the three cats treats and that is when I noticed kitty was using her front legs to drag herself over to me. I wasn't sure if Kitty had fallen off the couch where she was sitting, or maybe Zeppelin decided to pick a fight with Kitty, and at her old age, maybe tweaked something.
I immediately called the Vet and took her in about an hour after I noticed the somewhat paralysis in Kitty. The Vet said that her reflexes were off in her back legs and was worried that it may be a blood clot (Thrombosis). With a little bit of support, we could get kitty to move, she was just very wobbly and would collapse on her left side every few steps. Its really hard to watch. After ruling out dislocations, torn ligaments and blood clots, the Vet decided that it must be due to her arthritis. She drew some blood from Kitty and told us that she would get the results in the morning and would let us know what she finds.
We brought Kitty home and nothing seemed to change. Her spirits still seemed good. She would eat and drink as usual and still enjoyed her treats. She still wanted to know what people were doing when she heard noise. She never seemed like she was in any kind of pain or discomfort. The only hard part was helping her go to the bathroom. She would make a B-line to the litter box (with one of us holding under her tummy to keep her balance) and she would have little pees in the litter box. If one of us didn't hold her up, she would collapse on her side and pee on her self. Again, this is hard to do/watch
We called the vet on 12-13 and she said that Kitty's blood work looked very healthy for a 18 year old cat. The only thing a little bit off had to do with her kidneys and that was in the "normal high" range. They suggested that we put kitty on a low protein diet and start giving her some supplements to help her joints. She told us to come in around noon and she would have some pain medicine for kitty that may help.
We picked up her pain meds around noon on 12-13 and gave it to her when we got home. By the end of the night Kitty was still in no better shape, but still cognizant of her surroundings, still drinking water (lots of it) and still eating. Again, she didnt seem to be in any kind of pain. Those back legs still weren't working right though I had to go to work at 6pm that night and didnt get home until 6am. When I walked in the door Kitty propped her head up and seemed happy to seem me, still no improvement though.
On 12-14, I stayed up and called the vet at 8am when they opened and asked to see another dr. at the practice too try to get a second opinion. We took Kitty back in at 10 AM and he did the same dance with Kitty. Checked her hips, teeth, heart, joints, and everything seemed to be fine. He decided to give her an injection of cortisone to see if that would help kitty walk. He also said that she appeared to be dehydrated and gave her an injection of fluids that her body would absorb throughout the day. He said that the cortisone shot seems to help cats either right away or sometimes not at all. We crossed our fingers and hoped that things would change when we got home.
As soon as we let kitty out of her carrier she walked! She was still a little off balance, but she walked for the first time in two days. We were thrilled and thought maybe it was just some bad arthritus catching up to her. She laid down in our living room and seemed to want to take a nap. So we let her be. I myself, followed up with that idea, as I have only gotten about 5 hours of sleep the last two days.
I woke up for work on 12-14 at about 5pm and came down stairs only to find that kitty had resorted back to not being able to use her legs again We don't know where to go from here. Frantically searching the internet for any ideas has left me with one final idea of what may be the problem. if anyone thinks it could be what I'm about to state, please let me know if it sounds possible. And if you have any other ideas of what it may be please help!
The past few months kitty has had the habit to poop outside the litter box. Her poops are little balls and seem somewhat "tough". I didn't really put two and two together until tonight when I was thinking of every possible thing that it could be, but can Feline Constipation cause temporary loss of movement in the hind legs? I figured Kitty was going outside of the litter box because we have two other cats and maybe she just didn't like sharing it with them, little did I know that it is one of the signs of constipation. The vet also gave her fluids because he said she seem dehydrated which is another sign. Can being backed up cause Kitty to be unable to use her back legs (cramping nerves, or just too painful to walk). This is the last thing I can think of, and its killing me that I didn't think about it before. Kitty has peed multiple times the past few days, but I cant remember the last time she has had a bowel movement. It certainly hasn't been since the 12th (two days ago). The other horrible part is that the vet is closed on Sunday and we wont be able to take her in until Monday. Do you think it will be too late by then? I feel awful not thinking about this earlier and it would kill me if my cat dies because I thought of this too late. Can she die from not pooing for 3 1/2 days?
I know she is an old cat, but I would rather spend the money to know that she can die happy in her sleep with her dignity than be terrified at the vet being put to sleep. We seem to be having our backs against the wall, and are not sure where to go from here if my 'constipation theory' doesn't work.
Any thoughts or ideas would really help, prayers too.
To summarize:
- Randomly Lost use of hind legs (Still can use them with aid, but falls over when she is not supported by one of us)
- Blood work came back normal
- Heart sounded fine
- Still eats food, and drinks water
- Has circulation to her hind legs
- took a cortisone shot/and meds for pain, seemed to work instantly, but by the end of the night cant use her legs again
- Not any dislocations, ligament tears or blood clots
- Was dehydrated, vet gave fluids
- Hasn't had a bowel movement for at least 2 days
- Doesn't appear to be in pain, still cognizant of surroundings and has appetite.
- Is not overwieght
I will give you as much info as I can.
On Thursday, 12-12-2013, my 18 year old cat "kitty" (8lbs) randomly stopped using her back legs. It was so random that maybe an hour before it happened, she was able to walk up a flight of stairs and go to one of her "comfy" spots in the house. Kitty seems to have arthritis, but nothing to the extent of not being able to use her back legs. She was still able to hop on to couches, walk up and down stairs, it just took her awhile to get going.
We also have two other cats in the house, one is 14 (a sweetheart named Freckles) and the other is a 12 year old (named zeppelin). Zeppelin doesn't get along well with the other cats, and at her age she is still very rambunctious. Zeppelin and Freckles always seem to fight, but never Zeppelin and Kitty.
on 12-12, I was in my room and heard two cats hissing and possibly fighting (which is the norm between Freckles and Zeppelin). I walked outside my room and saw that kitty was at the top of the stairs laying down. I decided to give the three cats treats and that is when I noticed kitty was using her front legs to drag herself over to me. I wasn't sure if Kitty had fallen off the couch where she was sitting, or maybe Zeppelin decided to pick a fight with Kitty, and at her old age, maybe tweaked something.
I immediately called the Vet and took her in about an hour after I noticed the somewhat paralysis in Kitty. The Vet said that her reflexes were off in her back legs and was worried that it may be a blood clot (Thrombosis). With a little bit of support, we could get kitty to move, she was just very wobbly and would collapse on her left side every few steps. Its really hard to watch. After ruling out dislocations, torn ligaments and blood clots, the Vet decided that it must be due to her arthritis. She drew some blood from Kitty and told us that she would get the results in the morning and would let us know what she finds.
We brought Kitty home and nothing seemed to change. Her spirits still seemed good. She would eat and drink as usual and still enjoyed her treats. She still wanted to know what people were doing when she heard noise. She never seemed like she was in any kind of pain or discomfort. The only hard part was helping her go to the bathroom. She would make a B-line to the litter box (with one of us holding under her tummy to keep her balance) and she would have little pees in the litter box. If one of us didn't hold her up, she would collapse on her side and pee on her self. Again, this is hard to do/watch
We called the vet on 12-13 and she said that Kitty's blood work looked very healthy for a 18 year old cat. The only thing a little bit off had to do with her kidneys and that was in the "normal high" range. They suggested that we put kitty on a low protein diet and start giving her some supplements to help her joints. She told us to come in around noon and she would have some pain medicine for kitty that may help.
We picked up her pain meds around noon on 12-13 and gave it to her when we got home. By the end of the night Kitty was still in no better shape, but still cognizant of her surroundings, still drinking water (lots of it) and still eating. Again, she didnt seem to be in any kind of pain. Those back legs still weren't working right though
I had to go to work at 6pm that night and didnt get home until 6am. When I walked in the door Kitty propped her head up and seemed happy to seem me, still no improvement though. On 12-14, I stayed up and called the vet at 8am when they opened and asked to see another dr. at the practice too try to get a second opinion. We took Kitty back in at 10 AM and he did the same dance with Kitty. Checked her hips, teeth, heart, joints, and everything seemed to be fine. He decided to give her an injection of cortisone to see if that would help kitty walk. He also said that she appeared to be dehydrated and gave her an injection of fluids that her body would absorb throughout the day. He said that the cortisone shot seems to help cats either right away or sometimes not at all. We crossed our fingers and hoped that things would change when we got home.
As soon as we let kitty out of her carrier she walked! She was still a little off balance, but she walked for the first time in two days. We were thrilled and thought maybe it was just some bad arthritus catching up to her. She laid down in our living room and seemed to want to take a nap. So we let her be. I myself, followed up with that idea, as I have only gotten about 5 hours of sleep the last two days.
I woke up for work on 12-14 at about 5pm and came down stairs only to find that kitty had resorted back to not being able to use her legs again
We don't know where to go from here. Frantically searching the internet for any ideas has left me with one final idea of what may be the problem. if anyone thinks it could be what I'm about to state, please let me know if it sounds possible. And if you have any other ideas of what it may be please help!The past few months kitty has had the habit to poop outside the litter box. Her poops are little balls and seem somewhat "tough". I didn't really put two and two together until tonight when I was thinking of every possible thing that it could be, but can Feline Constipation cause temporary loss of movement in the hind legs? I figured Kitty was going outside of the litter box because we have two other cats and maybe she just didn't like sharing it with them, little did I know that it is one of the signs of constipation. The vet also gave her fluids because he said she seem dehydrated which is another sign. Can being backed up cause Kitty to be unable to use her back legs (cramping nerves, or just too painful to walk). This is the last thing I can think of, and its killing me that I didn't think about it before. Kitty has peed multiple times the past few days, but I cant remember the last time she has had a bowel movement. It certainly hasn't been since the 12th (two days ago). The other horrible part is that the vet is closed on Sunday and we wont be able to take her in until Monday. Do you think it will be too late by then? I feel awful not thinking about this earlier and it would kill me if my cat dies because I thought of this too late. Can she die from not pooing for 3 1/2 days?
I know she is an old cat, but I would rather spend the money to know that she can die happy in her sleep with her dignity than be terrified at the vet being put to sleep. We seem to be having our backs against the wall, and are not sure where to go from here if my 'constipation theory' doesn't work.
Any thoughts or ideas would really help, prayers too.
To summarize:
- Randomly Lost use of hind legs (Still can use them with aid, but falls over when she is not supported by one of us)
- Blood work came back normal
- Heart sounded fine
- Still eats food, and drinks water
- Has circulation to her hind legs
- took a cortisone shot/and meds for pain, seemed to work instantly, but by the end of the night cant use her legs again
- Not any dislocations, ligament tears or blood clots
- Was dehydrated, vet gave fluids
- Hasn't had a bowel movement for at least 2 days
- Doesn't appear to be in pain, still cognizant of surroundings and has appetite.
- Is not overwieght
