Cat stumbles around - Has balance issues

bosley11

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My cat is 14 years old, and for the last 6 months his balance has gotten worse,,,We thought it was arthritis at first..Took him to the vet,l and did blood work, and all came back normal..His ears had a little infection, so dr put him on drop 2X a day,,But after 10 days. Nothing,,,He likes to go where its dark, and he no longer can jump up or down off anything..He walks as if he is drunk..Hes mainly an outside cat,with garage access, which we have him locked up in, since we don't want him to be prey to anything..Our Dr. said if the drops don't work, it might be neurological, and we could think about MRI's and CAT scans at UF in Gainseville,, And that can run $2000.00-$3000.00. and we cant afford it...any ideas.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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It could be Feline Geriatric Vestibular Syndrome, which can last from a few days to a few months 
.   It's similar to severe vertigo in humans. 

OR, since he's mainly an outdoor cat, he could have been hit by a car and had a closed head injury and you possibly not known about it
, or even poisoning can cause similar symptoms.  I guess the Vet would have checked for all of that (aside from the neurological scans)? 

Due to his condition, do you think he might be better off indoors now?  Would he be happy there? 

 

baybina

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This is exactly what is going on with my cat,she is around the same age as yours and. Started exhibiting symptoms last year and it just got worse this year. She can barely move without falling down, her tests all came out normal so we decided putting her on steroids for a bit and it did help her in moving a bit but Once she came off of it she went downhill again. The steroids only gave her some energy and made her extremely thirsty. To be honest I'm not sure what it is, the vet also started her off with ear drops saying it's infection but nothing helped. please keep me posted because I think our cats have the same thing!
 
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