Diarrhea now can't jump

Hi my cat has been being treated for IBD.  He went on Pred for a week and then I took him off when he had  labored breathing.  Then I noticed the hair was up on the back half of his body and he wasn't moving right.  When he walks it's almost like he's walking on his toes on his back legs.    Then when eating he keeps his back legs elevated (picture below).  Then he went to jump up on the TV stand, but he couldn't and had to climb up by using the scratching post.  When I pick him up he meows like he's in pain.  He also slept under the bed last night which he never does because (I'm assuming) he can't jump up on it.  Has anyone ever seen any symptoms like this?  He just had a full blood panel on Friday and everything was normal.

He also has watery diarrhea again.

This is concerning. He does certainly appear to be in pain. If he were mine I'd be headed to the emergency clinic ASAP!

Vet NOW!  Don't wait.  Get to the ER vet immediately.

OK, I'm usually more than willing to run to the emergency vet but why do you think this calls for that? He is eating and is now cleaning himself in his carrier (he likes to sleep in there).   While he can't jump he did climb up the scratching post to get onto the TV stand.   Whats odd is he is cleaning his back haunches like normal, which requires quite a lot of contorting his spine.  I would think if he was in a great deal of pain he wouldn't be able to do this.

This is more urgent because there has been a sudden onset and the cat is hiding and displaying other abnormal behavior per your description.

Posturing like this suddenly indicates a problem. The hair raised on his back indicates pain or a neurological issue (nerve damage, tingly, etc...)

Based on your description of issues and the picture (all of which may be interpreted differently in person) if he were my cat, I would be headed to the emergency vet. Especially since this is new and the onset occurred fairly suddenly.

Reba said:

Hi my cat has been being treated for IBD.  He went on Pred for a week and then I took him off when he had  labored breathing. 

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He really needs to be seen asap, as the above posters have recommended. Did you wean him off the pred under your vet's supervision, or just stop giving it altogether? Sudden withdrawal is dangerous because it can cause problems with the adrenal glands.

Hi J, he was only on it for a week so she said I could just stop giving it to him.  He had a hardy appetite this morning, though he did go right into his cat carrier to sleep afterwards.  He is grooming himself right now.  He licks his chops a lot though.  I just was able to get him to drink some water from a small bowl.

jcat said:

He really needs to be seen asap, as the above posters have recommended. Did you wean him off the pred under your vet's supervision, or just stop giving it altogether? Sudden withdrawal is dangerous because it can cause problems with the adrenal glands.

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Agreed! Prednisone needs tapered off slowly. It also makes internal tissues very fragile. We do not do elective surgery with people on Prednisone because the internal tissue is thinned out and weak. 

 Most cats lick their lips when they have nausea. I can tell when my cat is going to vomit by the lip licking.

The inability to control his back legs is the major concern for me, combined with the diarrhea it could be dehydration or something more severe.

Thanks, the feedback is a great help.  I do think he can control his back legs, but that he walks a certain way because he's in pain.  It's odd he curls up and changes position in the carrier like a normal cat.  But he doesn't come out of the carrier to walk around. 

reba said:

Hi my cat has been being treated for IBD. He went on Pred for a week and then I took him off when he had labored breathing. Then I noticed the hair was up on the back half of his body and he wasn't moving right. When he walks it's almost like he's walking on his toes on his back legs. Then when eating he keeps his back legs elevated (picture below). Then he went to jump up on the TV stand, but he couldn't and had to climb up by using the scratching post. When I pick him up he meows like he's in pain. He also slept under the bed last night which he never does because (I'm assuming) he can't jump up on it. Has anyone ever seen any symptoms like this? He just had a full blood panel on Friday and everything was normal.

He also has watery diarrhea again.

Brutus.Eating.jpg

• reba
• Dec 20, 2014

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Reba, This is exactly the problem with my cat. I noticed at first he wasn't jumping like normal and started pulling himself up with his forelegs. Then the diarrhea started. When you mentioned the spikiness of the fur I was speechless. So far no vet I've gone to has had an explanation...

R Richard1861 - Hi and Welcome to TCS! Have you started your own thread about your cat? If not, you might want to as it might elicit more responses, given this is an old thread. When and if you do, give us some additional information about your cat and what testing has been done and what the vet(s) have said so far.

I Richard, I can give you an update even though 5+ years later.

The spiked fur is because he was in so much pain. It got worse after this he had horrible bloody diarrhea. He had special tests to see if he had stomach cancer, but he didn’t - just a huge amount of inflammation.

What helped - well first we got him on a limited ingredient diet wet foods and more prednisolone. I used one of the commercial brands available at any petstore. But even after his stool hardened it still had blood in it for months and months.

What really did the trick was I saw this locally sourced raw rood in one of our independent pet stores. It looks like hamburger and they had beef, chicken, rabbit and duck. I would buy a package and cut it into 9 servings and then wrap these in freezer paper, refreeze, and feed him one kind in the morning and another at night. In about 6 months no more in blood in stool!!!

I have to say I was really lucky here, he never threw up once from the raw food and he liked it.

Best part - he didn’t have to stay on it. I was able to put him back on regular food. I have 3 other cats and this was just easier.

He’s still on half a tab of pred every day and I imagine that’ll be for the rest of his life.

Richard1861 said:

Reba, This is exactly the problem with my cat. I noticed at first he wasn't jumping like normal and started pulling himself up with his forelegs. Then the diarrhea started. When you mentioned the spikiness of the fur I was speechless. So far no vet I've gone to has had an explanation...

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Mycat had a similar issue and it turned out to be a food sensitivity. Once we got the diarrhea under control the back leg problem disappeared.