Vestibular Disorders in Cats

Hi Everyone:

I am sorry that I haven't posted in a while, but I have a cat with a problem I have never seen before.

One of the two boys I adopted December 2013--they are now full grown and here-to-fore-healthy adults--tried to jump from my cedar chest onto the foot-board of our antique bed, missed and fell to the floor.  At first he didn't move, but then he started trying to walk and couldn't get up, and ended up spinning in a circle on the floor propelling himself with his front paws. 

Then he let out a blood-curdling scream.

By then both my husband and I were out of bed and on the floor with him, trying to find out what was wrong.  He was trembling and at a couple of times appeared to be going into a spasm.  We were convinced that he had broken a leg (best case scenario) or broken his back (worst case scenario).  My husband went and got the carrier while I kept him from crawling under the bed.

We got him to the vet who diagnosed a vestibular disorder, based on the fact that one pupil was larger than the other.  (In the commotion of trying to get Shadow to the vet, I couldn't find my glasses and therefore couldn't see it.)  The vet thought this diagnosis was what the problem was, but the question is what caused it?  Shadow was fine at 4:00 AM when he tried to wake me up to feed him; this incident happened around 6:30-7:00 AM.  Did he get into some toxin that caused this, or did he slip and fall in that jump and hit his head?

We don't know.  The vet kept him for observation overnight and ran blood tests which came back fine.  The vet also gave him a long-lasting antibiotic shot, in case there was an infection lurking.

I picked him up yesterday around noon, and Shadow was much more mobile, but still unsure of himself.  When we got him home, he was delighted to be home, but staggered around like a drunken sailor.  He used his litter pan, which was good, and ate, which was also good.

Today, he has improved more, in that his front legs walk normally, but each hind foot is put down deliberately as though he is making sure the floor doesn't move.  Appetite and litter habits remain good, and he interacted normally with his brother, and the Yorkie/pug mix dog that we have

I take him back to the vet on Friday.

I have had cats almost all of my life and have never had an experience like this.  Have any of you?

Online research I have done suggests that this is fairly common in cats, and hits them suddenly, then after a few days to a couple of weeks they seem to be normal again.  What say you folks?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

One of my current cats went through such a thing back last summer. Never had quite the dramatics that you describe, like screaming or whatever. But she did get very unstable on her feet, could only walk in a certain curve in one direction (not straight) etc. We did have her to the vet and as I recall we eventually did do a course of antibiotics in case of an infection. She basically was ok after a few days but does retain a permanent head tilt!

Gets around fine but I do have concerns at times that she has permanent hearing loss. This is something that annoyed me about the vet a little, but admittedly the details of why I was worried about that escape me. I think we went to vet twice and first time he did not give the antibiotics, and I worried that any possible infection might have affected the hearing. I don't really know if she just has among the most "selective" hearing of any cat I've seen or what. She definitely shows signs of hearing, but also signs off not hearing that well such as being unfazed by vacuum and some other loud noises, plus her vocalizing may be a sign of this too.

Anyway, while this runs its course you might want to take some precautions that he doesn't fall off things! He will be a bit tipsy. I have an open railing into a stairwell so I made attempt to block that off from Widget accidentally falling, for example. That sort of thing. She really couldn't jump well for at least a few days so there was not too much danger of falling other ways.

We don't have a pinpoint cause either, and sometimes, maybe most of the time, it's not really possible to point to one. Shadow should be fine though, really, shouldn't have significant lasting effect on his life that I know of. Even if hearing were to be diminished, cats do fine adjusting to that. So he could end up not exactly normal, but he should be fine and at least be able to walk normally and such. At least that is what I would expect.

2bcat said:

One of my current cats went through such a thing back last summer. Never had quite the dramatics that you describe, like screaming or whatever. But she did get very unstable on her feet, could only walk in a certain curve in one direction (not straight) etc. We did have her to the vet and as I recall we eventually did do a course of antibiotics in case of an infection. She basically was ok after a few days but does retain a permanent head tilt!

Gets around fine but I do have concerns at times that she has permanent hearing loss. This is something that annoyed me about the vet a little, but admittedly the details of why I was worried about that escape me. I think we went to vet twice and first time he did not give the antibiotics, and I worried that any possible infection might have affected the hearing. I don't really know if she just has among the most "selective" hearing of any cat I've seen or what. She definitely shows signs of hearing, but also signs off not hearing that well such as being unfazed by vacuum and some other loud noises, plus her vocalizing may be a sign of this too.

Anyway, while this runs its course you might want to take some precautions that he doesn't fall off things! He will be a bit tipsy. I have an open railing into a stairwell so I made attempt to block that off from Widget accidentally falling, for example. That sort of thing. She really couldn't jump well for at least a few days so there was not too much danger of falling other ways.

We don't have a pinpoint cause either, and sometimes, maybe most of the time, it's not really possible to point to one. Shadow should be fine though, really, shouldn't have significant lasting effect on his life that I know of. Even if hearing were to be diminished, cats do fine adjusting to that. So he could end up not exactly normal, but he should be fine and at least be able to walk normally and such. At least that is what I would expect.

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Thanks for your reply.  I have read of the head tilt in several online articles that I have been reading.  So far, Shadow does not have that, and seems to hear fine.  He is rather lethargic, but his appetite is good and the litter box habits are good. 

When we first brought him home, he tried to go outside, but now he seems resigned to me keeping him inside for a while.

You have my very best wishes for Widget.

Hi Everyone:

I took Shadow to the vet this morning, and he was impressed with the cat's progress. He is moving and walking around much more normally. Tuesday when I brought him home, he staggered around like a drunken sailor, whereas he trotted almost normally across the floor Thursday evening.

The vet and I both are currently thinking that Shadow had a low-grade inner ear infection that manifested itself the way it did on Monday. The vet administered a two week long antibiotic Monday and it is still working. The vet had observed redness inside one of his ears, and then today observed a couple of swollen lymph nodes.

Shadow's appetite has improved greatly. Where I used to put out a teaspoon of Fancy Feast or something like that and he would pick at it, now he is gobbling it down. To be fair, we have two totally outside cats, and Shadow and his brother can come and go, so I really don't know how much they have eaten of the outside food.

But he seems to be on the mend, and I have let him outside to be with his brother.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and best wishes!

I am absolutely thrilled to read your post, AngelinaCat!  A middle ear infection would be the best of all cases because you will completely eradicate it with the antibiotics.  It made my week to read that Shadow has improved so much.  Continued prayers and good karma are coming your way for a full recovery!

Julie

Thank you so much.  The prayers are appreciated and they worked very well! 

I'm so glad he's doing so much better, AND that you apparently have your reason for why it happened in the first place.

Thank you!!

To follow up on this thread, Shadow is back to his normal, happy self and is doing well.  Thank you EVERYONE for your prayers and concern. 

Great news

Thank you again!