Cat Paralyzed-ish Back End? Vet appt scheduled.

Will preface by saying we have a vet apt at 1:30, the soonest they could get us in. Sad it's going to be awhile before we get in, but they had two emergencies today already so I understand, it is what it is.

Last night I went to bed at 3am. All the cats were indoors, as usual, and acting fine. Only slightly weird thing was my cat Tybalt sleeping on the sofa behind me, and making a slight clicking noise every couple seconds as he slept. I don't know if that has any connection but I wanted to mention it. 

Woke up this morning at 10am, heard one of the cats yowling under the sofa. Peered under, it was Tybalt. He seemed like maybe he was stuck. Picked up the couch and got him out (they've torn up the bottom of the couch so there's little 'hammocks' from the ripped material.),  and he laid down, still yowling. Poked around and realized he seemed to have no mobility in his back legs. He got stressed and tried to bolt, and dragged himself down the hall (one leg to ether side) pretty quickly. Stopped him, comforted him, and moved him to his favorite place on the bed while calling the vet. Freaking out thinking he was in agony and had broken something somehow.

Back toes seem a little cool, but he shows no tenderness to any vertebrae or his pelvis or his legs. Nothing is stiff. As a side note, I have noticed NOTHING out of the ordinary for him. No weight loss, eating fine, drinking fine, normal litter habits, etc. He is a neutered male, and is 3 and a half years old.

5 minutes later is where it gets weird. He calms down, I'm petting him, he starts purring and headbutting and being his usually sweet self. Foster kitten comes up and he grooms and loves on her, starts grooming himself, etc. Then he twitches his back legs. A few minutes later he stands up (back legs crouched) and walks a bit, using the back legs but poorly. Lays down again. Petting him, he rolls over for belly rubs and kicks his legs around. Moves them to groom, twitches his tail, but no standing. Just kind shifting around. Now that he's in a comfortable spot he's making no noise but purring when I pet him. He's very alert, he sits up and looks around and interacts with the other cats. He's laid down and sleeping right now, but opens his eyes and looks around periodically. If I pet him and wakes up and sits up and is alert, purring. 

I have no idea. I actually just graduated my vet assist course and I have no idea. A friend of mine thought blood clot/saddle thrombosis, but his back legs are pliable and not stiff at all. The more comfortable he gets, the more he seems to move them. He's not walking but is shifting around, and is giving no detectable signs of pain. Breathing is normal if a bit fast, pupils are normal, etc. 

Any ideas? I'm freaking out. I wish I could be at the vets right now, this waiting is ripping my nerves to shreds and I have no idea what could have happened to my baby. I've had him since a kitten, I found him and his siblings in a drainage pipe. He's the sweetest, goofiest guy who loves everyone and everything. He loves dogs, and he loves all my fosters, especially the kittens. He's so maternal to them. I'm just devastated. 

poor kitty!

Is there another vet you can try that you can get in sooner?

I am not much of a help, but please keep us posted

There is another vet, but as horrible as it sounds I refuse to go in there. He's treated my animals horribly, misdiagnosed them, handled them roughly, and is very abrasive to people. I would only take Tybs there if  I couldn't get in at all at his regular vet (who knows him well, and he loves her). I know that sounds awful but he's a really terrible vet and I don't trust him at all. He really screwed up on two of my dogs and one suffered badly for it. 

New development - I got the treats to bring him some. Sat down in front of him hand feeding him treats, he just got up and walked around normally for a few steps and then sat down. What the heck. 

Perhaps a pinched nerve, slipped disc or swelling in/around the spinal cord (could be caused by a virus, etc). The initial pain with the slipped disc/pinched nerve is pretty severe; but, depending on damage, might explain Tybalt's symptoms.

I had a somewhat similar thing happen with one of our 4 yr olds about 18 months ago, though we are *highly* suspicious that his was a reaction to his Rabies vaccine (initial symptoms started 3 days after vaccine).

He didn't loose 100% function of the rear limbs...closer to 85/90%. He also had control of his bowels; but, his bladder had to be very full before he would/could urinate.

He regained most function, though still curls his toes and has muscle weakness.

Will be very curious to see what you find out with Tybalt.

Oh, another thought, electrolyte imbalance can also cause neurologic issues.

I'd do a full body x-ray (cat-o-graph) and full CBC/Chem on him.

We will be doing all the testing we can to figure out what has happened. I'm leaning towards pinched nerve but we'll see when we get the test run what's gong on with my baby.

It's so strange though that within the span of about 3 hours he's regained 70% of his muscle function. He's walking around a bit but lays down/sits often and goes back to his comfy spot. I put his carrier down and he immediately got up and walked over to it and curled up inside.  

He has had no interest in water but happily nommed down on some treats. 

Thanks for the advice! How long before your kitty regained function?

Headed out to the vets now, fingers crossed that it works out okay. 

He regained function over about 3 weeks or so.

It was a similar thing. He was seemingly fine one minute (had normal activity appetite all morning), was out of sight (but not ear) for about 20 mins or so, came upstairs to use the litter box and I actually thought he was blocked because he had very odd posture in the litter box (this was where I first saw him). He got out of the box and that was when I realized there was a problem with his legs.

The biggest difference for me was that he never was vocal about anything.

He was walking completely plantar with curled toes and his muscles were extremely weak. He could take a few steps (around 3) before he had to lay down and rest (always on his side).

He gradually gained function over the first week and was at about 65-70%. A few months later he was at about 80-85%. And, 18 months later we are around 90%.

We never got a diagnosis. We just ruled things out. But, I am awfully suspicious that this happened so close to his vaccine. I think either the vaccine caused the body to have an inflammatory reaction that lead to spinal inflammation or a stroke. We are in the process of getting him officially exempt from vaccines completely.

I do wish we had taken him to see a neurologist and that is still a possibility. I have several videos to document everything and he still has some residual issues.

Hoping everything turns out ok for Tybalt!

Thanks for the information!

Tybs is at about 80% function atm. Just crouching a bit and resting a lot.

OKay! Back from the vet. Vet decided against xray/bloodwork as she was pretty sure they wouldn't tell us anything relevant to his condition atm. They are an option though if this doesn't resolve with what we're going with. She's leaning towards him somehow having injured himself/pinched a nerve, and he will gradually recover from it. She did laser therapy (which he loooooved, he was purring up a storm. He thought it was absolute heaven) and prescribed a medication/supplement (Protandim) that she said would help with recovery. Follow up appt in one week with more laser therapy and to see if he's recovering and if more testing will be necessary. 

The OTHER option, which is unlikely, is he threw a clot. Which was my biggest fear. The vet tried to listen to his heart for a murmer but his heart was racing from excitement so she didn't get a good listen, so she wants to do that at the follow up appt as well. She said she thinks possibly a clot because his lower back is tender and the very sudden onset, and his breed (he's a blue eyed seal point, so it's assumed he has some siamese) is prone to heart issues, and his age is about where those issues would start to present. We did take a blood pressure and it was borderline high, but may have had to do with how excited he was. So that's another thing we will try again next week.  She thinks a clot is unlikely because of how quickly he recovered, and how little pain he seemed to be in. But it's still a possibility, and depending on how next week goes/how well he recovers, she said we could be referred to a cardiologist (which, ouch, that's at least $500) for an....ech...something...lol. I can't remember the word :/ Haha. 

So we will continue to monitor his recovery, and seek more testing if the issue doesn't resolve/returns. 

I'm going to talk more with the vet about adding heart healthy supplements to his diet (looking at CoQ10 and some herbal supplements) as a preventative measure in case his heart is the culprit here. Also thinking about giving him some raw hearts for the taurine (my dog is on a raw diet, but the cats turn their noses up and I haven't fought them on it....yet) to give his lil heart a boost. 

Everyone there found the whole thing very strange, with how quickly it happened and how quickly he bounced back. Definitely a bit of a head scratcher. We went over all his vaccines and when he got them (the vet said that could be a possibility, but his last ones were months ago), his food, his environment, any supplements, etc. Nothing that could point to this. Ugh. 

So, playing a wait and see game atm. The laser therapy really comforted him though, and I can see a bit of a difference already. He's jumping on furniture and walking more. 

I'll keep ya'll updated!

Yes, it's a heart echo. I guess they would be looking for a cardiomyopathy? Not that an echo is a bad thing at all (I recently had one done on my 4 yr old Maine Coon mix) but, there is also a blood test called a Pro-BNP that detects a protein the heart releases when there is muscle damage. The test I am talking about is sent to a special lab (can also have a full CBC/Chem, heartworm antigen added for literally $1 more). There is also a BNP SNAP test, but I prefer the panel as it gives reference numbers as opposed to a positive or negative.

An echo can be beneficial because you can find other abnormalities other than a cardiomyopathy.
Max has the full echo. While he doesn't have HCM, he does have a very mild mitral valve prolapse. This doesn't cause a problem, but, wouldn't have been detected on the blood panel.

Tyson had the panel done (I was concerned about a non-HCM cardiomyopathy due to a systemic viral infection he had between 9-13 months.) Tyson's panel came back above the reference range and is classified as a the high end of low-grade. So, will monitor (no murmur currently) and will rerun the panel next year and compare for changes.

Thank you! I had no idea. I will discuss this next week with the vet on our follow up visit. Hopefully he will be calmer and she can get a better listen to his heart and a better blood pressure reading. I really hope it's not his heart but I'm willing to check. I would be devastated and wouldn't even know where to begin working with a chronic issue like that. I've been so lucky to have healthy pets with only minor temporary issues. The thought is terrifying of having something like that

@jentralala -- i'm so sorry your tybalt is having these symptoms.

this may or may not be of any help, but a guest expert here at TCS a while back has an older/senior cat who experienced very similar symptoms. the guest expert is Dr Kris and he's a veterinarian, and he posted about his zack's symptoms/tests run/treatment/recovery at his website. here's a link to his website -- http://www.iwillhelpyourcat.com/     scroll down a bit to where you see a video window that has a pic of zack and the title, 'Zack vs Illness:  It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over'. pretty much the whole story of zack's illness is in that video. it might be something to refer your vet to, to take a look at.

that your vet did some laser therapy already is really great!

@CatPack  For your Maine Coon, did you do the panel and find abnormalities and then go for the echo? Or did you just do the echo? I'm wondering if the echo should be done still if the bloodwork comes back okay?

@mickNsnicks2mom  Thank you!! I will check that out. I could understand this issue if my Tybbies was an old man, but he's practically a baby Just seems so sudden. Really makes me re-evaluate some things and want to up my game on his diet and overall health. 

And yeah!! The laser is my favorite. Always seems to help and comfort them, my dog's injury healed so quickly with laser therapy and he has no scarring at all.

Tybs is sulking a bit under the bed, sleeping a lot. I got him to use the litterbox (he had a normal bowel movement but no urine), and I'll let him sleep for awhile. If he's not out on his own in a few hours I'm not sure if I should bring him out or just give him time. He's a little grumpy lol. I guess just sore and tired (he haaaates car rides and it was really hot even with the A/C on high, Florida is the worst), needing to recoup. I'm a smidge worried about giving him the medication but we will see if he will nom it with some canned food, or the vet rec'd putting some butter on it. He's my most adventurous eater so hopefully he takes to it. 

jentralala said:

 
@CatPack  For your Maine Coon, did you do the panel and find abnormalities and then go for the echo? Or did you just do the echo? I'm wondering if the echo should be done still if the bloodwork comes back okay?

@mickNsnicks2mom  Thank you!! I will check that out. I could understand this issue if my Tybbies was an old man, but he's practically a baby Just seems so sudden. Really makes me re-evaluate some things and want to up my game on his diet and overall health. 

And yeah!! The laser is my favorite. Always seems to help and comfort them, my dog's injury healed so quickly with laser therapy and he has no scarring at all.

Tybs is sulking a bit under the bed, sleeping a lot. I got him to use the litterbox (he had a normal bowel movement but no urine), and I'll let him sleep for awhile. If he's not out on his own in a few hours I'm not sure if I should bring him out or just give him time. He's a little grumpy lol. I guess just sore and tired (he haaaates car rides and it was really hot even with the A/C on high, Florida is the worst), needing to recoup. I'm a smidge worried about giving him the medication but we will see if he will nom it with some canned food, or the vet rec'd putting some butter on it. He's my most adventurous eater so hopefully he takes to it. 

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i did wonder how old your Tybalt is. that he's not a senior cat makes this more concerning. i'm glad your boy has so quickly regained so much (80%) use of his back legs.

For Max, I opted to do the echo first. I knew he would tolerate the proceedure well. No sedation or pain with the echo, they just have to lay still long enough do get all the readings, etc. The main reason I chose Max for the echo is because I was trying out a different cardiologist and wanted a cat that would cooperate. Will likely just run the pro-BNP next year and recheck echo is there are abnormalities in the bloodwork.

For Tyson (who is Max's littermate brother), the one that we actually thought could have damage to his heart due to a horrible strain of Calicivirus, I opted for a Pro-BNP first. Since his values are above normal, I will likely be scheduling an echo for him soon, just to get a better gauge on things. It's very likely that Tyson's particular cardiomyopathy is NOT progressive; but, he does have the Maine Coon gene in him.

Had Tyson's blood panel tested within normal limits, I would *not* do an echo on him.

Tybs did come out and have some food and used his litterbox. He stayed out for about 10 minutes, during which I attempted to get him to eat his supplement. Nope. Refused to eat it on the wet food, and spit it out when I tried it with butter. Hrm. He went back under the bed, but is now out and about again He seems pretty tired (he did have a long and stressful day) and a bit sore and keeping his back slightly hunched, but other than that he's being a sweetie and walking around somewhat normally.

Hm. Tybs did have a run in with a URI about 8 months ago, along with my 2 other cats. The vet thought herpes (I wasn't sure, they didn't have anything specific to any one strain). They caught it from a foster, my first one, even though she was QT'd (they're now resistant to it, haven't gotten sick since the first time). Tybs had some eye discharge, drooling, runny nose, and a fever (poor guy turned white). He recovered fully in the normal span of ~2 weeks, with some holistic care, a round of antibiotics, and syringe feeding. I didn't know that could cause heart damage? The vet didn't mention that at all....Or is it just if it's a very virulent strain?

After thinking, if it is his heart, I could be okay with it. I was so terrified I was going to lose him this morning. It was awful. I'm so, so grateful that he's doing better, and for all the advice I've gotten through here.

A common URI isn't likely to cause damage. Tyson was extremely sick...spiked over a 106 temp, developed a mucus plug that sent him into temp renal failure, the front portion of his nose sloughed off where blisters had developed.. He was sick for 15 weeks.

Well, everything had gone fine with Tybs until yesterday morning. He had recovered fully, was being his usual sweet goofball self, and then yesterday morning I woke up to find him on the floor yowling. Ran over and pet him (he was laying on his back with his legs toughing the sofa) and tried to figure out what happened. Got him to stand and he would NOT put any weight at all on his front leg, and hissed if anyone touched it. He kept yowling for awhile but eventually settled. He had a vet appt today, and as yesterday was a sunday (of course. of course it was), had to play the wait and see game. The leg felt slightly swollen and cool to the touch which was extremely worrisome.

This morning he is putting some weight on it and is back to normal, crawling in my lap and purring and playing with the kittens. Headed to his appt soon.

I just don't know :/ It seems EXTREMELY coincidental for this to happen so close to the thing with his back legs. This took longer for him to 'recover' from, however. I thought perhaps an insect bite at first, but the leg wasn't hot at all and his skin didn't look irritated that  could see. 

I just....ugh. I'm going to be asking about x-rays and a pro-BNP to try and figure this out. I'm also worried about this possibly being neurological? Or some kind of disease picked up from a foster? I do foster and they are tested prior to coming home and are kept in QT most of the time (sometimes I let kittens come out for a bit to get used to living in a home environment. But only if I've had them awhile)

I hate this :/ 

This sort of sounds like what happened with my Princess. She started limping around about three weeks ago, but she wasn't complaining and was eating normally.  It went away after a few days, and we figured she might have jumped off of something awkwardly and hurt herself (she's a little overweight).  Then about two weeks ago, she woke up crying and her front left paw had gone limp.  After a day, again she was better.  Like you, we thought maybe it was an insect bite (we've had mosquitos and baby spiders, ugh!).  We took her to the vet last week because she had stopped eating, and her paw was limp again. We had two vets look at her and take X Rays and tell us it's most likely heart disease and the limps were probably because she threw clots. However, they are unsure, because like your kitty, she was okay again in a few days, and didn't seem like she was in pain.

I hope Tybalt pulls out of it! Please let us know what happens.  

jentralala said:

 
Well, everything had gone fine with Tybs until yesterday morning. He had recovered fully, was being his usual sweet goofball self, and then yesterday morning I woke up to find him on the floor yowling. Ran over and pet him (he was laying on his back with his legs toughing the sofa) and tried to figure out what happened. Got him to stand and he would NOT put any weight at all on his front leg, and hissed if anyone touched it. He kept yowling for awhile but eventually settled. He had a vet appt today, and as yesterday was a sunday (of course. of course it was), had to play the wait and see game. The leg felt slightly swollen and cool to the touch which was extremely worrisome.

This morning he is putting some weight on it and is back to normal, crawling in my lap and purring and playing with the kittens. Headed to his appt soon.

I just don't know :/ It seems EXTREMELY coincidental for this to happen so close to the thing with his back legs. This took longer for him to 'recover' from, however. I thought perhaps an insect bite at first, but the leg wasn't hot at all and his skin didn't look irritated that  could see. 

I just....ugh. I'm going to be asking about x-rays and a pro-BNP to try and figure this out. I'm also worried about this possibly being neurological? Or some kind of disease picked up from a foster? I do foster and they are tested prior to coming home and are kept in QT most of the time (sometimes I let kittens come out for a bit to get used to living in a home environment. But only if I've had them awhile)

I hate this :/ 

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i'm so sorry your tybalt has had another 'episode' of these symptoms. i don't have any advice for you, but wanted to post to let you know that we do care and are here to support you in any ways we're able to.

you're doing the best possible thing by working with your vet towards a diagnosis. sending you and your tybalt    , and many for a quick diagnosis and that the treatment is easy and effective.

Thanks for all the love and support! I really appreciate it. Today has been hard.

Just got back from the vets. She said this pretty much seals the deal for her that he has been throwing clots, and somehow resolving them on his own (she said this is very rare, especially his quick turnarounds, and that by all accounts he shouldn't even be here with us right now. So I am eternally grateful for that). After more blood pressure tests we've figured he has some form of cardiomyopathy, although it will take more testing to figure out exactly what we are dealing with. His blood pressure is extremely high (way, way over the limits that it should ever be), so he is being put on a blood pressure medication and another medication to help prevent the clots from forming. The prescrips are at a compounding pharmacy atm, once I pick up the meds I'll post exactly what they are. They will have to be given twice daily for the rest of his life.'

She said it is most likely that this will be what gets him in the end, whether it be a week, a year, a decade from now. 

She was so, so supportive and kind, and we were able to talk and she said that this, this reminds you to savor every moment and that life isn't to be taken for granted, and enjoy every moment you get to spend with them.

We took an extensive blood panel and sent it out for testing and I'll post the results once they come in.  This is partially for his heart and partially to make sure he is okay to go on all this medication. And if he reacts well to this medication she said we may consider adding in a third, that should lower his risk even more. 

I love this cat. I've had him since he was a tiny little kitten, when he and his two siblings were found with their mother living in drainage pipes at my high school. I spent days luring them out to catch them. I actually caught him and his sister the day of my graduation (his brother had been caught a few days before). And you know what? Tybs was the meanest little feral kitten ever. He spit, he tried to bite, he was a hissy little guy. And after working with him, today he is the sweetest, goofiest lap cat. He goes cross eyed when you give him treats, he drools when he purrs, he loves to curl up in your lap and make biscuits. He greets everyone who comes over, he gets along with every other animal he comes across, and he's so maternal to kittens. 

He's the sweetest guy ever. And I'm going to embrace every second I get to have him in my life, no matter how much time that may be.

@melaQ, may I ask what breed your kitty is and what age? My vet told me that due to his breed (I guess siamese mix? But I mean all he has is the coloring and the bright blue eyes. None of the build. His brother looked much more angular, and his sister and mother are just black and white) and his age this is when symptoms start showing. :/ 

jentralala said:

 
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@melaQ, may I ask what breed your kitty is and what age? My vet told me that due to his breed (I guess siamese mix? But I mean all he has is the coloring and the bright blue eyes. None of the build. His brother looked much more angular, and his sister and mother are just black and white) and his age this is when symptoms start showing. :/ 

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Hi @jentralala. I guess on paper, Princess is a black, domestic long-hair.  I'm not sure if her breed is mixed with any of those that are prone to heart disease (i.e. Maine Coon or Ragdoll). She does look Ragdoll-ish.