elderly cat hind legs gave out

Our 18 year old indoor boy has recently lost use/strength in his back legs.  He has had controlled diabetes with insulin for two years,  his walk changed about a year ago and he has trouble with his right foot and walks on his whole back foot..Yesterday we arrived home and he was unable to stand and walk anywhere.  After a night at the vet..blood work..xrays and a full examine by his internist; they sent us home with him.  His appetite is still there, he is very alert but seems to be in some pain and discomfort. What has been a little odd to me is that he seems to stretch his back legs out every now and then and seems to try and be readjusting his body?????.  We are giving him a pain med and 5 mg of prednisone a day to hopefully help him to walk again...our next step is to have an mri and consult with another internal medicine vet.  I am hoping someone out there has some positive advice for us :/

thank you cindy

Did the vet say anything to you about what they thought was going on?

It sounds quite like what happened with my 21 year old Pal who had had arthritis for several years:  her rear legs suddenly  lost power one day and when I took her along to our regular vet they thought the most likely cause was a trapped nerve / boney spur in her spine which might respond to anti-inflammatory treatment.  

After the injection I brought her home and over the course of the next few days she did indeed gradually build up strength and confidence on her hind legs again, and move about to stretch and get more comfortable when she was laying down.  Within a couple of days she was tottering about my apartment again.   Sadly Pal had a number of other health issues including blindness and the level of mobility she regained looked exhuasting for her and I made the sad decision it was time to say goodbye.   I think if she had not been blind and her general arthritis had not been so advanced we could have spent a good deal more time together.   May that be the outcome you have with your old guy, they have a huge hold on our hearts when they reach such a good age.

Thank you SO much for your response..at this point ANY feed back is comforting for me...And he MOST definitely has a hold on our hearts hearts !!..He has been an indoor cat his whole life and is our 27 year old daughters first "baby" ..So your feedback is interesting in the fact that I was wondering this morning myself if it is more nerve related and not as much muscular.  They gave us a liquid pain med to put him on and we are on 5 mg of predisone a day at the moment; but he seems to still be in MUCH pain when we try to help him stand or put him back down on his right side.. He has a voracious appetite still, is drinking water and VERY alert, and is VERY irritated that his mobility is stopped at the moment.. We have gone through soo much with our old guy and I just don't know what to do at this point.. I cant even begin to think about our household without him; but I am not sure what we can do to help him get mobility back on his feet.. Would the xray they took show a bone spur if that is what he could possibly be dealing with?  I LOVE our internist team that we have had for him in our area; but it just seems like they could give us a  more focal answer then they don't know??...sigh...they said the next step would be an mri and then a therapy specialist doctor.. He has survived SO Much already..he was diagnosed with spleen cancer over two years ago. and with successful surgery and healing he was up and about like his old self.. I have his diabetes down to a science and his numbers are around 195 to 210 daily with 2 mg of lantus in the morning at night.. So I am at a complete loss

: (.. .thank you cindy

Thank you VERY much for your input and response.. I WILL post on the feline Diabetes site as well.  His blood glucouse numbers are usually in the high 190's with 2 units of insulin at night and in the morning.. I wondered about a supplement too?.. The team of doctors that we have had over the course of the last three years have been phenomenal in their areas; but in the same breath, didn't have much for us to go on with what has happened to him now...so I am looking for alternative help; because I really cant see putting him to rest with as alert and healthy the rest of his body is.  I would like to make sure we have exhausted our avenues for help for our old guy who has been the best pet we have EVER had as a family and individually.. So much gratitude for your input

Sincerely, Cindy

Lantus is great I used it with my previous cat for awhile and then switched to Levmir. 2 units is a good dose but  I wonder if you can increase it a little and see numbers that are in the normal range of roughly 60 to 150. There's a Lantus specific sub group on the FelineDiabetes.com board if you want to check that out and get  info on possibly doing tight regulation or some form of that.

I think LTS3's diabetes thoughts are very interesting, and certainly the neuropathy crossed my mind in terms of how he has been walking full foot down previously.  Vitamine suppliments and adjusting the diabetes medications / management are certainly well worth discussion with your vets.   I would be inclined to go for anything low tech and which doesn't involve the need for anesthesia with my cats unless it is absolutly necessary.   There is no harm in discussing with your vet, this either lets you know they have considered and ruled something out and why, or it triggers a new avenue of thought for them, and either way is going to be good for your cat.