Suddenly walking wobbly, lethargic, help!!!

I am glad to hear you have seen some improvements!

An ear infection would most likely *not* show up on blood work. An ear swab would need to be done for this. Have you seen the vet(s) use an autoscope to look in his ears?

I thought about Toxo as well. Definitely make sure this has been tested for, and find out what test was run.

Hmm I don't think they used a scope to look in his ears. At least not when I was there (they might have when he was in the ER - they kept him in back the whole time.)

He is much more alert today, walking around and stuff but he keeps whining for seemingly no reason. I hope he isn't in pain or anything.

Waiting for our regular vet to call back and tell me what to do next. I made an appointment with an internal medicine specialist but the first opening was next Friday. It's hard to wait that long!

How is he doing?!

He's been a bit better today... Less lethargic. He is still wobbly and today he is really irritable, growling and hissing at me. He is going to yet another neurologist Monday, hopefully we can finally get some answers, but at this point I kinda doubt it.

poor little guy, he is such a pretty boy. I hope that he continues to improve

there is some good info here http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/neurological/c_ct_ataxia 

http://www.cat-world.com.au/Cat-Health-Collection/ataxia-in-cats.html

I'm glad to hear Cooper is doing a bit better today.  I hope the neurologist on Monday is more helpful than the other one.      Please keep posting updates - I'm worried about this sweet boy.  

In case anyone is wondering, I brought Cooper to the new neurologist today and she thinks he either had a stroke, or he had a bad seizure and the wobbliness is an after-effect. They took his blood pressure and it was low (lower risk of stroke I guess) and they are also testing his thyroid. I guess hypothyroidism can cause strokes (or was it seizures?)

They also are changing his seizure meds from phenobarbital to kepra. He has been anemic for some reason since the seizures started and phenobarbital can make it worse. His bone marrow isn't regenerating it properly so the next step is a bone marrow biopsy. And his wobbliness should keep getting better, but if it doesn't he'd need another MRI... but I'll have to sell an organ first to pay for any more tests LOL

Sell a kidney [emoji]128521[/emoji]

At least you have some answers! All good things!

Thank you for the update.  I was wondering how your neurologist appointment went.   When will you get the news on his thyroid test?   You've done so much for Cooper - sometimes it must seem endless.   I really hope the kepra works and the wobbling eventually goes away.     What did you think of this neurologist?   I know your first one left something to be desired.  

Thanks I really like this new doctor. She seemed really knowledgable and also was really good with my cranky boy who is sick and tired of being prodded by vets! She did a really thorough physical neuro exam (other neuro would hardly touch him because he was growling and insisted on anesthetizing him for exams).

She did something cool where she held him, but left one leg out, then tipped him over to see if he would use the leg to try to "catch" himself. He did react (slowly) with him back legs but his front legs he wasn't even trying to catch himself. So that was the really clear indicator to her that it was a neuro problem, not inner ear or some other leg weakness. Pretty neat!

I'm not sure when the thyroid test will be back but they said they would call as soon as it came back.

Also, they said we could take his cone off today! Woohoo! Cooper seems much happier without it, but for some reason our other cat won't stop hissing at him now!

alibali said:

She did something cool where she held him, but left one leg out, then tipped him over to see if he would use the leg to try to "catch" himself. He did react (slowly) with him back legs but his front legs he wasn't even trying to catch himself. So that was the really clear indicator to her that it was a neuro problem, not inner ear or some other leg weakness. Pretty neat!

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Very cool!  I like people who are good at problem solving like that.  My kind of people! 

If your car doesn't start, one way of figuring out the cause is to test one part at a time:  Spark plugs.  Fuel Injectors.  Valves, etc. until you find the part with the problem.  It's a lot easier that way.  This new doctor did basically that.  She tested Kitty one part at a time until she found the problem. 

Too bad we just can't change the cat's spark plugs like we can do in a car!

I'm glad you found a doctor with good problem solving skills, who takes you and your cat seriously!   

This new vet sounds fantastic - much better than the old one.  And it's great that Cooper no longer has to wear his cone.  The reason your other cat is hissing at Cooper is probably because Cooper smells like the vet and your other cat doesn't recognize him.  Usually this passes in a day or so, but it often helps to do some sent swapping so each cat smells like each other.  Another thing that often helps is to dab a bit of vanilla on each cat so they smell alike.   Hopefully everyone will be back to normal soon!