FCE - Fibrocartilaginous Embolism in Cats

[TCP_luxury]

Hi everyone,

I’m here to see if anyone has experienced having a cat with FCE and how was recovery ‍🩹? Yesterday morning around 6am PST, my 8yr old snowshoe cat Peppermint’s back legs (mainly 1) all of a sudden was lame or wobbly, odd because she was super normal a couple hours ago. I’m so heart broken and broke down into tears. We rushed to emergency and they ran all tests to rule out heart failure, blood clots, etc. The vet said her vitals are all normal (caught her heart murmur) so the neurologist stepped in. The Dr said he suspects FCE and scheduled an MRI early this morning/today (thank goodness for pet insurance) to validate but before MRI they are going to check her murmur to make sure anesthesia (or dosage) is safe. When we took her home she tried to jump to get to her usual places but failed. I had to bring her to her litter and she pooped twice but no urine. I’m freaking out about expressing her after her MRI and confirmed diagnosis and wondering if any other per owners experienced FCE. Any words of advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

This is Peppermint

 

[Furballsmom]

Hello - these are threads I found on The Catsite, in case you haven't seen them already;
Search Results for Query: FCE

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi and welcome to tCS, despite what brought you here. Pretty pic of Peppermint!

FWIW, here is an article about FCE in case you haven't already found it yourself.
Fibrocartilaginous Embolism (FCE) in Pets | Dogs and Cats (vetspecialists.com)

 

[fionasmom]

I’m freaking out about expressing

It is not impossible if you have to do this. Ask the vet or a vet tech to show you how it is done. It only involves a certain amount of pressure applied in the area of the bladder...nothing else needed. Unfortunately, it is very common in neurological conditions which affect the spinal cord that the bladder may either stop working or may have no ability to stop dribbling.