What could be wrong?

[jennielouises]

I’ve just returned from holiday and got my 15 yr old Sparky back from my in laws. She’s acting very strangely. She’s staring into space in a stupor, laying with her head out from like she’s depressed but isn’t sleeping, her behaviour has changed (she’s biting and hissing which isn’t like her), she’s walking in circles, not sleeping, not wanting to go outside, hasn’t pooped since Thursday (she has chronic constipation but isn’t showing her normal symptoms of and episode), wants treats but reluctant to jump up onto the step to get one, reluctant to go up and down the stairs, and losing her balance on the window sill. She has hip dysplasia but was letting us move her back legs and touch her hips so I don’t think it’s that. I called the online vet who said to take her to the emergency vet. We’re sitting in the car park now and have been for an hour. The vet came out to get a history but was struggling to examine her as she is so angry. He said he thinks it’s her hips and the staring is dementia but I’m sure it wouldn’t come on suddenly and surely she would have complained about her hips being touched if that was the case. He’s just come back saying he’s managed to examine her a bit. She’s not walking quite right but not too bad. He said he thinks it’s her hips but I’m so worried about the stupor and just general listlessness. He can’t check her much more as she’s too agitated and angry. What are everyone’s thoughts?

 

[silent meowlook]

Wow, I don’t blame you for being concerned. Was your cat eating on while you were gone?

 

[jennielouises]

Her normal food. Everything was the same except I know they let her outside when not on a leash. Also she apparently jumped on a surface that’s normally too high for her so it’s possible me she may have aggravated her hips. But that doesn’t explain the staring into space in a dazed state

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. So the staring off into space looking dazed, can be a sign of an internal organ dysfunction. I’ve seen it and cats with severe kidney cancer. It can also be neurologic. The fact that they’re saying they can’t handle her at the vet makes me think that she is in a lot of pain. I too would be very concerned. I think you need to find either an internal medicine specialist for the line area tomorrow to get her not every veterinarian and there is a lot of information veterinarians must learn about multiple species. That’s why I like cats and they’re not also having to learn about or continue learning about multiple species just cats. One thing to keep in mind is that emergency veterinarians are focused on keeping critical cases alive. While summer better than others my experience you’re more focused on just keeping them alive. I would definitely be finding another bed to follow up with immediately. Make sure you get all your records from the emergency so no tests or anything. Also find out if there are any plants or other animals dogs where the Kingston. Find out if they use air fresheners or oil diffusers.Did she get a new table scraps? I know it’s a lot to ask somebody when they’ve already done your favorite watching her but there’s just so many possibilities right now.

Also I’m sorry for anything that might not make sense I’m doing this hands-free right now.

 

[StanAndAlf]

Most of her symptoms are indicative of some sort of pain. I think arthritis is a good contender here, considering her age and symptoms. There are many possible causes for the listlessness, including pain and exhaustion from being unable to get adequate rest, due to the pain. I think some pain meds may help, perhaps an anti inflammatory, and yes, try to get into your normal vet if you can.

What I mentioned above, is of course as long as organ issues or possible poisoning has been ruled out. I think running bloods would be a good idea, x-rays would be great and perhaps an ultrasound if you want to go the extra mile. Is she still eating as normal?

Best of luck, and please keep us updated, we really do care.

 

[jennielouises]

Yeah she’s still eating as normal. Or at least she was until they gave her the pain killer last night. Since then she’s been high as a kite and just pacing up and down the hallway. I’m going to call my vets in a bit. My in laws say she definitely didn’t eat anything etc but they do have a lot of plants in their garden

 

[silent meowlook]

Make sure you mention the plants to the vet and see if any of the plants are lillies.

 

[jennielouises]

Make sure you mention the plants to the vet and see if any of the plants are lillies.

thanks but I made sure my parents in law didn’t have any lillies before I went away

 

[jennielouises]

How do I add video to this? I want to show you all what she’s like

 

[fionasmom]

I only seem to be able to insert a picture here, not a video...am I doing something wrong?
video.

See if either of these help you to add your video.

 

[fionasmom]

Wanted to get that out to you first before I replied. I had a dog once with known liver involvement which was not improving. One day, I came home from work and when she came to the door to greet me, I noticed immediately that she was "different." There can be a tipping point for kidney and liver toxicity where it is not noticeable until it suddenly is. You were not with your cat for a couple weeks which is also something to take into account.

This could certainly go in any of the directions already mentioned from pain to accidental poisoning so there is a lot to rule out and you need a vet who can do all those diagnostics which is not going to be the ER.

 

[jennielouises]

Her normal vet seems to think it’s her stomach. They didn’t seem worried to be honest but I am

 

[DreamerRose]

I hope they ran some blood tests on her. You really need that.

 

[jennielouises]

I hope they ran some blood tests on her. You really need that.

They couldn’t get her to let them

 

[fionasmom]

They could not restrain her with a couple of vet techs and a towel or lightly sedate her? Maybe they did not want to sedate due to all the symptoms? What is the vet doing about the stomach since that is what they think it is? To me, a lot of those symptoms are not stomach unless something was ingested in which case you have an entirely different situation to deal with.

 

[DreamerRose]

I agree. It sounds like extreme pain to me.

 

[jennielouises]

They didn’t want to sedate her due to her age. They said that with the distress she was in, her blood pressure etc would be really high due to that. Even routine checks she has to have some gabapentin first as she isn’t good with vets. My husband and the nurse tried to restrain her. My husband and the vet were bitten!! I do think it’s pain either her tummy or her hips as she’s moving better with the pain killer but now she seems too awake and won’t sleep. Her pupils are huge and she’s so jumpy. She won’t settle and that’s since the painkiller

 

[fionasmom]

Can she be brought back in with gabapentin? Certainly not mixing it with some other painkiller or given incorrectly, so check with your vet about this. If she has an injury, the painkiller may help in the long run if it is one that can heal over a short period of time, but if it is anything else you need the vet to think of a way that they can do an examination. Poor baby!

 

[jennielouises]

I’m going to call them again today and demand they actually examine her. She’s still pacing up and down with a really heavy plod in her step. The drugs should have warn off by now. This isn’t her normal tummy issues but they just won’t listen

 

[jennielouises]

She went back in at lunchtime. They sedated her to check her out. They found nothing wrong with her tummy or hips (like I thought) but found holes in two of her teeth and her thyroid area was a bit enlarged. She had a blood test and was put in a drip. She’s going in for more fluids tomorrow hence the bandage (which she hates and keeps trying to flick off). She’s drowsy and still twitching but I’m wondering if that and the pacing was the drugs? What do you think?