Sudden onset of leg weakness in elderly cat - advice please

Miss_J

Hi there

Hope some MSE'rs out there can give me some advice. Quick history, my cat is 18 (19) next month. Has been healthy and active until summer 2013, diagnosed with hyperthyroidism in 2011, reasonably well controlled. Last summer he developed arthritis after a fall from a desk and since then we've been managing it with small amounts of Metacam and Easeflex supplements. Yesterday suddenly after waking he developed rear leg weakness, got up, tried to walk and just stumbled around. Rushed him yo the vets last night thinking he'd had a stroke and although his blood pressure was high she didn't think it was high enough to cause a stroke. Bloods were taken to screen kidneys and lives function. She mentioned at the time that he felt very constipated which he gets from time to time. Brought him home last time and he got progressively worse, falling over when walking. I was convinced he was going down hill quickly. Tried to make him comfortable as possible with litter tray and food/ water and bed to hand. About an hour after heading to bed I was surprised to see him in the bedroom, I didn't think he had the strength to get upstairs. He tried to get onto the bed and couldn't and then when the tried to jump down he fell head first. I then caught him as he was trying to head downstairs and caught him just before he fell down them. I locked him in the lounge overnight to minimise his movements and half expected this morning to find him gone. Much to my surprise he was outside and I noticed he'd had an accident on the floor and had dropped some really hard dried stools on the floor (never been incontinent before), and he had eaten well overnight. Also his movement seemed better although still a sway in his walk but not stumbling. I've been at work today but hubby at home said he's been settled and eating, looks sore when he walks and still can't jump onto the sofa etc.

Vet left a message (saying there was nothing in his bloods) but still non the wiser about what was happening and said we could try a steroid injection to see if that helps his movement, she said yesterday she thought it was something neurological. Wondering if anyone has dealt with anything similar and can recommend anything. Part if me wonders if the problem was the constipation and it has caused extra pain and stress to his already sore babka leg joints. Any advice would be welcomed. Many thanks in advance.

pukkamum

First have to say phone vet asap you must do something but Oh gosh love how very terrible for you, I had my Rosie cat put to sleep just before xmas and seeing her decline was so upsetting.

It seems to me you have a couple of choices but you must do something asap cat sounds very distressed.

SnowyOwl_2

Tell your vet about the hard stool pieces you found - that is a sign of very bad painful constipation. I think I would insist that you bring your cat in to the vet's office for an enema (I had a cat who had loads of these done... best to know your kitty is cleaned out, so to speak).

Miss_J

I've booked him in for a steroid injection tomorrow. He's eating and drinking normally and seems okay, if a little quiet apart from looking uncomfortable when he moves. I've been reading about vestibular disorder and arguable he has some of the symptoms. Being in the medical field I hate not knowing what's causing it and why it's been so sudden.

Gold_Dust_2

This sounds almost identical to what happened to one of my cats and it was definitely neurological. Unfortunately, my vet couldn't really do anything about it and we needed to go to the RVC (who are brilliant, btw).

Does he look anything like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu_yimEWJ7k Is he circling at all when he walks, and is it in any particular direction?

Or does it look like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAKpOvbHWSU

It was scary as heck when it happened to my cat, as like you, I didn't have a clue what to expect in the mornings. He went from having his third eyelid permanently up to an eye he couldn't open, drunkenly staggering, loss of appetite and a tilted head, his eyes would also flick around. Does your cat have any of that? Try not to panic, because even though it looks extremely alarming, it is treatable!!

In my cat's case it was caused by a nasty inner ear infection and a polyp, the former of which was picked up by a CT scan, and the latter was found when he had surgery. He had peripheral vestibular disease.

Gold_Dust_2

I'd like to post some more but I have to go and cook right now, I'll be back later! And I forgot to say, I'm sorry that you're going through this. You can PM me if you have any questions at all, or even just to discuss it in a bit more depth.

P.S. I'll PM you a video of what my cat looked like, and you can see if there are any similarities.

Miss_J

Thanks everyone, especially Goldust. Hubby has told me off for looking at the YouTube videos, he says I just worry myself more when I keep researching things, think that's my medical background.

Lady night he looked more like the cat in the first video except he doesn't have the head tilt. I haven't noticed any rapid eye movements except his pupils are huge, which he tends to get when he hasn't had his painkiller.

There is obviously something affecting his balance because even though he's not falling down any more on walking he is walking with a very slow, stilted walk. Also when he tries to come down from something (after being lifted on cos he can't jump, yet 2 days ago he jumped over a 6 foot fence) he starts to gently lower himself but then flips over and falls off. I just can't understand how it could have come on so quickly,

Gold_Dust_2

Miss_J wrote: »

Thanks everyone, especially Goldust. Hubby has told me off for looking at the YouTube videos, he says I just worry myself more when I keep researching things, think that's my medical background.

Lady night he looked more like the cat in the first video except he doesn't have the head tilt. I haven't noticed any rapid eye movements except his pupils are huge, which he tends to get when he hasn't had his painkiller.

There is obviously something affecting his balance because even though he's not falling down any more on walking he is walking with a very slow, stilted walk. Also when he tries to come down from something (after being lifted on cos he can't jump, yet 2 days ago he jumped over a 6 foot fence) he starts to gently lower himself but then flips over and falls off. I just can't understand how it could have come on so quickly,

I think it's natural to try and learn as much about it as you can and a good idea too, as it helps you to make an informed decision and prepares you for any nasty surprises, but only if a person can remain level-headed whilst they're doing it.

His eyes aren't flicking, are they drifting in any direction? Doesn't mean that they will do anything funny, it's just a good indication of what's going on if you do see anything.

It sounds like he's actually improving, is that right? There was no improvement in my cat's symptoms, he just got progressively worse so if he is improving that's brilliant news! His improvement will be gradual, so even though he's walking slowly right now, it's still a step in the right direction (no pun intended).

You should restrict his roaming area for the time being as he is accident prone at the moment, you don't want him to hurt himself. Bless him

This problem is more common than you'd believe, I couldn't believe it when I did my own research. It came on suddenly for us too, one day he was walking around and the next day he wasn't! It could have happened as a result of some trauma, could be an infection, could be so many things. It's worth while asking the vet about trying some antibiotics out too just in case it has been caused by infection.

The best thing we did was take him to the RVC as what had seemed to be life threatening and untreatable at the local vet's office turned into something manageable when we took him there. I can't recommend them enough. They took a very detailed medical history and then did a thorough examination - it took about an hour for each of those things. It was well worth the initial consult fee just to find out what was wrong with him and I felt like I got my money's worth instead of wasting loads of money at the local vet when specialist care was needed. They diagnosed him with peripheral vestibular disease after the physical consultation and found the ear infection after a CT scan, which was brilliant. My vet could only suggest an MRI and would see where to go from there, but I didn't really have any confidence in that route - turns out that the CT was much cheaper than the suggested MRI, but it wasn't an option via the local vet. Perhaps your vet would be willing to refer him. Is he insured btw?

Hopefully this is just some idiopathic problem and is already on its way to clearing up. Please keep us updated.

Saracena

Severe constipation can certainly cause the symptoms you describe and given the improvement after defecation (incidentally, inappropriate elimination is also a symptom) this would be my first suspicion, since the blood results were normal. Frankly, I'm surprised your vet didn't prescribe something for this or offer an enema. I would certainly inform her about these recent developments and concentrate in sorting this before considering steroids. I'd also look at his current diet and take prevention measures-adding more moisture for one thing!

In addition, although his elevated blood pressure may have been a one-off, I'd have this checked again. It's important to control this (can cause damage to vital organs) and if it persists he may require medication to treat it.


Hope he's better soon!

Miss_J

Saracens

Thanks for your advice. His blood pressure has been borderline for a good few months without getting higher so has been stable. So far the vet has left this alone and allowed his thyroid function slightly higher to spare his kidneys/heart. I am worried that if this does relate to constipation then it could happen again and although he is heaps better he still can't jump onto the bed or the sofa, yet on Tuesday he was scaling a 6 foot fence. I'm taking him in tonight for his injection and it's a different vet and although I value my vet a second opinion won't hurt.

I'm hoping the steroid injection helps with his arthritis, it was mentioned ages ago by the vet but she was slightly reluctant because of the potential affects on his kidneys. I currently help manage his arthritis with daily Easeflex and alternative day Metacam. He was prescribed daily Metacam for a 3.5 kilo cat but it soon became apparent that it upset his tummy and he would vomit. So now it's alternative days and only for a 1 kilo cat, it sometimes means though that he's still in pain (usually from thinking he is a 5 year old cat jumping over fences and off high walls). So I'm really hopeful this helps his symptoms.

Miss_J

Back from the vets. No steroid given, vet said it was a last lotion and not really recommended as he's already on non steroidal and ours easily affect his kidneys.

She said that she didn't think it was a stroke as he has no lasting symptoms and could just be a wiring issue from the brain due to his age. She also said though the constipation could have had a major impact on his movement due to the pain pushed across his already uncomfortable pelvis and the fact that he started improving after emptying his bowel seems to support this. She checked his bowel and said there was nothing in it but if he has a problem with it again we can certainly give him something to help.

He's come back looking rather dejected about having been twice in a week, and she told he to continue with the Fortekor that the vet gave the other day. He's wolfed down his dinner and had a good wander around the front garden and then almost ran back up the 10 or so stairs back to the front door. Much to my surprise he then lept onto the sofa, the first time since this happened and wandered over to his favourite spit touched behind the computer. Also very surprising because the vet said genus so skinny and has very little muscle mass in his back end now . So fingers crossed he continues to improve abnd doesn't have any more scares like that again.