Hi all! I found this forum in hopes of finding any suggestions for my cat boyfriends family cat Maurice.
He began a steady decline a few months ago and after 4 vet visits, they still can’t figure out why he’s so sick. I refuse to believe he is just getting old at age 10.
He has been an outdoor cat his whole life and is one of the most social, energetic and non caring cat I have ever met. One day he started staying inside all day which we thought was strange, but it was stormy out that week. After that we noticed he had trouble jumping on to things like he used to, like his back legs were weak. The first vet after doing many tests and X-rays, prescribed him a pain killer due to not finding anything.This seemed to make him feel a little better so she switched him over to one that she supposedly knew more about for long term treatments in cats. The kicker is that the instructions inside say specifically to not administer for cats. I looked it up and the FDA has a black box warning for cat use but cat be used in a small dose if the vet wishes to do so. He was on it for a week or two and had two seizures on it and got bad again so we stopped using it. My boyfriends mom also decided to stop his flea treatment just in case that might be impacting his health too and since he was only staying inside now. After about two or three weeks we decided to take him to a new vet. This vet could only tell us that now our cat is infested with fleas and he is giving up. Alarmed, we get him back on his medication. I start flea combing him a bit after that and my boyfriend begins to give him tuna and all kinds of enticing wet food at night. He seemed to do a bit better then one day last week he perked up. He was jumping all around for 3 days straight! Running and meowing so much it was ANNOYING us! He was really excited and happy and ate a lot. Followed us everywhere, but still didn’t go outside all day like he used to. Although he did go for some time during the day. My boyfriend just have him his next dose of flea meds because after those three days he crashed again and we figured it might be due to the dose being soon. This is the second day after the dose and I can’t even touch him without him yowling/screaming. I came over and tried to do the flea comb and he was so visibly and vocally uncomfortable. I don’t even have to actually touch him and he yowls! I am at such a loss for this guy. It is so hard to see him suffering but we don’t want to put him down if there is some hope out there he can get better. Thank you for reading this massive and confusing story , we appreciate it very much <3
Any suggestions would be greatly encouraged. Anything at all! Thank you.
Vets can’t figure out what’s wrong with my cat?
Re: Vets can’t figure out what’s wrong with my cat?
Hello I also found this forum looking for answers to my 10 year old male cat's issue which are similar to yours! I hope Maurice is okay and improves.
My cat Jacob suddenly stopped jumping up on to the table top and the furniture like he used to to do a million times a day, his rear legs looked weak and wobbly, and his tail has been hanging very low. Onset was sudden, on the 6th of February. I've taken him to my vet a few times since onset. He's had X-rays and blood work which were normal. The vet assumed it was either a soft tissue injury or some spinal tweak that he could have suffered with a fall or something. He was prescribed pain medicine (gabapentin) and two courses of anti inflammatory meds (Onsior (sp?)). Hes still on Gabapentin, but since onset his condition has basically not changed at all.
He has jumped onto furniture and table tops a few times, but with much more effort and several failed attempts. He mostly uses his front claws to climb up onto the couch or bed. His tail is still hanging low which is very!! abnormal for him - his tail used to be up like a flag at all times. His hind legs are occasionally wobbly, but it seems to be more noticeable in the mornings for some reason?
His symptoms have definitely not worsened at all, but it's been about 3 weeks now and he's still not normal. My vet couldn't give me an exact answer for why this happened or when it should resolve.
Jacob is an inside cat, and not using flea medication like Maurice, so that's different. But like you I'm scrambling on forums looking for any answers or suggestions. I sincerely wish you and your kitty all the best of health.
- Autumn, Spokane, WA
My cat Jacob suddenly stopped jumping up on to the table top and the furniture like he used to to do a million times a day, his rear legs looked weak and wobbly, and his tail has been hanging very low. Onset was sudden, on the 6th of February. I've taken him to my vet a few times since onset. He's had X-rays and blood work which were normal. The vet assumed it was either a soft tissue injury or some spinal tweak that he could have suffered with a fall or something. He was prescribed pain medicine (gabapentin) and two courses of anti inflammatory meds (Onsior (sp?)). Hes still on Gabapentin, but since onset his condition has basically not changed at all.
He has jumped onto furniture and table tops a few times, but with much more effort and several failed attempts. He mostly uses his front claws to climb up onto the couch or bed. His tail is still hanging low which is very!! abnormal for him - his tail used to be up like a flag at all times. His hind legs are occasionally wobbly, but it seems to be more noticeable in the mornings for some reason?
His symptoms have definitely not worsened at all, but it's been about 3 weeks now and he's still not normal. My vet couldn't give me an exact answer for why this happened or when it should resolve.
Jacob is an inside cat, and not using flea medication like Maurice, so that's different. But like you I'm scrambling on forums looking for any answers or suggestions. I sincerely wish you and your kitty all the best of health.
- Autumn, Spokane, WA
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Re: Vets can’t figure out what’s wrong with my cat?
Has saddle thrombus been ruled out? It's normally much, much more serious than either of these described but have vets checked?
Re: Vets can’t figure out what’s wrong with my cat?
Hello again!
I thought I'd share an update for anyone who may be curious. Jacob has gone back to his normal self over the past three days. He's jumping on the counter tops constantly, and jumping onto furniture normally. His tail is also up like a flag, like normal.
I'm starting to think his problem was arthritis all along. The weather is warming up and suddenly he's better. My grandma had chronic arthritis and she's been feeling great lately as well.
Thanks!
I thought I'd share an update for anyone who may be curious. Jacob has gone back to his normal self over the past three days. He's jumping on the counter tops constantly, and jumping onto furniture normally. His tail is also up like a flag, like normal.
I'm starting to think his problem was arthritis all along. The weather is warming up and suddenly he's better. My grandma had chronic arthritis and she's been feeling great lately as well.
Thanks!