Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hi all,
Apologises in advance - a lot of questions.

I'm pretty worried. Friday night Twitch started having balance problems, falling off during her usual route of chairs and desks as she tried to step on thin air. She paced around around rooms on the floor. We had to wait until Tues for an appointment. It's heartbreaking - she is normally so agile! She's also really unresponsive - 1000 mile stare. We've guessed she'd slowly been going senile (now 16 years old), but she seems to have progressed from ditsy to utterly gone within a few days.

The vet has given us hope - he reckons her balance is effected by her ear and nose blockages - every time she shakes her head (like when she sneezes) is makes are balance terrible. Being ill is effecting her whole personality. So he's given Twitch 8 days of antibiotics (Nisamox) which should clear everything up. Well, it's been 2 1/2 days and she seems worse. She's started facing directly into corners and yesterday spent a long time scrabbling at the wall. Today she is facing a corner and then just laying there. I don't know if she is getting worse or she is simply distressed by all the tablet taking. Sometimes she notices if you wave by her face, sometimes not. She hasn't really eaten anything either, so probably low on energy too.

So, I have a few questions:
1. Has anyone had a similar situation whereby antibiotics have been prescribed to a cat this unresponsive? If so, how long before you noticed any improvement?
2. What is she trying to achieve with her corner obsession?
3. Is there any way to stimulate her, like with people with Alzheimer's, smell & audio sort of thing?
4. How do I get a depressed, ill, unresponsive cat who is a picky eater at the best of times to bloomin' eat! (I held her in my arms with a tin of Gourmet directly in front of her hoping she'd smell it and have a small lick - no joy)
5. We also been given medicine that is meant to help dementia (Nutramind) and pain relief (Metacam) - all stuff you put on food, so utterly useless at the moment. Can you get this in tablet form? OR is there a way to give this orally, e.g. diluted in a pipette?

If anyone can give me some advice I'd be really grateful.
Many thanks.

Hi, I'm so sorry to hear about Twitch, poor lass

While I can't advise about the other stuff, I can recommend this - it's a high-calorie gunk (looks a bit like golden syrup) that you can wipe on the cat's lips (so it licks it off.) So the cat does get something even if it won't eat.

https://www.viovet.co.uk/Nutri-Vit_Form ... 7Qod--sIcA

You can get it via Amazon and from Pets At Home too, I think.

All the very very best with her, give her a love from me x

Poor girl, I suffer from ear infections on and off and I can say it absolutely no fun at all, kind of like having a really bad hangover without the fun of the night before, I've had days where I have ended up lying in bed feeling sick with the world spinning around me, not wanting to move as it justs makes it all worse. If she is going through something like that i can't blame her for not wanting to eat or do anything but sleep.

As far as the antibiotics are concerned, some work really quickly, you can notice a difference in 24 hours, others take longer, up to the full length of the course, it depends on the antibiotic and the infection. The side effects from antibiotics can also be unpleasant which might be adding to her feeling bad. Worst case scenario is that the infection is viral not bacterial, in which case the antibiotics won't clear the infection they will just help fight off any secondary infections and it will be up to her own immune system to clear the infection up herself, normally its reckoned to take between 10 days and 2 weeks to fight off an infection (in humans, not sure if cats might be a bit quicker having a higher body temperature normally).

When one of mine had Metacam I was told that if she wouldn't take it on food I could just pipette it into her. However just in case you have been given a different type it would be worth checking with the vet first. In anycase if she isn't any better tomorrow (Friday), it would be worth getting her checked again, it's better for her to see her own vet and get any additional treatment sorted than end up having to see an emergency vet on Sunday if things take a turn for the worse.

I hope she's feeling better soon.

Many thanks to Ruth B and Lilith for the advice.
Sadly Twitch's problems turned out not to be an ear infection, it was neurological. She went rapidly down hill over a few days and passed away last night. I'm pleased she went easily & peacefully, and we didn't need to take her to be euthanized (that would have distressed her more). We're upset, but she was a rescue cat and had 16 happy years with us, so I think she had a good life, and that's what's important.

I'm so sorry to hear this, RIP little one

I'm so sorry this didn't have a better outcome, but at least she could pass quietly to sleep in surrounding she knew and was happy in.