- 12 years and 9 months old
- has a history of UTI about 10 years ago, but everything is all right now.
- ]has hyperthyroidism and given Methimazole on daily basis
- given C/D wet and dry food
I immediately brought her to an emergency pet hospital the following day (July 14th) and the emergency vet did a full exam. Result:
- Blood test looks OK. High white blood cell count, but the vet was not concerned
- X-Ray looks OK per the radiologist, but they could not see my cat spinal cord.
- Vet noted that there are moderate amount of poop in the colon
- Kidney and liver is fine
- Nothing that indicate cancer
- Vet consulted with the in-house surgeon and noticed left hind limb not placing as well on lateral movement when checking CPs, but otherwise no pain or orthopedic abnormalities
- Lactulose Solution: to soften the poop in the colon
- Gabapentin: for pain
- Onsior: anti inflammatory for the cat back
Other than that, she is unsure and hence needing to make appointment with a neurologist.... may be experiencing pain or neurologic abnormalities consistent with compression of the spinal cord. Neurologic diseases that can cause this include intervertebral disc disease (IVDD), infections of the spinal cord or fluid, masses or tumors pressing on the spinal cord or in some cases a traumatic accident impacting the spinal cord.
The most common cause is IVDD, when a disc becomes dehydrated, shrinks and pops up onto the spinal cord. This is a painful disease and can progress to paralysis if left untreated. Surgical intervention is sometimes necessary if patients that have a spinal cord compression caused by a disc. There are other causes of these signs, such as a tumor pressing on the spinal cord in the same manner, or any type of inflammation/infection of or around the spinal cord. Advanced imaging with an MRI or CT as well as a spinal tap can rule out these other causes.
Unfortunately, ALL neurologists in my area (4 different hospitals) are all booked till August and I made appointment for that time. I also made an appointment with my regular vet for July 17th just in case.
As of July 15th:
- she is still wobbly and that SEEMS to be worsening: she no longer can jump to the bed (if she did, she will fall) and cannot walk more than a few steps before her back legs gave in.
- her appetite is still good and eating normally
- she spent all the time just sitting and not playing anymore
- breathing is fine
- used the litter box on July 14th (one time) and July 15th (one time). Multiple small poops in the litter box that is not soft, but not too hard either.
While waiting for the neurologist exam, does anyone know what is happening to my cat? Anything else I can do for her? Is she in pain? She was normal one day and the next... BAM! Couldn't walk properly. I am just very concerned that this happened suddenly and it breaks my heart to see her going from doing zoomies to not being able to walk properly.