Unsteady Cat

[katy]

I have a 7/8 year old female cat who is generally fit and well. She is eating and drinking well and is acting totally normal except for the fact that she is sometimes very unsteady on her back legs. To give an example, she was just walking around the room and I made a noise which made her jump and she just fell over. Other times she is just walking and stumbles slightly as if she is drunk.

We took her to the vets who checked her over, did some bloods and said there was nothing wrong. Typically she wasnt doing it when we were at the vets so they couldnt see her 'in action'.

As I say, she is eating and drinking, she is outdoors alot so cannot comment on litter tray, she hasnt vomited in the house, her eyes look normal, her ears were checked at the vets, she can jump still (although just had a moment when she didnt make the jump onto the bed but its the first time thats happened), she has only lost a slight amount of weight but has always been on the slender side (not skinny)....not sure what else I can say really.

Can anyone offer any advice? I will be taking her back to a different vet but wondered if anyone has any experience of this type of behaviour?

[Baggypants]

Hi Katy
This must be very worrying for you to see. I'm sorry I don't have any experience of this but I would suggest if you can try to video her when she's doing it to show the vet? Do you have a camera on your phone perhaps that you could use? Often when we take our pets to the vet the stress of it makes their ailment less visible.
I wonder if its some form of arthritis making her stiff? It's just an idea - hopefully someone will be along shortly who might have more experience.
Good luck x

[greenkitty]

Good idea on filming her when she has an episode. I would definitely seek a second opinion or go back with the footage, there's something not right there.

[katy]

Thank you, ive managed to get a video of her finally and have an appointment for the vets today...typically shes escaped outside and we cant find her at the moment!

Strangely enough, last night we discovered a worm on her bottom so will need to treat that today. Could that have any effect on her balance in any way or is it an unlucky coincidence? Seems like one thing after another at the moment!

[greenkitty]

I don't know but the vet will, the worms are easily and cheaply treated though.

They seem to have a sixth sense when it comes to going to the vet!

[Diana]

Dunno if worms have that effect but the video is a great idea. Gives the vet a better understanding. It must be worrying what brought it on but perhaps an x-ray may help here. Lets hope you can get to bottom of this.

[katy]

Hi

Bit of a delay since my last post. I am due to have a baby any day so things are a bit hectic this end.

So the vet did some bloods first - all came back clear, did an xray - came back with few tiny things which they werent happy with but nothing worth mentioning and she said basically she still doesnt know what the problem is. They have done some more bloods to rule out toxoplasmosis and a few other things but apart from that I dont really know what they are going to suggest...I really dont know what to do and its breaking my heart!

My poor baby is really struggling now, she spends most of the time under our bed or our daughters bed...when she walks she is stumbling alot more and often falls over when grooming/eating/walking. She hasnt been outside in weeks and just generally does nothing. Shes only 8 and has gone from a fun loving pussy cat to an old woman over night. I really really dont know what to do! I dont want to give up on her as we dont know what the issue is or whether it can be cured but we have spent over £500 so far and have zero answers and I am worried she has no quality of life. She is even struggling to get into position to poo - the vet said she has loads inside her although her litter tray is being used.

If anyone has any advice or has been through something similar please say

[HRHFluffy]

Hi Katy. I don't have any suggestions but just wanted you to know I've been thinking about you. Wish I could help. Hopefully someone will have some advice for you which is why I wanted to respond and bump your post in case anyone has missed it. How is your little girl? And how are you?

[claire_lee]

Bit of a longshot but did the vet check her ears - they are very important for balance in mammals and an infection in the inner ear could cause balance problems.