Not good news for Blackie ... or us

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Jan
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Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by Jan »

As episodes continued of Blackie having pain when squatting to urinate or just walking, we took him to a different vet this afternoon as our usual vet is not open on a Sunday. He had a thorough examination with the vet and a nurse pulling his leg this way and that with Blackie acting like a wild animal :oops: Upshot of the nearly hour long consultation involving his medical history, was the vet's verdict that Blackie has a squashed nerve in his lower back. She thinks this is most likely because the pain is intermittent. She said an x-ray would definitely rule out any arthritis and confirm her diagnosis. Next stop would be a MRI scan if we wanted to go down that route.

I remember now that a few weeks ago, his fur looked spiky and he just didn't look his normal self but there was no indication that he was in any pain, Its possible he was in a bit of pain but not as advanced to make him howl and cry. It can only get worse as time goes by

I'm very worried that his bladder is pretty full at the moment but its too painful for him to squat down in his tray so if he hasn't had a wee by tomorrow morning, we'll be back at the vets again,
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by booktigger »

Aww, poor thing. Fingers crossed for him
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by bobbys girl »

Oh poor old Blackie. I hope they can do something for him.
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by LittlePenBigHeart »

Oh my goodness, poor Blackie. :(

Please do keep an eye on him and make sure he's weeing. Can you keep him in a room with you, equipped with a litter tray? If he's drinking and not managing to wee (which should still be possible, even if he really can't bend down and ends up spraying somewhere) after a day, you'll need to take him to the vet for them to express the urine from his bladder. Cats bladders can get overfilled quite easily and it can become very serious, but keep an eye on him and you'll be able to prevent any further problems before they occur.
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by Lilith »

So ... perhaps your close encounter with him the other day just exacerbated an already existing condition? A cat without that wonky nerve might have just yelled, jumped away, washed and there'd have been an end to it?

It would be good to think that since that first episode calmed down by itself, so will this, but of course you have to do your best to get relief for him, do hope you do or that time proves to be the remedy, poor old lad, fusses to him x
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by Mayday21 »

Hi Jan sorry to read that Blackie's experiencing a couple of health issues & sending +Ve thoughts & lots of fusses for him. Vivian
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Jan
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

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Lilith wrote:So ... perhaps your close encounter with him the other day just exacerbated an already existing condition? A cat without that wonky nerve might have just yelled, jumped away, washed and there'd have been an end to it?

It would be good to think that since that first episode calmed down by itself, so will this, but of course you have to do your best to get relief for him, do hope you do or that time proves to be the remedy, poor old lad, fusses to him x
We now think I didn't tread on Blackie at all. Remembering the angle he was limping out of the kitchen door, it wasn't from the direction where I was standing. He had been standing on a hard floor waiting for his food right before the howling started. It seems standing or sitting on a hard floor brings the pain on.

We also now think this problem has been coming for a quite a while.

He's always been a very active cat - up until a few months ago, he loved to jump up high in the garden to catch a piece of string and rush after a ping pong ball. He had no fear of jumping up onto the kitchen worktop and down again. He was a very active old boy. But in recent months he hasn't been interested in playing much at all. More often than not he'd look disinterested and walk away. As we all know cats hide their pain very well until it reaches a point where they can't anymore.

Dear little soul came on the bed around 3.30am last night and the first I knew was the sound of him purring on the pillow next to my head where he slept for a while until he decided to move a bit further down the bed.

Sadly he was in a lot of pain again this morning after sitting/laying on a hard floor in the garden room so I'm waiting for a call from the vet we saw yesterday to see if we can get some pain relief for him.
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Jan
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by Jan »

LittlePenBigHeart wrote:Oh my goodness, poor Blackie. :(

Please do keep an eye on him and make sure he's weeing. Can you keep him in a room with you, equipped with a litter tray? If he's drinking and not managing to wee (which should still be possible, even if he really can't bend down and ends up spraying somewhere) after a day, you'll need to take him to the vet for them to express the urine from his bladder. Cats bladders can get overfilled quite easily and it can become very serious, but keep an eye on him and you'll be able to prevent any further problems before they occur.
Pleased to say that Blackie actually had a wee in his basket on the way back from the vets yesterday. We didn't discover it until we saw Blackie sniffing around his cat basket! He also had another wee during the evening as well as a poo,. As he has had bladder issues in the past and has been on Cystophan for the past 3 years, I keep a close eye on his toileting habits.

The only rooms we could confine him to are bedrooms (soft carpets) or garden room- as long he sleeps in his cat bed on the sofa). I'm going to put his soft cat bed upstairs in the hope that he'll get into it, along with his food + litter trays.

The vet told us yesterday that after the x-ray to positively rule out spinal arthritis, we could then go for the MRI scan to see which nerve is being squashed. Last of all is an op if its feasible. If not ....

Thank you for one and all for your support,. Will probably need a lot more in the coming weeks.
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by Lilith »

Whatever happened, it could have been for the best as it alerted you to the fact that something's wrong, good luck and fusses to Blackie x
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Jan
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by Jan »

Thanks to one and all for the good wishes.

Due to Blackie still having pain yesterday we phoned the hospital again and without me having to ask, Sarah (vet) told me to bring him in as they would better be able to control his pain and contain him in their hospital cattery. He had looked so miserable laying on the stairs here at home, afraid to move, it was heart breaking.

Sarah phoned later to tell me that she managed to move his x-ray op to today instead of Wednesday. She called me this morning to tell me that poor little puss was beside himself with fear and stress when they attempted to draw some blood from him and it might be better to go straight to anaesthetic. All his blood readings from 3 months ago were good and he had a strong heart for his age.

The x-rays will cover his spine, hips and knees though she again said she didn't expect to see much and he would probably need a MRI scan.

After a good cry yesterday, I'm beginning to wonder how much more we can put Blackie through.
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by BabyBerlioz »

Poor boy. It's heartbreaking to see animals in pain. Keeping everything crossed for him.
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by booktigger »

Poor thing, do hope the x rays show something and he doesn't need an MRI.
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by Lilith »

Oh poor little guy :( Still he's where he needs to be - though I realise both you and he must be frantic. So very very sorry to hear.

Everything crossed here, paws, tails, the lot and GOOD LUCK BLACKIE x
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by alanc »

Poor chap. Hope the x-ray shows what is wrong and it can be fixed.
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Jan
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by Jan »

Had a call this morning from Sarah who told me they couldn't get near him to take some blood - Blackie was fighting like a demon - so would it ok for them to go straight to anaesthetic? Blackie is like a wild animal if strangers try to do something with him. I told her to do whatever necessary as these x-rays needed to be done.

Results from the whole spine showed a lot of bone spurs in the vertebras (Blackie and I have something in common!). His hips were fine though his patella slipped out of its socket easily. She felt that the x-rays didn't give the whole picture and that its more than likely that a bone spur or spurs have grown large enough to compress a nerve (or nerves) which would cause pain. I had the choice of going for the MRI scan or a myelogram - the latter could be done at their hospital but they don't have a MRI scanner. Blackie would need a referral letter to another vet hospital for that which they will give.

I asked the difference and she told me, apart from cost, the MRI scan is the crème de la crème, though she felt the myelogram would also show most of what was being looked for - but not everything. It also has some small risks attached. Even though it means moving Blackie to another hospital, I decided to go for the MRI scan - also hoping that they can find a hospital where the scan can be done asap and not too far away.

Sarah did say the cost would be very high for a MRI scan but as my late mother left me a fair sum of money (apart from her house) I explained that as Blackie was so dear to her, I couldn't justify doing anything other than the very best for her beloved cat who has become our beloved cat. I can still hear Mum saying to me 'sell the house, he's worth it' when she first went into the care home. (Mind you, the week before when speaking to her on the phone she'd told me to put him down :lol: ).

I am hoping we hear very soon about the scan - I will have to warn those who come into contact with Blackie that he fights like a wild beast when approached by vets :roll: Is this the same cat who, on Sunday night came and laid on the pillow by my head and woke me up with his deep purring? He is a real Jekyll and Hyde - fortunately he is Jekyll with us.

This is a difficult time especially as Sarah told me that, having managed to get some blood from him after all, the results were all good and that for a cat of 14+half Blackie is otherwise healthy which is why I won't give up on him until we've exhausted all avenues or until I can see that Blackie has had enough.

Thank you all again for your support - it means so much - moved me to tears.
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by booktigger »

Poor Blackie - did she say what the treatment would be? Will doing an MRI change that? if not, I'd ask to skip it, after putting my similarly natured cat through a lot of travelling for an unnecessary CT scan.
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by Jan »

booktigger wrote:Poor Blackie - did she say what the treatment would be? Will doing an MRI change that? if not, I'd ask to skip it, after putting my similarly natured cat through a lot of travelling for an unnecessary CT scan.
Spoke to a vet today to tell them that the symptoms Blackie is showing all seem indicative of a luxating patella (internet is a wonderful thing - or not!). One of the x-rays showed his right leg patella had slipped out of its groove to the lateral side of his leg. Vet said while a luxating patella may be the problem, there is a lot of narrowing of Blackie's spinal vertebras and they want to rule out (or confirm) that a trapped nerve(s) is/are the problem with the leg first. I understood this - not that it gave me much comfort.

I haven't given him any Buprecare today but looks like I'm going to have to give him a dose soon as he limped out to the hall crying with pain (though heaven knows how I'll get it down him). That is the first real pain episode today. He hopped a bit this morning but there was no crying.

He absolutely loathes being kept indoors - especially as today it was sunny. None of this has curbed his appetite though most of the time he's laying on the stairs, looking down at me with plenty of black looks! Or I get a little 'uh' - his hard done by sound. Expect he'll get his own back again by laying by my head on the pillow at 3.30am and wake me up with his loud purring.

The referral appointment is Tuesday - so only another 5 sleepless nights for me until Tuesday :roll:

Update: not the greatest attempt with Bupracare - he fought me all the way and clamped his mouth shut. He's a strong boy!
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by booktigger »

They think Lucy also has that, but decided it was probably genetic and she had compensated for it - I was glad, it was the worst recovery of the two surgeries
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

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They think Lucy also has that, but decided it was probably genetic and she had compensated for it - I was glad, it was the worst recovery of the two surgeries. Glad you don't have to wait too long
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Re: Not good news for Blackie ... or us

Post by Mayday21 »

Hi Jan really sending +Ve vibes to Blackie. Poor boy & hope solution is not too far away. Vivian
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