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lovekitties August 19th, 2013 01:38 PM

my cat is dizzy and losing balance, please help
 
Hi all,
One of my cats is showing symptoms which are similar to some symptoms posted in other threads, yet I can't find any obvious correlations.

Our vet is stumped and cannot suggest anything constructive yet. We're considering doing a test for Thyroid soon to check for that too.

He is a European shorthaired male [adopted stray], neutered.

SYMPTOMS AND INFO:
My cat has been weak on the hind legs, walking as though his is dizzy. He loses his balance easily, and especially when he shakes his head - he just falls over.
He is lethargic most of the time and barely has the strength to walk around. He eats reluctantly most of the time and i have to hand feed him to entice him to eat. Unless it is something he really feels like and purrs when i offer it to him.
He often kind of 'stares' very often with a dead gaze...
He moans when i pick him up. He does enjoy being brushed... I suspect he doesn't have the energy to groom himself. He seems to have dandruff too now.

He has just started shaking a bit today... hind legs and also his head. Its not constant though, i just noticed it for a while this morning.
I cannot comment about his litter usage as I have 3 cats.

His bloodwork is all fine, no sign of diabetes either. Thyroid hasn't been tested yet.
He eats wet food, mostly canned Whiskas as he doesn't like much else. Sometimes he accepts to eat the raw food that I feed my other cats. Now he is eating canned tuna sometimes and ham.
He has lost a substantial amount of weight too.

We can't determine his age as he was adopted as an older cat. He is definitely older than 5yrs. He does go out, but not very far, mostly in surrounding gardens or small field next door.

We vaccinated him a few months ago and recently had to sedate him to take his blood to be tested. The sedation had a very strong impact on him - it knocked him out very much. His symptoms started before the vaccination.
He had a bad ear mite infection a short while ago, and we administered canaural for just over 3 weeks. It seems to have got worse around the time all this was happening.

He had one good day last week - more energy and he even jumped onto a low wall! That was the only day and after that, back to usual.

We are in constant contact with out vet who is also baffled by this.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Thank you!

Barkingdog August 19th, 2013 06:36 PM

[QUOTE=lovekitties;1060823]Hi all,
One of my cats is showing symptoms which are similar to some symptoms posted in other threads, yet I can't find any obvious correlations.

Our vet is stumped and cannot suggest anything constructive yet. We're considering doing a test for Thyroid soon to check for that too.

He is a European shorthaired male [adopted stray], neutered.

SYMPTOMS AND INFO:
My cat has been weak on the hind legs, walking as though his is dizzy. He loses his balance easily, and especially when he shakes his head - he just falls over.
He is lethargic most of the time and barely has the strength to walk around. He eats reluctantly most of the time and i have to hand feed him to entice him to eat. Unless it is something he really feels like and purrs when i offer it to him.
He often kind of 'stares' very often with a dead gaze...
He moans when i pick him up. He does enjoy being brushed... I suspect he doesn't have the energy to groom himself. He seems to have dandruff too now.

He has just started shaking a bit today... hind legs and also his head. Its not constant though, i just noticed it for a while this morning.
I cannot comment about his litter usage as I have 3 cats.

His bloodwork is all fine, no sign of diabetes either. Thyroid hasn't been tested yet.
He eats wet food, mostly canned Whiskas as he doesn't like much else. Sometimes he accepts to eat the raw food that I feed my other cats. Now he is eating canned tuna sometimes and ham.
He has lost a substantial amount of weight too.

We can't determine his age as he was adopted as an older cat. He is definitely older than 5yrs. He does go out, but not very far, mostly in surrounding gardens or small field next door.

We vaccinated him a few months ago and recently had to sedate him to take his blood to be tested. The sedation had a very strong impact on him - it knocked him out very much. His symptoms started before the vaccination.
He had a bad ear mite infection a short while ago, and we administered canaural for just over 3 weeks. It seems to have got worse around the time all this was happening.

He had one good day last week - more energy and he even jumped onto a low wall! That was the only day and after that, back to usual.

We are in constant contact with out vet who is also baffled by this.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Thank you![/QUOTE]

Canned tuna and ham does have salt , and too much salt it bad for pets and not a balance diet , will you can eat wet food at all? How long have you had your cat? I was thinking maybe you could call the shelter and see if they the cat history or if they had some virus going on their shelter.

lovekitties August 20th, 2013 06:04 PM

Update
 
Thank you for your reply.

He has been on a wet food diet since he adopted us. Occasional dry food. Mostly Applaws / Whiskas. We only fed him ham because he would not eat. We tried to give him raw food diet like our other cats but only accepts it when it is freshly made. Tuna very occasionally too.

Yesterday, he had a great evening after a bad start to the day. In the morning he was very low and lethargic with no appetite and also had slight shaking of head and leg.
In the evening he started slowly pacing around the room as though to exercise. His balance was not good, he lost balance, and when he hit his ear and shook his head, he fell over!
Shortly after, he had a voracious appetite for ham and raw x chicken diet. he drank too. He then started walking around, his balance improved and he even turned around without losing balance. he explored around, visibly curious and better, even his coat looked better; his dandruff seemed to have gone!
He also felt ticklish on his tummy [he used to be extremely ticklish before the onset of his symptoms].

This morning, back to a bad day. No appetite, lethargic... the usual. This evening he accepted canned tuna [not ham] and ate almost a whole can purring. But his balance is awful and he can hardly stand up, but almost crawls.

I suspect it has something to do with his head/neck... he moans when i pick him up and when i try to prop him up from his neck.

We are all baffled :(

Barkingdog August 20th, 2013 06:15 PM

[QUOTE=lovekitties;1060864]Thank you for your reply.

He has been on a wet food diet since he adopted us. Occasional dry food. Mostly Applaws / Whiskas. We only fed him ham because he would not eat. We tried to give him raw food diet like our other cats but only accepts it when it is freshly made. Tuna very occasionally too.

Yesterday, he had a great evening after a bad start to the day. In the morning he was very low and lethargic with no appetite and also had slight shaking of head and leg.
In the evening he started slowly pacing around the room as though to exercise. His balance was not good, he lost balance, and when he hit his ear and shook his head, he fell over!
Shortly after, he had a voracious appetite for ham and raw x chicken diet. he drank too. He then started walking around, his balance improved and he even turned around without losing balance. he explored around, visibly curious and better, even his coat looked better; his dandruff seemed to have gone!
He also felt ticklish on his tummy [he used to be extremely ticklish before the onset of his symptoms].

This morning, back to a bad day. No appetite, lethargic... the usual. This evening he accepted canned tuna [not ham] and ate almost a whole can purring. But his balance is awful and he can hardly stand up, but almost crawls.

I suspect it has something to do with his head/neck... he moans when i pick him up and when i try to prop him up from his neck.

We are all baffled :([/QUOTE]

I wonder if chiropractor for pets could help if you think it's neck. My daughter's cat was not able to move his hind legs and had to drag himself around the house. The vet had no idea what happen to the cat , he was rescue cat and may of had an old injury that came back. I hop you can find out what wrong with your poor kitty , it much be very heartbreaking not knowing how to help him. If you do try a chiropractor be sure to check out them out to see if they're license to treat pets .

Loki Love August 20th, 2013 07:15 PM

I'm guessing this bloodwork would show signals to a neurological disorder - this clearly sounds like what's going on.

What was the vaccination for? Could it be a possible side effect?

Barkingdog August 20th, 2013 08:12 PM

[QUOTE=Loki Love;1060869]I'm guessing this bloodwork would show signals to a neurological disorder - this clearly sounds like what's going on.

What was the vaccination for? Could it be a possible side effect?[/QUOTE]

Do you think it could be some kind of virus infection ?

Reg August 20th, 2013 09:44 PM

Hi:

I am sorry to hear of the trouble you are having with your cat. Conditions like this become very frustrating and hard on the nerves to say the least.

I've been thinking about your problems today and after seeing Barkingdogs reply to your comments of earlier. I think his suggestion of using a chiropractor might be worth considering, considering what appears to be neck or spine problems. Something else I think might be worth looking into would be homeopathics or naturopathic medicine to see if a practitioner could shed some light on the problem. The way you speak it appears as if you have a vet that you can work with, and has animals well-being at heart. If you think he is open to alternatives I would be running it by him and getting his ideas, and possibly he could give you some referrals, and possibly suggest a chiropractor.

I had similar problems years ago where the vet had hit a brick wall and didn't know what to do, or where to go. A friend suggested alternatives, and we found a vet who had practiced regular medicine for 12 years, and decided to expand her knowledge into homeopathic medicine. She was able to put her finger on the problem, which proved to be a comedy of errors, vaccinations, spaying, long distance travel with strange animals and of course a new home, not to mention and overprescribing of antibiotics over extended period of time. This raised supreme havoc with her metabolism. The damage done left her with no alternative but to treat with homeopathics and the cat is still with us today.

I think your vet would more than likely appreciate knowing what the problem is that he is unable to solve. So have a chat and see what the vet suggests. We would be anxious to hear the outcome.

Barkingdog August 21st, 2013 07:53 AM

[QUOTE=Reg;1060876]Hi:

I am sorry to hear of the trouble you are having with your cat. Conditions like this become very frustrating and hard on the nerves to say the least.

I've been thinking about your problems today and after seeing Barkingdogs reply to your comments of earlier. I think his suggestion of using a chiropractor might be worth considering, considering what appears to be neck or spine problems. Something else I think might be worth looking into would be homeopathics or naturopathic medicine to see if a practitioner could shed some light on the problem. The way you speak it appears as if you have a vet that you can work with, and has animals well-being at heart. If you think he is open to alternatives I would be running it by him and getting his ideas, and possibly he could give you some referrals, and possibly suggest a chiropractor.

I had similar problems years ago where the vet had hit a brick wall and didn't know what to do, or where to go. A friend suggested alternatives, and we found a vet who had practiced regular medicine for 12 years, and decided to expand her knowledge into homeopathic medicine. She was able to put her finger on the problem, which proved to be a comedy of errors, vaccinations, spaying, long distance travel with strange animals and of course a new home, not to mention and overprescribing of antibiotics over extended period of time. This raised supreme havoc with her metabolism. The damage done left her with no alternative but to treat with homeopathics and the cat is still with us today.

I think your vet would more than likely appreciate knowing what the problem is that he is unable to solve. So have a chat and see what the vet suggests. We would be anxious to hear the outcome.[/QUOTE]

Hi Reg, I just want to let you know I am woman , but no matter what forum I use people always think I am guy.

lovekitties August 21st, 2013 09:12 AM

[QUOTE=Reg;1060876]Hi:

I am sorry to hear of the trouble you are having with your cat. Conditions like this become very frustrating and hard on the nerves to say the least.

I've been thinking about your problems today and after seeing Barkingdogs reply to your comments of earlier. I think his suggestion of using a chiropractor might be worth considering, considering what appears to be neck or spine problems. Something else I think might be worth looking into would be homeopathics or naturopathic medicine to see if a practitioner could shed some light on the problem. The way you speak it appears as if you have a vet that you can work with, and has animals well-being at heart. If you think he is open to alternatives I would be running it by him and getting his ideas, and possibly he could give you some referrals, and possibly suggest a chiropractor.

I had similar problems years ago where the vet had hit a brick wall and didn't know what to do, or where to go. A friend suggested alternatives, and we found a vet who had practiced regular medicine for 12 years, and decided to expand her knowledge into homeopathic medicine. She was able to put her finger on the problem, which proved to be a comedy of errors, vaccinations, spaying, long distance travel with strange animals and of course a new home, not to mention and overprescribing of antibiotics over extended period of time. This raised supreme havoc with her metabolism. The damage done left her with no alternative but to treat with homeopathics and the cat is still with us today.

I think your vet would more than likely appreciate knowing what the problem is that he is unable to solve. So have a chat and see what the vet suggests. We would be anxious to hear the outcome.[/QUOTE]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'm not sure Brandy needs a chiropractor as his legs are fine, they are just very weak, but it is definitely an alternative. I am very tempted to try out homeopathy and in fact my vet is also well versed in this alternative.
Tonight we are taking Brandy to the clinic to have an XRay and ultrasound... hopefully this will shed light on something.
I spoke to my vet again this morning [he is indeed very supporting] and even after consulting with colleagues, they can't figure out what's wrong with our little one :(
i will keep you posted with the outcome of the tests... thanks for your caring :)

PS barkingdog - I also thought you were a male!

Barkingdog August 21st, 2013 09:29 AM

[QUOTE=lovekitties;1060896]Thank you all for your suggestions. I'm not sure Brandy needs a chiropractor as his legs are fine, they are just very weak, but it is definitely an alternative. I am very tempted to try out homeopathy and in fact my vet is also well versed in this alternative.
Tonight we are taking Brandy to the clinic to have an XRay and ultrasound... hopefully this will shed light on something.
I spoke to my vet again this morning [he is indeed very supporting] and even after consulting with colleagues, they can't figure out what's wrong with our little one :(
i will keep you posted with the outcome of the tests... thanks for your caring :)

PS barkingdog - I also thought you were a male![/QUOTE]

Gee maybe I should let people keeping think I am guy as it happen a lot.

lovekitties August 21st, 2013 05:16 PM

Update
 
A after a very bad few hours, this evening we took brandy to another vet, who did not think an x-ray/scan was necessary. He ran another blood test and once again it came out pretty normal.
This vet is also baffled.
He thinks that whatever brandy has is likely to be degenerative, but wants to eliminate possibilities. He therefore gave him a steroid injection and I have another appointment tomorrow evening.
Brandy had a great appetite this evening, he is moving around a bit and is also alert. So the steroids have made some sort of effect.
Fingers crossed he'll also be fine tomorrow, perhaps that will indicate possible causes and some hope for Brandy. :)

hazelrunpack August 21st, 2013 06:20 PM

Just a thought--here, tick-borne disease can cause neurological symptoms and sometimes nothing shows in the bloodwork. Has Brandy been exposed to ticks recently?

lovekitties August 26th, 2013 05:32 AM

I had never hear of this disease, but as far as I know he hasn't had any ticks.
Brandy has been on steroids since Thursday and until yesterday evening was ok. He then took a turn for the worse.... very lethargic, dizzy after a few paces. I noticed earlier in the day he was pacing around the room a few times.
He also drools slightly [but has always done that since he adopted us].
He does tend to lean left when he loses balance...

Vet says he needs steroids to keep a certain quality of life. I'm now considering homeopathic remedies, but not sure if they could be effective on neurological conditions. Does anyone know?

Thanks...

Barkingdog August 26th, 2013 09:34 AM

Has his ears been checked for any infection? Do his ears have any odor or doe he dig at them? Ears infections can effect the balance and his teeth should be checked if he is drooling a lot . Or maybe he had a stroke ?

Reg August 26th, 2013 09:36 PM

I haven't had any homeopathic experience on neurological conditions, so cannot advise one way or the other. Most of my experience on homeopathics has been just the run of the mill and so far everything seems to have worked okay.
My thoughts would be to contact a homeopathic vet or two via email or telephone and get their opinions on the situation.
I have enclosed a web site of one in the UK that might be able to answer the question. Or maybe try a university.
Wish I could be more help.

[url]http://www.alternativevet.org/homeopathy.htm[/url]

[QUOTE]Hi Reg, I just want to let you know I am woman , but no matter what forum I use people always think I am guy.[/QUOTE]

Yes, Barkingdog - I knew you were female - it was an oversight - blame it on my Dragon, it doesn't understand me very well at times when I dictate to it.

lovekitties October 29th, 2013 06:58 AM

Follow up
 
Dear all I thought i would follow up with an update on Brandy's condition.
The homeopathy didn't work unfortunately.

All vets i have spoken to are stumped a no-one can say for sure what the cause is. The general agreement however is that it is neurological.
Sadly there is no-one here who offers an MRI scan in this country, so i can;t determine if it is a brain tumor.

Meanwhile Brandy has been on Prednisone tablets, which he has reacted well to. The vet has made it clear that this is not a cure, but is simply alleviating the symptoms, and giving him some quality of life.
They can't tell us how long this can continue for either.... so we are living day by day.
Brandy is currently on 10mg / day [approx 5kg cat]. When we tried to reduce the dose, he became weak and dizzy again, so we increased back to 10/day.
even on 10mg, the past 2 days he is showing signs of weakness and dizziness again, so i suspect the doze may need to be increased, which, i guess, is not a good sign :(

Thanks to everyone for all your ongoing comments and support
Lovekitty

Barkingdog October 29th, 2013 09:18 AM

Do you live near a landfill that giving off hydrogen sulfide ? Hydrogen sulfide can made a pet dizzy and act drunk .


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