17 yr Old Cat - Stroke Victim?
 

I have a cat that turned 17 this month. She was the runt of the litter, but had no health problems after she reached a few months. The only possible problem would be her snoring, which started several years ago.

Seven months ago, she stopped eating. She'd try for a minute or so and then stop. This is unusual, given her usual voracious appetite. We observed her and discovered that food was falling out of her mouth. Around that time, she would have these occasional spells that had her jerking her mouth and pawing at it for a few seconds at a time.

We took her to the vet, who said she had numerous rotten teeth. He pulled the teeth, and while on painkillers, she was eating like normal, and the little spells were gone. Within a week or so, however, she was unable to swallow food again. And the spells returned, much worse. She was now running from her food, pawing at her mouth, and falling over. The spells began to happen literally every 3 minutes. Looking online, I discovered her spells were most likely FOPS. She was treated with anti-seizure medicine. The spells stopped almost entirely in just a day. And she was eating again, albeit watered down canned food.

Within a few days of the medicine, however, her demeanor changed. She was so listless we assumed she was going to die soon. We stopped the medicine. The spells thankfully stopped, and she actually rallied. She was back to her old self, for a week or two at least.

She's deteriorated in recent weeks however. She doesn't want to leave her bed, and she can't keep any food in her mouth. She has to be hand-fed now. Last week, she defecated on herself (on one occasion). Today, she started to urinate blood.

Obviously, this doesn't sound good. However, she is alert. Her eyes are clear and she's very responsive to hand movements from far away. Close-up, however, she doesn't seem able to see well. Her motor skills seem fuzzy; she can't seem to withdraw her claws, and knocks things over when she gets out of her bed. Yet, she does have energy it seems. She's also going to the litter box, but not IN it. She pees right in front of it. Also, today she's making a heavy breathing sound when she does eat.

I did some research online and it seems that perhaps she's recovering from a stroke. Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm sure she's going to the vet again, but the vet has never been able to give her a blood test, because she was so wired at the vet's they couldn't hold her long enough (she hasn't been to the vet's since 1997!) He also stated that if she were to have a serious kidney disease, doing a blood test would be pointless anyway because she's too old for treatment. When he felt her kidneys, she said they felt fine, though.

Does anyone have any advice? The fact that she's so alert leads me to believe that she has some life in her. She's also rallied before, just a couple of months ago, so I'm reluctant to have her put down at the moment. I don't want her to be in pain, however. If anyone has anything to suggest, please let me know.

Hmmm. Well, that does sound like teeth and possibly teeth again if one didnèt heal up properly.

Your Vet may need to sedate her to get a blood sample. I have the same problem with one of mine.

Kidney Disease is not an automatic death sentence. They can go a long time on reduced kidney function, heck my own human mother has been for years, animals can too. It depends how bad it is, which you need the blood test for.

I donèt know about stroke in cats. Is it possible she is having side effects from the medicationÉ.

Sorry for the wonky letters, keyboard went screwy. Good luck.

If your cat is urinating blood she needs to see a vet immediately