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Old January 22nd, 2015, 11:58 AM
carolm carolm is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2015
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Hello, I am new here... like others, I came across this thread via Google and found it very helpful! My cat Frip started displaying hind-leg weakness about 3 months ago, at age 11 months. He didn't appear to be in pain but seemed lethargic. I took him to the vet who did an X-ray that came back normal. The vet said he might have fallen or injured himself. He prescribed an anti-inflammatory medication. After a few weeks, Frip seemed perkier, didn't seem in any discomfort, but the hind-leg weakness was still there. At the suggestion of friends I took him to see an osteopathic vet (we live in France, and that's fairly common here). This vet said he detected "blockage" on Frip's spinal column. He did a chiropractic-type manipulation, and said to expect improvement in a week or so. Instead the opposite happened: within 48 hours Frip was almost completely paralyzed, became incontinent, was so weak he could barely lift his head over the edge of his food dish. So, back to the first vet. This time he did a full battery of tests including blood workup and scans of heart and abdominal region. All came back normal, with two exceptions: elevated globulin in the blood, and a mass in the abdomen which turned out to be a very enlarged lymph node. Since Frip is partly Maine Coon, we also had his DNA tested for spinal muscular atrophy. That came back negative also. While waiting for the results the vet gave Frip an antibiotic injection; then when the results came back he gave an injection of cortisone. Frip is definitely much better, can walk around, go up & down stairs, eating normally and no more incontinence.... but the hind leg weakness is STILL there.
I've read over this thread pretty carefully ... it seems as if possible avenues to pursue might be:
1. Deficiency of potassium and/or Vitamin E or some other nutrient
2. Neurological damage perhaps related to chemical exposure (e.g flea treatment which we apply every 6 weeks or so, as he does go outdoors into our small, walled-in garden)
3. Neurological or other damage from some injury that we still haven't detected.
4. Lyme disease. We found a tick on Frip about a month after the hind-leg weakness first appeared, but it hadn't burrowed in and we promptly removed it. This seems like a longshot, as I don't think there's much Lyme disease in France.
I'm taking Frip back for a checkup next week and would be most grateful for any additions to this list or other suggestions of things to discuss with the vet. By the way, Frip's diet consists of dry food (Royal Canin brand, for sterilized cats) and a daily dollop of plain unflavored yogurt which he loves. Many, many thanks for any help you can offer!
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