Greetings,

On Saturday I was upset to hear my 10-year-old cat crying and I found him
lying in the hallway, barely moving, except for his head which he'd hold up
to look at us and meow at us.  At first I thought he broke a bone.  We
scrambled around to get ready to get to a vet and in the meantime, after
about 10 minutes of not moving, he did eventually walk up the stairs to
hide under the bed, but he was very uncoordinated and slow.  We took the
bed apart and got him into his carrier, and about 30 minutes later we were
at the vet.  (Usually we go to closer vets but this one was who was open on
Saturday).

The vet said he was not injured that he could tell, but what we were seeing
was ataxia.  My cat was observed walking on the floor, and then the vet
pulled on his legs to check for injury.  It was not trouble with just one
side.  It was both hind and front legs, on both sides.  The vet suspected
that the meowing indicated pain.  My cat behaved very well during this vet
trip, which is only remarkable in that he's always a holy terror at the
vet, and needs three or four people to work on him and pin him down.  This
time my cat was actually headbutting me on the vet table and letting the
vet stroke him.

His heart rate was checked and the vet said his eyes looked okay.  Here's
where I'm a little uncomfortable:  When the vet heard that we have two
cats, he immediately seemed pleased and optimistic.  He said that in the
wild when there are cat fights, it is very common to have the losing cat go
out of sorts and ataxic.  It would explain the pain he suspected as well.
My cat got two pain shots--one lasts 1-2 days and the other lasts 5 days.  

He said to call if things get worse over the next couple of days, but to
give my cat about five days to be normal again.

I don't think many people would blame me for wanting a more thorough
checkup, even if my cat "looks better" i.e. seems recovered by Wednesday.
So tomorrow (Monday) I want to try to arrange something more thorough:
bloodwork, X-rays, blood pressure check, whatever is applicable.  I don't
want him to have some kind of time bomb problem where he can "look great"
and then suddenly I find him lying on the floor very sick.

About the ataxia: It was quite acute, and by the evening he seemed 90%
coordinated again.  He moved carefully and slowly.  By this morning he
almost looked normal; I don't notice any ataxia.  He has a little spring to
his step when he goes up the stairs, but he's careful and slower going down
them, and is slow walking about, but maybe he's groggy from the meds.

He's eaten, but not much in the way of actual cat food.  He licked the sauce
off of the food he got but we had to coax him to eat something, with a bit
of turkey meat and hamburger.  Again, it could be the meds.  But he's
getting a little bit into his stomach and isn't rejecting food entirely.

About his history:  He has seemed otherwise healthy, although come to think
of it I have noticed a little bit of twitching sometimes when he lies down.
It's not dreaming, because he does it while he's still awake, but it looks
similar to what they do when they dream.  He got a little scratch in his
eye a few weeks ago and got an Rx of eyedrops for that, and it was better
after just a couple days.  Behavior-wise, in the last maybe 7-8 months, he
has turned from a cat who slept at the foot of the bed and didn't go much
for cuddles, to a cat who comes up for cuddle sessions whenever I'm in bed
(reading or sleeping).  Lately we've had nights where he woke me up several
times through the night, even meowing for me to get up and scratch him, and
he'll sleep by my head/chest which is unusual, like he's making up for 9
years of lost cuddling time.  He does the yowling-at-night routine but he's
pretty much always done that.  He is castrated (testicles removed) since he
was 6 mos. old.

He's an indoor cat and we take him out occasionally on a leash, which makes
him very happy, but his only contact with other cats is that with my second
cat, who stays indoors.

That's about all I can think of.  Can anyone give me advice for making the
most out of my next vet visit?  I very much want serious illnesses ruled
out so we can all rest easier.  I don't much like this "wait and see" way
of doing things if it's at all preventable.

Thanks,
kmh

(Sorry if double-posted.  My news server said my first post didn't succeed.)