HELP: mobility issues and metacam on my cat

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kotn - 23 Jan 2008 05:47 GMT

our cat is 6, when 1 year old, he fell and became somewhat paralyzed on one
side (mostly front).. after this happened, he was unable to get up or walk
for about 1 week.. then without any intervention or pills began to walk..
though very heavily with front right leg quite numb, and back right leg
making that exaggerated heavy circular movement when walking.. but anyway..
all seemed well.. he ran, jumped, did everything a normal cat would.. until
one morning we wake up and he is unable to get up or walk.. this was about
month ago.. took him to 2 vets.. they say.. stroke.. some say brain shock..
some say the month of november, weather etc.. all in all.. the cat is now
kinda able to move his back legs.. the front right that was once numb, is
now completely numb and in fact stuck in one position at all times.. like a
piece of wood you cannot bend... the front left is better.. allowing him to
move... so basically he has the front left which is okay.. the back left
which is not bad.. and the back right which was also partially paralyzed
when he was 1 year old.

end result: when he gets up, he kinda has a hard time keeping balance.. and
falls.. goes to liter though has good appetite etc..

now when last vet saw all this.. he said it's definitely some brain
imblance.. causing him to lose balance and fall.. not necessarily the
limbs.. cause cats on 3 legs do great after a week or so of adjusting..
though I think one of his back legs is still pretty bad.. so he's kinda like
on two legs.. but anyway.. he said something else.. then gave him metacam to
relieve inflammation which he thinks is somewhere in brain area..

got bottle of liquid oral metacam 10ml total... at 0.4ml per day.. for 10
days.. I gave him does one with syrynge to mouth directly... mixed with 1-2
ml of milk... because I said to myself if I spread it on food, he will
never get the medicine..
day 2, did same thing.. day 3.. 15 minuts after giving it to him.. he
vomitted and had dirahea.. this was about 24 hours ago... that 3 rd dose..
12 hours after that, so this past morning called my vet, and told him about
it.. he said stop metacam right away.. then I went to pickup a stomach
coating liquid med called novo retaninad (if I remember name well).. and
another anti vomitting (also liquid) med called metoclopromide..

I asked vet if I can just wait out a few hours, couple days for vomitting to
pass.. he said better not.. cat might become dehydrated + no food.. so I
went with the meds..

anyway.. he still vomitted today, before I got him the new meds... and had
REAL bad water direhea just before I went to vet for meds.. I gave him so
far one dose of the anti vomitting med... he did not eat much since, but did
not vomit and no direhea..

anyway.. this is our story... the problem with mobility we initially tried
to tackle, is now on hold because metacam did a bad job.. and now we're
treating something that wasn't even there before metacam.. in fact the cat
was doing much better before metacam than now..

if you read this, thanks a lot.. and we'd love to hear any input you may
have on this!

please remove spam protection from my email address before emailing me.

many thanks !

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22brix - 23 Jan 2008 15:24 GMT

snipped

> got bottle of liquid oral metacam 10ml total... at 0.4ml per day.. for 10
> days.. I gave him does one with syrynge to mouth directly... mixed with
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> far one dose of the anti vomitting med... he did not eat much since, but
> did not vomit and no direhea..

I'm not an expert on metacam but it is used "off-label" for cats--it can
cause some very serious side effects and is supposed to be given with food.
Cats have a very narrow range of tolerance for metacam. I have a cat with
spinal arthritis who is supposed to be on metacam--I'm quite nervous about
giving it to him. I mix it thoroughly in his canned food. Lately he seems
to be feeling a lot better and I haven't been giving it to him. So far so
good.

Another thing, many cats are intolerant of the lactose in milk--that might
have caused some nausea/diarrhea initially.

Hope everything works out for your kitty--it's rough having a sick kitty!

Good luck, Bonnie

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Phil P. - 24 Jan 2008 15:18 GMT

> our cat is 6, when 1 year old, he fell and became somewhat paralyzed on one
> side (mostly front).. after this happened, he was unable to get up or walk
[quoted text clipped - 46 lines]
> treating something that wasn't even there before metacam.. in fact the cat
> was doing much better before metacam than now..

Metacam is a very dangerous drug for cats; it has a very, very low margin of
safety. If the drug is used at all in cats, it "should" be used only
*once* post-operatively and by injection *only*. Any additional use of the
drug in cats is nothing more than playing Russian roulette.

Here is the conclusion of a clinical study:
"Conclusions:

Meloxicam, when initially dosed as a subcutaneous injection followed by oral
dosing for nine days at 0.3 mg/kg was associated with severe adverse
effects, including death."

Dump your vet.

Phil

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kotn - 24 Jan 2008 16:41 GMT

>> our cat is 6, when 1 year old, he fell and became somewhat paralyzed on
> one
[quoted text clipped - 83 lines]
>
> Phil

yes we'll dump the vet, question is will my cat recover.. and can I Feel
safe giving him the 2 recovery oral liquids that same vet gave to correct
metacam problem (one is stomach coating med the other is anti vomitting of
some sort.. I gave names in my original post).

but anyway.. we are using them now.. vomitting did not reoccur since 24
hours... nor diharea.. mind you vet said to avoid feeding cat during time
he's on those vets.. so it's not like he has much to vomit out or poo
with... though we do levae around dry food and he seems to go for that on
his own, when ready, which maybe is better anyway than teasing him with
fresh cans right by his mouth a few times a day... he is sick (I mean
mobility issues, and before vomitting started.. so we decided to spoil him
foodwise, you know how it is.. but in the end maybe that did not help him..
and mixed with metacam.. it caused just though severe stomach upsets...)
but anyway.. I hope the 3 days of metacam, at 0.4-0.5ml per dose/day will
clean out of his body so we can be back to tackiling his real issue.. which
is the mobility one.

any more comments or input on metacam or his real issue of mobility.. we
will immensely be greatful for!

thanks to all again

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Phil P. - 25 Jan 2008 08:34 GMT

> >> our cat is 6, when 1 year old, he fell and became somewhat paralyzed on
> > one
[quoted text clipped - 85 lines]
>
> yes we'll dump the vet, question is will my cat recover..

Meloxicam is infamous for causing kidney failure in cats. I have no way of
knowing if your cat's kidneys have been irreversibly damaged. I strongly
urge you have your cat's kidney parameters evaluated as soon as possible. I
mean *as soon as possible*. He may need immediate fluid therapy.

and can I Feel

> safe giving him the 2 recovery oral liquids that same vet gave to correct
> metacam problem (one is stomach coating med the other is anti vomitting of
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> clean out of his body so we can be back to tackiling his real issue.. which
> is the mobility one.

I truly hope so. I am so sick to death of hearing about vets prescribing
multiple oral doses of meloxicam to cats as if its some kind of wonder drug,
and then denying any responsibility when the cats go into renal failure.
Its easy to play Russian roulette with someone else's head.

> any more comments or input on metacam or his real issue of mobility.. we
> will immensely be greatful for!

Lets get through this immediate problem first. Then we'll work on his
mobility problem.

Please get your cat's kidney parameters evaluated as soon as possible. Its
just a simple blood and urine test.

Best of luck,

Phil

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