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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / July 2005Very sick kitty needs help.
Our two year old cat Bootsie is in the hospital tonight. I noticed something was wrong when Bootsie did not come down stairs Saturday morning to play with the other cats or to peep out the window. I didn't think much of it at first as some times she'll squabble with one of the other cats and hide. I was away for most of the entire weekend and I'm certain Bootsie spent the whole weekend under the bed. Last night at about 9:30pm I noticed Bootsie had come down stairs and was laying on the kitchen floor. When I went to greet her, I picked her up then set her down, but she could not stand on her rear legs. This makes me wonder how she got down the stairs in the first place. I tried several times to stand Bootsie up but she just kept falling over. We rushed Bootsie to an emergency animal hospital ($850 for a 12 hour stay!) They did some tests and a few x-rays. Aside from some defencies in her glucose and potasium, and some dehydration, Bootsie seemed O.K. We quickly took Bootsie to her normal vet this morning. Bootsie seems to be doing better, but is still unable to stand on her rear legs and is still weak. Bootsie is well cared for and is always up to date on all her check ups and shots. There are no toxis around that she could've been exposed too. Bootsie never goes outside unless myself or my mother takes her out on a lead. Bootsie seemed fine on Friday but a little tired. How could a cat get this sick so fast? Why would her rear legs just stop working? Anybodys input is greatly appreciated. Please help. pr7...@yahoo.com wrote: > Bootsie seemed fine on Friday but a little tired. > How could a cat get this sick so fast? > Why would her rear legs just stop working? > Anybodys input is greatly appreciated. > Please help. I'm sure they checked her heart, right? The only thing I can think of that causes rear leg problems is saddle thrombus but I would think they would have discounted that right away. Hopefully, someone (like Phil P.) will answer your post. I will send Bootsie some good thoughts, poor girl. Please keep us posted. Candace > I'm sure they checked her heart, right? The only thing I can think of > that causes rear leg problems is saddle thrombus but I would think they > would have discounted that right away. > > Hopefully, someone (like Phil P.) will answer your post. I will send > Bootsie some good thoughts, poor girl. Please keep us posted. Thrombosis was the first thing that came to my mind, too. Also it could have been the dehydration, and depleted nutrients. I think this warrants a bit more investigation to find out why she got so ill.  Signature-Kelly > pr7...@yahoo.com wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Candace Boy that is what I would think too. I would sure be suspicious of that. > Our two year old cat Bootsie is in the hospital tonight. > I noticed something was wrong when Bootsie did not come down stairs [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > Anybodys input is greatly appreciated. > Please help. When my one of my cats developed CRF and was low on potassium (I was just learning aobut CRF at the time) she experienced the same rear leg weakness, once her potassium levels were back to normal the weakness left, of my three cats who have/had CRF she was the only one to show the weakness. Hopefully, when Bootsie's potassium returns to normal and after a few hours the weakness will be gone. > Our two year old cat Bootsie is in the hospital tonight. > I noticed something was wrong when Bootsie did not come down stairs [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > Anybodys input is greatly appreciated. > Please help. I'm very sorry about Bootsie and hope she recovers. I can't really offer you any advice, but wanted to tell you we had almost the exact same scenario with our cat Cherokee. We found him on the bathroom floor, unable to use his back legs. The vet determined he had had a stroke. Your vet didn't think that was a possibility? Cherokee did recover fully, with the exception his tail drooped the rest of his life. He lived seven more years. Sherry > Our two year old cat Bootsie is in the hospital tonight. > I noticed something was wrong when Bootsie did not come down stairs [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > hour stay!) They did some tests and a few x-rays. Aside from some > defencies in her glucose and potasium, and some dehydration, I'd be concerned about low potassium (hypokalemia). Sometimes, total body potassium is normal and hypokalemia is simply the result of a blood (ECF) to cell (ICF) shift of potassium. However, depletion of total body potassium can occur before the onset of hypokalemia. When potassium losses exceed potassium intake, transfer of potassium from cells into extracellular fluid helps to delay hypokalemia-thus hypokalemia can signal a depletion of total body stores of potassium - which can cause muscle weakness (and constipation). Did your vet put Bootsie on a potassium supplement? If not, I would speak to him about it right away. You want to keep her serum potassium levels in the upper half of the normal range so tiny intracellular shifts won't cause hypokalemia. Has Bootsie been eating normally? Anorexia can also aggravate hypokalemia by preventing the potassium intake necessary to compensate for potassium losses. Low blood glucose in cats (that aren't getting insulin injections) are usually a result of lab errors- improper sample handling- wrong tube or not separated right away. But it can also be caused by liver disease or an insulinoma. I'd want to know the cause if I were you. Did your vet give you an explanation? Bootsie > seemed O.K. We quickly took Bootsie to her normal vet this morning. > Bootsie seems to be doing better, but is still unable to stand on her [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Anybodys input is greatly appreciated. > Please help. You might also want to speak to your vet about methylcobalamin- its a form of vitamin B-12 that helps with neuromuscular disorders. If your vet is not giving you good answers or your cat is not improving, go to http://www.acvim.org/Kittleson/search.htm and do a search for an internal medicine Diplomate/Specialist in your area. American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Diplomates are about the best there is. If you can't find an ACVIM specialist in your area, my second choice would be an ABVP Diplomate/Feline Specialist (American Board of Veterinary Practitioners). Go to http://www.abvp.com/diplosearch1.htm Best of luck, Phil |
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