Any experience with herniated discs in cats?

[Dillard04]

Hi everyone, just wondering if anyone on the board has had a cat with a herniated disc. My cat was experiencing pain and a limp tail. After several vet visits and finally an MRI, the neurologist says he has a bulging disc (when I asked, they said this was the same as a herniated/ruptured disc).

Since his tail was the only part of his body affected, they were hopeful that bed/crate rest would help it heal and that he wouldn't need surgery.

I'm still a little confused about the prognosis and it seems like it's more common in dogs than cats. I thought I'd come here to see if anyone had experience with this issue and how it turned out.

 

[di and bob]

A heated cat bed wouldn't hurt either, warmth is one thing that helps with back pain. I had one cat that experienced something like this, he could not lift the end of his tail (the end half). He recovered with no interventions in about a week, he displayed no signs of pain. Steroids are usually prescribed, they decrease inflammation, and you should try to restrict activity. For at least a week, often two. on researching this it said the people who followed the vet's advice the most had the best outcomes. I pray your little one fully recovers!

 

[Dillard04]

A heated cat bed wouldn't hurt either, warmth is one thing that helps with back pain. I had one cat that experienced something like this, he could not lift the end of his tail (the end half). He recovered with no interventions in about a week, he displayed no signs of pain. Steroids are usually prescribed, they decrease inflammation, and you should try to restrict activity. For at least a week, often two. on researching this it said the people who followed the vet's advice the most had the best outcomes. I pray your little one fully recovers!

Thanks for the input and kind thoughts. I'm glad to hear your kitty recovered quickly. I do think he'd like a heated bed.

I should have mentioned that he's on gabapentin but the vet said steroids are not needed right now unless he gets worse. We have him in a small bedroom and he's been sleeping most of the day. It's hard, but we're very dedicated to the 4 weeks of bed rest. We also just purchased a crate so he can be with us while we're in other areas of the house. We've started a countdown for the end of his bed rest. Hopefully it flies by!

 

[ManekiNekko]

How is Dillard doing now?
Our cat Sam had a herniated disc in 2017 or 2018, and it was definitely a hassle, but fortunately doesn't bother him now.

 

[Dillard04]

Thanks for asking, and that's really reassuring to hear! He's doing much better. He just finished his month of bed rest and was such a trooper through the whole thing. He doesn't seem to be in much pain anymore, but I do notice that his back will ripple a little here and there, which seems like it's related. He's probably a little too active right now, but it's hard to stop him.

Did you have to make any modifications to your house for Sam, like getting rid of tall cat furniture or blocking off stairs and high places? The vet we saw told us that Dillard should avoid stairs and jumping too much, but we've had a hard time limiting his movement so far.

 

[ManekiNekko]

Did you have to make any modifications to your house for Sam, like getting rid of tall cat furniture or blocking off stairs and high places? The vet we saw told us that Dillard should avoid stairs and jumping too much, but we've had a hard time limiting his movement so far.

We did not make any permanent modifications for Sam (we only limited him during his "bed rest" phase). Our vet didn't think there was anything practical to do as far as that went (because really, how do you keep a cat from jumping too much?). The only thing we changed was that we started giving him a cosequin supplement daily in the hopes that it may help with any possible long-term arthritic pain in his spine.

 

[Dillard04]

We did not make any permanent modifications for Sam (we only limited him during his "bed rest" phase). Our vet didn't think there was anything practical to do as far as that went (because really, how do you keep a cat from jumping too much?). The only thing we changed was that we started giving him a cosequin supplement daily in the hopes that it may help with any possible long-term arthritic pain in his spine.

That's so helpful to hear! We've been trying to restrict him from jumping but it's been really hard. He was on cosequin before so I'll have to ask our vet about starting him on it again.

I'm really thankful to hear your experiences with it because I couldn't find much about cats with IVDD or herniated discs. All the information online pertained to dogs and it sounds like because it's a highly genetic issue with certain breeds, it tends to recur more. Fingers crossed that Dillard turns out like Sam and doesn't have any future issues.