Can not eating cause Ataxia?

Kazbo93

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My 5yo male was recently treated for a fever and possible infection with Convenia antibiotic, some anti-inflammation and fluids. This was 2 weeks ago and his only symptoms were a visible 3rd eyelid, lethargy, low energy, not eating as much and he developed some congestion after our visit. Sneezing, sniffles and runny nose lasted about a week and a half and slowly improved. He was eating about a can of wet food idea while recovering but in the last 3-4 days he has barely touched his food - only small bites of wet food, some treats here and there. Definitely not enough calories. He has also developed some ataxia - stumbling when jumping onto surfaces, slow walking and unbalanced on his back legs. I've read this could be a side effect of Convenia, but it could also be a symptom of Toxoplasmosis and - god forbid - FIP 😥

But other than the not eating as much - he has been grooming regularly, his coat is shiny, he uses his box and cuddles up with us for pets. He mostly sleeps all day long which I assumed was part of his recovery. His 3rd eyelid has gradually gone down and back to normal, same with his congestion - almost none existent. There appears to be no pain when I rub his belly and back legs, and he doesn't have other signs of ataxia like uncoordinated eyes or head titling. Can the wobbly walking be caused by him not eating enough?
 

Antonio65

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Do you think your cat has lost some weight from not eating much?
If so, then I'd say that the wobbly walking might be caused by the weakness from not eating enough.
I would ask the vet to see him again.
Can you force him to eat? I mean, does he allow you to force feed him? You could get some high calories wet food, like Hill's A/D, or R/C Recovery. These foods can also be given with a syringe, if your cat allows you to.
In the worst case scenario, you should consider having a feeding tube applied.

As for the Toxo, a quick test could clear this thing up.
 
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Kazbo93

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It's possible - I would say it was Thursday - Saturday that he ate a very minimal amt of calories and he was sleeping more, and the wobbly-ness was most noticeable on Sunday and today. I applied some appetite stimulant to his ear this morning and it made him really hungry a few hours later - he ate a pouch and a half of Tiki Cat velvet mousse and drank some water. Now he's resting with me and otherwise seems totally fine. Cleaning himself, using the box, jumping on and off things. It's just the wobbly walking and when he lands on things he stumbles a bit. He's NOT falling over suddenly, nor are his legs or stomach sensitive to touch and I haven't noticed any issues with his eyes or front legs. I'm able to pet him on his back, his legs and his tummy and he's fine.

I just got off the phone with the vet, and he agreed it could definitely be related to weakness. He asked that I monitor the temp and color of his back paws to see if they change (possibly sign of a blood clot if they do). Really hoping he starts to improve in the next 2 days, otherwise I will definitely bring him in since it could always be something more serious ):
 
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Kazbo93

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Can I ask you if the vet had pinned the original issue down and what it was?
No he did not. After getting results back from the first visit - they took xrays, blood and urine tests - all he could say was the blood test indicated an infection due to the WBC count, but without further testing he wasn't able to give a proper diagnosis. He said they noticed a small amount of blood in his urine so it's possible it could have been a UTI but since he ended up getting congestion with runny nose and sneezing, it could also be a URI (the discharge was always clear, never yellow or green). They also noticed a slightly enlarged spleen but he said it could be due to the overall infection/inflammation. So it was never nailed down what it ACTUALLY was that caused the initial fever
 

Antonio65

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I guess your cat is fully vaccinated and up to date with them.
Could your vet run an electrophoresis test (a blood test that gives you an overview of the proteins), just to check and rule out what scares you the most?
 
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