Cat can barely walk, any ideas?

[Houdini 1783]

I received an email from The Specialist this morning with the joint tap results which I don't understand.

See attached for the joint tap results -- they are NOT consistent with immune mediate polyarthritis - since there is no increase in inflammation.

I would suggest making an appointment with a neurologist to see if the reluctance to move etc is a neurological problem. They may talk about MRI, infectious disease testing, and maybe CSF tap.

cultures are pending and should be back next week - but I think unlikely bacterial with no bacteria or increased white blood cells in the joint taps

 

[Alldara]

Alldara- how bad was the biopsy? Did they remove an entire nail or did they take a chunk of the Paw pad?
This is insane. I feel like all I'm doing is hurting her.

Honestly he felt better after the biopsy as they removed a bunch of the crusted discharge. (They didn't biopsy the pad).

He was supposed to leave the bandage on for the day. He had it off before he left the vets office. He was supposed to rest, but we weren't supposed to force the issue and stress him so... We did our best. He was more active than he had been previously and just didn't use his speech buttons for a few days. (He has buttons like Bunny the Dog).

He had both basic and advanced slides. I posted a thread on it awhile back. Note to others that the photos could be graphic. Houdini you're likely used to looking at this: What Food Allergy Reaction Can Look Like

They did his dental cleaning at the same time.

We did try steroid allergy medication beforehand. He gained weight super fast and his entire personality changed so it was a no from us. It was so heartbreaking. He slept so much and just wasn't our Magnus.

 

[Alldara]

I received an email from The Specialist this morning with the joint tap results which I don't understand.

See attached for the joint tap results -- they are NOT consistent with immune mediate polyarthritis - since there is no increase in inflammation.

I would suggest making an appointment with a neurologist to see if the reluctance to move etc is a neurological problem. They may talk about MRI, infectious disease testing, and maybe CSF tap.

cultures are pending and should be back next week - but I think unlikely bacterial with no bacteria or increased white blood cells in the joint taps

How is her movement now though? Is she still off the medication and increasing her level of movement?

It may be worth keeping her off it and seeing if the toe thing returns.

 

[Houdini 1783]

I was previously told they would have to remove a nail if they were going to test it, and that was a no for me. She doesn't see that vet anymore because they stopped returning my calls 2 years ago. They basically told me they were too busy to help her.

She is actually walking, where before she would only hobble to the litter box. If she over does it, she starts limping.

I did make an appointment this morning to see the dermatologist next Thursday, but I am NOT giving her the atopica at least until then, maybe never again

 

[KittyFriday]

I've been following your thread and though I unfortunately don't have anything helpful to add, I want you to know I empathize with you. Not my cat, but my dog earlier this year went though a round of testing due to pain, increased ALP levels, and a persistent fever that never went away. He had joint taps to check for IMPA as well, which were negative; we didn't pursue the CSF testing as it was expensive and aside from some pain that medication managed fairly well, he was still eating and drinking and acting normally. The vets at the hospital pretty much discharged us by saying that something was probably wrong but we likely caught it too early for tests to pick anything up, so just go home and see what happens. A year later and he recently had additional pain due to bone spurs but otherwise is still okay. The thought is that it's probably something autoimmune like rheumatoid arthritis, but I'd prefer to manage pain and keep off steroids as long as possible.

It can be incredibly frustrating, but your cat has a really great advocate in her corner. It's great news that she's becoming a bit more mobile; hopefully she can get to feeling a bit better and then you can explore allergy testing. The process of elimination can be really tiring but it may prove helpful.

 

[Houdini 1783]

Thank you for your support. I hope we don't have to go to food allergies because she is fat and hungry all the time and Incredibly picky. And unfortunately, when she found me and she was a starving abandoned kitten I promised her she would never go hungry again hence why she is now my plus size model.

 

[Sarthur2]

“… I am NOT giving her the atopica at least until then, maybe never again.”

I suspect your cat will be better off without the Atopica.

 

[Alldara]

I was previously told they would have to remove a nail if they were going to test it, and that was a no for me. She doesn't see that vet anymore because they stopped returning my calls 2 years ago. They basically told me they were too busy to help her.

She is actually walking, where before she would only hobble to the litter box. If she over does it, she starts limping.

I did make an appointment this morning to see the dermatologist next Thursday, but I am NOT giving her the atopica at least until then, maybe never again

What the heck?!? Nail removal? No way. I would have never agreed to that unless he had trauma that caused it to need removing.

I hope they get something sorted for you and her. I'm glad she's walking a bit too.

Did they x-ray the limp?

 

[Houdini 1783]

She had X-rays and an ultrasound I just don't fully know what all they got pictures of, but when she had that done she wasn't moving at all only basically crawling to the litter box

 

[NadiaRey]

Pardon my intrusion, I need to ask you something about this case: does she have any weird reactions post sedatives (or even analgesics)?

Mine can walk, but he has woobliness that increase with some medication: particularly pain medication - and post sedatives (after MRIs and tooth-removal, which was accompanied by crazy vomitting). I suspect allergy to excipients. Since somebody mentioned this could be allergy-based (and neurological), I wanted to know what you could tell me about this.

 

[Houdini 1783]

You are absolutely not intruding, I welcome anyone's help and opinions. And I will answer every question the best that I can

She is 8 and she has never had any reaction to any kind of medication, vaccine, or anesthesia after teeth cleaning.
Other than when I first found her (about 5 weeks old and had a fly growing in her neck) she has been perfectly healthy until age 6.
Not sure if it is relevant, but her vet at the time talked to me into giving her revolution plus because we go outside and play daily (she never goes outside unattended, I am always with her) and a few months later is when she developed her suspected autoimmune disease (11-2020). Exactly like what I'm going through right now, after months and seeing tons of different doctors, a dermatologist said she probably has Pemphigus and started her on atopica (03-2021). She has been fine since then until she received her vaccines in September (her previous vaccines were three year shots so this is the first time she's getting vaccinated since she started the atopica).
It was 10 days after her vaccinations that she completely stopped eating, drinking, moving and only laid in front of the air conditioner. I guess I could describe her walking as wobbly, but I would better describe it as hobbling as if it was so painful to walk.

 

[NadiaRey]

I'm so sorry to hear that. Recently, mine started walking funny - well, funnier than normal for him - and when the vet said it was from the pain, the full weight of those words hit me like a ton of bricks.

It's probably not the brightest idea to follow my example because I'm as if not more lost than you, but have you considered neuropathy? If it's nerve damage, you could try applying miconazol cream on her joints (it could be one with or without the antiinflammatory dexametasona as steroids should help with pain. In my country it's called BetaCort Plus).

The first sign of neuropathy is the front legs bending inwards, as if a crecent moon shape. I'm guessing with her troubles walking it would be hard to tell, though.

Like I said, not that I have any right giving advise here. But I can understand the feeling of seeing your cat in pain and be desperate for a way to alleviate it. Just be sure to reduce the ammount periodically: steroids are a pain and a problem when it comes to withdrawal. (And even if topical cream shouldn't become systemic, miconazol + steroids is one of the rare cases that do.)

 

[Houdini 1783]

What happened to your cat?

I understand that the internal medicine specialist advised that I go see a neurologist, however, I believe with all of my heart it has nothing to do with that. I believe whatever this is, it has something to do with the vaccines, atopica, allergy/autoimmune problem... I think something with getting her vaccines started a chain reaction and I just don't know what it is or how to fix it and apparently none of the doctors that she has seen do either. I told the internal medicine specialist this has nothing to do with her joints, it is her paws. Something caused them to swell up.
It has been almost 2 weeks since she has been off of the atopica and she is definitely better. She only starts limping when she has been walking for a while and her paws look better but not great. (pictures were taken about 3 weeks ago)

 

[Houdini 1783]

Last test results

 

[FeebysOwner]

Well, I guess that rules out the bacterial issue, doesn't it? I think you were on the right track with the vaccines setting off some sort of reaction, possibly immune-related. Since she is improving, with any luck, whatever the vaccines stirred up will continue to subside. You'll just have to watch her to see if removing the Atopica is a temporary thing or not, since it worked well for her for so long.

The only other thing I know you could consider is asking for a consult with a vet university, giving them all of her records and test results, to see what they think. They are exposed to so much more than most vets, and probably many internal med vets. They might even have information on cases that involve the specific brand/version of vaccines she was given to help identify if there could be any chance of a related neuropathy related reaction associated to her immune issues.

 

[Houdini 1783]

That is exactly what her primary vet wanted me to do, he wanted me to go to the University of Illinois. When I called them to see how far out they were scheduling they basically told me over the phone that they will review her tests but probably rerun them to get their own results, and maybe since I have not gotten any results yet she should see a neurologist

 

[FeebysOwner]

So, the vet university has suggested seeing a neurologist first before getting them to look at her records? Wow, if so, that sucks.

The vet universities should at least take a look at the tests that were run and by whom they were run before saying they all have to be re-done. But, I do know a lot of specialty groups have that attitude, even when they use the same labs.

 

[Houdini 1783]

That's why I ended up going the joint tap route. Just felt defeated and didn't know what else to do.
She is doing ok right now. Still not very active, but at least walking around. And sneezing alot. A friend asked if maybe she has covid

 

[Alldara]

H Houdini 1783 Nobel always catches a cold at the vet. Perhaps that's what happened.

she continues to improve.

 

[KittyFriday]

I went to a different veterinary university (K-State) and aside from some great student interns and being pleased that it was less expensive than I had expected, I overall wasn't impressed. I had a similar experience to the OP - they re-ran a bunch of tests that had already been done several times over, repeatedly told me that they probably wouldn't find anything, and also gave me some results that were just way off base - they told me he didn't have arthritis after re-doing X-Rays (he does), and also told me that it was probably just anxiety causing his fever (it's not). Just a bit frustrating thinking you're in the hands of experts and not getting very far, although I know our university has had a lot of specialists leave so it's super bare bones.

OP, I'm happy to hear your kitty is doing better and I hope that continues.