Cat in pain?

[Asparagus_hugs]

New cat Mom here, we just adopted a cat from the shelter around two months ago she's two years old roughly and in great health. Yesterday out of the blue she started walking really funny, like all the way stretched out and realllllly low to the ground, like her back feet or lower back was bothering her, and then she flopped onto her back and just like flipped over on the floor over and over and wouldn't stop, and she was making like a groaning sound? Not sure how else to describe it. Suffice to say we freaked out and called the vet. It was our first time taking her to a vet since we'd gotten her, and all the vet said was it looked like maybe her lower back had been injured a little. She gave us anti inflammation tablets for two days and told us to keep her updated. Well, we haven't had any episodes as bad as the first, but my very active cat has become like a floor cat, all she'll do is come to us and fall over and twist on the ground. We've taken a video of the behavior and sent it to the vet and are waiting for a response. . . Have been since last night . . I guess I just want to know if anyone has had anything like this happen before? I'm so worried about her, but she's still eating and drinking and using her litter box and jumping up to her favorite spots. . . But feel so miserable Everytime I see her on the floor twisting and groaning, is there anything I can do in the meantime?

 

[fionasmom]

Is she an indoor only cat? Any configuration to your house where she could have fallen or otherwise hurt herself? From your description I am assuming that this is not a seizure and am pretty sure the vet would have picked up on that as well. At this point, since you don't have a real dx, I would wait for the response from the vet...the tablets are almost gone, or entirely gone by now, so I would proceed with another vet visit which might require some imaging. Was an xray done? Definitely a good sign that she is doing all the normal things...do you suspect that jumping is painful for her or should be limited?

Personally, I am not up on home remedies or homeopathy, but others may have suggestions or insights.

 

[Asparagus_hugs]

She's indoor, unless we take her outdoor on a leash, she may have hurt herself in our house from jumping since there are a lot of high places she goes to but she was in the bathroom with me yesterday morning right before it happened and I didn't see her fall. I'm not sure if jumping is painful, she has plenty of low places to hang out in as well but she's still been going up to her highest perches. But whenever we run our hand over her back she'll make that little groan noise as we get closer to her tail. We thought about confining her to a room without lots of things to jump on, but she's been crying anytime she can't see us lately so we don't know if it's a good idea to lock her in a bedroom or not.

 

[fionasmom]

This does not sound like hyperesthesia, and she is on the young side for degenerative disk conditions or other conditions of old age, and you did not mention anything like a lump or cyst. Certainly no serious injuries since she is indoors and you know her whereabouts. Cats certainly can strain muscles just like people. I can see why the vet did try the meds first as she is probably ruling out all the same things that I am on first look at your baby. Pain is pain though, and I would stay on top of the vet about getting the cat some relief from it if it continues. I do see where putting her in a room "for her own good" would not make her happy.

I have a small feral colony on my property....real ferals who are not touchable as those who are not are rehomed. I have seen limping and stiffness in moving in cats who have refused to be retrapped, so hence no vet care at all, and a few days later they are fine. I do know for a fact that one guy was probably jumping on and off a wall that was too high for him.

 

[Asparagus_hugs]

Thanks for your help!, I got a call back from the Vet, and a prescription for a nerve medication, it seems like she may have pinched a nerve. So we're confining her to a room without anything to jump on for the next few days and going to see how it goes with the medicine and some rest.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

IF you have a heating pad, set it on "low," wrap it in a couple of layers of toweling, and lay it on the floor. The heat may give her some comfort.

 

[Asparagus_hugs]

IF you have a heating pad, set it on "low," wrap it in a couple of layers of toweling, and lay it on the floor. The heat may give her some comfort.

Thank you will do.

 

[fionasmom]

I hope that she will recover quickly!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

How is she today?

 

[Asparagus_hugs]

How is she today?

Thank you for asking , we think she's doing a little better, she hasn't been having half as many "episodes" since we locked her in the room. We're thinking they usually happened right after she jumped down from something or ran to something , and since she's not jumping or running anymore it's getting a little better. She's been really upset about being in the room though. We've been trying to spend as much time as possible in there with her, but even when we are there, she spends a lot of time crying at the door. We have noticed she's a lot less willing to be touched and is walking and sitting much more carefully, but we're thinking that may just be because she's in pain. We're tentatively hopeful that she's getting better though. Will update in a few days! Thank you all for your kind words and well wishes!

 

[fionasmom]

Thank you for posting and hopefully she is rounding the bend and will feel better.

 

[Asparagus_hugs]

Just wanted to update everyone, she seems to be doing much much better. She's been playing and jumping at the door knob and windows and making lots of crashing noises in her bedroom. The only issue is that now she's feeling better it's been much more difficult to get her to eat her pills. The first day or two she was in so much pain she didn't really fight it. Now she fights and yowls the whole time, and I'm not super experienced at giving the pills so it often ends up with her spitting it out over and over. We've tried covering it in butter and cheese, and we've also tried pill pockets and she ignores them all. I'm wondering if I can just stop? Or if I should complete the course, we have one weeks worth of pills and she's taken 3&1/2 days worth. Or else if anyone has any other tricks. I've been making a kitty burrito and then trying to drop it in the back of her mouth. She won't even open her mouth when I hold her head back and pressure her jaw I have to like pry it open.

 

[Asparagus_hugs]

Also here is a long overdue image of her. This is Ella

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Yes, she needs the full round of medicines. Ask your vet for a pill popper. They're a HUGE help, and have saved my sanity when trying to medicate the Queen of the Universe (just ask her) without losing a finger or two. Now, THERE'S a cat who does NOT tolerate having the Royal Personage trifled with! Best of luck on that!

HI ELLA! What a beautiful girl she is!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

OH...press gently with thumb and forefinger at the hinges of her jaw. Her mouth WILL open. Be fast. This also works with small, intractable boys. Do not ask me how I know this.

 

[Asparagus_hugs]

Thanks for your help, we skipped one dose because I could not for the life of me get her to eat it, but have since been giving it to her again. We've let her out of the room because she seems to be doing much better and was really frustrated in there, she was constantly ramming things and jumping things. So far no issues physically which is great, but since yesterday she suddenly stopped eating. She didn't touch her wet food which she gets in the evening, and she took a few bites of her dry food then stopped. This morning she took a few more bites, but she's maybe eaten 1/8 of the amount of food she normally does. Then later today I saw her go back to the bowl and lick the dry food but not eat any of it. Any idea what's going on? I want to say her not eating coincides with us letting her out of the room and the one dose she missed of the medicine, should I just wait it out and hope she goes back to normal in another day or so? We are going out of town this weekend, so I've been really worried and hoping she'd be back to normal by the time we leave.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

If you are leaving tomorrow, I'd try to get her in today. Sorry I wasn't here yesterday.