Cat intermittent pain/leg issues

[whatthecat]

Our 5-year old Harper has had 2 incidents in the last couple of days. Thursday night I saw her walking along and all of a sudden she yelped in pain and her back end collapsed and then she just got back up and kept on walking. She seemed 100% fine after that.

Then Friday night the same thing happened. She started growling and it looked like her back legs gave out like they were totally useless. This time, she stayed like that for about a minute and then went back to normal: running, jumping, purring. She went from not being able to use her legs to jumping on the fridge in a matter of 2 minutes, so it didn't seem an orthopaedic issue.

Today (Saturday morning) we took her to the vet and they did X-rays and blood work and found nothing out of the ordinary on either. We're trying to get a neurologist consult but it might be several weeks before we can make that happen.

Our vet is quite thorough and we have a lot of faith in him. He said he's never seen anything like this before. With the hind legs giving out, saddle thrombus was our big worry but apparently that doesn't come and go like this. Just wanted to throw this out here and see if anybody had any thoughts on what might be going on.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I have no experience to go on, but it sounds like maybe a pinched nerve in her lower back? Maybe you could get into see an internal med vet quicker than a neurologist? Also, if you go to a specialty group that have multiple types of specialty vets on staff, an IM vet could consult with a neurology specialist in the same group?

For totally different reasons, I went to an IM vet in a specialty group, and they actually consulted with an orthopedic vet while my cat was there - the latter looked her over and determined she had a hyper-extended wrist.

 

[whatthecat]

Well a few days after her incident, we took Harper to a specialty vet to see a neurologist. They found no problems neurologically, but noted she had a luxating patella where her knee would dislocate and they said that might explain her episode. Fast forward a few weeks and I found her under the table unable to stand up: she finally got to her feet but wouldn't put any weight on her back right paw, then she straightened out her leg, popped her knee back in place and was fine. 2 days after that, she was obviously in a lot of pain and having problems getting around...her knee wasn't out of socket but she was favouring it and just generally looked miserable. She got some gabapentin and a ride to the emergency vet where we got her some anti-inflammatory meds and a shot of the good stuff.

Now we've got her in a room by herself with nothing to jump on and no 5-month old brother to chase her. She's on gabapentin constantly and we have an appointment with an orthopaedic vet on Dec 19, hopefully to figure out when we can have a surgery to correct the luxating patella. Looks like our holiday travel plans may have to be cancelled but she's worth it.

 

[Furballsmom]

Bless you, I'm so glad she has you
I'm sending tons of good thoughts !

 

[neely]

Well a few days after her incident, we took Harper to a specialty vet to see a neurologist.

You were lucky to get an appointment since there still seems to be a vet shortage and long wait for appointments in certain locations. I'm glad you didn't procrastinate and were able to see a neurologist. Best of luck with the orthopaedic vet on December 19. Please keep us updated. Sending special thoughts for Harper.

 

[Alldara]

Sounds like this to me: PATELLAR LUXATION – Feline | Glencoe Animal Hospital.

Magnus has it, but at a low level. The vet can check with a physical exam but it's not part of a regular exam.

Edit: sorry just saw from your second post that it was the above! I have to remember that updates in follow up posts happen sometimes.

 

[whatthecat]

I hope your Magnus's case doesn't get any worse. We had the consult with the orthopaedic this morning. She wasn't 100% if it was the patella vs a torn ACL but she'll start the surgery prepared for either/both and so hopefully we'll get our girl some relief. Harper will have surgery next Tuesday Dec 27. The cost of the procedure induced a healthy amount of sticker shock, but 'tis the season of giving I guess.

 

[Alldara]

I hope your Magnus's case doesn't get any worse. We had the consult with the orthopaedic this morning. She wasn't 100% if it was the patella vs a torn ACL but she'll start the surgery prepared for either/both and so hopefully we'll get our girl some relief. Harper will have surgery next Tuesday Dec 27. The cost of the procedure induced a healthy amount of sticker shock, but 'tis the season of giving I guess.

Thank you. Best of luck with the surgery! I hope it goes well. We had a dog in the family with a torn ACL. The surgery went very well. So I hope your cat's recovery is just as smooth.