Cat Paralyzed With No Apparent Cause

[Shadow_Cat]

Hello, I'm coming to you guys out of desperation. I've seen two vets and both are stumped.

My cat Shadow is 14 years old, and in the last two months has become paralyzed. At the beginning of february she started to get a wobble in her hips, with her rear end going one way while she wanted to go another. By the middle of march she started dragging her hind legs completely, unable to stand or walk.

She still feels pain and can actually still move her back legs. If I play with her toes she pulls her legs back, and when I dangle her over the litter box to squeeze the urine out of her, she kicks her legs like she's riding a bicycle. If I hold her on her feet she'll move them like she wants to walk, but the moment I move my hand and she puts weight on her legs, she falls over.

I've visited two vets and both found nothing with blood tests or xrays. The best they can tell me is it might be in her spine or brain. I'm at a loss.

Side note, she was ill in february with some unknown infection that caused her to lose interest in food and her poop to become sticky and very green. I don't know if that's related or not. She was put on antibiotics and recovered fully.

Thank you, sorry for the long post!

 

[LTS3]

You may want to seek out a veterinary neurologist. Such a vet can do more extensive tests, such as a MRI, to determine why your cat has become paralyzed. If you're in the US, you can find a neurologist here: The Best Veterinary Neurologist Professionals Rated By Past Clients

What antibiotic was your cat on? There's always the risk of an adverse effect with any medicine.

 

[nahui]

Yes, a veterinary neurologist would also be my recommendation. I have a paralyzed cat and I can tell you that both a neurologist and physical therapy make all the difference. The neurologist should be able to offer a diagnosis (if it is a neurological condition, which might be likely) and the physical therapy helps A LOT with recovery.

 

[basschick]

did your vets check your cat's potassium and B12 levels? our cat became wobbly and couldn't stand on his hind legs; once was for lack a B12 deficiency, which we now give him every 4 days in an injection, and the other time very recently from lack of potassium, which we now supplement daily, and it's slowly improving.

if your vets did check these things - ours didn't initially - a neurologist is definitely in order.

good luck with your cat!

 

[maggie101]

First thing I thought of is a stroke. So I agree. Definitely see a specialist

 

[Faikey]

Hello, I'm coming to you guys out of desperation. I've seen two vets and both are stumped.

My cat Shadow is 14 years old, and in the last two months has become paralyzed. At the beginning of february she started to get a wobble in her hips, with her rear end going one way while she wanted to go another. By the middle of march she started dragging her hind legs completely, unable to stand or walk.

She still feels pain and can actually still move her back legs. If I play with her toes she pulls her legs back, and when I dangle her over the litter box to squeeze the urine out of her, she kicks her legs like she's riding a bicycle. If I hold her on her feet she'll move them like she wants to walk, but the moment I move my hand and she puts weight on her legs, she falls over.

I've visited two vets and both found nothing with blood tests or xrays. The best they can tell me is it might be in her spine or brain. I'm at a loss.

Side note, she was ill in february with some unknown infection that caused her to lose interest in food and her poop to become sticky and very green. I don't know if that's related or not. She was put on antibiotics and recovered fully.

Thank you, sorry for the long post!

Desperate response because this happened to my cat: try a 3 day steroid injection

 

[Genesis123]

Any chance your cat could have been bitten by a tick? ...even back in February when she was sick. Paralysis can take a while to develop.

 

[Faikey]

My cat became entirely paralyzed we thought he maybe had a brain tumor maybe a stroke started with circling then losing balance completely to complete inability to move nothing worked.

We gave him a shot of steroids to see if it would help as it was a last ditch effort and my cat recovered. Then was put on a longer steroid shot and is now fully recovered.

 

[Catowner125]

So did the Vet ever find the problem? Weakness in the back legs can be Diabetes. Did they test her sugar? Did they check her blood pressure? High blood pressure can cause many issues. Wishing the best for Shadow.

 

[Leomc123]

My cat leo orange cat on the left pic, came home one day limping on left leg, the limping became a wobble and then in three months later he couldnt stand up to eat without assistance i had to hold him up with his back legs so he could eat properly or let him eat while laying down, he had xrays nothing was wrong with his leg, given meloxicom and was found to be constipated, had a minor spondeliosis on his shoulder blade and an issue with his c7 and c6 on tail of the spine.
If i touched his toes he would reflex back so he had feeling in both legs as well, but when he walked with his left leg his paw would drag under or flop.

He started walking again for 2 weeks more like normal with a little bit of a limp then all of a sudden he couldnt get back up again were he was dragging his back legs to get to where he wanted to go and he was incontinent, in my situation they said that even if i chose surgery he could have recovered or be completly paralized. So 1 week later because he deteriorated i had to make that decision for him to be euthanized i was so hopefull though, cause i seen so many cats live a good life and still be disabled, but the issue for leo was that he was in some form of pain that made him get aggressive out of the blue, he never attacked me once in the 12 years that i had him, he was so gentle, and loving, then this limping came along and he would attack me, it was like he thought i was causing the pain in that moment even though i am like 3 meters away, he would come at me. The loxicom, gabapentine didnt help him much with the pain factor. His pain seemed more random as he could sit there and be happy and let me touch him, he would be happy to sit in my lap or on the bed, and then out of the blue attack mode so it was some nerve damage in spine i think or neurogical. The vets were stumped as well for the first 4 months but they never did a blood test, and when they took xray they didnt check the head.

If you have the money for it, do ct scan for the full body, blood test.

 

[Leomc123]

How is shadow doing ? Is there any updates ?