I found this forum while doing some reading about what happened to our kitty. There were some good threads about other's experiences with this issue that helped, so I figured I should share our story.
Our kitty found us when we lived in a rental house near our local grain elevator. Our dogs are not cat friendly, but somehow he managed to get along. He looked tough with scabs from fights and was fairly skinny. We left a pan of food out for him all summer. When winter came he disappeared. We thought maybe he didn't make it, but the next summer he showed up again. The next winter we caved in and let him in the house and he has been with us ever since. I guess he found his retirement gig.
Around 6pm on the night of onset my partner called me on my way home from work to tell me that something was wrong with our cat. He could not move his back legs and was breathing weird. I rushed home to help. I work as a firefighter/emt and grew up on a ranch. Our kitty was about the sickest thing I have seen. He was in obvious distress. He was breathing rapidly with his mouth open and his back legs were paralyzed and cool to the touch. We grabbed my medical bag and tried to give him oxygen with a human mask. We called our local vet clinic for an after hours emergency visit and brought him in.
The vet on call that night was one that I had grown up with coming out to my families ranch and working on our livestock and pets. He assessed our kitty and explained FATE to us. He said that in his 30 some years he had only seen maybe 2 other cats with this and the outcomes were not good. Our vet clinic is a small rural one and does not have the diagnostic capabilities of larger, small animal hospitals, but they did the best they could. His rectal temperature was 97 degrees. We also trimmed one of his back claws down to the quick to see if it would bleed and it did not.
The vet gave our kitty buprenorphine and an NSAID to control the pain and he seemed to do a little better. We discussed euthanasia, but we felt we should give our kitty a chance. I also had a few rough weeks a work with some bad calls and was not in a place to deal with putting our kitty down at the time. We wanted to get our kitty home so if he passed, he would die at home. I saw a bottle of heparin on the shelf of medications in the exam room. We asked the vet if we could try an anti-coagulant along with the pain management. The vet looked up the dose and sent us home with more pain meds and the heparin.
We brought our kitty home and put him in his bed in front of the wood stove, which is his favorite place. We gave him the heparin shot every two hours through the night. I also massaged his back legs, which I have no clue if that help or not, but I felt like I needed to do something. The pain medications seemed to make him comfortable. Around 4 am I picked him up and he was able to kick his back legs a little.
The next morning we went back to the vet clinic. The vet did an ekg and a chest x-ray to evaluate our kitty for heart failure. He gave us a prescription for oral plavix. We continued the heparin and pain shots for the next 3 days because he would not eat enough to sneak the pill in. We also did around 100cc of subcutaneous normal saline per day for dehydration because he was not drinking.
On day three our kitty had some purposeful movement of his back legs, but still could not walk. We had placed him on the couch to give him some loves while we were discussing euthanasia again. I got up to use the restroom and our kitty jumped off the couch and staggered to the back door. We were stunned, not thinking that he would regain use of his back legs like he did. The next day he was able to use the litterbox without assistance.
Now, two and a half weeks after the incident our kitty walks around the house with very little deficit. He even has started jumping up onto the couch with us.
We have read the literature regarding FATE and understand that even if our kitty recovers, our time together might not be long. He is getting spoiled everyday and having him and our other pets sure helps take the edge off of the craziness of the world today.
Hopefully our story helps if you are in the same predicament.
Our kitty found us when we lived in a rental house near our local grain elevator. Our dogs are not cat friendly, but somehow he managed to get along. He looked tough with scabs from fights and was fairly skinny. We left a pan of food out for him all summer. When winter came he disappeared. We thought maybe he didn't make it, but the next summer he showed up again. The next winter we caved in and let him in the house and he has been with us ever since. I guess he found his retirement gig.
Around 6pm on the night of onset my partner called me on my way home from work to tell me that something was wrong with our cat. He could not move his back legs and was breathing weird. I rushed home to help. I work as a firefighter/emt and grew up on a ranch. Our kitty was about the sickest thing I have seen. He was in obvious distress. He was breathing rapidly with his mouth open and his back legs were paralyzed and cool to the touch. We grabbed my medical bag and tried to give him oxygen with a human mask. We called our local vet clinic for an after hours emergency visit and brought him in.
The vet on call that night was one that I had grown up with coming out to my families ranch and working on our livestock and pets. He assessed our kitty and explained FATE to us. He said that in his 30 some years he had only seen maybe 2 other cats with this and the outcomes were not good. Our vet clinic is a small rural one and does not have the diagnostic capabilities of larger, small animal hospitals, but they did the best they could. His rectal temperature was 97 degrees. We also trimmed one of his back claws down to the quick to see if it would bleed and it did not.
The vet gave our kitty buprenorphine and an NSAID to control the pain and he seemed to do a little better. We discussed euthanasia, but we felt we should give our kitty a chance. I also had a few rough weeks a work with some bad calls and was not in a place to deal with putting our kitty down at the time. We wanted to get our kitty home so if he passed, he would die at home. I saw a bottle of heparin on the shelf of medications in the exam room. We asked the vet if we could try an anti-coagulant along with the pain management. The vet looked up the dose and sent us home with more pain meds and the heparin.
We brought our kitty home and put him in his bed in front of the wood stove, which is his favorite place. We gave him the heparin shot every two hours through the night. I also massaged his back legs, which I have no clue if that help or not, but I felt like I needed to do something. The pain medications seemed to make him comfortable. Around 4 am I picked him up and he was able to kick his back legs a little.
The next morning we went back to the vet clinic. The vet did an ekg and a chest x-ray to evaluate our kitty for heart failure. He gave us a prescription for oral plavix. We continued the heparin and pain shots for the next 3 days because he would not eat enough to sneak the pill in. We also did around 100cc of subcutaneous normal saline per day for dehydration because he was not drinking.
On day three our kitty had some purposeful movement of his back legs, but still could not walk. We had placed him on the couch to give him some loves while we were discussing euthanasia again. I got up to use the restroom and our kitty jumped off the couch and staggered to the back door. We were stunned, not thinking that he would regain use of his back legs like he did. The next day he was able to use the litterbox without assistance.
Now, two and a half weeks after the incident our kitty walks around the house with very little deficit. He even has started jumping up onto the couch with us.
We have read the literature regarding FATE and understand that even if our kitty recovers, our time together might not be long. He is getting spoiled everyday and having him and our other pets sure helps take the edge off of the craziness of the world today.
Hopefully our story helps if you are in the same predicament.
Not only for this story but for not giving up on your kitty and giving him every fighting chance to remain with you as a loving member of your pet family. Your quick thinking and expertise brought back his strength. 
Are the dogs Corgis?
