I have an indoor-only ~9-yr old female spayed cat. Wednesday 2AM she was running around normal, the next day Thursday 10am she could no longer walk. In particular she could not straighten her front legs, and scooted around on her "elbows" for a short time, while her rear legs would extend completely. After about 30 minutes of this I took her to the local vet.
Later that evening they said she would not stand at all anymore, but part of that (I suspect) was just stress of being in a strange place. They gave an antibiotic and a steroid shot (in case the cause was either a bacterial infection that I forget the name of [they told me at the time] or a fall injury). Blood and urine test didn't show anything alarming (slightly raised sugar levels).
Friday she showed no improvement so they did an x-ray and didn't see anything unusual with the spine at all, and gave another larger dose of steroids/antibiotics. Saturday morning there was still no improvement, so I took her home. The local vet said it could be a fall injury or could be a tumor on the spine or brain and that the next step was to take her to somewhere that could do CT or MRI imaging, and mentioned a cost estimate of $3000 US for that, which included some level of remedial surgery. I don't know how much the imaging alone would cost, but that will be my first question.
I have not had the chance to speak with the CT/MRI place at all yet; I plan on calling them Monday morning to discuss the details but this info was given to me on Saturday afternoon and everything's closed on Sunday.
The cat can still move her head/neck/trunk very well, and alternates between appearing as alert as normal (such as looking in the directions of any odd noises) and just curling up into a ball--though I am wondering if this is pain? Or just being tired. She did not appear to be in any pain that the vet could localize, and still doesn't. Since getting home, she does not vocalize like she's in pain at all.
She alternates between mostly lying on her right side, and sitting up on her haunches (but her legs are not well placed underneath when she sits this way, unless I move them). She defecated inside the carrier cage as I was driving her to the vet, and it appeared normal. She has urinated a couple times since coming home, but not defecated at all--though the vet said she refused to eat the whole time she was in there (two days) and now it is two days after that. She has eaten a small amount of food and water since getting home, but has vomited up some of the food.
When she is alert she will even play with toys. If a stick is moved around on the floor she will try to put one of her front paws on it, but can only LAY her paw on it--the ability to press down seems to be completely gone. She will occasionally try to pull herself around on the carpeted floor, and will even stretch her legs normally (both front and rear legs) just like she did before this problem started. If she is laying on her side and I dangle a toy in the air, she will feebly attempt to grab it with her front paws.
Sorry to be so lengthy, but I'm putting in everything I've seen.
I have looked around much online since yesterday morning and not seen anything similar reported.
Does this sound at all familiar to anyone? The vet did not recall any condition that caused paralysis primarily in the front legs.
~
Later that evening they said she would not stand at all anymore, but part of that (I suspect) was just stress of being in a strange place. They gave an antibiotic and a steroid shot (in case the cause was either a bacterial infection that I forget the name of [they told me at the time] or a fall injury). Blood and urine test didn't show anything alarming (slightly raised sugar levels).
Friday she showed no improvement so they did an x-ray and didn't see anything unusual with the spine at all, and gave another larger dose of steroids/antibiotics. Saturday morning there was still no improvement, so I took her home. The local vet said it could be a fall injury or could be a tumor on the spine or brain and that the next step was to take her to somewhere that could do CT or MRI imaging, and mentioned a cost estimate of $3000 US for that, which included some level of remedial surgery. I don't know how much the imaging alone would cost, but that will be my first question.
I have not had the chance to speak with the CT/MRI place at all yet; I plan on calling them Monday morning to discuss the details but this info was given to me on Saturday afternoon and everything's closed on Sunday.
The cat can still move her head/neck/trunk very well, and alternates between appearing as alert as normal (such as looking in the directions of any odd noises) and just curling up into a ball--though I am wondering if this is pain? Or just being tired. She did not appear to be in any pain that the vet could localize, and still doesn't. Since getting home, she does not vocalize like she's in pain at all.
She alternates between mostly lying on her right side, and sitting up on her haunches (but her legs are not well placed underneath when she sits this way, unless I move them). She defecated inside the carrier cage as I was driving her to the vet, and it appeared normal. She has urinated a couple times since coming home, but not defecated at all--though the vet said she refused to eat the whole time she was in there (two days) and now it is two days after that. She has eaten a small amount of food and water since getting home, but has vomited up some of the food.
When she is alert she will even play with toys. If a stick is moved around on the floor she will try to put one of her front paws on it, but can only LAY her paw on it--the ability to press down seems to be completely gone. She will occasionally try to pull herself around on the carpeted floor, and will even stretch her legs normally (both front and rear legs) just like she did before this problem started. If she is laying on her side and I dangle a toy in the air, she will feebly attempt to grab it with her front paws.
Sorry to be so lengthy, but I'm putting in everything I've seen.
I have looked around much online since yesterday morning and not seen anything similar reported.
Does this sound at all familiar to anyone? The vet did not recall any condition that caused paralysis primarily in the front legs.
~