Gohan Has Pain, Spasms In Back Legs

KarenKat

Kitty on the half shell, tortie power!
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
2,960
Purraise
7,257
Location
Littleton, CO
So yesterday we came home from work and Gohan (7r old inside cat, neutered) was asleep in our bed. Not entirely normal spot for him, but he does it once in a while. He kept sleeping until about 11 pm - which is typically not normal, he's up and requesting pets loudly within an hour of us coming home. Once he was up, he came down the stairs meowing quite loudly. He's usually pretty vocal, but these were a little lower, moanier and louder than normal. When he walked, we notice he was heavily favoring his back legs (particularly his right leg) and almost walking with his butt in the hair facing down. He slunk around for a while, tail tucked between his legs (usually his tail is extremely expressive and straight up in the air). His haunches were also having muscle spasms and twitched a lot.

Well, we scooped him up and rushed to the emergency vet. They did a physical exam (his right leg did seem stiffer than the other), blood test (all clear), x-rays (nothing exceptional, although he did have a "bone bridge" on his spine which may indicate mild arthritis in that spot). The vet guessed that he probably fell or hurt himself in some way to cause soft tissue damage perhaps exasperating some existing arthritis. She sent us home with pain meds with the instruction to keep him quiet and resting while he recovers. We don't see the twitching anymore, and he is able to jump up and down off of things (although it does seem to cause discomfort)

Since he's been home, he hasn't hidden much in his super hidey spots (dresser, under the bed) but he has been removed in various semi-hidey holes like cat cubicles in the cat tree. He's also pooped outside of the litter box a few times including once in his cat cube where he was resting (poop looked nicely segmented and healthy).

Everything seems in line with the vet's diagnosis in my inexpert opinion, my question is does pooping in his sleeping place present a huge concern, or is it due to a possible leg injury he is having issues in the litter box and kind of goes where he can?

Superfluous kitty photos:


 

Kieka

Snowshoe Servant
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Sep 6, 2016
Messages
11,394
Purraise
19,968
Location
Southern California
This sounds a lot like a problem I recently had. A lot, everything except the pooping randomly. Although my boy did poop small amounts in his carrier on the way to the vet on the three separate trips we took trying to figure it out over a few days.

In our situation it ended up that my boy was constipated. We every had the "must be a leg injury" discussion at the vet and x-rays to check his legs. One vet brought up FIP when it seemed to not be getting better. It wasn't until I said I thought he was constipated despite small amounts of pooping that they did bdominal x-rays and yup, constipated. 24 hours and an enema later and it was like nothing had been wrong.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

KarenKat

Kitty on the half shell, tortie power!
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
2,960
Purraise
7,257
Location
Littleton, CO
Interesting, although poor constipated kitty! I'll keep that in mind while we monitor how he is feeling. How can I tell if he is simply taking it easy from his leg injury vs he still needs vet assistance and might be constipated?
 

Kieka

Snowshoe Servant
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Sep 6, 2016
Messages
11,394
Purraise
19,968
Location
Southern California
Interesting, although poor constipated kitty! I'll keep that in mind while we monitor how he is feeling. How can I tell if he is simply taking it easy from his leg injury vs he still needs vet assistance and might be constipated?
For us it was that he seemed to be getting worse despite treatment. It helped that my boy broke his leg two years before so I knew how the healing process for a leg injury should progress for him specifically. He had a day off better then just backslide and got worse again. I mentioned constipated to my vet on an impulse. Trust your gut feeling.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

KarenKat

Kitty on the half shell, tortie power!
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
2,960
Purraise
7,257
Location
Littleton, CO
Ok, thanks. We will keep an eye on him and see how he's doing. Constipation seems to be a pretty big topic around here - why are so many kitties constipated? He does eat dry food, so he probably needs more moisture. But I was just curious.
 

Kieka

Snowshoe Servant
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Sep 6, 2016
Messages
11,394
Purraise
19,968
Location
Southern California
Ok, thanks. We will keep an eye on him and see how he's doing. Constipation seems to be a pretty big topic around here - why are so many kitties constipated? He does eat dry food, so he probably needs more moisture. But I was just curious.
My case was because of a medication for another issue. I'd guess though that it is moisture issues.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

KarenKat

Kitty on the half shell, tortie power!
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
2,960
Purraise
7,257
Location
Littleton, CO
So after more observations, I'm wondering if it's his tail. I haven't seen it move it much at all since his symptoms began so I wonder if he fell on it, or somehow got it caught in a door. It hangs off him like a limp thing, I haven't seen the tip so much as twitch.

We have a follow up at the vet scheduled for Monday, so we will see what they say. This place has a lot of specialists on hand, and I think we are going to talk to one of their neurologists. Poor kitty, he is so expressive with his tail! He is still eating and drinking (mostly when we offer it) and he seems a little more comfortable on the pain meds.

If it's bad enough, I heard they may have to amputate. This is my BF's soul kitty, I am not even bringing up that option unless the vet does. :(
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8

KarenKat

Kitty on the half shell, tortie power!
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
2,960
Purraise
7,257
Location
Littleton, CO
We have a vet appointment on Monday, and Gohan is still the same. Only now he won’t really eat or drink. We got about 30 kcal of wet food in him this morning when the pain meds wore off. I don’t think he’s had any water beyond that. He ate a few bites tonight of a chicken treat (his favorite) but doesn’t really wat anything else we offer.

We bought some goat milk today but it’s still frozen. If we get him to eat a little tomorrow will that be enough to sustain him for the vet Monday morning? Should we try force feeding yet, or go to the emergency vet tomorrow? I’m worried about him, but I know that Monday’s apt will have the most appropriate people with the correct expertise. I don’t want him to be in pain, but I also don’t want to stress him with force feeding if there is no reason to panic yet.
 

Kieka

Snowshoe Servant
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Sep 6, 2016
Messages
11,394
Purraise
19,968
Location
Southern California
I'd feel better if he saw the vet Sunday. Eating something and offering him food as frequently as possible until Monday could be fine. Try super stinky foods like Fancy Feast Broths, human meat baby food (no garlic or onion!), Nutrition gel and tuna or sardines packed in water.

But.... I think if it was me I would take him into the emergency vet today. He's not really a senior so he should be able to manage until Monday. But he also looks like he is skinny to begin with so he can't really afford to loose weight by waiting. Maybe tell the emergency vet he has an appointment tomorrow and you just want to be sure he will be fine until tomorrow. Check fluids, temperature, maybe check for constipation because that not eating is also in line with that and I'd love to hear it was that simple of a problem. Get an appitite stimulant and high calorie food maybe... I am not a vet so I am not sure but I do know I'd be devastated if delaying those 24 hours did make a difference. Seeing the specialists does have its benefit so I'd see if the vet right now would just stick to triage to make sure he doesn't continue to rapidly decline. And I do realize the cost, Link went to the emergency vet three times plus his regular vet twice in two weeks. He had a full blood panel, two sets of x-rays, and five different medications, before we figured out what was wrong then an overnight vet stay for the enema. It wasn't cheap but I don't regret it.
 
Last edited:
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

KarenKat

Kitty on the half shell, tortie power!
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
2,960
Purraise
7,257
Location
Littleton, CO
Thanks Kieka Kieka - it's definitely the safest choice, I agree. For us, it's more a matter of reducing stress instead of a matter of cost. He ate a few bites of treat this morning (probably 5 kcal but it's something) and we saw him drink as well. He pooped a little yesterday afternoon (in an amount that made sense for his reduced eating) and I'm fairly sure he has been peeing, so he is maybe drinking when we aren't seeing.

I'm sure both are not enough, but we will give him some goats milk today. Our appointment is 9 am on Monday morning, and he has been walking around, asking for pets and purring his heart out (due to attention, not nervous/pain purrs). I would entirely opt for a vet visit today, but my BF is more concerned about the stress. Thanks for your advice, it's greatly appreciated. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

KarenKat

Kitty on the half shell, tortie power!
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
2,960
Purraise
7,257
Location
Littleton, CO
Couple more small poops in the litterbox, probably last night. A bit round and hard, but I could be the lack of water.

And he ate probably 30 kcal of Life's Abundance (a normal amount for him in one sitting for pate). So we will keep offering it, but he's at least not off of food and water entirely.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13

KarenKat

Kitty on the half shell, tortie power!
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
2,960
Purraise
7,257
Location
Littleton, CO
Thanks. He’s napping on some pain meds at the moment.
 

Kieka

Snowshoe Servant
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Sep 6, 2016
Messages
11,394
Purraise
19,968
Location
Southern California
Hopefully the vets tomorrow have some answers. Him not being completely off food is a good sign. If it is a muscle injury that just needs time to heal.

Semi related and for after the immediate situation, I saw you mentioned arthritis as a possible underlaying problem and that you are in California. Our recent escapades got a diagnosis of arthritis in one of Links legs. We've been trying VetCBD oil for the arthritis management and it's been working out really well for him. But since you have the specialists available tomorrow it might be worth asking about. Arthritis is one of those that for cats the option is managing the pain more then treating the problem. But CBD oil is an anti-inflammatory and preliminary studies are showing it can stop or reverse the progress of the arthritis. Since my boy is only 4 years old I am on that path to manage it and hopefully slow it down.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #15

KarenKat

Kitty on the half shell, tortie power!
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
2,960
Purraise
7,257
Location
Littleton, CO
Thanks, that’s a great suggestion! we actually have some pet CBD we decided to try for Trin’s anxiety. We gave them all a dose on July 4th and until the big fireworks went off it seemed to mellow them a little. We definitely discussed using it in this case, although right now we aren’t messing with adding anything to food or giving him strange things to make sure he’s eating and drinking.

Might look into trying it tonight and see if it helps.
 

Kieka

Snowshoe Servant
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Sep 6, 2016
Messages
11,394
Purraise
19,968
Location
Southern California
Thanks, that’s a great suggestion! we actually have some pet CBD we decided to try for Trin’s anxiety. We gave them all a dose on July 4th and until the big fireworks went off it seemed to mellow them a little. We definitely discussed using it in this case, although right now we aren’t messing with adding anything to food or giving him strange things to make sure he’s eating and drinking.

Might look into trying it tonight and see if it helps.
Yeah, I'd wait until after you get through this. No need to confuse things by adding another item to the mix.
 

PushPurrCatPaws

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 22, 2015
Messages
10,061
Purraise
10,250
Gohan ... They did a physical exam (his right leg did seem stiffer than the other), blood test (all clear), x-rays (nothing exceptional, although he did have a "bone bridge" on his spine which may indicate mild arthritis in that spot). The vet guessed that he probably fell or hurt himself in some way to cause soft tissue damage perhaps exasperating some existing arthritis. She sent us home with pain meds with the instruction to keep him quiet and resting while he recovers. We don't see the twitching anymore, and he is able to jump up and down off of things (although it does seem to cause discomfort)
Hi KarenKat KarenKat - sorry to hear about Gohan! He's such a handsome fellow! When does he see the vet today? Like you said, maybe seeing a neurologist might be a good thing, too -- I wonder about this "bone bridge" thing on the xray. Do you know where on his spine it was located? Maybe there are a few pinched nerves, and pain from that could definitely cause him to not raise his tail up in the air (and cause twitching).

Another note- a lot of pain meds can cause constipation, so if you do (likely) find out today that he's constipated, it could have been exacerbated from 3-4 days of pain meds. So I would still explore things with a neurologist or even an ortho vet, and not just think that the initial issues with his tail or twitching/ pain were from constipation alone. There are a few ways the spine can be looked at in detail, so not sure if more things like a myelogram or MRI would help find out what's going on.
:vibes: :vibes: :alright:
 

Kieka

Snowshoe Servant
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Sep 6, 2016
Messages
11,394
Purraise
19,968
Location
Southern California
Hi KarenKat KarenKat - sorry to hear about Gohan! He's such a handsome fellow! When does he see the vet today? Like you said, maybe seeing a neurologist might be a good thing, too -- I wonder about this "bone bridge" thing on the xray. Do you know where on his spine it was located? Maybe there are a few pinched nerves, and pain from that could definitely cause him to not raise his tail up in the air (and cause twitching).

Another note- a lot of pain meds can cause constipation, so if you do (likely) find out today that he's constipated, it could have been exacerbated from 3-4 days of pain meds. So I would still explore things with a neurologist or even an ortho vet, and not just think that the initial issues with his tail or twitching/ pain were from constipation alone. There are a few ways the spine can be looked at in detail, so not sure if more things like a myelogram or MRI would help find out what's going on.
:vibes: :vibes: :alright:
:yeah:

Links constipation was caused by pain medication for an abcess (part of the reason I started looking for alternative arthritis treatments). In my case the symptoms were seperate because an abcess and constipation are completely different. But a spinal injury or leg injury would be similar.

Let us know how it goes after your appointment this morning. :vibes::vibes:
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #19

KarenKat

Kitty on the half shell, tortie power!
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
2,960
Purraise
7,257
Location
Littleton, CO
Thanks, he sees the vet in about 1.5 hours. I think he’s been eating kibble at night at least. He’s supposed to fast starting at midnight and he started bothering us at 530 am because he was hungry.

I’ll definitely bring constipation up at the vet especially if he will be in pain meds a little while but so far he seems to be eating/pooping normal. My guess is he someone got his tail stuck in a door when we weren’t home .... but we will know more soon.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #20

KarenKat

Kitty on the half shell, tortie power!
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
2,960
Purraise
7,257
Location
Littleton, CO
Well we had our vet visit and it sounds like things aren’t too bad. The vet said that his lack of mobility was mostly because of the arthritic spine and recommended he be created for 4 weeks with some pain meds to allow it to heal.

TL;DR We have an old man cat. Poor kitty is going to be stir crazy and meow his head off. Might have to get him some cat tv.
 
Top