Hindleg: Our Cat With Fatty Liver Suddenly Started Limping On The Back Legs

[macadamia12]

Our Cat Mac has been on feeding tube since 4/16 as he had stopped eating(almost 3 weeks ago) causing fatty liver to set in. He was constipated since the not eating started and it became really severe since the tube feeding. We tried pumpkin, Pedalax, goats mil probiotics, sepia but none worked.

2 days ago our Vet instructed us to use 1/8 ts of Miralax two times a day. He strained almost all day yesterday and wasn't able to poop at all. This morning when we woke up(6:30 am), we saw quite a bit of poop in the litter box. Also he was limping on his back legs and kept collapsing while walking. We picked him up from the floor and put him on the couch. 5 minutes later, he urinated on the couch while also straining and trying to poop. One small piece of poop came out covered in blood and mucus. We tried to clean his butt and saw more blood on the wipes. He continued straining and trying to poop almost every 5 to 10 minutes.

We dropped Mac at our Vet's Office at 8:30am. Vet left a voicemail at noon saying they did physical exams in addition to blood tests(still waiting on the blood results) and everything things look normal so far and that enema wasn't needed as there isn't much poop left.

Vet wasn't available when we picked him up and were told he would call us back. We are anxiously waiting to hear from the Vet.

Mac is very disoriented and still keeps limping and collapsing when trying to walk. He is still straining and trying to poop from time to time. My husband was up with Mac till 4:30 am and he was walking fine. We are extremely worried as to what happened.

We are very baffled by this and would appreciate some guidance dealing with this situation. Our boy has already been dealing with a lot and now he is unable to even walk. I am so heartbroken.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
I've read your other thread but I don't recall if you considered contacting a different vet?

 

[Leomc123]

miralax contains Polyethylene glycol 3350 :are serious side effects in humans: severe or bloody diarrhea; bleeding from your rectum; blood in your stools;

Mac is probably having an allergic reaction to the miralax :

High doses can cause diarrhea and ultimately, dehydration. You should also avoid giving your cat Miralax if your cat has been diagnosed with Chronic Renal Insufficiency (CRS). ... You should also keep an eye on your cat for any side effects from the medicine, such as vomiting or lethargy.


Funny thought though: My cats which passed away recently was given Laxapet. When i gave that to my first cat he had a few bowel movements then couldn't walk at all, even though he was walking well 1 week before. I gave laxapet to my other cat, all of a sudden in 2 days she starts drooling and stops eating, and stopped moving. Its a bit coincidental. Its possible they had an allergic reaction and the symptoms they were showing were other symptoms.

 

[daftcat75]

I don’t know about the hind leg weakness. Maybe an electrolyte imbalance if he’s been vomiting a lot lately. Can you take him into the vet’s for subcutaneous fluids and get his blood checked?

The constipation. I wonder if that’s related to the sluggish bile flow. If the bile isn’t flowing well, the fat in his food could be clogging his pipes. Offer him up to 1 tsp of raw egg yolk (not the whites) by mouth. I don’t think you should put raw yolk down the tube. (You certainly don’t want to smell that mistake when it starts to spoil.). Fortunately, a lot of cats like the taste. Egg yolk contains lecithin which works a bit like bile to emulsify fat/make it flow/unclog his pipes. Egg yolk can be a potent laxative so try no more than 1 teaspoon per 24 hours. Give it time to work.

 

[macadamia12]

Hi All,

Thanks for the response.

Yesterday was a really rough day. We were able to speak with the Vet around 5 pm and were told looks normal(minus theliver/galbladder issue) and our main focus should be trying to increase his food intake and Ursodial. He said limping is probably due to weakness and should go away in a day or two.

Around 5:30pm, we tried feeding but the tube seemed severely blocked. After an hour of troubleshooting, we gave up and took him back to the Vet office. After examining, Vet said the tube had gotten twisted in the neck region and would need to sedate him to fix that. Having no other alternative we agreed. He gave as little sedation as possible and fixed it. We got home around 9 but Mac wouldn't come out of the cage which was very strange.

We opened the top of the cage and tried to feed but the tube still wouldn't cooperate. After some troubleshooting with warm water, we were able to feed him and he continued being in the cage.

After an hour, he tried to stand up and move, but kept collapsing. He couldn't even stand up without falling. Seemed like he wanted to pee. We got the litterbox inside in our living room and lifted him there. Even with our support, he still couldn't stand in the litter box and wanted to just lay down. He was able to poo and pee but both his backlegs and tails were soaking wet. We took him out and tried to clean him as much as possible. He would cry in pain everytime we touched his backlegs. This thing repeated every 2 hrs through out the night.

What really makes us emotional is he wouldn't still pee outside the litter box despite such adversity. He starts scrambling and trying to standup/move(in vain) when he has to pee.

We called out Vet again first thing this morning, but he said give it a day or two. We were also able to feed him quite a bit. He just lays in one spot and we move him when he needs to pee/poo. My husband is out to get him pee pads and also a kitty bed and a pillow.

We are very devastated and are trying to be optimistic and do everything we can to make him comfortable.

 

[macadamia12]

Furballsmom ,

In Kona, we only have three Vets. Vet1 was Macs regular vet and we took Mac there when the not eating initially started. They didn't care and took it very lightly and said Mac is very difficult to deal with.

We then took him to Vet2(current Vet) who baffles us sometimes but atleast appears to be very kind, compassionate and caring. He is also the one that has the biggest facility with xrays, ultrasound and can also do surgeries. He is also available on emergency basis unlike Vet1.

Our Last option is Vet3 who could't get us in for another 3 weeks despite us explaining the urgency of the situation.

There are some other vets on the island who are 1.5 to 3 hrs away(one way) but don't seem as advanced as Vet2.

We are working remotely with another Vet from California simultaneously.

 

[macadamia12]

Leomc123 ,

I am so sorry about your loss.

Were you cats able to recover from not walking/moving?

Thanks

 

[macadamia12]

daftcat75 ,

They did his blood test yesterday and the liver values still look the same. Sowe have to work on getting the bile flowing. Hoping ursodial will show some effect in a week. We take him back again for blood test in 10 days.

We are administering 100ml of subq everyday at home. Today is his 3rd day. We feeding eggyolk by mouth but won't eat. He had tried mixing some some scrabled eggs into his food.

Thanks

 

[Furballsmom]

Can you see if Vet2 can help his pain? He's not just weak, he's hurting.

 

[daftcat75]

1 tsp egg yolk is not that much. If he’s really having trouble pooping, you could squirt that into his mouth. Because it’s egg yolk gooey, he will end up swallowing more than he can spit out despite his best efforts. It’s an option if he really needs the assist.

 

[Leomc123]

If he is having pain in his back legs all of a sudden, are his back paws cold to the touch ? If they are cold, are they colder than the front paws. Are your cats paws pink, if they are usually pink and are now going blueish color and cold then you will need to get your cat to the vet as he may have a blot clot happening which could be very painful for him.

 

[Leomc123]

Leomc123 ,

I am so sorry about your loss.

Were you cats able to recover from not walking/moving?

Thanks

Thanks . No Leo didn't recover and ended up being put down. The vets didnt do any blood work at all even though i asked, they kept saying its his c7 c6 spine from xray, even though he had feelings in both back legs and was able to flex and move his legs while laying on his side, he was going to the loo on his side because in 1 week when i gave him the laxative he suddenly was not able to walk at all, dragging his back legs around in the grass, concrete and floor in the house until he was scrapping his back paws raw. He was also in pain, with the back legs, so he was put on loxicom and gabapentine . He was eating and drinking with no problems though he just couldn't get up.

MC woke up one day with drooling this was 3 days after i gave her he same laxative for fur balls. On that day she started to droop she didnt want to eat but would drink water and rain water only. She was walking around fine then by wednesday she was given an antibiotic cause vet thought she had mouth infection and a bad tooth, by saturday at vet she had no mouth infection but i was told by vet she is ill and is dying from kidney or liver failure, so on the sat i put her down. I think i made a mistake still, cause again they didnt do blood works.

 

[macadamia12]

Guys,

Today was a new low.

Mac can't standup or move at all and has started peeing on himself since yesterday evening. He does that every 2 or 3 hrs and is soaked in pee. We try to clean himself as much as we can since he cries painfully when we touch his backlegs/thighs. We lift in the litter box frequently to see if he wants to pee. Sometimes he does, other times he doesn't

On top of that his tube has stopped working again since this morning. We try fixing it every every half hour, but it still hasn't cooperated.

His wound site also had a lot of puss today(pic attached) and not sure if its infected.

Our Vet isn't available since he is off the island in Honolulu this weekend. The other two aren't available either. We have never felt so helpless in our life.

Mac seems very miserable today and we don't know if he wants to live. He shows no interest in food. He already has constipation issues and how is he going to digest food without any activity.

Today was an extremely hard day and we don't know what to do. We will take him to the Vet first thing tomorrow morning to get his tube fixed(which might require a surgery) and xray of his legs. But if things continue to go down hill this coming week, we don't know if we should prolong his misery.

If he doesn't make it, living in our current house will be extremely difficult as its filled with his happy memories.

Please help us out in what our next steps should be. We are willing to do anything and everything to save him.

Here's how he spends his whole day due to his inability to move.

Here's a pic of his wound site

Thanks

 

[macadamia12]

I forgot to mention that apart from the constipation issue, he was still doing OK till our friday morning visit to the Vet. Before taking to the Vet, he was limping but still able to walk and move around everywhere. But after he got back, he was unable to move at all. His left leg is swollen and seems more painful than the right one and is also the one where they drew his blood on friday.

His tube had been also working great (the first 10 days) until he got back from the Vet office. He are just so confused.

 

[macadamia12]

Leomc123 ,

I am deeply sorry for your loss. That might have been a lot to go through with both of your cats.

Macs backlegs are either room temperature or warm. Also he is able to move them in the air just not able to stand on them.

Thanks

 

[Leomc123]

Go to vetchat online website it costs like 2 dollars to speak to a vet online, you can upload photos and medical records and they can assist you Vetchat - Chat with a vet online

 

[daftcat75]

Not a vet. Only consulting Dr Google here. But that sounds like a clot and an emergency situation. If an emergency hospital is hours away, get on vet chat and find out if it’s something to travel for or if it can wait until morning.
Rear Limb Weakness - Symptoms of Pets with Heart Disease - Cummings Veterinary Medical Center

 

[Leomc123]

i would take your cat to the vet asap , if your cat is in pain, the medication isnt working for pain releif and it could be a clot forming from the medication. I am not a vet, but my cat had the same symptoms with the backlegs limping, pain in the rear area of legs. But you are saying one of your cat leg is swelling that that isnt a good sign sounds like a clot forming. The vet can give medication to dilute the clot and make the blood thinner. Poor little mac what a terrible situation you are all in. I hope mac makes it through.

 

[Leomc123]

I am not a vet : ok so its good sign that the paws are warm that means blood is flowing through them. Is mac on any medication that is a sedative effect ? Like Gabapentine ?

I just checked your email and the doc gave you mirataz transdermal to put on the ear, i was reading about it and the side effects is drowsiness and weakness.

It may be a side effect to the Mirataz causing your cat to be weak in the bladder and bowels and legs. As you say your cat is constipated, so if you are giving it to him every day it will be building up in his system and its not being expelled properly . Maybe there is another medication that he is given that has the side effect of weakness , lethargy , drowsy etc. And your cat isnt eating much so he is already weak. Constipation can also cause weakness and lethargy.

 

[Leomc123]