Kitty Diagnosed With Vestibular Disease

[LuckyGirl82]

Hey everyone!
It’s been quite a night over here my hubby woke up suddenly tending to our cat Lucky as she was sleeping in bed with us. She could’ve move & felt stiff from what he was saying. I was in a panic trying to get dressed so we could go to the ER. She did get up & walk around but was unsteady she even went down the stairs. Still we were worried so we went to the ER where they told us she had Vestibular Disease. They did a blood panel everything came back normal thankfully just blood sugar elevated which they said could be stress. They gave her a sedative, antibiotic, anti nausea medicine & antacid & now she is home. They advised me to keep her in the carrier but she HATES it & crawled out when we got home. I have her in a cat bed now which she tried to crawl out of once but feel down numerous times. My question is when will she walk again? I hate to see her like this. She is currently sleeping & I’m laying on the floor right next to her. Anyone been through this before?? My hubby now sent off to get surgery & I can’t be there so I’m freaking out. Thanks everyone!

 

[posiepurrs]

One of my girls, Maggie, had this about a year and a half ago. Other than a slight head tilt, especially when she is tired, she recovered completely. She had trouble walking without tilting and moving to the left for awhile (maybe a week) then started improving. What I did was keep her in a large crate with a litterbox made from cardboard flats you get at the grocery store lined with a trash bag. The sides were low enough she could manage to get in to use it. Believe me my cranky girl wasn't happy but since we live in a 2 story house I felt it was safer. My vet called it "drunken Cat syndrome" jokingly.

 

[LuckyGirl82]

One of my girls, Maggie, had this about a year and a half ago. Other than a slight head tilt, especially when she is tired, she recovered completely. She had trouble walking without tilting and moving to the left for awhile (maybe a week) then started improving. What I did was keep her in a large crate with a litterbox made from cardboard flats you get at the grocery store lined with a trash bag. The sides were low enough she could manage to get in to use it. Believe me my cranky girl wasn't happy but since we live in a 2 story house I felt it was safer. My vet called it "drunken Cat syndrome" jokingly.

Awww poor baby I’m glad she recovered fully. What a scary episode to have I was screaming no thinking she was dead since I woke up out of a dead sleep to it. Right now she is still unable to walk she walks a step then tips. She wanted to come upstairs to her favorite carpet so I’m up here with her monitoring she stumbled under the bed & then was trying to jump up on the bed so I placed her up here & I’ll lay with her till she decides to get down. I spoke with my vet & he said the sedative will wear off in 12 hours so she’ll walk better then. She is really tilting her head to one side while laying here & still hasn’t ate or drank anything I tried to put it in front of her. Did they do an MRI or XRay on your cat? My Lucky is 3 years old so the year said they didn’t think it was necessary. How long did the darting eyes & bobbing head last? Im going to have to figure out nighttime since she wants to get up & go at certain points. I’m still waiting on word about my husbands surgery & I don’t want to leave Lucky alone to get a crate . Thanks for reliving some of my nerves

 

[posiepurrs]

It took awhile for the eyes to settle down. She eventually regained most of her balance, but she seems clumsier when she is tired. No mri and don’t recall an X-ray. Boy, did I have a challenge giving her her medicines! She is a touch me not cat unless it is her idea- to the point you will be bloody if you push it. Hope your husband is okay.

 

[LuckyGirl82]

It took awhile for the eyes to settle down. She eventually regained most of her balance, but she seems clumsier when she is tired. No mri and don’t recall an X-ray. Boy, did I have a challenge giving her her medicines! She is a touch me not cat unless it is her idea- to the point you will be bloody if you push it. Hope your husband is okay.

Okay that is what is scaring me she keeps looking at me & I can see the eyes going side to side & she starts bobbing her head. Still unable to be balanced walking she’s been sleeping on the bed & I’m just doing my work. I was googling this Condition (probably the worst thing I could do) and it seems she is in the worst of it right now . I’m scared for the meds lol! She will let you hold her clean her nose, eyes etc but when it comes to meds forget about it!!! I’m hoping she eats so I can give it to her in her wet food. My vet said she probably won’t want any food or drink for a little while due to all the meds. Thank you just heard a little while ago he’s okay in recovery. These two would plan to get sick at the same time lol thank god I work from home now.

 

[LuckyGirl82]

It took awhile for the eyes to settle down. She eventually regained most of her balance, but she seems clumsier when she is tired. No mri and don’t recall an X-ray. Boy, did I have a challenge giving her her medicines! She is a touch me not cat unless it is her idea- to the point you will be bloody if you push it. Hope your husband is okay.

Quick question they gave her a sedative to calm her not sure if they did this with Maggie but did she sleep a lot the day it happened?

 

[posiepurrs]

I was at work when it happened. I came home to find her falling over. Scared the life out of me! I know she slept a bit after the vet visit but they didn’t give her a sedative.

 

[LuckyGirl82]

I was at work when it happened. I came home to find her falling over. Scared the life out of me! I know she slept a bit after the vet visit but they didn’t give her a sedative.

Ahh okay. They gave the sedative to her because she was basically howling I could hear in the waiting room. When I called my regular vet he said they actually gave her 2 sedative like drugs plus that Covena shot which I know makes her very drowsy. I’m hoping tomorrow is better she wasn’t interested in eating again she just wanted to sleep on my hubbys lap when he got home from his surgery. She did attempt to run away when my neighbor came upstairs but I held her & my neighbor went back down that’s her normal behavior. For tonight we are placing her in between us in bed & I have pillows surrounding the bed Incase she try’s to get up & by chance I don’t hear her. I couldn’t get out to get a crate. What a terrifying experience! My nerves are shot I can’t eat & I’m shaking.

 

[posiepurrs]

It gets better. I know it is scary, but just have patience. This article may help:Vestibular Disease in Cats

 

[LuckyGirl82]

It gets better. I know it is scary, but just have patience. This article may help:Vestibular Disease in Cats

Thank you I just read the article it put me at ease some of them really scared me! Well today she seems slightly better she slept with us all night & then we carried her downstairs with us to her cat bed. She got up from it & started walking around she is leaning to the right when she walks but she wasn’t falling half as much as yesterday. Yesterday she would stand then fall today she is walking with a lean & had 2 stumbles. She wanted outside so we let her walk around & then it looked like she was going to go to the bathroom but fell over when she tried to scoop a hole. Still no eating since 4 yesterday & no water at all. I’m gonna give her water in a syringe she’s gonna hate it. I scheduled an appointment with our vet to come to the house tomorrow just for peace of mind. I hope she continues to show signs of improvement this was quite terrifying for all of us I can only imagine how she feels. Thank you again for answering all my questions & putting my nerves at ease!

 

[LuckyGirl82]

Update on Lucky we brought her to our vet just for peace of mind to make sure the diagnosis was correct & they were right. He did give her fluids since she hasn’t drank in 2 days as well as anti nausea pills, appetite increaser & high calorie canned food. She finally did pee but all in the cat carrier unfortunately but at least she went to the bathroom everything can be cleaned. She cleaned herself a bit when she got home which is good & now is sleeping again which he said is normal with the vertigo.

I feel somewhat better her normal vet saw her & ruled out tumors because I was in a panic. I still hate to see her stagger around & not look right in the eyes but he said 7-10 days it should clear up. I’m counting down the days because watching this is heartbreaking. I’ve been crying quite a bit.

 

[LuckyGirl82]

Hey everyone!
So 8 days ago our cat Lucky had a very scary Vestibular episode we took her to the ER & her vet where they both said the same thing. She had improved eating, drinking, walking around, going outside supervised & being able to jump on the coffee table & couch.

Today is her first day off of the anti dizziness meds & she was fine this morning she hoped on the coffee table wanted her morning treats but then around 1:30 I noticed she was throwing up (just once & it was food) I immediately got a pit in my stomach my hubby told me I’m worrying for no reason. We brought her inside & she didn’t go to the food dish just went & laid down. I looked at her eyes to see if they are darting but they are normal. She still has a tilted head & is walking a bit wobbly so could it be that maybe she got slightly dizzy when she moved her head a certain way??

 

[LuckyGirl82]

It gets better. I know it is scary, but just have patience. This article may help:Vestibular Disease in Cats

Hi!
I had a quick question so we are in day 8 of Lucky vestibular recovery & her first day off of the meds. It seemed like she might’ve got dizzy & then threw up. Did this happen at all with your cat?? She still has a tilted head so I don’t know if that is contributing to it or not. She was just doing so great too.

 

[Kieka]

My Mom has vertigo, and right after an episode it doesn't take much to trigger a mini-attack. I'd monitor your cat and go with how she is going overall instead of focusing on little moments between things. If she has outside access, I would keep her indoors until she hasn't had any incidents for at least 72 hours.

 

[posiepurrs]

All the medications that Maggie got on an on going basis was antibiotics. I don’t recall her throwing up when she finished them. To this day she still has a head tilt and that is completely normal.

 

[LuckyGirl82]

My Mom has vertigo, and right after an episode it doesn't take much to trigger a mini-attack. I'd monitor your cat and go with how she is going overall instead of focusing on little moments between things. If she has outside access, I would keep her indoors until she hasn't had any incidents for at least 72 hours.

Ahh okay I didn’t know that! she was doing so great until she got off her anti dizzy meds but I called the vet because she threw up again & became unable to walk. He put her back on the anti dizzy meds but gave us the wrong meds ugh! We had to go back & get the correct meds. Then the ladies at the front desk were telling the customer in front of us how to administer Lucky meds not his cats meds. I just felt like a second opinion was in order after those 2 slip ups so I made an appointment with the #1 vet practice in our area. At our current vet it’s just him so I feel like he gets super busy so what if he missed something. I guess it can’t hurt to get a second (well third if you include the ER) opinion it will put my nerves at ease. I’m defiantly not letting her outside I caught her drinking standing water outside today & I threw away her Temptation treats after reading how terrible they are for you’re cat. Don’t know if those are the cause for the relapse. Thank you for making me feel better I’ve been stressed to no end. I just want her to get better & im the worst at having patience.

 

[LuckyGirl82]

Well things took a turn for the worst over here with Lucky. It seems like she had another dizzy spell & threw up. She could barely walk again. Ugh ju

All the medications that Maggie got on an on going basis was antibiotics. I don’t recall her throwing up when she finished them. To this day she still has a head tilt and that is completely normal.

They gave her that Convenia shot as the antibiotic & then just sent us home with anti dizzy & anti nausea meds. I called the vet & she isn’t back on those again. I made an appointment with the #1 vet in our area because our vet just seems to be busy & gave us the wrong meds today. It can’t hurt to get a second opinion I mean she should be getting better not going backward. She was unable to walk & threw up a second time beforehand getting the anti dizzy meds.

 

[LuckyGirl82]

Update on Lucky she seems to be better! We gave her the meds around 5:00 & then she slept when she woke up she went to the bathroom but then threw up a little. She took another nap & then woke up wanting to eat. She came to me looking for her Temptation treats which I threw away after reading how bad they are for cats (she is OBSESSED with them) but just let her go to her dry food. We went to bed & she was meowing & brought me her toy mouse which means give me a treat lol so I gave her & all the cats a small little bite of Trader Joe’s Tuna for cats. I’m gonna switch to doing that instead of treats in the morning & evening. My hubby put her up on the kitchen island to eat this morning because our older cat Milkshake hisses at her of course he lets her jump off the island while I’m away but she’s was able to do it a bit wobbly on the landing. She’s outside right now with hubby watching the birds on the porch looking like her old self with the head tilt lol. I might postpone my second opinion vet visit for next week & see if she improves even more over this week. She did have a severe case from what the ER told us I was in such a panic yesterday that I’m thinking maybe I jumped the gun I don’t know.