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- Nov 25, 2011
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One of our cats has been having major problems lately and since the vets down here are <edit> I figured I'd get more opinions from the AB crowd.
Woke up a few nights ago to one of the most pitiful meowing/yowling sounds. I'd assumed it was a hairball coming up since our cat makes those kinds of noises as he runs to the bathroom to hack it up. However, this time nothing came up and it looked like our other cat (who had been adopted a few days earlier, but they were getting along very well) was freaked out by his noises and hissed at him. Maybe a disturbed hairball?
Fast forward to the next morning and the cat is listless with occasional muscle spasms in the chest and abdomen, very slow, unsure movements, and continuous pitiful meows as he tries to move. Add to that rapid breathing and a weird hitch each time he breathes.
Unfortunately we had to leave that morning because of a family event so we made sure he had plenty of food and water and was separate from the other cat just in case. When we got back the next afternoon he was more listless and couldn't seem to lift his head, along with all the previous symptoms. He ate and drank a little though.
First vet visit basically ended with the vet saying it's likely just a pulled muscle and she gave us some pain meds. The meds would work for a short period of time, even his meows sounded normal, but then they'd wear off and he'd be back to how he was before.
Two days later it was back to the vet since the symptoms had gotten worse and now he could barely move because his legs were shaking so badly. Different vet looked at him and said no way a pulled muscle does this. Symptoms were more in line with contact with an organophosphate, so she gave him a shot to increase appetite and stimulate the immune system and sent us home with a small bottle of steroids.
I did some poking around our apartment and the complex as a whole, and no organophosphates have been used. That plus the fact that our other cat is unaffected and none of my bugs have died makes this seem unlikely.
The shot didn't seem to work all that well since his appetite didn't increase at all and he'd gone 4 days without eating (that we knew of). Finally last night he did eat some and he spent a little time bathing as well, so it seemed like the steroids were working. He looked a little more alert as well and could move his head a bit better.
Now this morning he was having the same movement issues as before. It could be the steroid wearing off, but there doesn't actually seem to be any sort of improvement. Likely going to have to take him back in again. Maybe this time they'll actually decide to do an x-ray...
Any thoughts from the AB field? Sorry for the long post, this has been unbelievably stressful since I'm half expecting to come home from work or wake up in the morning to a dead cat. He's only about 4 and we've had him for 3 and a half years. He's one of the sweetest cats, so my wife and I really want to figure out what's wrong.
Woke up a few nights ago to one of the most pitiful meowing/yowling sounds. I'd assumed it was a hairball coming up since our cat makes those kinds of noises as he runs to the bathroom to hack it up. However, this time nothing came up and it looked like our other cat (who had been adopted a few days earlier, but they were getting along very well) was freaked out by his noises and hissed at him. Maybe a disturbed hairball?
Fast forward to the next morning and the cat is listless with occasional muscle spasms in the chest and abdomen, very slow, unsure movements, and continuous pitiful meows as he tries to move. Add to that rapid breathing and a weird hitch each time he breathes.
Unfortunately we had to leave that morning because of a family event so we made sure he had plenty of food and water and was separate from the other cat just in case. When we got back the next afternoon he was more listless and couldn't seem to lift his head, along with all the previous symptoms. He ate and drank a little though.
First vet visit basically ended with the vet saying it's likely just a pulled muscle and she gave us some pain meds. The meds would work for a short period of time, even his meows sounded normal, but then they'd wear off and he'd be back to how he was before.
Two days later it was back to the vet since the symptoms had gotten worse and now he could barely move because his legs were shaking so badly. Different vet looked at him and said no way a pulled muscle does this. Symptoms were more in line with contact with an organophosphate, so she gave him a shot to increase appetite and stimulate the immune system and sent us home with a small bottle of steroids.
I did some poking around our apartment and the complex as a whole, and no organophosphates have been used. That plus the fact that our other cat is unaffected and none of my bugs have died makes this seem unlikely.
The shot didn't seem to work all that well since his appetite didn't increase at all and he'd gone 4 days without eating (that we knew of). Finally last night he did eat some and he spent a little time bathing as well, so it seemed like the steroids were working. He looked a little more alert as well and could move his head a bit better.
Now this morning he was having the same movement issues as before. It could be the steroid wearing off, but there doesn't actually seem to be any sort of improvement. Likely going to have to take him back in again. Maybe this time they'll actually decide to do an x-ray...
Any thoughts from the AB field? Sorry for the long post, this has been unbelievably stressful since I'm half expecting to come home from work or wake up in the morning to a dead cat. He's only about 4 and we've had him for 3 and a half years. He's one of the sweetest cats, so my wife and I really want to figure out what's wrong.
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