My cat is having health issues

12 years ago

I have a 13 1/2 year old cat whose normally healthy. She had an episode about 2 months ago. She was dizzy, confused, had trouble walking (going in circles) and didn't seem coherent or recognize me. I brought her to the emergency room (it was a Sunday) and they couldn't narrow down a diagnosis without running every test available. They agreed that she didn't seem to be in immediate danger and it would be okay for me to bring her to my regular vet the next morning.

By the time we got to the vets on Monday, she was almost 100% better. I put her on the floor and she was walking completely normal. Then, she shook her head once and just about fell over. The vet guessed maybe she had a condition which I can't remember the name of it now. Something similar to when your equilibrium is off. She said it clears up all on its own.

We ran all of her blood work that day and it came back normal except her liver was a touch off but nothing alarming.

This Thursday she had another episode. She didn't seem as bad as the first time. I did notice that her pupils were extremely dilated. She was also moving her head strangely. She would almost twitch about an inch, try to look at something, twitch again. over and over. I kept an eye on her and she got better and better and by Sunday was back to normal.

Today she's back to not walking normally. She's been eating and drinking and using the litter box normally. One of my cats did vomit today and I suspect it might have been her but I'm not really sure (no one usually ever gets sick). She's never been on medication. I flea treated her about a month ago for the first time this season. It was after her 1st episode so I know it's not meds causing this.

I have to bring her back into the vet. Just thought I'd give a post to see if anyone could offer any feedback.

I feel so sorry for her :(

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Comments (3)

annzgw
12 years ago
Was she diagnosed with vestibular syndrome?
I suggest more tests to rule out other causes..........

Here is a link that might be useful: Feline Vistibular
lzrddr
12 years ago
dilated eyes and looking around is usually a sign of blindness in cats, be in temporary or permanent. Might check her blood pressure (hypertension can wreck havoc in cerebral circulations)... but if normal, I suspect something physically wrong with her brain/inner ear (not just a simple 'vestibular syndrome' either). A neurologist will get to the root of the problem the fastest (though a bit costly).
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kittens
Original Author
12 years ago
Yes, that's what it was. The feline vistibular. I was able to get her in for an appointment last night. She's not doing well at all. I brought her home though with the hopes she might have one more spontaneous recovery.

They re-checked her blood so I'm waiting for those results. It was her kidneys in July that showed the beginnings of a problem not the liver that I previously posted. The doctor gave her a long physical and said one kidney was smaller than the other. She couldn't find any signs of cancer during the exam.

We aren't going to do any extensive testings from here; she really seems to be failing. She did have high blood pressure - they read it 4 times and it went up to 250. The doctor said it should be about 160 to 180 if they are really stressed from the travel. I started giving her an rx for it last night.

She said she could hear a little clicking sound in her heart and she thought she was now having some partial blindness. The vet said she'd be willing to give her an antibiotic so I think I might call and get some just to make sure it's nothing that can be cured. The only thing is I really don't want to have to leave her for a week or two like this if the medicine won't help. She's up walking around today. She's mainly pacing the rooms. It's really hard to watch and I'm concerned if she's got a heart issue she might throw a clot.