Livvy's Lady
Member Since 2017
Good morning! I am new here and just posted an introduction to our cat Livvy here. Livvy is 13 and ended her remission, starting insulin glargine about four weeks ago. She has some symptoms that seem to be stumping our vet, and certainly are stumping my husband and me.
More specifically, many days (but not all), Livvy has an episode during which her head twists to the right. If you didn't know better, you'd think that she was looking over her right shoulder voluntarily, but the reality is that she can't stop it. When she tries to walk during one of these episodes, she lists to the right.
The first time that we observed this was about eight months ago. It happened very infrequently for a few months. We mentioned it to the vet. He said, "Hmmm." and not much more. We didn't worry about it to much, because it was infrequent and mild.
At the worse of times, she in fact will walk in a circle to the right, obsessively twirling until she wears her poor little self out. The most severe episode was about four weeks ago, on the day that we brought her home from the hospital where she was put on insulin and monitored (curved) to try to get the dost right.
On that day, when we got her home, she circled and circled and we took her back to the vet. We feared for her safety and wanted to know what on earth could be the matter. No answers were forthcoming, other than that her electrolytes were out of balance. Specifically, her potassium was low.
After four weeks of potassium supplementation, her potassium level is normal, but she still has these episodes. They seem to happen before her evening meal, most commonly. There may be some association between the episodes and stress/anxiety, but this is difficulty to say. Sometimes she purrs during an episode. It would be a self-soothing purr, but it's hard to say. She doesn't seem all that distraught during the mild episodes. An episode can last from 30 minutes to two hours.
We have some theories, but no answers. Rather than sharing my speculations, I thought I'd ask, have any of you come across this and gotten any answers? Thank you!
More specifically, many days (but not all), Livvy has an episode during which her head twists to the right. If you didn't know better, you'd think that she was looking over her right shoulder voluntarily, but the reality is that she can't stop it. When she tries to walk during one of these episodes, she lists to the right.
The first time that we observed this was about eight months ago. It happened very infrequently for a few months. We mentioned it to the vet. He said, "Hmmm." and not much more. We didn't worry about it to much, because it was infrequent and mild.
At the worse of times, she in fact will walk in a circle to the right, obsessively twirling until she wears her poor little self out. The most severe episode was about four weeks ago, on the day that we brought her home from the hospital where she was put on insulin and monitored (curved) to try to get the dost right.
On that day, when we got her home, she circled and circled and we took her back to the vet. We feared for her safety and wanted to know what on earth could be the matter. No answers were forthcoming, other than that her electrolytes were out of balance. Specifically, her potassium was low.
After four weeks of potassium supplementation, her potassium level is normal, but she still has these episodes. They seem to happen before her evening meal, most commonly. There may be some association between the episodes and stress/anxiety, but this is difficulty to say. Sometimes she purrs during an episode. It would be a self-soothing purr, but it's hard to say. She doesn't seem all that distraught during the mild episodes. An episode can last from 30 minutes to two hours.
We have some theories, but no answers. Rather than sharing my speculations, I thought I'd ask, have any of you come across this and gotten any answers? Thank you!
. Did the Vet check Livvy's ears? There is also something called Idiopathic Vestibular Syndrome but nothing specific to cause or cure.
