Cat's balance off, falling over

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lolacat00

lolacat00

Member Since 2013
This evening after I got home from work I did my usual routine of testing Lola's BGL which was 113, and then feeding her. As soon as she finished her food, she walked over to her favorite spot by the radiator and kind of fell over. I initially thought she was just laying down. She later moved over to the couch (I didn't see her go over there) and layed/slept for about two hours. She woke up an followed me into the kitchen and she started wobbling and fell over onto her side. I then had her follow me to the other side of the apartment and jump onto a chair. She was again wobbly and fell over after she jumped onto the chair. I have never seen her do this before and I am pretty worried about her. She seems to be acting pretty normal besides the balance issue.

We have been testing her at least twice a day and her numbers have been pretty steady. She was off the juice for about two weeks before her numbers started creeping up and we started giving her small doses of insulin again for a few days before taking her off again. I have a feeling this recent issue is being caused by something else but I wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this before. Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
When was the last time you gave her insulin? If she hasn't had any insulin in at least a day or so and her numbers are good (113), I'm thinking this is something unrelated to diabetes. I would definitely take her to the vet because balance problems can be a sign of neurological issues or ear infections or even dental issues or something else entirely that may be causing brain pressure/swelling. How are her 5Ps?
 
She has not had insulin since Monday (four days ago.) Her five P's all seem to be totally normal as far as I can tell. She has been purring, interested in playing and peed and pooped a normal amount today. I am definitely going to take her in to the vet but I'm not sure if this is an emergency situation or if it can wait until tomorrow.
 
If it is a blood clot - a stroke - prompt treatment may restore some function.

How do the pupils of her eyes look? Equal? Dilated? Focused and able to track? 1 or more "noes". And I'd be on the way to the vet.

Is she vocalizing/howling? Clots can be very painful.
 
Eyes seem normal, behavior seems normal, and she does not seem to be in any pain. She's just off balance when walking. We are naturally worried though, because this is a new problem we have not seen before. Will keep an eye out tonight, and take her in tomorrow if not sooner.
 
When you go to the vets I would suggest checking her thyroid. Those symptoms sound similar to what happened to my cat, and it turned out he was hyperthyroid.
 
Lola just got back from the vet. Her lab results turned out normal and they could not give us any indication what is/was wrong (we specifically asked about her thyroid which they said does not appear to be the case)... So good news that she looks healthy, but weird that her balance problems are unexplained. Since she's been home her balance seems to be improved, but we will keep an eye on her. In the very least we know that her potassium levels and liver function are back at baseline; when she was hospitalized last month there was some dysfunction.

Thanks everyone for your feedback and support!
 
My signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools has a number of assessments you can make. You might start tracking the frequency, duration, and intensity of her problem.

I suspect a very minor stroke (blood clot) could be responsible. Diabetics are slightly more prone to some of the same complications humans get, including stroke, heart attack, and renal disease.
 
the one thing that stood out to me was the CK result of 819 seemed significantly high - the vet said it's related to muscle or heart problems but he did not seem concerned by it when taking her complete profile into account. I'm far from being an expert at reading these lab results, but I've attached them if anyone is interested in taking a look (notes written by the vet).
 

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lolacat00 said:
the one thing that stood out to me was the CK result of 819 seemed significantly high - the vet said it's related to muscle or heart problems but he did not seem concerned by it when taking her complete profile into account. I'm far from being an expert at reading these lab results, but I've attached them if anyone is interested in taking a look (notes written by the vet).
Click to expand...

I can't help at all with the readings, but how is Lola today?
 
Her balance seems back to normal. Her blood sugar is a little higher than it has been, so we started back up on insulin this morning. She's been behaving normally, overall she seems good!
 
Hi Rachel

Another member asked me to take a look at the bloodwork. I think it looks pretty good. I'd definitely talk to my vet about stopping Tumil K if you haven't. Her potassium is fine and you can give too much which can have other effects. Her phosphorus is a little high but I don't know how old she is???

I wouldn't worry about the numbers that are slightly elevated....there is nothing significant to worry about there...other than glucose.
 
Thanks for taking a look. Lola has not had any Tumil K for several weeks now. We were advised by one of our vets to keep her on it so we ordered some more online and the package was actually stolen from our front porch. We decided not to order more.

Lola was adopted from a shelter so we are not sure how old she is. My best guess is between 7 and 9. She has been doing a lot better since she returned home from the vet last Saturday. Her balance totally back to normal. It is a bit of a mystery what was going on. Her blood sugar levels have also been relatively low. :)
 
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