Help! OTJ kitte now has CRF+very weak hind legs

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lisamikael

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Help! OTJ 18 yo kittie now has crf and i have her on daily subq's after 2 crises. She is OK but wobbly. The last 3 weeks she has stopped jumping. I cannot tell if her hind legs are super weak or very sore or both. So far no help from vet on this one. I read that low potassium can cause muscle weakness? methly b12 helps? she does not walk on her hocks...thanks so much. this forum helped me get Chloe otj 1.5 yr ago
 
i would definitely get her potassium levels checked.
tuckers mom knows alot about low potassium levels and since i'm not sure how many are back from their holiday and traffic on the board may still be light, maybe send her a pm?

methyl b12 is for neuropathy, often a side effect of uncontrolled diabetes so i doubt giving her b12 is going to help with this.
 
Very sorry to see this. Yes, as Cindy mentioned, low potassium can definitely look like this.

http://www.felinecrf.org/treatments.htm#low_potassium

The extra fluids and the extra peeing can deplete the body of potassium. They can very quickly lose muscle tone, become weak, unable to jump, lethargic, wobbly, and at it's worse they often can't lift thier heads.

Tucker takes Tumil-K pills, they are potassium supplements, four per day. When he had his first potassium crash in March it took two days of IV fluids that had potassium added to them to help him. We thought he wasn't going to make it, but once the potassium level got back to normal, he perked up. We had another episode just a few weeks ago, was caused by his brain tumor, but for a short time his potassium dropped again and he needed the IV push.

I would highly recommend that you get bloodwork done and check the electrolytes.
 
Thanks very much. She had her bloodwork 2 weeks ago and potassium was normal, but perhaps on the low side of normal. I will discuss with vet again. This did come on suddenly, after her first subq's --she was never a weak jumper.
 
Potassium can drop very quickly and the symptoms can come on very fast, thankfully for Tucker, his symptoms also went away within days. I hope your kitty is feeling better.
 
These are signs of mild to moderate low potassiun (hypokalemia) in humans. Some of it could also translate to cats:nausea, vomiting,anorexia,diarrhea,decrease bowel mobility and peristalsis,muscle weakness,leg cramps.

For severe low potassium altered mental status, dizziness, hypotension and cardiac arrthymia

If your cat gets to the point that it can't walk or balance and has behavior changes you might want to go to an ER vet right away
 
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