911 Our 18 year old indoor boy ~ need help on back leg issue

Status
Not open for further replies.
cvineyard

cvineyard

Member Since 2015
Our 18 year old indoor boy has recently lost use/strength in his back legs. He has had controlled diabetes with insulin for two years, his walk changed about a year ago and he has trouble with his right foot and walks on his whole back foot..Yesterday we arrived home and he was unable to stand and walk anywhere. After a night at the vet..blood work..xrays and a full examine by his internist; they sent us home with him. His appetite is still there, he is very alert but seems to be in some pain and discomfort. What has been a little odd to me is that he seems to stretch his back legs out every now and then and seems to try and be readjusting his body?????. We are giving him a pain med and 5 mg of prednisone a day to hopefully help him to walk again...our next step is to have an mri and consult with another internal medicine vet. I am hoping someone out there has some positive advice for us :/
thank you cindy
 
Thank you VERY much for your compassion.. They did check for that and he has come up clean.. clean xrays too and bloodwork.. But I am honestly surprised sometimes at how LITTLE our vet can offer up when there are problems.. It is a specialty hospital and we have spent thousands there on cancer two years ago with him and his diabetes maintenance etc.. But I guess they are only human xx..My husband thinks our 10 year old other boy cat may have played to rough with him.. I am praying that is it!
 
I don't have any ideas but want to send sling a few prayers. Our older kitties are a bit delicate and I think even a small tweak can cause issues. Please keep us posted...
 
Sorry to hear the little guy is having leg problems. What type of pain medication is he on now? It seems odd that you still notice pain medication. I wonder if it's the right drug or right dose. Has the vet ruled out neuropathy?

My Neko suffers from bad arthritis, and I've been taking her to acupuncture for her pain. I've been really impressed with the exams she's been getting by the acupuncture vet. That vet noticed muscle weakness that other vets did not and gave me physio exercises and acupressure exercises that seem to help.

Best of luck. :bighug:
 
Was an abscess ruled out??? Since the other cat was rough maybe he bit a little to hard. I had 2 previous civvies who had trouble with their back legs after the annual vaccines for about 36 hrs. One had permanent trouble after a previous vet gave the rabies shot in the back leg instead of flank. Needless to say we don't go there anymore.
 
What you're describing sounds like he's walking on his hocks. That's common with diabetic neuropathy. If that's what's going on, you can start giving him methylcobalamine (also called methyl B12) which is a B vitamin. There is a diabetic formulation for cats called Zobaline which is available on Amazon and other sites.

You might want to look at some videos to see if this captures what you're observing. This is one I found
.
 
If it is neuropathy, like is shown in that video above, that can be reversed at least in some cats. People have reported their cats walking down on their hocks and returning back up onto their toes after taking Zobaline for a while. You want the Zobaline with a Z because it's safe for diabetic cats.

I hope he starts doing better soon. I'd really encourage you to learn how to hometest his blood sugar so you can adjust his dose to keep his blood sugar under control. Steroids can increase blood sugar, so he may need some dose tweaking as you move ahead. We can help you if you want.
 
Welcome to FDMB, Cindy.
You've gotten lots of ideas to consider.
If you think he was injured in activity, sometimes cage rest with the vet prescribed steroid allows the body to heal.
With diabetes, though, the neuropathy issue can arise if you are not controlling the glucose levels enough, hence the suggestions for home-testing and for supplementing with methylcobalamin and folic acid (the Xobaline)
Another possibility is potassium levels being out of balance, which your vet would have seen in basic blood chemistries, if tested. If you have any lab results to share, that will help us give more feedback.
 
Thank you for the Welcome!!...This site has REALLY eased my mind. I think it is more than likely his glucose levels. He has had a poor gait for the past months and his blood sugar IS higher than I would like it; but our specialist said "she would take it".. So I think with him NOT being able to walk around now without pain and not support himself, I am going to push the levels down into the 180's (hopefully) with a bit more insulin. When I get the panel back I will definitely share!

Sincerely, Cindy
 
Cindy --

I would really encourage you to get his levels below 180. If you are looking to keep your kitty better regulated, you definitely want him below renal threshold. This number varies from cat to cat but 150 would put him safely below renal threshold -- otherwise, you are increasing the risk for kidney disease (and FD already increases that risk).

If he's not in normal numbers, then the potential for neuropathy is also increased.

 
Sienne and Gabby, Thank you VERY VERY much for the input; I will focus on getting them down more!!

Cindy :)
 
Sienne and Gabby said:
What you're describing sounds like he's walking on his hocks. That's common with diabetic neuropathy. If that's what's going on, you can start giving him methylcobalamine (also called methyl B12) which is a B vitamin. There is a diabetic formulation for cats called Zobaline which is available on Amazon and other sites.

You might want to look at some videos to see if this captures what you're observing. This is one I found
.
Click to expand...
Wow! Sienne, what an excellent video!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top