Hi, I brought Ruckus to the regular vet Friday for a eye check up and to get Solensia. We had moved in August and he bumped his eye and had to go to the emergency. Since living at the new place he seems to be a bit more clumsy and walking close to the walls. I have noticed that he does laps around our new place. I didn’t think too much into it but it seems like he’s pacing around. on Saturday night he was doing tight circles for about six hours. So we brought him to the emergency VCA, they either thought it was high cranial pressure or Vestibular disease. He was treated with an antibiotic and Antinausea pills. He is also on gabapentin regularly I was given a higher dose. I am at a loss and I’m feeling extremely angry and upset, I just feel it is so unfair. He is on canergoline and has actually been doing good and blood glucose numbers. I talked to the internal specialist team at VCA and they had told me it take multiple SRT treatments and they run for about 10 grand per session. I heard of other cats passing away during the brain surgery or not being the same cat. On Saturday I thought he was going to pass with the circling. There’s no way that I can afford the SRT or brain surgery. I saw him trying squat to poop on the rug and I immediately brought him to the litter box and when I went to put him down he fell face first. made me feel like a huge piece of garbage and I balled my eyes out. I have not stopped crying and feeling super upset and angry since Saturday. Its such an extremely gross feeling to have him put down but I don’t want him to suffer. It’s like my mind can’t cope with it but I keep still just holding on thinking that you’ll get better but then it seems like something new arises. questions are has anybody heard of any studies or cheaper treatment options? When is it time to let go? He is still eating and drinking but he is like a empty soul lately He is also lost 2.3 pounds since august
When Neko was first diagnosed, the only treatment was SRT or just manage with insulin. Since then, the surgery and cabergoline have been added as options, which I'm glad to see. There is also pasireotide, but it's outrageously expensive - even more so than the other options. Cabergoline is really the only one most people can afford and doesn't require travel, but it doesn't work in all cats. It's good to see Ruckus's dose has come down, so it is helping him some. A couple posts for you, only the second was around when I needed it for Neko, I found it quite helpful: Feline Pain Scale Making "The Decision": Help to know when and how
@Zorrain How is Ruckus doing? I can hear the heartache in your words. Though not directly related to your questions, here are a few thoughts/questions. Did the vet check Ruckus’ eyes and blood pressure? Vision impairment or blindness can result from high blood pressure, often secondary to kidney insufficiency. Walking the perimeter of a room is common in cats that have vision problems; I had one who went blind due to partial retinal detachments resulting from high blood pressure and my first two signs were her navigating around by clinging to walls and fully dilated pupils all the time. Tight circling can be a sign of something neurological. One of my cats had some sort of a neuro issue (vet said probable stroke), and she did the tight circle thing nonstop. It was stressful and dramatic. Vet said if it was a stroke, they can improve and to give it 2-3 days, that that timeframe would probably reflect the best she was going to recover. I also had a cat who had some sort of neuro or vestibular event or inner ear infection. He circled, fell over, was just totally unbalanced and discombobulated. He had a major head tilt — literally carried his head cocked at almost 90 degrees sideways. I had to isolate him in a small area to keep him safe. He ended up on antibiotics and steroids. It took months but he finally somewhat recovered, although he still has a head tilt and is a bit clumsy at times. NONE of the above cats were diabetic, though, let alone had acro. Acro can have a lot of weird impacts on the body, even decimating at times. I didn’t use cabergoline on my acro kitty — I’m not sure whether there can be any side effects that would explain what you’re seeing (probably not?) but might be worth researching. @FrostD @Howiesmom I hope you get some answers and that Ruckus shows some improvement. And for what it’s worth, Please DON’T feel guilty about not being able to do SRT. It’s not a magic bullet, and some cats do better than others with it (I question whether it was the right choice for Tubby in hindsight). If only we had a crystal ball. But you’ve done quite a lot already help Ruckus and are advocating in many ways for him. Give yourself credit for that. Sometimes there’s only so much we can do.
I am so sorry to hear about what is going on with Ruckus. I would be so scared and upset like you so please know my heart goes out to you as you are trying to manage, care for him, and make some decisions. I loathe the day I will get to this point with Howie as he is my heart and my soul. As for the Cabergoline, I have not had any side effects with it to help explain any of the symptoms you’re seeing. I sincerely hope and pray you can find some answers. I’m also tagging @Suzanne & Darcy as she has always been a marvelous resource and a warm personality.
Hi, Tracy. You're so kind. Thanks for tagging me. Zorrain and I have been friends for a few years now, since before she joined the Board. I've been agonizing over what's been going on with Ruckus. He's always been an amazing cat with a really big magnificent personality. I'm really fond of him. I was on pins and needles the other night when he was in the ER. I had advised about having them check Blood Pressure (which the regular vet had done the day prior to the ER visit) and give a good examination of his eyes because he acted like he had vision loss (walking around the walls, getting stuck in corners and not seeming to know how to get out/back out of the place. And I asked about problems with his ears -- since ear problems can cause Horner's Syndrome. Of course, there are other causes. Zorrain and I are hoping it's just been brought on by an ear infection and that the problem will clear up. When Ruckus was little, he had quite a few ear infections. I did read this paper from the WSAVA 2015 Congress (so it's getting a little old now), but it's about Feline Acromegaly and it does talk about neurological signs in cats with acromegaly to include: dullness, lethargy, abnormal behavior, circling, and blindness. And other things are listed as well... I will link the paper here. https://www.vin.com/apputil/content/defaultadv1.aspx?pId=14365&id=7259428 You have lots of people here rooting for you and Ruckus, @Zorrain we all can relate to these struggles and to feeling like we aren't doing enough to help our Acro kitties or that, if only we had more money, we could do more. I think you've been feeling like that. I know that you have put your heart and soul into caring for Ruckus. Why don't you update the group on how he's doing.
Yes. He was doing a little bit better yesterday and he looked better (I saw photo of his eyes) and was not circling. I check in pretty much every day. But I wanted Zorrain to update the group and not me. How about it @Zorrain? He's been constipated, which as we all know can cause other seemingly unrelated problems. She's started Miralax... anyway... I will let Zorrain update everyone further...
The pituitary is close to the optic chiasm, and tumour growth can press on it. Acros can show eye symptoms. Before Neko's SRT, she was sensitive to bright light (it went away), later on she had one pupil larger than the other. Even though her tumour was considered to be "tiny". Circling is something I've seen in a couple of cats here, though neurological signs are less common that some of the other acro symptoms. Please keep us updated Zorrain.
Ruckus' pupils were very enlarged when he went to the ER and were not responding normally to light. How are they today, Zorrain? The photo I saw looked better, I thought??
I’ve been mulling over what could be going on as well. As Wendy mentioned, the optic chiasm is near the pituitary and so I suppose acro is the most likely cause of the symptoms (when you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras and all). But since we’re wracking our brains, and on the off chance it is unrelated to acro, has Ruckus been tested for toxoplasmosis? I believe that can also cause vision and neurological symptoms. Tagging @Bron and Sheba (GA), who I think might have experience with toxo??
One of my cats was diagnosed with having antibodies to toxoplasmosis (blood test) after she had a couple of seizures which were quite brief. They were not the usual type of seizure but she did move around and around on the bed and was incontinent of urine and was frothing at the mouth. She was put on a month of antibiotics which was clindamycin twice a day. It made quite a difference to her really. She was more active and happier and talkative and appetite better. But about 9 months later she had another one of the little seizures so the vets are not sure what is going on. It is definitely worth testing for toxoplasmosis.
All right I don’t even know where to start, yesterday it seemed like he was having a better day. But today has been a bit more interesting he Peed on the carpet last night and then this morning while I was on the phones. Then he pooped right behind my desk and it was like a hard rock. I have been giving him the laxatives and I don’t know if they’re working yet. I did up the dose in the laxatives And I’m just waiting for him to exploding diarrhoea. Hopefully it’ll be in the litter box, I have been periodically bringing him to the litter box and just setting him in and making sure he has his balance but then he just hops out right away and continues to be somewhere around the house. I’m scared to put him in the litter box too after the face plant the other day. I’m glad that his pupil I went down. He now just pieces around the house in a big circle I was going to try to show a video on here but I don’t know how to post it just the pictures. As for the vets he still on the same medications and I’m hoping that it will clear up whatever is going on here.
I know! This looks so much better than before! That’s a really good sign, Zorrain! Keep up that Veraflox!
He was walking around today and he was so fast he almost got outside and we’ve been cuddling him and he’s been asking to be picked up. Then as we’re getting ready for bed and to watch a movie he starts circling crazy fast. We are now off to the VCA to get a steroid for him that’ll hopefully help they said that they prescribed me 14 days.
Probably the answer is yes, but did they look inside his ears really well? I am hoping that the steroid will help. Just watch his BG and increase insulin if necessary. I’m hoping Ruckus is having a better day today. Does he seem exhausted after these episodes? I know you said his pupils were large again last night.
I’m not 100% sure, he’s on the steroids and he’s been sleeping a lot he’s still on the antibiotics as well. He has not circled since Monday but I’m on sure if it’ll happen again. He has been sleeping and cuddling with his sister a lot and I’m hoping this won’t happen again. It’s really scary and I was up all night covering his face and holding him like a baby.
Has he been eating and drinking well? Are his pupils normal size now? Is he able to walk around somewhat normally? I’ve been thinking about you both a lot. I know how hard this is. Please post updates when you can.
