Cat Forum banner

Help/Suggestions For My Cat

1K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  spirite 
#1 · (Edited)
We had 2 brothers. Angus & Malcolm.
Angus is 5 and Malcolm passed away at age 2 ½ from some sort of Auto Immune Disease.

Malcolm's brief history: He lost a couple lbs very quickly which led to blood tests revealing high white blood cell counts. Our regular vet tried many treatments that didn't help and referred us to a Metropolitan Vet Hospital in Akron, Ohio. They specialize in advanced treatment options for pets with cancer and other heavy duty diseases for lack of a better word.
They did extensive testing and the quick diagnosis (while we waited) was Feline Leukemia. We were devastated, but they sent out for a more thorough test that took 7-10 days to confirm and it came back NEGATIVE for Feline Leukemia. They gave him a blood transfusion which immediately returned him to his normal self, but after a few weeks (as they told us) he started feeling poorly again.
They identified he was producing enough red blood cells, but something was preventing them from getting out into his body. They identified this through a bone marrow test.
He wouldn't respond to any treatment and didn't last very long and had some sort of seizure that he never came back from and we had to let him go. He was one of the nicest, kindest cats we've ever owned and we were all very sad to lose him so suddenly and so young.

In the meantime, his brother Angus showed no signs of anything and was tested twice and both were negative. He was also vaccinated for Feline Leukemia then and all was well.
Fast forward about a year and Angus started exhibiting signs of difficulty walking with his back legs. Kind of a limping type gait that worsened quickly over time.
Our vet thought he had some issues with his back legs, but after we we checked him out again at the specialist Malcolm went to, there were no physical reasons for this.
They ran blood tests and he had a slightly elevated white blood cell count. By now he could barely walk and spent most of the time lying down. He also developed Parkinson's like tremors in his front paws when laying down and a bit of a slow surge in his upper body from say the shoulders up. You could tell he couldn't control this movement and was having hard time getting and staying comfortable when lying still or sleeping. We moved litter boxes and food close by, as well as adding soft stairs for him to come into bed with us as he couldn't jump.
Our vet started treatment of Prednisolone 5 MG twice a day. Immediately Angus started getting better and was able to start walking, then running and jumping and most other symptoms disappeared. Blood tests showed his levels were pretty much back to normal.
So our vet guessed that based on the response, Angus had some sort of Auto Immune Disease, although he was responding to treatment, where his brother didn't. Angus also had no weight loss, but through this ordeal, he looked smaller or like sagging in the hips area. My doctor said to feed him as much as we can and hopefully make that area fill in a bit and get more robust. So that we did. He started looking good and “fat” around that area.
In the meantime, our vet suggested trying to back off to once daily for the Prednisolone, but once we did that, immediately he started showing the lameness in his back legs again, so we went back to twice a day.
Over time, with the suppressed immune system, he would get infection after infection and our vet would treat with various types of antibiotics and it would knock out whatever he had quickly.
So our vet then added in Atopica 25 mg daily. He has some issues with not feeling well/nausea so we back off to 4 times a week for Atopica.
After that, he was pretty much symptom free for around 6 months and we were very happy.
Then this winter, every once in while we would see a twitch, surge or a tremor, but no issues with running or jumping. Then some appetite issues would pop up every once in while. He would have regular blood work done and occasionally he would have issues pop up. I can't list them all, but one was a high Pancreas reading. Our vet changed his food and those levels returned to normal, including a 2nd follow up test.
Now this spring, he would have some more frequent tremors and such, but our vet wasn't too concerned as long as he had no infections, fever (we check him regularly at home), etc. but I've been complaining about a general downward spiral. He also seems to have lost volume in his hips again and an overall trimmer look, but his weight remains the same.
The only thing I'll add to the equation is he has blood in his urine. He's been checked for kidney stones and other issues that could cause this and our vet says it's probably due to his weakened immune system as they have many cats who have this and there is never a cause determined and cats live with it.
So a couple weeks ago, he kind of stopped climbing up high, but I didn't recognize it at the time. Then the last few days, he's been staying put in one spot except to eat and use the litter box and the extreme lameness in his rear legs has returned. We took him in today and the blood work was all good, except for a slightly elevated Glucose level that our vet said could be from stress of coming to the office (he does not like to travel to the vet in a carrier).
As the owner, I feel we have regressed back to square one as I see him daily and know all his routines, etc. and I KNOW MY CAT, but am not a doctor.
One weird thing I noticed and read about online, but might mean nothing was his fur growth. When we started the Pred treatment and suppression of his immune system, I noticed I wouldn't get much hair during his weekly brushings. I read about this online as a possible side effect of Pred. Then lately, I noticed he's been shedding hair like he used to and thought maybe that signified that his immune system wasn't being suppressed like it was, hence the return of the bad symptoms?
Our vet says to watch him for a few days and has reduced Pred dosage to once daily and added in Cerenia (thought maybe nausea where he puked once yesterday was adding to his issues) daily as she says the blood test doesn't really give us anything to go after or point us in any direction. Right now, I feel this might hurt Angus even more and am looking for some opinions and where to go from here.
It's not that I feel our vet doesn't care. I know she does a lot, but as the Cat-Dad, I feel I have to do something or we may lose him!
I am hoping to hear some opinions or suggestions or maybe even something I can tell our vet to try that she hasn't thought of. In the beginning when this started, she tested for every possible cause, including some tests for parasites and other things she thought we may have overlooked, so she has been very thorough. I also know there are peaks and valleys if he has a immune system disease, but this is a huge valley right now.
Thank you,
John
 
See less See more
#2 ·
I'm so sorry that Angus isn't doing well and that the vet hasn't been able to figure it out. There are some members whose cats developed weakness in their limbs, and I'm not sure they found out what the cause was.

In difficult cases like this, knowledgeable members have urged that the owner try to find a university with a veterinary school in order to get the best and most specialized care.

The only other things that I can suggest, which maybe your vet has already done, are maybe to get the test for pancreatitis (though I have no idea if the symptoms correspond) and to try to get his neurological functions tested somehow.

I hope others will have some advice for you.
 
#3 ·
Hi! My cat, Snowy, also experienced weakness in his limbs a couple of months ago. His case was quite different from yours though. In Snowy's case, it all started from a simple case of ringworm in his ears. The vet I brought him to prescribed oral medication that I think was too strong, causing him to gradually lose him his appetite and even puking at times. This eventually led to UTI...then dehydration (he was put on the drip for like 3 times) and somehow it gradually caused him to have weakness in his limbs. It was so bad he would pretty much lie down the whole day (even with pain medication he would still have difficulty walking). I had to force feed him everyday, and he would often pee and poop on himself. His weight went down from 4.6 kg to 3.2 kg. By this time, I had already brought him to 2 different vets and was taking him to the clinic once every 2-3 days. I was at my wit's end coz neither of them could tell me why he was so sick. It was pure torture and so painful seeing him like that. But thank God I finally managed to find a good feline doctor after that and he is finally back to normal now.

I can't say Snowy's treatment would work for Angus coz their symptoms are not the same but I really hope my post would help. In the three months or so when Snowy was sick, I did 3 blood tests wand all came back without anything too high or low (1st one had high RBC/HGB/HCT which points to dehydration, and the 2nd & 3rd one had slightly elevated CA count). According to my feline vet, she checked Snowy's reflexes one by one and it seemed that the problem lies with his nerves. Somehow, Snowy has developed neurological problems. As MRI for pets is not available in my country, there was no way to pinpoint the nerve that was damaged, so we could only do treatment the slow way.

She started Snowy on 5mg of Tramadol and a vitamin B supplement (the one I use is call Alinamin-F) a day. She also told me to bring Snowy for acupuncture treatment to help the healing process. And through a fellow patient I met at the Acupuncture doctor's clinic, I started giving Snowy this supplement call "Transfer Factor Plus" once a day too. Snowy didn't recover immediately of course. But I could definitely see the improvement slowly. As weeks go by, he begin to stagger less and less. And after about 1.5 months, he finally began to eat by himself. It has been about 4 months now since he first got sick, and after about 14 sessions of Acupuncture (twice a week), he was finally able to run and jump. I was also able to stop giving him the pain medication at about the same time he started to run and jump again. And his weight has also went back to 4.6 kg now.

I don't know what Angus is suffering from, but maybe you can try Acupuncture to help with the weaknesses in his limbs. I also read that Transfer Factor is quite helpful in boosting the immune system of animals, so maybe you can give that a try too. I wish I can do more to help you. Sending you prayers and I pray that Magnus will recover soon.
 
#4 ·
Thank you cpr34 and spirite for you prayers, recommendations and advice.
I have an appointment for tomorrow morning with a specialist in out area and I'm hoping for the best or at least a confirmation of what our vet thinks Angus has.
They will do some more extensive testing that our regular vet can.
John
 
#6 ·
Thank you for the concern.
He didn't test immediately for too much, mostly due to Angus rebounding to almost 100% with no back leg symptoms during the exam. Plus, the doctor thought that not much to go by on the blood test was a plus for now. He's maintaining his weight, so that's another major plus. He's got an appetite back too.
He spoke to our vet and it was agreed that a retest to Toxoplasmosis was in order, along with an X-ray and we will be doing that on Tuesday.
The specialist did say we should take into account that Angus' brother passed away early and that Angus has responded to Pred and Atopica, so that can be a good indicator he indeed does have an Auto Immune Disease.
He also suggested some things for down the road if we decide we want to move forward. One was seeing their Neurologist who starts in August.
We do have health benefits for both of our cats, so hopefully he maintains the positive upswing or doesn't crash badly in the near future and the Neurologist can shed some light on what's happening.
One thing I've learned is whatever he has can go up or down very quickly.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top