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ElderCat Update
Jun. 23rd, 2013 11:37 amLast week, I noticed that ElderCat was having real difficulty making her usual jumps (sofa-to-desk, floor-to-bed), so I rearranged the apartment to give her "intermediate" steps. because, hey, she's what, 15 now? Give the old lady some help.
A few days after that, she fell OFF the edge of the desk. Not mid-leap, just a mis-step. She was embarrassed, but hey, sometimes that happens. Except it happened again, and this time she lost part of a back claw. Ow, poor baby. But still, my desk is crowded, and she might have just misjudged the space...
But then on Saturday I realized that her left hind leg wasn't reacting properly at all. She was dragging, and hesitating, and it didn't seem to be bearing weight.
The leg didn't seem to hurt, and she let me handle it without objection, so I doubted she'd broken or sprained it when she fell, but when a cat actually shows weakness? It's past time to get her to the vet.
(plus, she'd also been showing other signs that were, combined with this, Most Worrying)
Sadly, they were already overbooked on Saturday, so we scheduled something for Sunday morning.
...$400 later....
We're ruled out a blot clot, which was a major relief. No breaks or fractures, and her muscles are loose enough that it's not a sprain. The vet also seemed pretty sure that we weren't looking at the onset of diabetes, but the bloodwork will confirm that. There is the chance that it might be a tumor. Again, the bloodwork will give us more info.
At this point, with the available info, we're probably looking at a neurologic cause (slipped disc, nerve damage, etc). So she's been given a steroid shot and painkillers, with 48 hour of follow-up while we're waiting on the bloodwork. If the tests come back clean and she shows improvement, yay. If not.... well, we'll discuss that then.
*sighs*
With luck, steroids and painkillers will be all she has to face. But we'll know more on Tuesday.
In light of all this, the "clean out the storage closet" sale has officially become the "pay for ElderCat's medical bills" sale.
And now I'm going to go cuddle both cats, because we're all a bit traumatized by the ongoing drama...
EtA: some 10 hours after her steroid shot, and two doses of painkillers, and I may be making her slightly (more) neurotic by following her around to see if she's using her hind leg.... but she's up and moving, and not staggering like a drunk sailor, so there's that. Yay!
A few days after that, she fell OFF the edge of the desk. Not mid-leap, just a mis-step. She was embarrassed, but hey, sometimes that happens. Except it happened again, and this time she lost part of a back claw. Ow, poor baby. But still, my desk is crowded, and she might have just misjudged the space...
But then on Saturday I realized that her left hind leg wasn't reacting properly at all. She was dragging, and hesitating, and it didn't seem to be bearing weight.
The leg didn't seem to hurt, and she let me handle it without objection, so I doubted she'd broken or sprained it when she fell, but when a cat actually shows weakness? It's past time to get her to the vet.
(plus, she'd also been showing other signs that were, combined with this, Most Worrying)
Sadly, they were already overbooked on Saturday, so we scheduled something for Sunday morning.
...$400 later....
We're ruled out a blot clot, which was a major relief. No breaks or fractures, and her muscles are loose enough that it's not a sprain. The vet also seemed pretty sure that we weren't looking at the onset of diabetes, but the bloodwork will confirm that. There is the chance that it might be a tumor. Again, the bloodwork will give us more info.
At this point, with the available info, we're probably looking at a neurologic cause (slipped disc, nerve damage, etc). So she's been given a steroid shot and painkillers, with 48 hour of follow-up while we're waiting on the bloodwork. If the tests come back clean and she shows improvement, yay. If not.... well, we'll discuss that then.
*sighs*
With luck, steroids and painkillers will be all she has to face. But we'll know more on Tuesday.
In light of all this, the "clean out the storage closet" sale has officially become the "pay for ElderCat's medical bills" sale.
And now I'm going to go cuddle both cats, because we're all a bit traumatized by the ongoing drama...
EtA: some 10 hours after her steroid shot, and two doses of painkillers, and I may be making her slightly (more) neurotic by following her around to see if she's using her hind leg.... but she's up and moving, and not staggering like a drunk sailor, so there's that. Yay!
