Cat with progressive paralysis

[crittersan]

Hello

Our cat, Sprite, currently ~11 y/o, suffered some sort of damage to the base of her tail when she was young, and made her wobbly when she walked. It caused no problem until the last year or so, when it started to get worse (i.e. her balance worsened).

A couple of months or so ago, Sprite disappeared. Her balance was pretty poor at the time. She was gone for about a week and then made her way back, but her condition had worsened substantially, and she was basically dragging her back legs. We live in the country and we're sure she wasn't hit by a car or anything.

She was brought in and fixed up and we thought she had ataxia. Her symptoms at the time were lack of balance in the back legs, pain and spasms (spinal I think) when moved the wrong way (if picked up, for instance), a tilted, wobbly head and, due to no feeling in the lower spine, uncontrolled urination. She also sort of 'kicks' when she urinates, like some sort of spasm.

Her diet at the time was mostly small animals, substituted with kibble, which she hogged into whenever she came inside. We altered this to remove the kibble and, because she's inside the whole time now, feed her chicken meat and offal. She also gets a drink of milk each day. We had to then reduce the amount of milk she gets, as her belly is rather bloated and we thought perhaps it was the milk -- the bloating hasn't altered since reducing the milk. Her appetite remains normal and always has been -- she eats as readily as ever.

Since that time, her state has progressively worsened to near full paralysis -- her front legs can barely hold her weight up and she must be lifted and propped to stand at all. She doesn't seem to have spasms so much when moved, but it does definitely hurt her, as she yowls each time she's picked up.

Her pupils are constantly dilated. We're not sure whether this was always the case (since losing her back legs) or if it's a more recent symptom, but it doesn't matter what she's doing or where she is. The condition of her skin has also worsened, with massively itchy spots on her head and shoulders (pretty sure this isn't fleas).

She still enjoys a good pat and purrs when you do so, but we are worried for her, as it doesn't seem she'll be getting any better.

If anyone has any suggestions as to what her condition might be and what we could maybe do, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[CarolC]

Hi,
I am absolutely not a vet and what you are describing does not really sound familiar when taken all together. If it was my cat I would take her to the vet for senior bloodwork. I know hypertension can cause dilated pupils, and can lead to stroke which can cause head tilt. Hypertension can be associated with chronic renal failure, which she is about the right age for. Feline chronic renal failure can result in imbalances in the blood which can cause skin symptoms. Ataxia also fits with this picture, but what your cat has could also be something else entirely, pain and spasms do not fit. I would definitely get her right in to be seen, and see if the vet can give you a diagnosis, and I hope you will post what you learn if they figure out what it is. If it is renal disease, that can be managed pretty well in cats once you know what it is. Best wishes to your cat and to you.

[critters]

The blown pupils and head tilt sound like a bit of brain damage, but some of the other could be a spinal cord injury, but nothing says she can't have both, too. Has she been seen by a vet?

[crittersan]

Thanks, guys, for your replies.

I'm going to talk to the family and see what we can do.