My Cat, Minnie, has had quite a few health issues in her 15 years of life and now they're starting to catch up with her, specifically her kidneys. She's been having UTIs quite a bit recently and we have just come to find out that her kidneys probably have never truly healed and are now essentially poisoning her body. This has caused her to have high blood pressure and recently have a stroke (just about five days ago). We brought her to the vat and she stayed overnight for two nights so they could run some tests and get her properly hydrated. She is having trouble using her back legs but the vet said she still has the ability to feel them.
Since she is unable to walk we have gotten her a large storage box with low sides and filled it with blankets that she can lay in. She can drag herself around it okay because it isn't too big. We even made a little part of it a "litter box" by putting a pee pad down. So far she always at least tries to make it to the pee pad to relieve herself. However, it is very clear that she has very little ability to walk. When she does attempt to stand she falls over because her back legs are so wobbly.
My question here is this: is there any type of help I can give her to help her walk again? Some sort of physical therapy maybe? She currently lives with my parents because I have moved out and the change would have been too much for Minnie. Also my Dad loves her too much and would have been upset had I taken her. My mother says if she can't regain her walking ability we would have to put her to sleep. She isn't in any pain, she eats/drinks, and she meows and loves to be pet. I just want her to have the highest quality of life possible. If anyone knows any ways I could help her walk again it would be much appreciated.
Recent Cat Stroke, Trouble Walking
Re: Recent Cat Stroke, Trouble Walking
Some animals will recover from a stroke gradually. I hope you will be able to give her time and see how she does, especially since "She isn't in any pain, she eats/drinks, and she meows and loves to be pet."
There is a wonderful website to help with care of cats with kidney issues (chronic renal failure). CRF is common in senior cats, but a lot can be done to manage it and improve her quality of life. I do not know how well you can coordinate with your parents to do various things to care for her condition, but if they are willing, here is a place to start. It talks about a special diet that helps keep the phosphorus levels down, which may improve her ability to walk. It is hard to know how much of her walking issue is from the stroke and how much is related to the kidneys causing high phosphorus levels in the blood, so I would think it would be worth trying to control her phosphorus with diet and see if it helps her walking. Your vet probably has a prescription pet food you could try with her, specially formulated for older kidneys.
http://www.felinecrf.org/phosphorus.htm ... tion_limbs
You may also want to talk to the vet about giving her fluids at home to keep her hydrated, if he thinks that would help. Here is another wonderful website about giving your cat fluids at home. I have done it and the important thing I learned is that it made my cat feel a lot better and she actually liked getting her fluids, which is just the opposite of what you might expect.
http://www.weirdstuffwemake.com/weird/s ... juice.html
There is a wonderful website to help with care of cats with kidney issues (chronic renal failure). CRF is common in senior cats, but a lot can be done to manage it and improve her quality of life. I do not know how well you can coordinate with your parents to do various things to care for her condition, but if they are willing, here is a place to start. It talks about a special diet that helps keep the phosphorus levels down, which may improve her ability to walk. It is hard to know how much of her walking issue is from the stroke and how much is related to the kidneys causing high phosphorus levels in the blood, so I would think it would be worth trying to control her phosphorus with diet and see if it helps her walking. Your vet probably has a prescription pet food you could try with her, specially formulated for older kidneys.
http://www.felinecrf.org/phosphorus.htm ... tion_limbs
You may also want to talk to the vet about giving her fluids at home to keep her hydrated, if he thinks that would help. Here is another wonderful website about giving your cat fluids at home. I have done it and the important thing I learned is that it made my cat feel a lot better and she actually liked getting her fluids, which is just the opposite of what you might expect.
http://www.weirdstuffwemake.com/weird/s ... juice.html
Re: Recent Cat Stroke, Trouble Walking
Recovery from a stroke takes a while (think months). Hydrotherapy can be a big help with walking, but cats aren't usually so willing to go into water.