Hi Lorrie, Thanks for the info. That is kind of what I was thinking but didn't know anybody that's been through it. Wolfie has probably been weak in the legs for about 2 weeks. I know it's always different with every cat but any sort of time frame as to how quickly they completely lost the back end - days, weeks, months? He still acts like he feels fine. He eats, goes up and down the stairs, etc. I've had way too much experience with this disease, though, so it's hard to stay optimistic knowing what he's up against.
As far as the lesions or tumors on the spine go, is that what you or the vet thought was going on or have you actually seen them in x-rays or ultrasounds? I was sure that's what we were going to find but they checked his spine pretty thoroughly and saw nothing. He his on pred, though, and I know that can mask a lot of stuff. Amy --- On Fri, 6/25/10, Lorrie <felineres...@kvinet.com> wrote: > From: Lorrie <felineres...@kvinet.com> > Subject: [Felvtalk] Re Weakness in hind legs > To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > Date: Friday, June 25, 2010, 3:38 PM > Amy, I've had several cats die from > this. First they get weak > in their legs then they can't stand up at all and they > soon > lose bowel and bladder control. It seems to be fairly > common > with FelV cats. Lesions or tumors on the spine I > believe. > > Wolfie has been very fortunate to go 6 years with no > problems, > and since his ultra sound was okay perhaps he will not get > any > worse. > > Lorrie > > On 06-24, Amy wrote: > > > Just wondering what sort of experience people have had > with leuk > > positive cats getting weak in the back legs. My > cat, Wolfie, is 8 > > and has been positive since we rescued him 6 years > ago. He's been > > pretty healthy other than the last year or so. > Last September he > > was diagnosed with non-regenerative anemia but has > been fairly > > stable since then. I recently took him to the > vet as I noticed he > > was getting weak in his hind legs, walking differently > and avoiding > > putting weight on them for long periods of time. > His HCT is down, > > WBC and RBC are a bit lower than usual. > Chemistry looks ok. > > > > I've had 9 cats die from this disease and only ever > saw one with > > leg issues. She woke up one morning and had lost > all use of her > > back legs, no warning. This is different from > that situation and > > just wondering what could be going on. We did an > ultrasound today. > > No sign of lymphoma or anything pressing on the > spine. No real > > loss of muscle mass on physical exam. We are > putting him on > > doxy/pred in case hemobart is causing the > anemia. The specialist > > at Cornell mentioned it could be something with the > leukemia > > affecting the muscle or nerves directly but she > couldn't find any > > literature on this. I told her I'd post here and > see if anybody > > has had a similar experience or has anything to add on > what could > > be going on. > > > > Thanks > > Amy > > > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org > _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
