My experience with weak rear legs was myonecrosis. Coco also had trouble
eating. Her tongue would come out of her mouth. We saw a neurologist and a
biopsy of her rear leg muscles was done. Her muscles were dying. Possible
causes were toxic, nutritional and something else (parasite?). We immediately
took her off the dry food and put her on canned Wellness. The nutritional
deficiency was caused by a lack of selenium and vitamin D (might have been E).
Anyway, the food change addressed the issues and she is a happy health 12 year
old 4 years later. Nutritional deficiencies such as hers are caused by moisture
or air getting to the food during processing or storage. We were feeding dry
Wellness and I would dump the entire bag into tupperware containers and scoop
from there. I offer food twice a day and throw out food and put out fresh bowls
before the next meal.
The vet teaching hospital where we went had 2 cats come in that day. The other
cat was more advanced and did not survive.
The 3 day dose med was probably metacam, a pain killer. This is very potent. I
don't use it. I urge your friend to get her kitty to a specialist immediately.
Laurie
- Original Message -
From: MacKenzie, Kerry N.
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 8:38 AM
Subject: o/t anyone know what weak/wobbly rear legs might mean
Dear all
A co-worker asked me if I had any idea what might be wrong with her cat as
the treatment hasn't fixed the problem. She clearly loves her cat and is very
upset. I said I didn't have an answer and would ask you wonderful guys.
(Altho' my Caramel's rear legs also stopped working, Caramel was FeLV pos, tho,
and it happened right before the end. My co-worker's cat is negative.)
Here's her description of the problem. Thanks very much for any info or ideas
you may have for her, Kerry M.
The first inkling I had that something was wrong with Goomba was several
weeks ago when I observed him attempting to jump up on my bathroom sink (which
he usually did while I was getting ready in the morning) and he didn't make it.
He never has tried again. Subsequently, he stopped jumping up on my bed at
night to sleep and his demeanor became increasingly irritable. And so it was
for a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, his appetite remained good and he still
showed interest in going outside. My concern increased when I noticed his gait
becoming wobbly and he groaned loudly when ascending steps, and hissed at any
attempt by me to help him. At this point, I took him to the vet, Monday, March
31.
Goomba was not a happy patient, but I left him there for some tests. They
sedated him, of course, did a blood test and took an x-ray. All measurements of
the blood test were within normal range. The x-ray showed his spine to be in
perfect condition (I had thought the problem might have been an injury). It
also showed that he has a small kidney stone, which the doctor indicated should
not be causing any problems. The problem the x-ray did reveal was inflammation
around his heart, so a test for heartworm was also done that test ultimately
came back negative. To alleviate his symptoms, they also gave him a shot (I do
not know for sure, but I believe the shot he was given was a corticosteroid. I
can call and ask if such information will help.) Unfortunately, it's making him
think he's mightier than he really is! I was also given three syringes of
medication to be administered every other day (I believe that was for pain). He
came home, was rather peppy for the following week, and even got up on a love
seat one day for his nap. His last dose of this medicine was given on Saturday,
April 5. He was feeling pretty good, but his condition deteriorated over the
course of the week until when I came home on Friday, April 11, I thought he
might be dying. His rear legs were weak, he was collapsing on them and
literally dragging them along at times. This continued through the weekend,
seeming to get a little worse each day.
But he persists. His appetite remains strong as does his desire to go
outside. On Tuesday, April 15, I got more medicine from the vet and gave it to
him that morning before I left for work. When I came home, I could tell that he
felt better, but his legs were still not working as they should. And that
brings us to today. This morning he wanted to go outside and he ate a full
meal. Following breakfast he went downstairs to use the litter box, flopping
down one step at a time. It's heartbreaking to watch him work so hard; his will
is so strong yet.
To eliminate the possibility that this is a neurological problem, the vet
suggested I perform a couple of screening tests. Based on Goomba's response, I
don't think the problem is neurological.
Goomba was diagnosed with fatty liver disease a couple of years ago, from
which he seemingly recovered rather quickly. That was his only life-threatening
illness. He is about