I just returned from my vets. He diagnosed our Lucky with feline idiopathic vestibular syndrome. This is not a terrible thing for a normal cat, but for a tripod with only part of a tail which makes him normally lacking in balance, this is not good.
I took Lucky to the vet on Friday because his ear had a lot of black gunk in it. I didn't want to go ahead and treat it as ear mites, as the left ear was fine - seemed odd to me for it to be one ear only. I wanted Doc to have a look see. He thought it was possibly an allergy, there was mild irritation on the inside of the base of the ear, but the canal and 99% of ear was fine. Gave me some Zymox drops to put in and said just keep an eye on it. He also washed it out well. Said Lucky was in fine shape - I had been worried Lucky was getting a bit pudgy. LOL.
We started to notice late Friday that Lucky seemed a bit off. He didn't want held and cuddled. Saturday morning, he was just laying around and didn't eat breakfast. By the evening, he was full out staggering. Still not eating. By midnight, he was starting to cry. It didn't appear life threatening, so I stayed up and kept a good eye on him. By 3 a.m. I was contemplating taking him to an Emergency vet. I got online and searched his symptoms. Didn't find anything to drastic, so decided to put a call in to my vets answering machine Sunday morning. I have only done that a couple times in 30 years. They didn't call me back all day! However, he did improve just a little bit and settle down through the day, but still staggered around. I figured his ear became infected. I put hot compresses on, and he seemed to like that. He did settle with me on the bed last night, and was quiet all night.
I took him in first thing today - turns out my vet was at his son's wedding all day yesterday! Didn't get in till late he was very sorry. Well doc says he has feline idiopathic vestibular syndrome. Confirmed by staggering and left to right eye movements that worsen when doc shakes Lucky's head, and his partial facial paraylisis (sp?). He gave him a combo shot with some vitamins, antibiotic in case there is a bit of ear infection, as he did see some cloudiness in behind his eardrum, and steroid to help calm things down. Said all we can do is keep him quiet, safe from places to be injured while he's staggering, and wait and see. Take him back in a week if he is not dramatically better. He did say on a scale of zero to ten, ten being worst, Lucky would be a 4. And, he did say, it could also be a stroke - time will tell. Strokes can cause the syndrome. Mom thinks Lucky fell one day last week. This syndrome could also be caused from a fall. She heard a crash in the basement. Lucky has not been limping or anything so we assumed he was not hurt. But, doc said he may have hit his head or ear during a fall.
My doc's not one to jump in and do expensive tests and such if they don't affect the outcome. In this case, we will wait and see for a while... then decide if more treatment or tests are needed.
I did stop and get some Fancy Feets for Lucky - as he has not eaten since Friday. He had never had Fancy Feets. He can't really eat on his own... the food doesn't stay in his mouth right. He tries but the food just falls out. I made a smushed up mess of it and am putting it in his mouth with my finger, keep pushing it in... and he ate about half a can a few minutes ago. Doc said that should get better in a couple days if it is not a stroke.
He is just so darn pitiful with no rear leg on the side his problem is on. It makes the staggering much worse. With out all his legs and tail, he really lacks in balance anyway - now this! It is also much more dangerous for him, because he cannot afford to injure or break a leg if he has a bad fall.
He has always loved to be held upside down, in our arms, like a baby.. and be loved on... no longer... that hurts now. Doc said he may never be able to be held that way again. He used to like for my Mother to hold him that way and rock him like a baby.. it was good for both of them... LOL.
Anyone else have a cat with this?
Lucky needs your hugs!
Jules
This message was edited Aug 11, 2008 1:44 PM
