Sydney wobbling: Diarrhea gone, doing much better! (see #55)

[phesina]

My 15-year-old Tuxedo boy Sydney was all wobbly and falling when he tried to walk this morning.. almost like my CH boy Bob. I took him to the emergency vet, didn't want to wait a couple more hours until his regular vet opened.

Vet said he has nystagmus (not spelled right.. eyes moving a lot and not focusing).. They did blood work and a couple of x-rays. No tumors showed, and blood good except for high platelet count. Some sort of neurological disorder.. or, given his age, a brain tumor. Can only diagnose for sure with radiography, which would mean taking him to vet specialists some 30 or 40 miles away, costing some $1500.

We were sent home with some liquid steroid plus a CD with the x-rays and lab work they did for me to show the regular vet.

She told me to keep him in a small area.. Before feeding, make sure he can swallow because she also was concerned he might not be able to.. he'd been throwing up some the last few days, a lot of times just white foam. I'm to feed him wet foods, by hand if that works best (he seems to be swallowing just fine), and then give him small amounts at a time to see whether he throws up. I'm to give him the steroid dose every 12 hours, so I started at 5:45pm, next dose 5:45am. Also increase his subQ fluids from every other day to daily.

When we got home, he headed for the water bowl and drank a fair amount. Seemed to be swallowing just fine, so after he'd had a couple of hours to unwind from all this, I gave him a little yummy wet food.. which he ate happily. I've given him a little more.. and his fluids and his steroid dose.

After we got back home, I talked with his regular vet. We will see him on Thursday, and he thinks it sounds like a stroke. We shall see. Whatever it is, I gather it isn't something that can be "cured." But we will do whatever we can to keep him as happy and comfortable as possible for as long a time as we and he can.

I lit him a candle when I got home. Haven't gotten it together to post about it here until now.

Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers and good wishes. Thank you all very much.

Sydney and Pat and the rest of the gang

Here he is with his little brother Elmer:


With one of the Christmas mousies his true love Scrappy 2 sent him:

[Pinot's Mom]

Aww, I'm sorry Sydney is showing signs of health issues! Please give him lots of love from here in Ellicott City, hugs to you, and keep us posted!

[Queen of Poop]

Prayers and purrs for Sydney from Cali, Diego and I. Hugs for you.

[Catty1]

If it is a stroke, I hope Sydney can recover somewhat from it. Maybe the vet knows about preventive meds or even omega 3's to help keep the circulatory system a bit cleaner.

PT Prayers for Sydney. He is such a handsome boy.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm so sorry to hear this. I hope he'll be able to recover from this. I'll keep him in my thoughts and prayers. Please take care. (((HUGS)))

[Medusa]

Oh I'm sorry to hear this, Pat. You must be so worried. I hope it isn't a brain tumor. We'll say lots of prayers for Sydney and you. Keep the faythe.

[moosmom]

Could it be an inner ear problem? That tends to throw off one's balance.

[phesina]

Thank you everyone for your kind and loving thoughts and suggestions and prayers. We are seeing his regular vet tomorrow. He will look over the new x-rays and lab report, and I will ask him about omega 3s and preventive meds and stroke rehab. I hope we can come up with some good ideas of where we're at and what to do next.

I also know a herbalist and naturopathic doctor who has had a lot of success treating ailments of her cats and dog with various herbal concoctions she makes.

Thanks again for all the loving energies coming to Sydney. This has been a shock for me. He has been just fine all along, even at his age, except for kidney disease (which the emergency vet said is quite mild after she saw his blood report). Yesterday morning, I got up to feed them, and he came stumbling along.. Since I'm used to Bob being like this all the time, at first I thought nothing of it.. and then it dawned on me, this ISN'T Bob, and it's Sydney, who's always done so well. It makes me very sad to see him having such a hard time getting around.

Thank you again,
Pat and Sydney and the rest of the gang

[Randi]

Pat, I'm so sorry to hear about Sydney's illness. Whatever it is, I so hope he will recover, or at least be able to have a good life for a long time.

I'm sending lots of positive thoughts. Give him all the love you can, and some kisses from me, too.

(((hugs)))

[phesina]

Thank you, Randi. Lots of love coming from me and kisses from you to Sydney!

[Medusa]

I can only imagine how sad you are when you watch Sydney walk. It has to be heartbreaking. I sure hope that you're able to get to the bottom of all this and that you still have lots of good, quality time yet w/him. Keep the faythe, Pat.

[phesina]

We saw Sydney's regular vet today. Dr. MacArthur (or Dr. Bill) thinks it is most likely just an inner ear infection.. which will get better with treatment!!!!!!!

He looked deeply into Sydney's ears, found pus in one, a small eardrum tear in the other.. Gave him an antibiotic shot and some pills for him to take one each day for ten days. Meanwhile, continue with the steroid (he called later, left message saying we'll taper the dose next week) and the daily fluids. He should begin to show noticeable improvement in a couple of weeks or so .. it takes some time for the infection and the tear to heal.

There could also be a stroke, and once we clear up the inner ear we can see what else if anything is going on. He doubts that it's a brain tumor.

He also agrees about Omega 3 as well as fish oil, and so we're getting some of that, too.

HALLELUJAH!!!!! THANK YOU,GOD!!!!!

And thank you to all you wonderful Pet Talkers who have been so kind and generous and loving with your prayers and healing wishes and candles!

Love to all, from Sydney and Pat and the rest of the gang

[Grace]

Could it be an inner ear problem? That tends to throw off one's balance.

Donna got it right!!

Glad to hear it is something relatively simple to deal with

[Freedom]

WOW what a huge difference in the diagnosis!

I am very happy for you, and of course for Sydney. Paws crossed that this all heals up.

It does worry me that a vet could be SO FAR OFF THE MARK!

[Pinot's Mom]

Very good news! So great it's so treatable!! {{{hugs}}}