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

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:
http://petoftheday.com/talk/picture....&pictureid=906

With one of the Christmas mousies his true love Scrappy 2 sent him:
http://petoftheday.com/talk/picture....&pictureid=946

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!:love:

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

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.:love::love:

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)))

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. :love:

So sorry to hear all of this, it must be terrible to deal with. I agree, I have heard that omega 3s really help. Good luck and we will be thinking about you and your family.:(

I'm so sorry to hear this! I hope it is a stroke and that Sydney recovers just as humans do.
I would not check him for a brain tumor. If it is there is no chance to help him so why putting him through all this.
All the best for you and handsome Sydney.

Prayers for Sydney from all of us in RI.

Glad you took him in quickly, as we never know with our pets, if time makes a difference or not.

:( Oh No Pat I am so sorry to be reading about poor wittle Sydney.. Baby Sydney please get well soon.. Lots Lots of Prayers & Huggss.. I will go light some candles.. Keep us posted please..

:love::love:
My Sydney Dearest I am Coming to see You!!
I am coming via Awesome Angels Army Air Express and should be there while My Dad types this message.:cool::cool:
I am bringing soft Turkey and Chicken, and Florentine Fancy Feast Elegant Medleys and my very favorite pillow for you to sleep on , and Micheals sending his baby blanket for You.:):)
I am going to do My Best to help You , My Sydney Dearest:love::love:
I give great bathsand i pray I can purrr My Sydney to Good Health.
You are My Dear Cat Husband and I Loves Me My Sydney Dearest:love::love:

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

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, :love::love::love::love::love::love:
Pat and Sydney and the rest of the gang

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. :love:

(((hugs)))

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

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. :love:

Thank you, Mary. Sydney and I are doing our best. :)

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

OH WOW - let's hope that's all it is! Sounds good - and your boy still loves his food. :love::love:

Hugs to dear Sydney!:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by moosmom

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

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Donna got it right!!

Glad to hear it is something relatively simple to deal with :)

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!

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

Actually it sounds logical to me as I have a human co-worker who suffers from a similar thing! I am so glad it is treatable and hope Sydney will be ok soon :)

Woo hoo!!! Wonderful news. Hugs for you both! :love:

This is wonderful news.:) I hope he'll heal up quickly. I'll continue to keep him in my thoughts and prayers.

What encouraging news! You must be so relieved, Pat. The news will get better and better. Keep the faythe. :love:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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!

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Makes ya wonder sometimes, huh? When I took my RB Puddy in to the vet, Dr. Lee was gone and one of the other vets swore that Puddy had cancer b/c there was a spot on the x-ray. I kept saying "Please just call and confer w/Dr. Lee. I just don't think it's cancer." He said "It can't be anything else". Well, it was something else; her kidney had burst. He finally called Dr. Lee to confer and Dr. Lee came in and performed the surgery. Sometimes our instincts are the best for diagnosis.

:love: Woo Hoo Pat that is great news of No Tumor.. Yes we all sending lots of Prayers that Sydney's Ears heal real good.. Get well soon there good boy Sydney.. Huggss Pat..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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.

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

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More prayers for Sydney, and a candle.
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/...g&cid=10846341

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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!

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Well.. this was the emergency vet clinic, and they had never seen Sydney before and didn't know his history. Maybe they take the approach of telling you the worst things that might be going on, so if it's not really that bad you'll be relieved, and if it is one of the bad ones, they've covered their collect A&$es.

The vet did say something at first about vestibular disease (and, yes, THANK YOU, DEAR DONNA! :love::love: for suggesting that.. I did tell both vets I had many on-line cat-forum friends I'd told about Sydney's trouble and one had suggested that).. but then she got into the much more heavy-duty possibilities and never went back to the ear trouble. She did look into his ears with the regular-sized light for checking ears and eyes but not any more thoroughly. Dr. Bill used one with a long nose that he was able to get way down into the ear canals, and he saw both the pus and the tear right away.

There still might be a vascular accident or tumor going on, but first we'll clear this up and then see what if anything is still going on.

Dr. Bill's approach is more to focus first on the most obvious and/or easily treatable diagnosis as well as consider other possibilities... treat it and then see what might still be happening. That's one very-important reason my cats see him mostly now instead of the previous vet we'd been going to.

What happened with that one before was with SYDNEY, 2 or 3 years ago when he had his yearly exam. She did bloodwork, and there was some level of something that she said could possibly indicate the likelihood of cancer or a beginning one. AND, she MADE US AN APPOINTMENT with the EXPENSIVE place 30-40 miles away for the full MRI and exam..

And I asked, what if they find something? And she said, there's radiation and/or chemotherapy, which often have very good results extending life with cats. This would mean packing him up EVERY DAY and driving him off to Southfield or Livonia or wherever it is, him spending a couple of hours having his treatment, and then me driving him the 30-40 miles back, 5 days a week (or I could board him there for the week and bring him home weekends) for 2 months or something like that, and then afterward going back to have him re-checked often. All this would be PHENOMENAL big bucks, of course, too.

IF I had done all this to him.. maybe his life would be extended a year or two (assuming he did have cancer), but what kind of life would that be for him?

I thought about it and cancelled that appointment, saying we'll keep a close watch on him.. and he's been just fine, up until this particular little snag, which looks to be HOPEFULLY not nearly as severe as I'd thought. :)

Thank you again, everyone, for all your thoughts and prayers and candles and wishes for my dear Sydney. We all love you! :love::love::love::love::love::love:

Sydney, Pat, and the gang

P.S., Sydney is already doing much better today.. eating well, the nystagmus is gone, and he gets around much more normally, still some wobbling and falling but nothing like the Bob-level wobbling/falling any more!

"P.S., Sydney is already doing much better today.. eating well, the nystagmus is gone, and he gets around much more normally, still some wobbling and falling but nothing like the Bob-level wobbling/falling any more! "

So glad to hear this! Hugs all around!:love:

How wonderful Sydney is so much improved! Prayers for complete healing!:D:love::love:

Thank you, Pinot's Mom and Oscar and Cole's Mom!

Thanks for keeping us updated. I'm so glad to hear that he's already showing improvement.:) I hope he'll continue to do so. I'll continue to keep him in my thoughts and prayers.

Reading of Sydney's improvement makes me so happy! Better and better, Pat. :love:

Thank you, kak and Mary!

He continues to do well! I'll keep you all posted.

Love :love::love::love::love::love::love:from Sydney, Pat, and the rest of the gang

Something is not right since this afternoon. Now Sydney has been leaving little dribbles of diarrhea around. He'll step into the litter box with his front feet, but with back feet still on the floor outside he does a standing squat like he's straining to get something out. A tiny bit comes out but not enough to be anywhere near a full load. Then he goes somewhere else and tries again. Sometimes half into a box, sometimes on the floor.

I had to put him in the bathroom again, so at least the space he can dribble onto is somewhat limited. He HATES being confined in there again! And since he has improved greatly on his mobility, he does his best to slip out any time I want to go in there for any reason.

He's also not as interested in his food as he had been the last couple of days. He threw up a lot of his earlier meal, and he just hasn't wanted much this evening.

He's gotten his med and his steroids and his fluids on schedule.

So looks like I will be giving Dr. Bill another call when his clinic opens at 9:30 am tomorrow..

I hope this is a reaction to all the meds...at least he is getting mobile enough to be a door darter! ;)

Prayers that there is a simple answer. Have you collected a sample to take in to the vet? It could be something totally unrelated to his wobbles.

HUGS and scritchies for dear Sydney. :love::love:

I don't know what to say except prayers for Sydney. Keep us posted.:love:

Yes, a vet visit is in order. I can recall this happening to my RB Puddy and even though she dribbled diarrhea, she was impacted and Dr. Lee had to clean her out. It happened to my RB Pidge, too. As they get older, it becomes more difficult for them to have bowel movements, just as it does w/older humans, poor babies. The good news is that Dr. Lee fixed them up in no time flat so if this is the problem w/Sydney, hopefully your vet can clear it up for them quickly as well. We'll pump up the volume on the prayers, too. Keep the faythe, Pat. :love: