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

[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]

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

[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

[Catty1]

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

Hugs to dear Sydney!

[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}}}

[Barbara]

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

[Queen of Poop]

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

[krazyaboutkatz]

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

[Medusa]

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

[Medusa]

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!

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.

[lvpets2002]

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..

[cassiesmom]

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

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

[phesina]

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!

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! 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!

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!