Luna's legs are getting weaker (x-ray shot of her spine; #77)

[Catty1]

It's a plateau. Just keep measuring the food and feeding them...their bodies will adjust and carry on.

[Kirsten]

It's a plateau. Just keep measuring the food and feeding them...their bodies will adjust and carry on.

Yes, hope you're right and they'll still lose some weight.

[Catty1]

My vet told me that for a cat to lose a pound in a year is a lot. Oscar lost a bit over that in 7 months or so!

Got a laser pointer? What's their favourite toy?

[katladyd]

Could stress caused by Lilly be part of this problem? Stress can manifest itself in many ways. Maybe Lilly chased her and during the chase Luna stepped wrong and hurt herself. Just a guess.

[Kirsten]

Oops, I thought I had replied to the last two posts here, but obviously it doesn't show...

Anyway, her favourite toy IS a laser pointer, and I just got her a new one because the old one was broken. But she prefers watching the red point instead of chasing it...

And yes, I think she's stressed because of Lily. But a few weeks ago, I started doing clicker training with Lily, and it really seems to be working! I mean, she's still bullying Luna every now and then, but not that much, and Luna is visibly relaxed, even started playing a little (which she hasn't done since Lily moved in!).

Luna's medical condition has also slightly improved, but she is still on pain meds. Her back legs still give in, but apart from that, she's walking very well. My vet thinks it's some kind of nerve damage.

We're having a vet appointment on Wednesday. She's having a wart at her neck which has grown and which I want to be removed, and for this, she's going to be sedated. At that occasion, she's going to have the x-ray shot of her back and will be getting some blood work done (we're overdue with that). She will also undergo a dental cleaning if needed.

Please keep her in your thoughts, as I'm really nervous about the anaesthesia. After all, she's a senior of 13 years! And I also fear the result of her blood work; I hope her kidneys, liver and pancreas are still working fine. I really hate to put her through all this, I know she will be so scared and being sedated will make her feel so miserable for the rest of the day. But I know all this needs to be done sooner or later, so why not now? Hope I'm doing the right thing...

[katladyd]

You're just being a caring, loving, cat mom. Nothin' wrong about that! I'm glad Luna is doing better. I know how you feel about the anaesthesia. I had to have Mac put under last summer to have some work done. I voiced my concern to my vet and she told me that if a kitty is reasonably healthy, even a senior kitizen, they handle it pretty well. Mac and Ming both came out of it fine. Ming would get a little growly for awhile and Mac just rebounded and was fine within an hour. I hope everything goes well with Luna.

[Kirsten]

Thank you! Well, I guess it's just normal that we're worried, but I just hate to put her at any risk. On the other hand, her last blood work is a few years ago, so I'm beginning to feel I'm not caring enough for her well-being. It's just so complicated with her because it's impossible to get blood from her when she's not sedated. I really hope she'll be fine! One of my mom's friends once had a cat that underwent a dental cleaning. The cat was 15 years old and in chronic renal failure, and he did not wake up from anaesthesia. He just passed away, it's been such a shock. For some reason, I always have this poor kitty in mind when it comes to sedation.

[Karen]

Can they give her a local anesthesia instead of putting her under for the procedure?

[Kirsten]

Can they give her a local anesthesia instead of putting her under for the procedure?

No, I don't think that would work for all the things that we have planned to do with her. But my vet promised she will only be slightly sedated (but I know even with that it will take a full day for her to recover).

[Karen]

No, I don't think that would work for all the things that we have planned to do with her. But my vet promised she will only be slightly sedated (but I know even with that it will take a full day for her to recover).

Oh, okay! Well, good to get things over with, at any rate!

[cassiesmom]

Yay, Lily for doing well with the clicker training! Big prayers for Luna's up-coming vet visit! I am sending tons of cyber hugs, lovies and snuggles to Lily and Luna

[phesina]

Kirsten, what a wonderful, loving cat mom you are! We are praying and sending warm wishes that Luna's vet visit goes well. That is great that you are getting all this work done now. I'm sure your vet will be very careful with the anesthesia.

My 20+ -year-old girl Poppaea just had dental treatment a couple of weeks ago. I was concerned about the anesthesia at her age, too. The vet was on top of that situation. He gave her the minimal amount needed, found she had huge tartar buildup on all four quadrants of front teeth, and cleaned that all off along with removing one tooth that needed to go. Poppaea went through the procedure just fine!

I'm so glad that Lily's clicker training is working and she is not tormenting Luna anywhere near as often as she used to. Well done, Kirsten and Lily (and Luna too)!

{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}} and ~~~~~~~PURRS~~~~~~~ and from Pat and cats

[Barbara]

Kirsten, I hope all is going well. They have really soft anesthesia these days. Filou had a dental cleaning a half year before he passed away and he really did well and was only sleeping for half an hour or so.
I am so excited to hear about Lily's clicker training. I will have to check it out!

[Kirsten]

Thank you so much for keeping my Luna in your thoughts, and for wishing her luck!

Here's an update on our vet visit yesterday. My apologies for not replying sooner, but I felt really worn yesterday, and it's been a rough day. After we had no summer and no springtime at all this year, we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a brutal heatwave, starting the day before yesterday, and the night before our vet appointment, I did not sleep at all because it's been way too warm in my flat. During the night, I thought I'd have to cancel the appointment because I thought I wouldn't be able to drive the next morning, I was dizzy and tired.
When the morning came, I decided to take the trip to the vet, nonetheless. Luna got her sedation at 9 a.m., and I picked her up at 10.30 a.m. She had her wart removed, her teeth cleaned, her bloodwork done and her x-ray shot taken. It showed some trouble in her lower spine; two intervertebral spaces don't look as wide as they should, so it's very likely that this is causing her problems. This more or less confirmed what I had expected and what my gut feeling has been telling me all the time. But the good thing is, her inner organs looked fine in the shot. Now I'm nervously waiting for the results of her blood work which I hope to get tomorrow morning.

Luna was still sleeping when I picked her up, and I left her in her carrier until the late afternoon. When she stepped out, she was still dizzy and barely able to walk. As expected, this scared the hell out of Lily, who started hiding and howling. Any time she spotted Luna, she started hissing (apart from this, she has never been hissing in her entire life); she's really freaking out. The three of us spent a horrible night with 85 degrees in our flat.

Today, Luna still seems to be exhausted, but it could be the heat as well. Lily is depressed and barely leaves the top of the cabinet. She's not even eating, and any time Luna is crossing her path, she starts hissing again, but it's less aggressive than yesterday. I hope that tomorrow, things will be back to normal. In similar situations, it took two days until Lily was back to her normal self, I think by that time, the anaesthetic is out of Luna's system. And this afternoon, we had a thunderstorm which cleared the air a bit, making us feel so much better!

Tomorrow at 11 a.m., I'll call the vet's office for the result of the blood test, so please wish us luck again. I know that Luna's blood count is always weird (Lily has the same abnormalties), and it always makes me nervous to hear about that.


Here are some pics, the first one shows Luna in her box at the vet's, lying on a electric blanket to keep her warm:




And this was Luna last night, still looking very drugged:




This was Lily, growling and howling at Luna:




Ad if you have a Real Player installed, you can listen to what she sounded like:

http://www.catmom.de/2013/lily_upset_3.amr

[Pinot's Mom]

Prayers for a good bloodwork result. Is there anything the can do about the discs?