Feline Dementia

[Barbara]

I am so sorry to hear about your gentle giant. Even if it should not be feline dementia- that leg shaking symptom sounds like something in his brain is not ok
I hope he will be happy for as much as possible time to come.

[katladyd]

Mac started acting strangely awhile back (odd and excessive vocalizations, shaking legs, staring at the wall, not playing or eating, etc...) so I took him to the vet and had bloodwork done. He suffers from hyperthyroid and was given the proper medicaton and now his is back close to 100%. Have you had Pichu tested for a thyroid condition?

[Vio&Juni]

katladyd,

That sounds a lot like Pichu. They had bloodwork done, but they didn't see anything like this. I will ask again, maybe they weren't looking for that. What is the medication Mac is taking?

Thank you,

Vio

[maerlyn]

katladyd,

They had bloodwork done, but they didn't see anything like this. I will ask again, maybe they weren't looking for that.


Vio

I believe a thyroid problem does not show up on a standard blood panel; it needs a separate test, called a T4. If that was not done, maybe it should be.

[Vio&Juni]

We got what we think are good news today.

Pichu had been getting worse and worse and I was really fearing the worst this weekend. Last week we were giving him some medication for kidneys, prescribed two weeks ago and those didn't seem to help at all. Every time they ran tests, they couldn't tell what was going on, everything looked pretty good, except for Pichu. He started losing weight and he wasn't interested in eating, so I was feeding him treats and giving him water with a turkey baster. He could barely walk, could not get on or off bed or couch, and what was really weird (and kind of funny) he could not turn left. We called him Zolander.

On Monday, we took Pichu a third time to the regular vet and the vet suspected a brain tumor. I cried my eyes out all day until I saw him in the evening, and I realized he looked good. The vet gave him a steroid shot and you could see him getting better by the minute. By Tuesday he was back to normal (well, maybe like 85%).

We went to the specialist today and he confirmed the diagnosis, but he said since Pichu seems to respond so well to steroids, he could have a good quality life for a long time, probably not as long as I would like, but we'll take what we can.

So, I have my fluffy boy back and I am happy. I am really happy that he can enjoy again all the things that he used to and that he can eat and get stronger.

[phesina]

That's great. Please give Pichu some skritchies and lovies from us.

[Catty1]

I hope that Pichu has a long and happy life with you. If the tumour is slow growing and the steroids can keep its swelling down, that's all for the good!

Prayers and hugs to Pichu!