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

[Kirsten]

Thank you so much for your support, advice, and prayers. Luna had a rough birthday today, spent most of the day in her refuge behind the couch, and is obviously in pain tonight. She wanted to climb onto my bed and couldn't, but she didn't want me to lift her up either. On the other hand, I found her on the closet this evening, and she's also able to jump onto the kitchen cabinet where she opened one of the doors, hoping to get some treats.

I spoke to my vet this morning and ordered a bag of the calory-reduced Hill's food. She has also suggested a cortisone shot in case the Melosus (her pain med) won't help.

I'm very tired and exhausted tonight and need to go to bed now, I will write more tomorrow. But right now, I can hardly keep my eyes open.

[Karen]

Awww, we are sure the Cortisone will help, it is really a great short-term drug.

[smokey the elder]

Poor Luna. Could she have a blood clot? I've heard of those causing paralysis. I hope she feels better.

[Catty1]

Ask your vet about the aerobic oxygen too (mentioned on FB).

[Kirsten]

Ask your vet about the aerobic oxygen too (mentioned on FB).

Yes, I will do this, and I will also talk to an alternative practitioner for animals.

Poor Luna. Could she have a blood clot? I've heard of those causing paralysis. I hope she feels better.

I sure hope it's not that! But her legs are not paralized, just weak. Besides, the worst problems occured in similar situations (jumping down the window sill), which makes me believe it's something with her joints, nerves, ligaments, or muscles.

Is there anyway you can make the ledge wider?
can you put a chair or an ottoman under the ledge so its less of a drop should she fall?

Do they sell the pet step there? Cant get the picture on here but you can check out Petco.com
Brinkmann Pet 4 Step Pet Steps or something similar.

I don't know much about cats but I have to agree that it does sound like a nerve problem and possibly some back issue. I'm really sorry you're going through this with Luna, I know your cats mean so much to you. Could you boost her bed higher for when she does decide to jump down so it won't be so far for her to jump? I hope you'll be able to convince Lily that chasing Luna is a bad idea...the water bottle shpuld help with that. Have a special birthday with her tomorrow-- hopefully she'll have another one next year.

Well, I'm already trying to come up with a solution that will make things easier for her. Usually she's climbing onto my desk and from there, she'd jump onto the window sill (and back). Looks difficult, but for some reason, it seems to be easier for her. (I took some pictures of this earlier today and will post them later to show you). And yes, a spray bottle for Lily is definitely an option!

Kirsten, I'm so sorry to hear this. I sure hope that the pain meds will be able to continue to help her. I've also had overweight cats in the past and my Radar is still currently overweight even though he's a very large cat. You just need to make sure that cats don't lose too much weight too fast or else they can get hepatic lipidosis which is fatty liver disease. My RB Pepper got this when he became very sick which made him lose a lot of weight very quickly. I hope that Lily will stop trying to attack Luna. Cats can sense when another cat is ill or weak and then they try to bully them. Since x-rays won't be able to show anything, did your vet ever mention doing an ultrasound? Maybe this would be able to show something. Lots of prayers and positive thoughts are being sent to both of you. Please take care. (((HUGS)))

Here's two articles about cats with arthritis: http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/dise...sTreatment.htm and http://voices.yahoo.com/7-home-treat...s-8319665.html.

Thanks for the link (it's bookmarked), and for all the advice. I heard about liver failure in cats when they stop eating, so I'll be careful. And I will discuss the ultrasound option with my vet.


Besides, she seems to be feeling a little better today, and she was happy about her Sheba meal we had left from her birthday present. :-) She was running very fast when I served her food earlier today.

[Kirsten]

Okay, here are some pictures I took this morning; bad pictures with a lot of motion blur, and a difficult light situation with the window, but you'll get the idea.

This is Luna walking. It's easy to see that she's carrying a lot of weight around her waist!



Here, she's climbing onto my desk, using the printer as a step stone:



Getting ready to jump:



I'm always cringing inside when I see her doing this:



Her place in the window where she loves to sit:



On her way back (another situation that makes me cringe):

[krazyaboutkatz]

Do you think she would use some pet stairs if you put these in front of the window? I have some carpeted ones that I put in front of my bed because it's very high. My RB Storm would use these and it sure helped him get up onto my bed. My other cats that are allowed in my bedroom, Pearl, Ziggy, & Sky will sometimes use them.