please help

[OneNightTimeMenaceStrikesBack]

i have a 3 year old female moggy. now, she's always been clumsy, temperamental and arsey but a few weeks before christmas, she absolutely flipped out and attacked my sister and i. i'm talking ears back, fluffed out growling hissing spitting teeth and claws everywhere and she defecated while staring right through me when she cornered me in my bedroom. she had never ever displayed behaviour like it at all so obviously i took her to the vets who diagnosed cystitis and treated with antibiotics and painkillers. the vet noted that one of her pupils wasnt responding to light the same as the other but put it down to stress at being at the vets and her being ill as she has always been terrified of the vets so i didn't think too much of it at the time i just wanted her to feel better

since then she has gone to attack again more than once, has become clumsier and her pupil reaction is such that i can see with no special lighting that her pupils are not only different sizes but different shapes. she is eating 3 times more than usual but gaining no weight, if anything she's getting skinnier and she's always been slender, she's drinking more than usual, has started scenting all the time, sticking her nose right up my nostrils and in my mouth for example. she's extremely possessive over me and very clingy. she's wobbling and struggling with anything but mostly flat and clear surfaces as in she shows no grace or flexibility but isn't limping or displaying any symptoms of pain. she's also become very vocal of late when previously she barely ever raised a meow. she's also sleeping a lot more than she ever used to, she was always a very high energy cat who needed a lot of stimulation.

her injections, worming and flea treatments are all up to date, she has had no injuries or bites (she's an indoor cat anyway)

obviously my concern is that there's something neurological going on but apart from taking her tot he vets asap, what can i do for her?

please, anyone,w hat can i do as i'm devastated that she's seemingly so unwell and i don't know what to do, she's the first cat i've owned outright myself, all other animals were family pets and as such their care was my mums job. i'm absolutely distraught at the thought of losing her

Bumping for you. X

Hi OP, your poor girl she does sound quite distressed, must be upsetting for you too to see her like that. I have to be honest her symptoms sound far too complex for there to be any real way to help her other than getting her back to the vet asap. I would also suspect something neurological from what you describe. Sorry I can't be more positive, please let us know how you get on when you've taken her

Poor lass and poor you. I assume you'll be vetting her directly but I'm afraid it doesn't sound that good.

Best of luck.

i know it doesn't sound good and i'm devastated, i love her like she's a baby. she is my baby. i will be gettign her to the vets as soon as i can. i feel so bad that i didn't see before she wasn't right until it seemingly came out of nowhere before xmas

PS - this is likely one to take a 'prompt' with you to the vet so that you can really discuss all her symptoms properly. Print out your OP if in doubt and take it with you.

Don't feel bad. Sometimes, human or animal, symptoms creep up on us and you're planning to take her again - you've already been once, remember - just as soon as you can.

Diabetes? The hunger and thirst while losing weight was what made me realise something was up with my diabetic cat. I don't think it explains the eye pupil thing, but might be worth pursuing.

I think apart from a vets visit, there is little you can do. If you have a vets hospital near you, I'd take your cat along for an emergency visit as soon as you can. Get a fresh pair of professional eyes to look at the symptoms.

Good luck

Overactive thyroid? Definitely worth a trip to the vets. Hopefully blood tests might show something rather than it being neurological. Tho good luck to the vet taking them! Hope your cat is ok.

OP I hope this won't worry you unnecessarily, but I have recently had experience of a close family member with a brain tumour. A lot of the things you have mentioned match up with the symptoms I saw, though obviously this was a human not a cat. I hope it isnt, but it would definitely be worth going to the vet.

How are things OP?

things are okay. she's been calmer over the last few days but we've had no visitors or anything to upset her. i have an appointment booked for her and a vague idea of the cost for the first round of investigations so i know what i'm working with for now. i'm obviously still hugely worried for her but trying not to get ahead of myself and to wait and see what the vet says but i do know it doesnt seem good for her

When is she due to be vetted?

this afternoon, ive got a lift arranged for us, i'm just keeping her as calm as i can til we get there.

Good. Let us know how it goes.

well, the vet did a general health check up and then a basic neuro exam and agreed that things don't look right based on gandalfs pupils and the symptoms and behaviours ive described to them. going back in with her tomorrow to have blood, urine and stool samples taken for testing and then we wait and go from the results but some sort of scan on her brain and spinal cord is looking likely and the vet didnt want to say too much, i could tell but she said basically it could go either way right now and she didn't want to upset me OR give me false hope so yeah. thats what we know so far

Ah well. Were you given any sort of timescale for having the results back?

How is she this evening by the way?

she said two weeks max for tests back but depending on how she goes over the next couple of days, they may try to speed that up a bit. Oddly G attacked a photo of HERSELF this morning, scratching like mad at it until i removed it at which point she calmed down. She's okay tonight, generally a bit unsettled but no more so than she has been over the last few weeks. shes laid on the bottom of my bed in one of her favourite spots right now, right where my feet wouldbe if i were in bed

Was the photo in a frame with glass or any shiny bits?

no, it's just a paper photo on one of those stand up clip holders, if you know what i mean. she didn't touch the photo displayed in the same way next to it that wasn't of her though

Something about it was frightening her it sounds like. I don't know what then.

I'm really sorry but it sounds to me as if it's something neurological - and not good. Close liaison with her vet I think.

I just recalled. My own elderly boy - about 3 years ago now - had what I'm pretty certain was a little stroke. Some sort of intra-cranial thing, anyway.

He suddenly became completely terrified of remote controls and books. Desperately fearful. I just KOKO'd through it and he's long over it now - but you can't tell what happens in animals' brains when they have problems of one sort or another.

thanks cozie i know it doesn't sound good and i do think the vet was trying to get that across without having to say it. i've lost pets before but never had to deal with it outright myself if you know what i mean as they were always family pets, Gandalf is my baby and it's for me to deal with and to make her as comfortable as possible. i'm not hopeful right now though

The poor girl sounds bewildered and scared, my heart goes out to you both op xx

the only positive is that the vet agrees that she doesn't appear to be in any pain at all so they were happy for me to bring her home. they basically said just keep her safe and comfortable and we'll work through it it bit by bit