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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

The litter tray

Our cat has suddenly lost the use of his back legs

61 replies

Evalina · 13/02/2017 10:41

Our lovely 10 year old cat developed a limp on Wednesday and we took him to the vet on Friday as he couldn't jump up.

By Saturday he couldn't stand on his back legs although can move them. He's at the specialist now and they say he has a mass on his spine which is most likely to be lymphoma, and the mri showed signs that it might have spread but they can't be sure.

He's fine in himself, eating normally and seems happy and not in any pain.

Surgery is an option to remove the mass enough to relieve the pressure and allow him to regain use of his legs and bladder, or we could try drugs which might take longer to shrink the tumour. Awaiting results from spinal tap which should confirm what it is.

Has anyone had a cat with this before? If we can have him home for a few months or even a year, then as long as he can walk, wee and is not in pain we would like to do that.

Am so sad, it has happened so suddenly. He was fine this time last week.

Any advice?

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Ricekrispiesquare · 01/03/2017 21:46

Op has your vet ruled out saddle thrombus?

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Evalina · 01/03/2017 23:39

No mention of saddle thrombus, but that seems to be a clot causing paresis. Now that our cat has had a mass removed he is recovering well. We just don't know what caused the mass in the first place yet..

He has started eating more, and is getting steadier on his feet every day, although is still a bit wobbly and uncoordinated. It will be a while before he is able to jump I think.

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Ricekrispiesquare · 02/03/2017 13:18

I'm glad to hear is is recovering.

My cat died from saddle thrombus and its first symptom is losing use of the back legs due to the position of the clot. Early intervention is key. If it happens again please mention saddle thrombus to your vet

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cozietoesie · 02/03/2017 14:23

Has his appointment with the neurologist been set up?

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Evalina · 03/03/2017 15:50

Had a chat with the neurologist today. He was very happy to hear of progress made so far, and I've said I will try take a video of our cat walking and email it to him.

The other tests came back inconclusive, so he is still taking the drugs for toxoplasmosis for another 10 days, just in case. The neurologist thinks that meningioma is the most likely cause of the mass, and that over time it will grow again, but of course it's hard to know how long that might take.

I have an appointment to take cat to see him on Monday week.

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Evalina · 06/03/2017 08:39

So sorry to hear about your cat Ricekrispiesquare - it's so sad to see an active cat suddenly unable to walk. I will bear saddle thrombus in mind..

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Evalina · 15/03/2017 14:35

Our cat had his appointment with the neurologist, who was impressed with his recovery, as has been pretty fast. He can now run, jump onto and off the sofa, and get up and down stairs without any problem. He's still not back to what he was, and has lost quite a bit of weight, but he's now allowed outside during daylight hours.

He's out somewhere now. I don't like not knowing where he is and am a bit worried in case he gets stuck somewhere - but he's an outdoor cat, and as we don't know how long he has, want him to be free to come and go as much as possible.

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cozietoesie · 15/03/2017 23:12

That's good news so far. Did the neurologist give any kind of prognosis for the lad?

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Evalina · 17/03/2017 00:44

He says that meningioma is still the most likely cause, in which case it depends how quickly it grows. He said he was hopeful that he would have another 6 months. Of course we are hopeful he would have much longer but I guess the odds for that are longer.

If it is toxoplasmosis, for which it would be a very unusual presentation, but for which he has been treated in case, then he could have years. The neurologist has some of our videos of cat, which he is going to show students as he is an interesting case..

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Evalina · 01/10/2017 20:08

Thought I'd post an update. DCat is still with us and back to 100% mobility. He's exceeded the 6 months the neurosurgeon gave him, and we still don't know if he had a tumour that is slowly regrowing, or some rare inflammation. He's well for now though which is wonderful.

Sadly we lost both our dogs in May, one to cancer and the other a week later to a stroke, so that was really hard. Our cat misses them I think, but also likes the extra attention..

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RubbishMantra · 01/10/2017 20:49

Hello! That's wonderful that your cat is making good progress. Sorry about your dogs though - that must be so hard Losing 2 in such a short space of time.

Here's to many years ahead of Dcat esconced in his fireside chair. Just bought my 2 furries a heated throw which seems to be going down well...