Did my cat have a stroke?

[CiegoStar]

I would love any COTHer’s advice (and I do plan on taking my cat to the vet in the morning).

I got home today and my cat Titus was suffering from an obvious impairment. He was uncoordinated and shaking. He kept slipping, particularly in his hind legs, but also seemed inflexible in his front legs. He was very focused on getting dinner and purring as usual. I fed him dinner and he had a hard time coordinating himself to get to the feed dish. But he kept purring and eventually started eating.

After eating, he appeared to be walking normally.

It was scary. Titus has been a pretty healthy cat (rescue, many years ago, age unknown, prob around 12). He was diagnosed with hyperthyroid a year ago after losing some weight. I gave him pills for several months but he didn’t gain weight until I changed his diet (I don’t know why the vet didn’t recommend that in the first place!). I eventually stopped giving him the pills because I just felt that it wasn’t making a difference. Since then he has continued to gain weight slowly. His behavior and energy are all normal.

I really thought he had had a major neurological event, but now I’m looking at him and he seems totally normal!

Any thoughts on this medical mystery?

[cowboymom]

I had a cat that was seizuring really bad one morning-when I woke up she looked weird, I said her name and she took off running sideways :eek: and when I caught her her eyes were zipping back and forth. She continued to seize the whole way into town and the vet warned me she probably wouldn’t survive but she got to the vets and seemed to pull out of it. She was kept under observation for 24 hours and never had another problem and hasn’t in the four years since.

the vet’s best guess was that she ate a spider/bug/wasp that caused the seizure and she survived it.

Not saying that’s what happened to yours but I have had a cat completely off kilter that survived!

[SquishTheBunny]

Hmm…sounds like potential low glucose. I’d monitor him closley and explain the symptoms for the vet tomorrow. They will likely want to get some bloodwork.

[JanM]

Maybe a muscle problem? Are muscle spasms a side effect of the medication? Or maybe the cat had a bad fall and tweaked something.

Hopefully, the vet will have an answer this morning.

[Canaqua]

Our elderly female cat had that problem last year…acting for all the world like she was having a serious neurological issue…stumbling, shaking, drooling, looking a bit disoriented. It was a Sunday and we got the vet on call to meet us at the clinic, by the time we all arrived there, she was normal again. The vet said it was most likely a “transient ischemic attack”, same thing people can get. Kind of like “mini strokes” which often don’t leave lasting damage. He said it’s not unusual in elderly cats and that all we could do was keep an eye on it. She has not had another since.

[caryledee]

I just went through something very similar with an 11 year old cat. In my case, it was not a curable condition, but that is pretty rare.

Your cat may have been coming out of some sort of seizure. Afterwards, they can appear normal and have an increased appetite.

Your vet will probably want to do bloodwork, urinalysis, and maybe an x ray to rule out any medical issues.

I hope it was just a one time thing and your cat is fine again! Good luck!

[JB]

Not necessarily a stroke but for sure some sort of seizure. My cali-cat had one many years ago, fortunately brief, but she had the eye thing and could only walk in a small circle, then sort of plopped down, laid there for a couple of seconds, then was perfectly fine, never happened again that I saw.

I hope your kitty will be fine!

[CiegoStar]

Thanks all. He seems normal and happy this morning, and we have a vet appt for this afternoon. Last time they made me do $200 of bloodwork to get $20 of medication - wasn’t too happy about that. I do want to get to the bottom of it but hopefully without paying an arm and a leg!

[jenm]

How is your kitty and what did the vet say?

I hope all is well!

[hoopoe]

ciego star

hyperthyroidism is not going to go away with pills.

thryroid blockers are moderately effective . Long term I-131 therapy is best. Hyper T cats can throw clots often due to heart muscle issues. They can also get into electrolyte scrambles which causes isses with potassium levels and muscle control

your old friend deserves your attention full time and you need to follow through. You comment about 200 $ of blood work for 20$ worth of pills makes me pity your cat.

[cute_lil_fancy_pants]

[QUOTE=hoopoe;5979333]
ciego star

hyperthyroidism is not going to go away with pills.

thryroid blockers are moderately effective . Long term I-131 therapy is best. Hyper T cats can throw clots often due to heart muscle issues. They can also get into electrolyte scrambles which causes isses with potassium levels and muscle control

your old friend deserves your attention full time and you need to follow through. You comment about 200 $ of blood work for 20$ worth of pills makes me pity your cat.[/QUOTE]

Agreed, that is not a lot of money for a visit to the vet. Many people would not question that amount of money to fix a car, but suddenly since its a pet its suddenly too much money. Imagine how much you would ave to spend to have a plumber out or your air conditioning fixed?
Its funny how people will spend $300,000 on a house when a $200,000 house will do just fine because it makes them feel good. Or they will spend $25,000 on a car when a $5,000 car is fine, and everyone congratulates them on spending the extra money to buy a nice car, but if you spend $15,000 on vet bills for your animal everyone thinks your crazy. It makes no sense.

[SquishTheBunny]

$200 bloodwork for $20 pills? Well, bloodwork isnt free - it costs $ to send it to the lab, and have the lab run it. Its thesame for human bloodwork too, its not free either! Id be thrilled to only pay $20 for pills, usually the dispensing fee is at least $25!!

[Beckham03]

She may have had a seizure and you saw the aftermath. Best to get her in…could be mini strokes or secondary epilepsy at her age (tumor or maybe metabolic in origin.) Either way, she needs check out to see what you need to do next.

[summerhorse]

One of my Hyper T cats started having seizures when it got near the end. At some point the pills just don’t work anymore. Or well enough.