Hi everyone!!!!
I'm new to the board, found it several weeks ago, bc our own cat started having symptoms of her back legs giving out. (Lassie, 1 yr old.....our kids named her bc her coloring is like the famous dog's!)
I researched the internet, and from the information I gained from this forum, and many prayers to the Lord, it appears that our kitty is completely better!! It has been several weeks now (over a month) since she has exhibited those symptoms, so I wanted to write back and share with you the good news, and hopefully help anyone else out there!! Here are the details:
Out of the blue, she started having her hind legs give out....this was hard to determine at first because she must've been so scared that she was kind of tumbling and backing into corners, and meowing....we could not figure out what was going on!! It would last just a few seconds and then she was fine. A few hours later, the same thing would happen again. She seemed just fine in between those episodes. Well, a few days went by and it seemed to be getting worse.....episodes happening closer together, however, she seemed more used to it at this point, so she wasn't as terrified, being more calm about it and we could then see what the problem was.....her back legs seeming to just fail on her. I had already talked to the vet, and they had no idea what it could be, and said they could only do a blood panel. Well, as I researched the internet and found this forum, I found that many others had gone before me....same symptoms....had the blood panel done.....and it revealed nothing either. From what I read, all the vets were completely mystified, even after doing test after test. So.....the thought of bringing her in and spending all that money only to be told that they didn't know, I have to admit didn't seem very helpful. One week later after the first symptom, she finally had a day where it suddenly began happening constantly, and lasting a long time, she was almost dragging her poor little legs behind her, and looking up at me sadly.
We were praying and asking the Lord for wisdom!!!!! (and of course healing!)
What others here on the forum had written got me thinking.....there were several things people mentioned that seemed to be in common.....one had mentioned a cat licking a cinder block, another cat licking a brick by the fireplace.....another person had changed the diet of her cat and given vitamins, and had witnessed her cat totally recover.
I started thinking about what had changed that week in our home when she began having the symptoms.....why was it out of the blue? Well, that very week, I had 1) put out my fall decorations 2) used a different kitty litter that a friend had passed on to me (one of the members mentioned her cat kept eating it)
and 3) my husband had brought home a new candle and set it out
Well, I threw out the kitty litter right away and would you also believe, my kids out of the blue came in the room and told me, "Mom, Lassie is licking on a candle!" Yes!! It was that same candle....it was in a little pot, a citronella candle. Of course I got rid of that right away, and I also changed her diet completely to canned food that day (NOTE: diet is SOOOO important for a cat!!! Our last cat was completely healed of all his diabetes symptoms by putting him on a canned food diet and taking him off the dry food....not saying that will work for everyone, just that it regulated our cat!!!!) Well, I had gotten a little lazy with our new cat, and gave her dry food occasionally, but I stopped that too.
After that day, for several days I did not see any symptoms....I was so relieved! Then one day she seemed to have a small episode. I then got rid of the fall arrangement sitting on our sofa table, bc I had seen her chewing on that, but hadn't really thought that was it. After that day, over a month ago, I have seen NO MORE EPISODES!!! THANK YOU LORD!!!!!!
I would also like to add that my husband was reading an old magazine last week (National Geographic, October 2007 issue) and he quoted to me from an article that caught his attention.......it was talking about how certain foods are poisonous to pets, and caution should be taken to make sure they don't ever ingest them....well, we've probably all been made aware of many of them.......however, regarding Macademia Nuts, it said, "
Experts have yet to determine why just a few of these nuts can produce tremors, even temporary paralysis, in a dog's hind legs" WOW!!!! That sounded similar to what was happening in our cat!!!!! And the cats on this forum I've been reading about!!!! Could they possibly be slowly being poisoned by something we just don't know about?
So, whether it was the prayer, or one of those items I threw out, or all of the above, our dear kitty is all better, and happily back to her playful self!!! We are SO grateful!!!!
So, if your kitty is having the same symptoms, yes, take him to the vet, and also take some time to really think about what you have done differently since he started having problems, and/ or whether you need to change his diet too! (and pray!!
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I hope this helps some of your kitties out there!!!!