I know there’s dozens of pao prep posts already but I was wondering if there was anything i could do to make recovery a little easier?
Whether its stretches, specific muscle group stability/strength training etc. It’ll give me something to focus on and work towards while im a month out instead of mourning my progress haha.
Posting because I just want to make sense of it all and nothing from panic searching is adding up. The vets are already involved but I’m not sure why the area of affect is just the front legs (for now)- just want some possibilities before shooting in the dark with possible vet bills.
To cut to the chase, I woke up to my 12 year old boy cat limping and crying yesterday morning with his left front paw bent in and non weight bearing. He would scream if you tried to touch it or even put your hand anywhere near it which raised a lot of concern so I spoke to the vet at around 10:30am and she was able to get me in at 11:15am.
When we got there she watched how he walked (he would walk but stick his left arm out in a way) and immediately noted that the way he was holding it seemed neurological and told me that it could likely be a damaged nerve from the way he was fine with her touching his joints, but would cry out when she pinched his pawpads lightly. There was no foreign objects found and nothing seemed out of place except for him holding it in a funny angle really. She noted that he had lost some weight and suspected hyperthyroidism so she ordered bloods and prescribed some pain management medication. She also explained how the next steps were likely xray or mri as the ‘gold standard care’ (in the thousands but im not too fussed) and then if finances were an issue then we could look at pain management with consideration to quality of life….which is always a bit hard to hear.
We got sent home with some gabapentin, buprenorphine, and some meloxicam while we waited for the blood results, and they would see how his paw looked in a couple of days and any progression. For the rest of the day he was pretty high on life and just had an absent stare and was pretty sluggish, opting to lay on his back or squirm around. He was still eating pretty enthusiastically which i deemed good, too. He was also pretty upset as he was to stay indoors (outdoor cat usually but doesnt go any further than the garden, opts to just bask in the sun and grass) and had the energy to run through the house and then flop on the ground when he realised we would catch him.
The next morning he was noticably more lethargic. I had given the new dose of buprenorphine at 6pm the evening of the appointment as per their orders so i figured it was that, however this time he wasn’t moving as much upright, rather wanting to push with his back legs off of stuff to squirm his way around. For breakfast was his gabapentin tablet and around a half pouch of food out of the full serving I gave him. I did have to support his upper body as he would just slump over the dish stand with his face in the food. Then I had to leave as I has prior plans for the day, my aunt and mom would keep an eye on him.
I get a call around 3pm from my aunt that now both front paws were weak and hes really sluggish, he could only really support his weight on his back legs and seemed very disoriented. My mom calls the vet, and we get referred to a neuro clinic for saturday, but we’ll be seen soon at our home vet and to continue the medication. Consult is looking at ~£500 and then further mri and possible hospitalisation costs will be upwards of 5-6k (ouch i know but we’re hoping to claim through insurance as to soften the blow). He also had some bowel movement and managed to get his way to the litterbox and poop and then slumped outside of it and had to be cleaned. Then later on in the evening he got partway to the litterbox and my mom supported him in it and he did pee. Bloods also came back to show he has hyperthyroidism but thats an age related problem.
As of now he’s responding vocally to both paws being touched and is refusing to put any weight on them, I just worry at how fast he’s deteriorating and all the possible cases we’ve been pointed to specifically list hind leg lameness. He is able to move both front paws, he would knead them weakly while being stroked and fussed over so it’s not complete paralysis. I guess I’m just shocked at how quickly everything is playing out and needed to talk about it with anyone as its pretty upsetting to watch him suffer so much.