Partial paralysis, but the vet doesn't know why

[Samantha&Amory]

We live out in the country in Louisiana and we're not sure what happened to Midnite. She came up to the house Saturday yowling. When we opened the door she could barely drag herself inside. She was panting and had started to drool and had a clear drainage coming out of her nose. Her eyes began "gumming" in the center corners. We got her into the house and she just collapsed on the floor. She won't eat or drink. She did have a BM and we found out she had worms, terribly. Then I noticed her left front paw wasn't quite working right. She didn't have a fever and so we finally got her to the vet yesterday. The vet wasn't completely sure, but said it appeared she had eaten something poisonous. She did say she wasn't sure why her front paw was paralyzed, though. So now Midnite is taking amoxicillan, but she's not getting better. I've been getting a little water and baby food (applesauce) into her with a dropper. Now it seems her left rear paw is showing signs or paralysis. When she moves at all and lays back down, the paw goes completely straight to her head and the claws aren't fully retracting. I was just hoping maybe someone could help with any suggestions as to what the problem might be. The vet said call her tomorrow and let her know how things are going. Midnite is a pretty old cat, almost ten years old. I just wish I could help her. Thanks.

[Traci]

If your vet didn't tell you anymore than that, it's time to see an emergency vet RIGHT NOW.

Possibilities include hit by car (severe internal injury), dog bite/attack, bit by snake or spider, and yes, a toxin of some sort, but the symptoms don't coincide necessarily with a toxin.

Please, get your kitty to an ER vet IMMEDIATELY, ask the new vet to check for puncture wounds, x-rays to rule out trauma and internal injuries/hemmorhage, and to examine closely for any signs of snake or spider bite. Don't delay another minute, go NOW please.

[Lara]

Something similar happened to my Bella who is 17. It kinda stumped my usual vet and we wasted some precious treatment time with her. Things were quickly resolved when we were referred to a emergency small animal specialist at the vet hospital. Although Bella's condition and eventual (unexpected) recovery was a little enigmatic, what I can say about the partial paralysis was that it was very similarl to your kitty's symptoms as described. We found her sort of panting a little, clear dribble from the mouth, clear mucous discharge from the left nostril and gummy inner eyes with sand stuck around her nose and eyes where they were watering. Her front left paw was unable to be walkd on and when she tried to she couldn't feel the surface of the top of the paw and would stand on it sort of bended over with paw pads touching the back of her leg and the floor on the top of her paw (hard to explain). She also had a left suded "Horners Syndrome" were her left eyeball was sunken and the third eyelid up halfway accross her eye. She was very weak and wouldn't eat or drink.
Anyway, it turned out that, among other things, she had "thrown a clot" and that blood clot had lodged somewhere affecting the supply to that limb. She also had a very high blood pressure and fluid accumulating in her lungs from a heart condition that had been caused by her hyperthyroidism that we had started treating with medication 2 weeks earlier as well as chronic renal insuffuciency that she was also being medicated for. She is a small cat and it turned out that she was being overmedicated and shouldn't have been on one of the drugs at all. She had a myriad of conditions after 36 hours with our initial vet who didn't know what was wrong with her and by the time I took her to the University vet hospital (4pm) she was correctly diagnosed with 10 - 13 concurrent conditions by the next morning. After only one night in ICU they stabilised her and if we hadn't have got the RIGHT vet to look at her I am convinced she would not be with us now. I got her to the first vet within an hour of finding her in this state and wasted 36 hours leaving her with this vet. Live and Learn. I know what to do next time. Please get Midnight to another vet, for whatever reason your vet is not picking up or maybe just doesn't have the facilities to treat her properly. This is what happened to us, our usual vet's office simply did not have the instruments to do very simple checks like Bloodpressure. Please take Traci's advice.

[Samantha&Amory]

I wanted to say thank you for your help. I know we didn't immediately go to the vet, money is an issue whether I want it to be or not, but Midnite was worse this morning and we had made an appointment for a nearby vet that has helped in an emergency before. We left earlier than planned because of her condition (felt cold, trembling, meowing) and they started examining her as soon as we got there. We don't know why and I really don't care what caused it anymore, the important thing is we know what's going wrong. Her liver chemical levels were so elavated, it was hard to believe (I believe the high normal is 60 and hers was 179). They're taking care of her now, rehydrating her and doing whatever else it is they need to do. I can't say how much I appreciate the advice we got here, otherwise, we might have just sat at home with the antibiotic and watched her die. I have a good feeling she's going to make it and I thank you so much.

Samantha

[Susan and the girls]

I sure hope Midnite gets what she needs at the new vet. Please keep us posted as to how she is, ok?

Midnite is in my prayers!