So the vet thinks it's arthritis at this point, even though she's young, or that she played hard with our other cat. So he gave her "joint juice" and said it would take 10 days to kick in. Sunday she looked like she was doing better and even jumped on her own up to the couch to cuddle with the husband.
But last night we came home and she was really stiff. When I would pet her on her head, she would silently meow (open her mouth but no sound would come out - but she can meow.) She usually does a "trick" of sitting up on her hind legs to get her treat, but she couldn't do that. I could tell she was in pain. When I was petting her, any time I would pet near her belly, she would roll over immediately to have me scratch her stomach. But when I picked her up and held her hind legs, she would meow and this morning she actually hissed at me when I was holding her like that, which is SO unusual for her and I know it means she is in pain. So basically I think the pain is not in her belly at all but only in her back legs/lower back.
We have a heating pad and have been using that the past two nights with her (having her lie on it) and she loves that cause she loves the warmth. But she's just moving so slowly and stiffly. She's normally up and bugging us in the morning for her daily wet food...and she isn't doing that. This morning when I got up, she actually stayed in her basket in the livingroom until I came over to her and told her it was time for food - normally she beats me to the bowl!
However, she's not walking funny. She's not favoring one leg over the other, and she is walking around. She's just slow and lethargic. If it's possible, I think she's sleeping more than normal. I'm happy I'll be home for most of tomorrow to spend time with her. If she's not better after this weekend though, I'm going to bring her back to the vet, since it'll be past the 10 days in which he said it would take for her to feel the effects of the meds. But her personality is still the same (last night when I was adjusting the heating pad for her and getting her to lie down she only wanted to play with and "chase" my hand that was underneath the blanket). She also "plays" with her scratching pad (it's one of those round ones with a ball in it that she can chase around. She'll chase that and then lie sideways next to it and kick the round part with her hind legs...which is supposedly what is hurting her.)
I'm a little worried leaving her if she's not better when we're in Cabo, but I think it's just an injury from over playing with my other cat...hopefully I'm right. She just seems too young for arthritis. And the vet didn't think it was anything else (like cancer or tissue damage around the spine, etc. which he mentioned but said it wasn't presenting that way.)
So that's her update. She's not any better, but she's still "herself"...just on meds now. :)
October 30, 2008
October 29, 2008
Monet update...
Saturday morning, we overslept, but thankfully not that much and didn't miss Monet's appointment with the vet. So we brought her in, explained her symptoms (not jumping all of a sudden, seeming she was in a little pain in her hind quarters, etc.) The doc took awhile and examined her, felt her belly for masses, watched her walk, felt her spine, manipulated her legs, etc.
He thinks it's a combination of age (she's only 10), possibly arthritis and that she overplayed with our other cat. He offered to give her a steroid shot, but I turned it down for now considering he wasn't sure if what was wrong with her was muscular. He did give her some "joint juice" pills, which we're giving her twice a day and she is jumping from the floor to the couch (not as high as the bed), so we think it might be soreness from over playing. We're going to keep an eye on her though and see how she is in the next couple of weeks. The good thing is that her personality hasn't changed and she's eating enough.
Last night, we pulled out the heating pad and had her lie on it, and switched her in the middle so she could warm both sides of her lower half. We don't know if it helped, but she LOVED it. She's always searching for warmth anywhere in the house (all winter she'll sit in front of the forced air vents, or she'll get on top of the dryer while it's going to feel the warmth) so I'm sure this heating pad was an added bonus.
He thinks it's a combination of age (she's only 10), possibly arthritis and that she overplayed with our other cat. He offered to give her a steroid shot, but I turned it down for now considering he wasn't sure if what was wrong with her was muscular. He did give her some "joint juice" pills, which we're giving her twice a day and she is jumping from the floor to the couch (not as high as the bed), so we think it might be soreness from over playing. We're going to keep an eye on her though and see how she is in the next couple of weeks. The good thing is that her personality hasn't changed and she's eating enough.
Last night, we pulled out the heating pad and had her lie on it, and switched her in the middle so she could warm both sides of her lower half. We don't know if it helped, but she LOVED it. She's always searching for warmth anywhere in the house (all winter she'll sit in front of the forced air vents, or she'll get on top of the dryer while it's going to feel the warmth) so I'm sure this heating pad was an added bonus.
Two good things...
1. I am officially on the board of the Kawasaki Disease Foundation! I've got to talk with the President either this week or next to discuss my contributions, role, etc. but I'm pretty excited about it! Never thought this would happen, so it's something I think will be great for me personally as well as professionally.
2. The husband and I went to the gym last night for our orientation with the trainer. He set us up with a workout plan and we did it and it kicked our butts! But the best part was when he weighed us, took measurements and fat percentage. I have been monitoring myself at home with our own measuring tape, fat percentage meter and scale, and 3 months ago, I did the last set of measurements and weight. Since then, I've lost only 6 lbs, but I've gone down 3% in body fat, and lost 1 inch off each of my arms, 1 inch off of my waist, 2 inches off of each of my thighs and 2.5 inches off of my hips and butt! I was shocked because I didn't really think it was that much until I compared the measurements! Wow! The trainer, of course, wanted us to buy training packages and we think we might buy a couple of sessions. It's great how motivated we are right now...currently it's for our vacation to Cabo San Lucas next month, but by the time we start seeing more results like this, we don't need any motivation other than that!
2. The husband and I went to the gym last night for our orientation with the trainer. He set us up with a workout plan and we did it and it kicked our butts! But the best part was when he weighed us, took measurements and fat percentage. I have been monitoring myself at home with our own measuring tape, fat percentage meter and scale, and 3 months ago, I did the last set of measurements and weight. Since then, I've lost only 6 lbs, but I've gone down 3% in body fat, and lost 1 inch off each of my arms, 1 inch off of my waist, 2 inches off of each of my thighs and 2.5 inches off of my hips and butt! I was shocked because I didn't really think it was that much until I compared the measurements! Wow! The trainer, of course, wanted us to buy training packages and we think we might buy a couple of sessions. It's great how motivated we are right now...currently it's for our vacation to Cabo San Lucas next month, but by the time we start seeing more results like this, we don't need any motivation other than that!
My cat...
My cat Monet isn't herself. Last night she attempted to jump up onto me while I was on the couch and instead just sort of pulled herself up with her front paws. Then, later, while Tito and I were in bed and our other cat, Eponine was in bed with us, Monet attempted to get up into bed, but instead pulled herself up there as well. We have a platform bed frame and she kind of scooted her back paws to be sitting on the bed frame and then pulled herself with her front paws.
I told Tito I thought something was wrong with her because she hadn't been jumping all day it seemed like. So we attempted to make her jump to the bed and she wouldn't. We opened the window and attempted to make her jump to the window sill - she wanted to, we could totally see she wanted to, her tail was twitching in excitement, and then she attempted to make the jump, but only made it about half way up the wall and then stopped trying. And she proceeded to sleep really close to me last night (she normally snuggles with Tito) and then this morning she was moving very slowly. I attempted to make her play with her favorite ball and she looked like she wanted to chase after it and then sort of walked over to it and pushed the ball slowly. I think she's got something going on with her hips/legs.
When I pick her up she meows more than normal. I'm really worried about my little girl...when I left this morning she was sleeping on my pillow which is something else unusual for her. She's not old either, which is really worrying me. She's only 8! So hopefully it's nothing serious and maybe she just hurt herself in some way? Anyone have experience with something like this? My childhood cat lost the ability to jump after awhile but she was 17 when that happened.
I told Tito I thought something was wrong with her because she hadn't been jumping all day it seemed like. So we attempted to make her jump to the bed and she wouldn't. We opened the window and attempted to make her jump to the window sill - she wanted to, we could totally see she wanted to, her tail was twitching in excitement, and then she attempted to make the jump, but only made it about half way up the wall and then stopped trying. And she proceeded to sleep really close to me last night (she normally snuggles with Tito) and then this morning she was moving very slowly. I attempted to make her play with her favorite ball and she looked like she wanted to chase after it and then sort of walked over to it and pushed the ball slowly. I think she's got something going on with her hips/legs.
When I pick her up she meows more than normal. I'm really worried about my little girl...when I left this morning she was sleeping on my pillow which is something else unusual for her. She's not old either, which is really worrying me. She's only 8! So hopefully it's nothing serious and maybe she just hurt herself in some way? Anyone have experience with something like this? My childhood cat lost the ability to jump after awhile but she was 17 when that happened.
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