Kitty Physical Therapy

[ThomCat]

One of my cats, Silver, suddenly collapsed one morning last week and could not get back up, sit up, or do more than roll around awkwardly. The best the vet can come up with is a blood clot. Either a stroke, or the blood clot lodged someplace.

He can now raise his head up enough to eat on his own, but only for short periods. He can roll over on his own too. That's dramatic improvement from where he was a week ago, so we're optimistic that he'll regain at least a good amount of function.

The vet said that he has basically 60 days to get in as much recovery as he can. After that, whatever condition he is in will probably be permanent. Recovery becomes much more difficult and much slower after that. If I get him on his back and move his legs, and push against them, he'll push back. He purrs the whole time thinking we're playing. So if I knew what I was doing I could do some kitty physical therapy with him and try to maximize his recovery.

Without knowing what I'm doing all I'm really able to do is make sure he uses his front and back legs as much as possible, get as much range of motion, and try to use his strength repeatedly every day so he doesn't atrophy.

Have any of you ever had a cat that went through something like this before? Were you able to do anything that helped? Do you know enough about caring for disabled cats, or strengthening exercises with pets, or anything helpful to offer some good advice?

[Gormy Cuss]

1. Poor Silver!

I know nothing about kitty PT, but I would suggest pulling on his legs too, since cats spend an inordinate amount of time stretching. Silver should try to pull them back. Also play therapy with a toy on a stick might help.

[ThomCat]

4. Those are good ideas.

Thank you. :)

He doesn't usually play with toys, except for a laser pointer. But if I can get him to start, that would be a big help. I also hadn't thought about doing the stretching for him. Duh. I should have.

[xchrom]

2. get well silver! nt

[ThomCat]

5. Thank you.

:)

[Zephie]

3. Maybe this article will help

http://ezinearticles.com/?Physical-Therapy-for-Cats&id=500048

Hope this helps, it's the best I could find, and most other sites on the issue are just a reprint of this article. I don't know anything personally, but you might try calling around to local holistic vets about it. They're a bit more expensive, but might be able to help more than a traditional vet. Things like pet acupuncture may also be a viable option.

Get well kitty!

[ThomCat]

6. That is Wonderful! Thank you!

:hug:

[TZ]

7. Be wary of acupuncture, my friend

If Silver has a clot, you do NOT want to do that, it could send the clot into circulation and that could be fatal. I know enough about physiology to know that. Gentleness is the key here.

[ThomCat]

9. Okay. Got it.

No needles. :(

I think I'm going to find a big rubber ball he can lay across and start with that for strength and balance exercises.

[TZ]

11. It sounds like you are making a good start though.

With the massages and gentle movement. If you keep it up, I think you could see improvement. If it is a clot doing this, its probably pain that keeps him from moving. Does he like catnip? That could help make him feel better (IIRC, catnip affects cats very similarly to marijuana on humans)

[ThomCat]

12. We actually don't have any in the house.

We ran out.

We are definitely getting more though. It's going to be a priority now.

Between that and his bonito flakes, his favorite treat, he's going to getting a lot of treats for all is efforts. :)

[hamsterjill]

8. Is he on antibiotics?

I've been in cat rescue for many years, and two months ago something happened to one of my foster kittens that I'd never seen before. She was fine one morning when I left for work, and when I checked on her at lunch, she was kind of stiff and crooked, and was rolling around awkwardly unable to walk There's no other way to explain it. I rushed her to the ER expecting to lose her.

Come to find out, she had an awful ear infection. The vet said it was vestibular, and prescribed a round of clavamox. The kitten was not able to walk for a couple of days, but thereafter bounced back and has been fine ever since.

In all of my years of rescue, I'd never seen anything so dramatic in such a short spance of time.

I am sure your vet would have known to look for this. I mention it but just in case... Your comment about "rolling around awkwardly" is exactly how I would have described my kitten.

Thanks for taking such good care of Silver, and the very best of luck with his recovery!

[ThomCat]

10. Yes. He was on Antibiotics, Antiinfamatories,

and several other meds the whole time he was at the vets. They only took him off most of the meds after all the tests came back negative for everything. He's still on a 2 meds for 1 more week, including an antibiotic.

No sign of any infection. No elevated enzymes. No elevated white blood count. Nothing shows up on the toxicology tests. According to all the tests he should be fine.

They think it's a blood clot mostly by process of elimination, not because they really know absolutely for sure. :(

[TorchTheWitch]

28. sounds like a neurological problem to me

You might want to have him seen by a vet that specializes in neurological problems. Did your vet do any kind of neurological testing (although I have no idea in the world what sort of testing that would consist of... brain scan maybe?).

I mentioned downthread that when I was a kid we had a cat that had a stroke but she wasn't this bad and REALLY canted to the left in the beginning, but strokes vary by degree and symptoms seem to vary a lot. Now that I think about it, maybe Silver had a really bad stroke or some other similar neurological problem?

I'm stretching my mind back a lot in how that cat my family had acted, and I do remember that in the very beginning she hid in the tiny space between the side of the sofa and the wall and wouldn't come out for food or water or to go to the bathroom or anything, but because she wasn't moving around at that time we couldn't figure out what the heck was wrong. It wasn't until my mom got a good look at her with a flashlight (it was pretty dim in that little space) she noticed something that seemed off about her eyes, but I can't remember what it was. My mom was a nurse and she recognized because of what ever it was she noticed about her eyes that it was some kind of serious neurological problem and she needed to see the vet. It wasn't until we managed to get her out of the little space and saw her standing up awkwardly and really canted to the left that we all realized it had to a be a stroke. You really just couldn't see any of that leftward canting while she was just lying down and refusing to do much of any moving about.

Take a really good look at Silver and see if you notice any possible canting to one side or the other... even just a hair of a head tilt. Maybe because he can't get about really at all like our cat was at first is disguising some kind of more obvious sign of stroke.

Then again, strokes don't always involve a one side or the other obvious symptom. I'm suddenly remembering that when my first Akita got Lyme I was afraid it was a stroke because he was so terribly unbalanced. Turned out it was the Lyme making all his joints so stiff and painful it just hurt him to much to balance himself properly. Now I'm wondering about the possibility that Silver may have Lyme. The second day of my dog's symptoms actually seem quite similar to what you describe Silver is doing. He just hurt so damn much he didn't move much and any of the movements he did do looked a bit flailing to me... turns out that flailing awkward looking movement was him trying to stand up and it just hurting him to much to collect all his legs together in the right way to do it. I'm really realizing this now because I'm seeing a wee tad bit of that sort of flailing awkwardness sometimes when standing up because he has bone cancer and a huge tumor in his left hind knee area. Though the mega pain med cocktail has been working surprisingly well for him, some things he sometimes does really awkwardly partly because of some pain but also because that whole leg is atrophied to skin and bone (the opposite leg is beautifully muscled like it's never been before so the two together on the same dog looks really weird) and the tumor is so big and heavy it just generally makes him seem a bit awkward (most of the tumor protrudes at the inner part of the knee, so it seems to get in the way a lot more than if it was in the front or on the outside part of the knee. Could Lyme maybe be a possibility if not a stroke? Do cats get Lyme? Funny, I always just thought of dogs and people getting it, but I guess maybe any animal could.

All in all though, I really think this is some sort of neurological problem that's screwing up Silver's motor functions really badly. He's eating and drinking and pooping and peeing appropriately, isn't he?

I'd talk to your vet about the possibility of a neurological problem like a stroke or something like that and see if he can recommend some vet that specializes more in that area.

[ThomCat]

34. It is definitely neurological.

That was their only definite conclusion.

It was anything beyond that they couldn't get specific about, beyond that it was probably a blood clot.

He's showing a bit more improvement today. He's sitting up longer. And, when he is held up onto his feet he can balance there for a moment now before he starts to fall. It's not immediate anymore.

Unfortunately, taking Silver in to a specialize isn't possible just because we can't afford it. It's going to take me a year to pay off the vet bills we already have. So we're hoping the advice we have already been given is enough for us to help him recover here at home.

[TorchTheWitch]

51. I do understand the financial difficulties

It's really nice of your vet to let you pay off the bills. Most make you pay whatever is owed at the time of service.

Good that Silver is showing signs of improvement already. I think that's a really good sign and that he'll continue to improve though he may never get back to 100%. I don't suppose it really matters if he never improves completely... as long as he gets around ok and can do basic kitty type things so what if he's a wee bit wobbly or slightly off kilter. As long as he's happy and otherwise healthy he'd still be the lovey fur ball that melts your heart and warms your lap.

You can only do what you can do, and it sounds like you're doing the best you can and it seems to be working well.

Keeping my fingers crossed that he'll continue to improve. Maybe it'll just take a little time for his motor skills to come back.

[zanana1]

13. That's sad.

I really hope he regains most if not all of his mobility. Poor baby. You're being a good kitty parent putting him through the "range of motion" exercises. Best of luck to you and kitty.

[ThomCat]

15. Thank you.

Hopefully this will do him some good and he'll at least get back the ability to walk. We don't care how awkward he is as long as he can get around and do what he needs to be able to do.

If not, we're committed. We'll take care of him for the rest of his life. Pets are not disposable. :loveya:

[MiddleFingerMom]

14. Poor kitty. About 80% of the way down the page is a little help, maybe.

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In the section, "What are at home physical therapy exercises that I can be doing
for my dog/cat after orthopedic surgery?"
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Even though it's geared towards post-surgery, I think it applies to you, too.
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http://www.dovervet.com/popup_postopfaq.html
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Healing and comfort and strength vibes going out to your kitty (and you).
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[ThomCat]

16. Thank you very much!

:hug:

That is helpful. :)

[Call Me Wesley]

17. Good vibes for silver!

I don't have anything to offer, but if I were you, I'd look into every source possible. :hug:

[ThomCat]

18. Good vibes are very appreciated.

:hug:

Thank you.

We're definitely checking where ever we can for whatever information we can find that might be useful.

[marzipanni]

19. I hope Silver recovers well!

Therapists (or now, even robotic devices) move a stroke patient's legs in a walking motion to stimulate the brain into remembering the movement.

Here is a bit of one of many articles which include this information.-
<snip>Movement Induced Therapy

Through intensive physical and occupational therapy called Movement Induced Therapy, undamaged areas of the brain can be trained to take over for areas damaged by stroke. For example, we retrain patients to walk using a harness system that safely suspends a patient above a treadmill. Brain imaging has shown that remapping of the brain’s neurons occurs fairly rapidly with this kind of stimulation.
http://www.mainlinehealth.org/StrokeRehab
If you moved Silver's legs rhythmically in a walking motion for a while each day it might help.

A couple of years ago did you hear about Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain specialist who had a stroke and recovered from it?
She was interviewed on Fresh Air on NPR, very interesting!- here is the link-http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91861432

She wrote a book about her experience- http://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Stroke-Insight-Scientists-Personal/dp/1430300612

[ThomCat]

21. Thank you very much for all of this.

:)

[TrogL]

20. could this be back trouble?

I know cats have wildly different anatomy that dogs, but this sounds like when my doxxy slipped a disk.

[ThomCat]

22. We thought it might be

It doesn't seem to be. His x-ray shows that he does have some disk bulging, but it's in his lower spine, so it couldn't be causing the problem with his fore-legs. There is no apparent problem anywhere else.

We had no idea that he ever developed the bulging disks until we saw these x-rays. He's never shown any signs of discomfort or pain before. But we're keeping a close eye on his back from now on.

[haele]

23. My Moggy had ataxia for a month after a short fall where he landed awkwardly

He could barely walk, his hind end would keep flopping over and he'd end up rolling around. The vet could find nothing, no inflammation, no break or fractures, nothing showed up on a CAT, so we figured he bruised his spine or badly pulled a muscle or ligament when he fell off the bed. Moggy was only three years old at the time, so it was pretty scary thinking that it might be permanent.
He started getting progressively better after a week, but for the first couple days, I'd have to carry him around to food, then to litter box, etc. Most of the time he wanted to hide.
I did some gentle stretching with his back legs, and found warm places for him to sleep.

Best of luck to your baby...Silver looks like a wonderful cat.

Haele

[ThomCat]

24. I'm very glad your Moggy made a complete recovery.

:)

I hope Silver is that fortunate. If what happened to him isn't a blood clot, like the vets think, maybe we'll be very lucky and it will be this same kind of thing.

We can hope...

[Flaxbee]

25. Poor Silverkitty!

Hugs to Silver and to you, ThomCat. :hug: :hug:

Lots of good advice in here already -- the only other thing I'd offer (if it hasn't been mentioned in the linked articles) is to do some gentle massage of his leg muscles, front and back... the therapy, pushing of his legs, etc. is good, but the massage will also improve strength and stimulate recovery.

He's beautiful.

[ThomCat]

35. Hi Flaxbee!

Thank you! I will add that to our routine. :)

[TorchTheWitch]

26. get in touch with a vet physical therapy clinic

They would not only be able to advise you but work with your cat and with you so that you can learn the best treatments and how to do them with your cat at home. This needs to be coordinated with your diagnosing vet so the clinic can best approach the problem with the best types of therapy and also avoid doing anything that may be detrimental to the cat. Your vet will probably know of a clinic to recommend you to since many surgeries require extensive physical therapy.

Hydrotherapy is wonderful treatment for all sorts of physical problems, though I don't know how this would work with a cat... I'm only familiar with people and dogs. A good clinic will likely have a pool as well as various other water therapy devices and equipment.

http://www.animalrehabnc.com
This website for a pet rehab/physical therapy clinic just so you can see what sort of things they do and get some general information.

http://www.animalrehabnc.com/services.html
This sounds encouraging! Check out this paragraph at the site on the Services page...

Neurological Rehab
We will evaluate your pet's functional limitations and develop a specific plan for treatments in the clinic. Your pet may have had surgery or perhaps the neurologist did not recommend surgery, but either way, we will progress your pet safely based on their progress. Depending on the severity of your pet's impairments, we may recommend that they board at our clinic for more intensive, daily rehabilitation. Some pets come to us unable to walk or move any of their legs, while others have their rear legs affected but can support themselves with their front legs. Your pet may need some adaptive equipment to walk, such as a cart. This can be a short or long term solution depending on their needs.

Sounds like such a thing like what's wrong with your cat isn't so uncommon and even significant improvement may very well be entirely possible.

I'm so very sorry about your kitty! When I was a kid one of our cats had a stroke, but she wasn't at all debilitated like you describe. She was just WAY off kilter to the left that she had a lot of trouble walking and balancing much at all... watching her try to navigate a doorway was so sad to see in the beginning, but very quickly she improved. She always had that bit of a tilt to the left though, so she ended up being nicknamed "Tilt" and we never called her by whatever her real name was again (see, I can't even recall what the heck it was that we had named her... the nickname stuck and was kind of cute). What's kind of odd is that after the stroke her personality changed completely... she used to be quite nasty (ok, I admit it - she was the devil incarnate), but after the stroke she suddenly became the total lovey kitty who adored absolutely everyone and everything. Weird.

Silver is a really lovely looking cat!

Please update with what you end up doing and how things progress for you and Silver.

[ThomCat]

36. I wish we could take advantage of that.

but I'm on a fixed income supporting all of us. My roommate is unemployed. We can't afford that. They don't even list the rates on the site, so you know they're cheap. :(

If I could even afford to go further into debt I'd do it, but I can't afford to run up my monthly credit card payments any higher than they are. So we're up against a wall.

Silver is showing improvement day by day, and we're both home all day every day working with him throughout the day, so we're hoping that we will be able to get him walking again. It kills us to have to blame poverty, but this is the best we can do.

[TorchTheWitch]

52. Man, do I ever know how you feel

My dog has bone cancer, and all the meds he needs ain't cheap. The vet keeps cutting the price down and making up interesting excuses as to why, but I know he'd doing it because I'm walking a really thin line financially and doesn't want to embarrass me about it. It feels really icky to be thilled that he's lasting so much longer than expected when at the same time being worried that because he is lasting so much longer where's the money going to come from to pay for it all. So far I've been managing it ok, but it still feels bad to have to think about the money at all.

I asked my sister what we did for Tilt when she had her stroke since I was so much younger then, and she said that aside from some meds we didn't do anything at all really other than help her stay upright in the beginning when she ate or went to the bathroom.

I'm really thinking that if Silver has already shown real signs of improvement he'll continue to get better with time. Maybe time is really all it takes, but I think it's a good idea that your manipulating his bits and pieces even if it's just to keep atrophy at bay and keep him limber so that as he improves more getting back to walking about and what not won't be that much more difficult for him. Besides, he probably really enjoys all the physical attention.

[WillParkinson]

27. I can offer nothing...

Except much kitty love!

[ThomCat]

37. Thank you!

:hug:

[TuxedoKat]

29. Go to yahoogroups

and join this group: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/CatVet/

and ask these people, maybe someone on there can help as they have vets and people with alot of experience with cat illnesses. You could also check with a cutting edge veterinary school -- Cornell has a special clinic for cats: http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/

This may sound strange but you could also check into giving her organic virgin coconut oil (your local supermarket may even carry it as mine did and I'm not in a big city) or a health food store or Asian grocery stores carry it too, just be sure you get the kind for human consumption as it tastes better. The kind they sell for your hair is still edible but sometimes they burn it in the processing and it doesn't taste as good. It's in solid form so you will have to melt it and stir into his food or some cats like it enough to lick it in its hardened state. As far as the doseage humans take 1-2 tablespoons daily, so for a cat I'd probably start with 1/4-1/2 teaspoon and work up to 1 teaspoon within a few days. Here's an article where people are giving it to their pets with some anecdotal experiences but you can google for more articles: http://www.coconutdiet.com/pet_nutrition.htm

Well here is a formulation for pets but it is twice the price of what I paid for the same thing (extra virgin organic) at my grocery store (I paid $7.99 for 14 oz.):

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Nutiva-Organic-Coconut-Oil-Dog-Cat-Supplement/255005.aspx

The coconut oil may help with neurological problems. I read this here in DU in another forum about coconut oil being helpful for Alzheimer's Disease and since found out that it may be helpful for other ailments as well, digestive issues, Parkinson's, etc. I told a friend of mine who started giving it to a friend of hers with Alzheimer's and he started to improve almost immediately. Also gave her some tumeric pills for him which helped also.

The only other thing I could offer is some pet OPC powder (good antioxidant and helpful with circulation) if you want to try some. I have plenty so if you want to try it PM me and I will send you some to try. Or you can google it and buy it online.

Good luck with Silver, he's a beautiful kitty. How old is he, BTW?

Edited to add:

On further reflection, would hold off on the pet OPC if it is a blood clot. As far as the physical therapy, try getting him to wrestle with a stuffed animal, one of my cats likes to do that. You will have to hold the stuffed animal to animate it to get Silver to interact with it. Another thing to do when you are manipulating his fore and back legs, move one fore leg with the back leg on the opposite side, then switch and do the same for the other legs, then back to the other two sided again (repeat about twenty times) when you do this you are stimulating both sides of his brain (Brain Gym). If you can, give him a tiny sip of water before you start this exercise. I don't know, it works for humans! Maybe its helpful for pets too.

[ThomCat]

38. We think he's 12 years old.

We don't know his first owner. He was found, with is brother, taped up in a box as an adult already, on the side of the street.

We figure the original owner must have died and the family didn't want to keep the cats or find new owners. They were both well cared for cats and in good shape. I took in both cats.

I spent 6 months with a baby book calling them names trying to find whatever names they would answer to, but had no luck, so I eventually just re-named them Silver and Gray.

They were inseparable, and quite a pair. But Gray died of cancer 3 years ago, unfortunately. I found out at the same time that Silver had a pre-cancerous growth for the same kind of cancer, from a vaccine routinely given to animals. The cancer always appears at the vaccine site. I was able to have surgery done on Silver in time to prevent him from developing the cancer. The vet said that once the cancer develops, you can do surgery repeatedly, but it always comes back very quickly and is always fatal. So we couldn't save Gray, but were able to save Silver.

I've had Silver for 10 years now. Almost 11.

Thank you very much for all of this information. :hug:

I have friends up at Ithaca, where Cornell is. I think I'll contact them.

[TuxedoKat]

44. I see

from your other posts that Silver is improving -- glad to hear that. I hope he continues to improve. I have seen some animals with neurological damage (if that is what it is) improve. I would definitely try the Brain Gym exercise I mentioned in my previous message. I know a guy who does them with stroke patients and has seen them do things they couldn't do previously (like button a shirt) after just a few sessions.

Great names -- Silver and Gray, very appropos. Sorry about Gray's cancer, but I'm glad you caught Silver's in time. 12 is still relatively young for a cat, so I hope he recovers completely and you have many more years with him.

[tainted_chimp]

45. Hi ThomCat

Do you remember which vaccine it was?

[ThomCat]

53. I don't.

I could ask my vet. It's in his records. But my memory isn't what it used to be. :(

[tainted_chimp]

58. Ah, that's ok...

Maybe I can figure it out with da google.
Hugs for you…and your sweet kitty boy…... and your fickle memory. Mine is pretty haphazard as well.

[zanana1]

30. PLEASE keep us posted! Thank you. nt

[ThomCat]

39. I definitely will!

:)

[Arkansas Granny]

31. I've never been through anything like this with a kitty, but my instincts say

that what you are doing will not hurt and will probably help your kitty. It's apparently not causing him any pain and I would think that moving his limbs would keep them flexible. If he's pushing back it should help him retain muscle tone. Keep us posted and good luck.

[ThomCat]

40. Thank you!

:)

From all the purring, it's definitely not hurting him, and it definitely seems to be helping. He's trying harder and doing more. The more we play with his limbs the more he's letting us touch his paws and legs and manipulate them. He's getting used to the idea that it's okay for us to handle him and clean him, bending him this way and that way, and wrestling with him.

[LynneSin]

32. Why are you using photos of my Abbott!!

Our cats could be twins!

[ThomCat]

41. I know.

Aren't they beautiful cats? :)

[LynneSin]

43. I know, my Abbott is so beautiful and so naughty they named a town after him in Pakistan

Abbottabad

:rofl:

[stuntcat]

33. get better Silver!

you know already, but physical therapy is important to have at the beginning. Once I was in the hospital for months, after a TBI. I had to have intense physical therapy.. I probably wouldn't be able to walk now if they hadn't worked so hard on me right at the beginning.

Silver is a beautiful, lucky kitty :loveya: :loveya:

[ThomCat]

42. We're already seeing some good results.

He's already trying hard to stand up on his own. He can't quite do it. But he's trying. :)

It's so wonderful that he's working so hard to get better. He doesn't really seem to realize that there should be anything wrong. So he keeps pushing to get up and walk.

As long as he keeps acting this way, we'll be able to work with him to get him walking again. :)

[tainted_chimp]

46. You're such a great Poppa, Thomcat….

I hope your boy recovers quickly!

It's scary not knowing what's up.

[ThomCat]

54. Thank you very much!

:)

[GreenPartyVoter]

47. *hugs for Thom and Silver* I've never dealt with that kind of kitty situation. Have you tried

asking kestrel91316?

[ThomCat]

55. Thank you!

I haven't. I don't know if I've even seen Kestrel91316 around recently, but I'll send a PM.

Thank you for pointing me that way. :)

[Kat45]

48. What a beautiful kitty!

It sounds like you are helping him by what you're doing. I'll think good thoughts for him.

[ThomCat]

56. Thank you!

[KT2000]

49. A beautiful Boy!

I only have this bit of advice - keep up the purring. Some believe that purring helps the cat's body heal. It is like a whole body massage that relaxes them.
One researcher recorded the purrs of several different cats and found that all but one (jaguar) had the same frequency range. Coincidently, it is the same frequency used in orthopedic medical devices to assist in bone healing.

I am so sorry to hear this and will check the lounge to see how he is doing. This must have been frightening. I wish you all well.

[KT2000]

50. Here is a link

the advice to keep your cat purring is at the bottom of the page. Also some other interesting info in the article.
Also - I goofed - it was the cheetah not jaguar.

http://www.animalvoice.com/catpurrP.htm

[ThomCat]

57. Thank you very much for this.

I had heard that purring was supposed to be therapeutic, but I didn't know if there had been any real research behind it.