| From: WR2FOR::CORDESBRO_JO "SET HOME/CAT_MAX=INFINITY" 29-NOV-1990 13:34:18.64
To: MARX::KORGEN
CC: CORDESBRO_JO
Subj: RE: referal
Susan,
I wasn't able to get through to Chantal. I will tell you what I think
and you can pass it on to her.
Okay, the symptoms of lack or loss of control over the motor functions of
his hind ends says to me that this cat may have some neurological problems.
The main disease that I can think of that would cause this is FIP or
Feline Infectious Peritonitis. I have seen cats die of this, and it is a
slow and painful thing.
On one of the cats, the first symptom was a clumsiness much like Chantal
described. The cat would walk fine with the front legs, but the back
end would sway to one side, or the kitten would topple over. The next
symptom was a lack of bowel control. The kitten would defecate and not
notice that it had.
One way to find out if it might be FIP is to take the kitten to the vet and
ask for a full blood panel *including total protein level*. At our lab,
the normal range for total protein is between 5.4 and 7.8. Anything over
7.8 is suspicious of FIP. FIP is very hard to diagnose. There are two
types, wet form - where the abdominal cavity fills with fluid and breathing
becomes difficult, or dry form - where there is no fluid in any of the body
cavities, and lots of neurological problems occur. The dry form is the
hardest to diagnose. But, all the cases I have seen have been dry. Other
symptoms include: loss of eyesight (the cat might start walking in circles
with it's head low to the ground cause it suddenly can't see), loss of
motor coordination, loss of bladder and bowel control, upper respiratory
illness, anemia, high white blood cell count, seizures or rage behavior.
I would have her take the kitten back to the vet, or call the vet, and ask
if they can check the blood protein level. Used to be that they would
run an FIP titer on a cat, but recent research shows that many cats that
die of FIP can have a negative titer. The blood protein level is the
current method of detection. The only true way to know if it is FIP is
to have a necropsy performed after the kitten dies.
This is pretty distressing information I am sure. Please pass it along
to Chantal for me and have her contact me if she wants to talk it out.
I have seen cats die of FIP and when I read the note in Feline, it was
the first thing that comes to mind. Hopefully I am wrong.
Jo
From: DECWRL::"[email protected]" 30-NOV-1990 09:00:52.07
To: Susan Korgen 29-Nov-1990 1343 <marx::korgen>
CC:
Subj: Re: FWD: Distressing, but something you can try to rul
Thanks, I got the message. Oof. I'll call the vet.
He was doing fine last night, jumping around, and this
morning he seemed fine. I put out the wet food and took
my shower and he was staggering again when I got out.
10 minutes later he was fine. They're both with me at
the office again today.
Chantal
From: MARX::KORGEN "Susan Korgen 30-Nov-1990 0941" 30-NOV-1990 09:42:35.87
To: DECWRL::"[email protected]"
CC: KORGEN
Subj: Re: FWD: Distressing, but something you can try to rul
Some cats are allergic to a substance that is found in
grocery-store cat foods. Sort of like some
humans are allergic to MSG. I assume you are feeding him
premium food. It just sounds interesting that he staggered after eating.
I don't know if there is any relationship, though.
Just a thought. I can look into it more if you like...I've
forgotten all the details about the allergy.
Susan
PS. Glad you got the message.
From: DECWRL::"[email protected]" 30-NOV-1990 09:56:17.40
To: Susan Korgen 30-Nov-1990 0941 <marx::korgen>
CC:
Subj: Re: FWD: Distressing, but something you can try to
I know, I thought about the food too. I'm feeding them
Science Diet. The first stagger attack we noticed was
*before* dinner. He hadn't eaten since breakfast. I
think it will help that I see him all day. I'm keeping
a little log of the stagger attacks.
Thanks for the concern!
Chantal
From: MARX::KORGEN "Susan Korgen 30-Nov-1990 1032" 30-NOV-1990 10:34:09.13
To: DECWRL::"[email protected]"
CC: KORGEN
Subj: Re: FWD: Distressing, but something you can try to
I envy you having them both at work. Let's hope he's just super
hungry!
Susan
From: WR2FOR::CORDESBRO_JO "set home/cat_max=infinity" 30-NOV-1990 14:10:09.75
To: MARX::KORGEN
CC: CORDESBRO_JO
Subj: Chantal
Any news from Chantal? Any reports of more symptoms or are things
getting better. I have been thinking about her since yesterday.
Jo
From: MARX::KORGEN "Susan Korgen 30-Nov-1990 1415" 30-NOV-1990 14:16:48.12
To: wr2for::cordesbro_jo
CC: KORGEN,decwrl::"[email protected]"
Subj: FWD: Chantal
Chantal says that the blood work showed low blood sugar. (I had not
yet gotten your message to her when she had the blood work done.) She has been
observing periodic attacks of weakness but has not been able to establish
any correlations. She has begun to leave out food all the
time and supervise feeding. She has also put all the house plants in a
secured room away from the cats.
Since she has an office with a door (lucky her), she has been bringing
in both kittens and watching them at work all day for the last two
days.
I'm forwarding your message to her as I'm sure she could use the support.
Susan
From: DECWRL::"[email protected]" 3-DEC-1990 12:02:44.72
To: wr2for::cordesbro_jo, marx::korgen
CC: [email protected]
Subj: stagger cat
Hi Susan,
Thanks for forwarding the supportive note. The complete
blood panel and liver tests came back from Tufts fairly
normal.
Chandon has had a few more
attacks. They last about 10 minutes and don't seem to
affect his head. The attacks seem to influence his limbs only.
He can still eat and groom himself, but when he tries
to get somewhere, he's spastic.
The next things to eliminate are blood sugar problems,
and the three feline contagious diseases.
Chantal
From: CRL::"[email protected]" "MAIL-11 Daemon" 5-DEC-1990 13:55:18.70
To: [email protected]
CC:
Subj: update on stagger kitten
My kitten has had a few more attacks. In between he rushes around
like
a completely healthy normal cat. His appetite is great. In 10 days
he's gone from 5 lbs to 6.2 lbs.
This morning I took him for an appointment so the vet could watch
him while he was exercising. He started to stagger and spasm about
5 minutes into playtime so she was able to observe his behaviour.
This time he listed to the right, tumbled to the right and in general
it was his right limbs that were affected. He came out of it in
about 15 minutes. While having an attack, he's normal and calm if
picked up. When he wants to be back on the ground he struggles
normally,
then when you put him down he falls over again or staggers or
leans against the wall to walk. His pulse and circulation were
normal while having the attack. She's mystified.
His blood sugar was a bit low but not much. In between he's healthy
and fine. I've gradually convinced myself there's no *immediate*
danger, but I'm still pursuing what could be wrong with him.
Tomorrow
he may see a neurologist.
Chantal
From: MARX::KORGEN "To be square, and to obey the laws of the pack 05-Dec-1990 1404" 5-DEC-1990 14:04:45.31
To: CRL::"[email protected]"
CC: KORGEN
Subj: RE: update on stagger kitten
Sounds like you have a good vet. I like the part where she was willing
to hang out with Chandon long enough to let the behavior happen.
Is the weight gain a side effect of your efforts to help him so far?
If so, how? I'm curious. Weight gain and growth are always good
in a kitten. You're doing everything right, I can tell. I keep
picturing you in your office with the two kittens...maybe you could
just train them to be with you all the time. :-)
Hope you're feeling less stressed...
Susan
From: CRL::"[email protected]" "MAIL-11 Daemon" 5-DEC-1990 15:53:23.03
To: "To be square, and to obey the laws of the pack 05-Dec-1990 1404" <marx::korgen>
CC:
Subj: Re: update on stagger kitten
I think the weight gain must be from the free feeding.
He's much huskier now. Thanks for the support! I wish
I hadn't mystified all the vets. I want to know what it
is!
Chantal
From: MARX::KORGEN "To be square, and to obey the laws of the pack 06-Dec-1990 1106" 6-DEC-1990 11:06:32.80
To: CRL::"[email protected]"
CC: KORGEN
Subj: Re: update on stagger kitten
Have you considered boarding him at the vets, instead of other alternatives,
at Christmas time? Especially if your vet is not taking vacation time,
it would allow her to keep an eye on him.
Susan
From: DECWRL::"[email protected]" 10-DEC-1990 20:19:42.47
To: [email protected]
CC:
Subj: update on spasm kitten
Some of you read rec.pets and will see this there. Sorry.
He was with the neurologist Friday. He managed to have a
dramatic attack for her. When I described how he sometimes
rears onto his hind legs all rigid and topples from that
height, she said that's what he did. She spoke with me on
the phone for about 10 minutes asking questions and
explaining what she thought.
It turns out there are about 5 things it could be. I gather
the one that matched the symptoms most was myesthenia gravis (?)
which is something wrong in the transmission to the muscles
from the neurons. She says it's incredibly rare and that
she's seen only one or two other cases. Other possibilities
were myopathy, catoplexy, and the 3 feline infectious diseases.
He had blood taken for the 3. She said she thinks it's treatable
or that he may grow out of it. Right now he's taking a medium
prescription of Prednizone for 3 days and a lower one for
3 more days and a very low one for 3 more days. I'm not sure
exactly how it's supposed to work, but she said it would take
three days to see whether it helps. He's had two days' worth.
So far he's about the same. No better and no worse. It's been
two weeks now. Poor cat. Giving a pill to a cat is lots of
fun :-).
Chantal
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