Senior cat limping...any advice???

[jobhunter]

My 13 year old cat has been having some back-end issues, limping, walking a few feet and laying down. I took her to the vet about 2 months ago and was given Dasaquin. This has helped. However, when she gets out of the litterbox (after doing a #2 in a very hunched position) it seems to be worse. Tonight she stopped walking 1/3 up the stairs and had to be toted. Then she walked a few feet, very limpy and somewhat bowlegged and laid down. And repeat.

She is overweight and I am working on that. She also has a lot of other health conditions but not that should be influencing this. Anyone have any idea what this might be? I have seen videos of dysplasia and she is not doing that thing where they lean forward and the back feet leave the floor. Her limp does not look like that.

We are going to try to get her into the vet for xrays tomorrow. Any input or personal experience is appreciated. I hate for her to be uncomfortable.

 

[hambirg]

Is the cat long haired? We had an older cat growing up that was long haired and she had similar symptoms. It turned out to be a hairball intestinal blockage. Apparently, it was putting pressure on her spine. Once it was diagnosed she was given medicine that helped her pass it and she was fine. As cats age, their digestive system weakens and it becomes more difficult for them to pass the hairballs. Just something to think about. I would definitely take her back to the vet.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

I don't want to scare you, but my 14 year old kitty had the same symptoms. I kept an eye on him and scheduled an appointment for the next day. During the night I noticed he had stopped eating.

I called the vet and brought him there as soon as they opened. We found out he had complete renal failure and we had to put him down.

Please keep us updated. Hope you hear good news!

 

[jobhunter]

Hambirg, she is not long-haired. I will keep an eye out for hairballs.

Halloween Queen, that is awful! What a terrible thing to happen. I surely hope that is not this, she just had her kidney values tested last month. My vet said they were slightly elevated but not what she would consider even early stage renal disease yet.

I do tend to think this is a problem with joints/cartilage/spine since the Dasaquin did improve it for awhile. Not that that is a good thing but it's certainly better than renal failure.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Arthritis? I had senior cat with that. And she did look a little bow legged on that leg after awhile. (She was a big cat too.) Did not seem to bother or hinder her. But she was old and was never that active anyway.
The vet will know best. Best to go that route to make sure there are no other underlying issues.
Could be something more sinister....

I have to say, other than general old age (losing teeth, eyesight failing) my cat did not have other issues at that time.

Just had to put down one of my dogs a week ago today due to kidney failure...

 

[kirstenb1]

You will think I'm nuts, but our cat missed a leap that should have been easy, and started limping. I thought he broke his leg, so brought him to the emergency animal hospital one weekend. He had diabetes and kidney disease. They put him on insulin, and he lived another six months. He was 17, but had always been spry til then.

 

[jobhunter]

Kirsten, I don't think you're crazy. Neuropathy in the limbs is a common side effect of diabetes. This cat has had diabetes for six years, very well controlled on insulin. However, this is different than the diabetes-related neuropathy we are used to seeing. That usually messed with her front legs and got much better when we got her blood sugar under control. I hope the vet can see us tomorrow.

 

[bicker]

I think the symptoms you've outlined are too general to pin down to any one thing. Our older cat has similar symptoms, manifestations of hip dysplasia. It could be anything, at this point, or nothing significant long-term. Hopefully the vet will get to the bottom of the issue quickly.

 

[Kriii]

My senior kitty is also on Dasquin for arthritis. What a help this has been for her! This winter, she developed a limp. Vet said that the abrupt change in weather can trigger increased arthritis pain and gave her a cortisone shot. Big improvement! Do you live in the cold? I'm glad you aren't wasting time and getting kitty to the vet asap!

 

[crashbb]

My older cat (he's about 17 years old) is as a limpy boy due to arthritis. He's on medcam (a liquid) and adequan (an injection). They seem to help, but he still limps a bit. The vet thinks it was caused by an old injury that didn't heal properly (before he was living with me) and he has quite severe atropy of the muscles on the bad leg, so he'll never be "normal", but they do help. I also feed him a "mobility" formula dry cat food (he gets normal wet food as well).

 

[jobhunter]

Thanks for everyone's input & advice! Kriii, we don't live in the cold but we are in a big cold snap right now so maybe that is contributing.

The vet said she has bad knees, and this has led to arthritis in both legs. Her straining in the litterbox last night probably forced the kneecap in the left leg out of joint. It eventually goes back in but this will continue without surgery. There is not a lot we can do for this but control the pain & inflammation. Surgery is not an option for her due to her many other conditions. #1 priority, get her to lose some weight. This will take some of the load off her poor knees.

Thanks for all the good wishes. Hopefully she will be feeling better soon.