Disoriented cat/stroke of some sort?
I can’t post the videos here, so I’ll try my best to describe what was happening.
Yesterday she suddenly started having these episodes that lasted around 5 minutes each and seemed to happen in the same order.
It would start with her head bobbing/swaying in an arc, almost like the needle on a speedometer, going from one side to the other.
Then she’d start desperately grabbing and holding onto anything around her with her claws. As it got worse she’d start meowing really loudly like she was in pain or terrified while still head bobbing and gripping onto everything.
Then toward the end she’d crocodile roll once, basically suddenly flipping/rolling her entire body over. She wasn’t continuously rolling, it was one roll during each episode.
She seemed extremely disoriented, like she couldn’t tell which way was up and constantly felt like she was falling.
She couldn’t stand or walk normally either. When she tried she’d wobble/fall over and basically pull herself forward with her front paws while her back legs kinda kicked or slid behind her. Her back legs still moved, so she wasn’t paralyzed, she just seemed to have absolutely no balance or awareness of where her body was.
When we’d pick her up she’d grab onto us with her claws and hold on EXTREMELY tight and wouldn’t want to let go, almost like she felt like she was falling.
We took her to the vet and they gave her fluids, potassium and B12 because they were low, steroids and a sedative. They ran tests and said her heart and pretty much everything else looked good. The vet thinks it’s either something toxic she somehow got into or something neurological.
She’s an indoor cat and does NOT get into things. She barely even eats treats unless they’re her normal ones, doesn’t chase/eat mice, doesn’t go outside and we don’t have houseplants. So I genuinely have no idea what she could’ve gotten into.
For the first day after the vet she basically just laid in a large cage with blankets. She would occasionally readjust herself or lift her head when she heard us. She wouldn’t eat or drink and would gag when we tried giving her wet food, so we gave her the nausea meds the vet prescribed. The next morning she ate 5 little treats but still wouldn’t drink.
We’re now about 32 hours since the vet visit and there has been some improvement.
She’s getting up and trying to walk on her own now. She walks extremely drunk/wobbly but she CAN get herself around for short periods.
She peed on herself a few times because she physically couldn’t get up, so we kept changing the towels underneath her. Now she’s actually getting herself up and wobbling over to her litter box to use it.
She still won’t drink on her own.
She’s also getting up to smell her food now. She’ll walk over, smell it, sometimes lick it and then walk away. It looks like she wants to eat but gets nauseous when she actually tries.
Other than that she honestly seems like she’s just chilling? She’s alert, looks around and responds to what’s going on around her. She doesn’t seem nearly as distressed as she did yesterday.
Oddly enough every time she leaves the cage she goes right back into it on her own. She’ll only stay out for less than a minute before wobbling back inside. That’s VERY unlike her because she’s never been a cat that actually uses a bed/cage/place specifically meant for her lol. I’m guessing she feels safer in there because she’s so wobbly.
I don’t want to keep her alive if she’s dying or suffering, but I also don’t want to put her down too early if this is something temporary that she could recover from. I know the fact that she’s improving is good, but I also know that doesn’t mean she’s definitely going to be okay.
Has anyone seen a cat go through something like this? Especially episodes that started with head bobbing, and progressed to desperately grabbing at surrounding to “stay in place”?