My cat is pacing (11 years old almost 20 lbs)

[4_Legs_Good]

Any idea what she's doing? The vet thinks she has a thyroid problem, so she's on medication (I have a bit to hell finger to prove it - I HATE giving cats pills!!!). She also had a bit of blood in her urine and she's on antibiotics for that. Both of those only started this past week

She's very fat and over the past year seems to have started having trouble walking. She's gone from being a relatively good jumper to barely being able to make it onto the couch. She kinda limps around, though relatively well, it just looks painful. I was thinking arthritis, but the vet doesn't seem convinced or concerned about that.

Anyway, she used to walk where she needed to go, or to check things out that were interesting, and then sit and sleep most of the rest of the day, but now (starting maybe 3 weeks ago), she's just walking around all the time. She'll follow you, and then if you stop she'll walk along somewhere else, but seemingly without direction. She'll still plop down and sit there for extended lengths of time, but she spends way more time pacing than she used to. She's also very ill tempererd and hisses at the other cats all the time and even at us sometimes. This is all pretty new in the last few weeks.

The pacing seems really odd to me. Anyone have any ideas?

david

[Sanity Claws]

1. Thyroid meds too high?

If thyroid meds are too high, she could have a hyperactive thyroid. In humans, restlessness and anxiousness are symptoms of a hyperactive thyroid. The pacing and irritability seems to fit this theory.

As for the vet "thinking" she had a thyroid problem, did he do a blood test to determine that?
In any event, if you are dissatisfied with your first vet, you may want to get the lab test results and consult with a second vet

[4_Legs_Good]

3. Actually this started before the thyroid medicine started...

He did do a blood test and I think it was borderline hyperthyroid. We took her back in for urinalysis, and then started her on the thyroid medicine. That was just a few days ago. She's been pacing for 3 weeks or so.

Anyway, this seems to fit your theory still, though, if they thyroid medicine is blocking the prodction of hormones from the thyroid which are causing her to pace. And the thyroid medicine hasn't kicked in fully yet.

I think she's also lost some muscle weight recently, though her fat weight makes up for it, so it's hard to tell.

Poor kitty!

david

[MADem]

2. I have heard that hindquarter weakness is a symptom of

thyroid disease in cats, but I am no expert. It does sound to me like her dose needs to be modulated. You might want to phone the vet and inquire...he may tell you to cut the pills in half until you can get the little darling in for more bloodwork.

[4_Legs_Good]

5. She's due in for another blood test in 2 weeks

which will mean she's been on the medication for about 3 weeks by then, which is what they wanted to do.

Your information, however, seems to match what's going on with her. I hope this helps.

Do you know if thyroid medicine is going to be permanent? If so, I need something other than pills, because my right hand is quickly running out of fingers...

david

[MADem]

9. You can probably depend on it, absent a miracle

Have you tried getting a really delicious "wet food" like Sheba or Fancy Feast or whatever the cat likes (make sure it is "pate" of ground meat and not "bits" or slices or chunks) and making a small meatball and putting the pill in it?

I find this is the easiest way to get any pet, dog, cat, whatever, to take medication. I don't let them feed on demand, wait until they are hungry, and they usually wolf the meatball without involving any fingers or even stopping to taste what they are eating. You have to watch them like a hawk, to ensure they don't spit the thing out, but I have great success with this method.

[4_Legs_Good]

10. I've tried that, but my cast (most are, I think) is a MASTER

at somehow eating everything BUT the pill. I bought these little "pill pockets" which are like petromalt, a bit solidified, and you just drop the pill in there and give it to the cat. She spent a minute woofing down the little thing, but amazingly, the pill was left whole sitting there on the floor.

Maybe if I work a bit harder at the meatball deal. I'll give it a shot.

david

[tridim]

4. What meds is she taking?

My dog takes barbiturates (Phenobarbital and Potassium Bromide) for epilepsy and some of the common side effects are pacing, hindquarter weakness and depression. Look up the side effects for the meds on the net.

[4_Legs_Good]

6. Up until this week, she hasn't been taking anything...

The meds just started. She definitely has the hindquarter weakness and irritability, though! I'm not sure if it's depression or not, yet...

And she started pacing a couple weeks ago.

david

[Plato_Archanes]

7. It may be the food.

Try using a better food. Go to http://www.flintriver.com
and read up on the poison they sell us to give our pets. I always wondered what they could be putting in the canned food to make our cats love it soo much. They prefer it to filet mignon, dark or white meat chicken or anything else we try. It seems that it may be organ meat. Since the liver filters toxins out of the blood, there are theories that these toxins collect there. Also, organ meat may be too high in certain minerals.

The stuff is expensive, but much cheaper than the vet. And, imagine if your master was being cheap and feeding you meat-by-products. Of course, it may be that your cat is just old and fat or just ill. I would love to hear more if you find it works. Most of the web testimonials are from http://www.flintriver.com, and I don't know how much is hype.

Good luck
:donut:

[4_Legs_Good]

8. could be...

but the other cats are quite healthy. Plus we don't feed them sh*t, mostly Wellness which is supposedly all human grade food, along with Eukinuba and science diet. We've recently put them on r/d, which is Science Diet, I think, to try to encourage weight loss.

They eat almost exclusively dry food, but we might switch them to wet r/d. The littlest one, though will need some caloric supplementation because she's a perfect size, while the other two are overweight.

Thanks for the link. I'll look into it. Looks like good stuff!!

david

[sleepyhead]

11. Change to a good-quality canned food.

The overweight cats will slim down, and the smaller cat will maintain its weight. Dry food is 40% carbohydrates and cats are carnivores (they have sharp shearing teeth to tear meat and their intestinal tracts are short - not suited to digestion of carbs) all of which means that they will do better on the feline version of Atkins. You don't need to feed r/d or any other reducing diet - just get a high-quality canned food (Wellness, if you like, but there are plenty of others) and feed each cat 3-4 ounces twice daily. (I.e. for 3 cats feed 1 1/2 of the 6 oz cans in the am, and the same in the pm.)

As for the other difficulties, you might want to have your uncomfortable kitty evaluated for arthritis, especially if overweight. There are plenty of tasty glucosamine/chondroitin products on the market which can be very helpful. Also, ask your vet about having the thyroid meds compounded as a liquid - most compounders can make up any flavor your cat might like (chicken, fish, liver, etc.) - or as a transdermal gel which is rubbed onto the inside of the ear and is absorbed that way. Or, if you are able to spend some bucks, consider radioactive iodine treatment instead of medication (my very own cat Wilbur is in the hospital now as I speak getting his treatment done) - it involves one injection of radioactive iodine (which selectively shuts down the overactive thyroid tissue), 4 days in the facility (so that the radiation is eliminated from the stool and urine), and that is that. No more medication. It's extremely safe and most cats do fine. (My guy was unfortunately one of the 2% of cats who need a second treatment - the first one was done last year, and he's getting the second one now - but it is very rare to need a repeat injection.)

[4_Legs_Good]

12. Wow, thanks for the tips!

This is my first time really with sick/older cats, so I do appreciate everyone's advice.

I think the wet food idea is the right way to go. The fattest cat tends to gorge on the dry food often (particularly if we take away the food bowls after feeding them).

How much does the radioactive iodine treament run? We're not even certain that this is a thyroid problem yet, but I'd love a permanent solution if it turns out to be true.

Thanks again!

david

[ThreeCatNight]

13. One of our old guys

has the same thyroid problem. Our vet has a paste that is rubbed into his ears twice a day.
He loves the extra attnetion.

[4_Legs_Good]

17. Hopefully, if they decide it is they thyroid...

I'll get on that paste, because these pills are very rough!

Thanks for the input!!

david

[Blue Diadem]

14. Just a thought because of something that happened with my dog

when he began pacing and had weakened hind legs. He ended up having a splenetic tumor that was so large, it had shoved his organs out of position. When it was removed, he stopped the pacing and he regained his rear strength. I don't know if symptoms could be the same for cats and dogs..or even if cats can get those types of tumors. The symptoms you describe just sound so familiar..

Has the vet done an ultrasound on kitty's abdomen?

[4_Legs_Good]

18. No ultrasound yet...

About 6 or 7 months ago she was in bed with us and she had some kinda weird spasm in her lower legs where she was kicking over and over for 30-60 seconds. It happened twice and she was limping after that.

The vet didn't find anything really wrong with her, but since that time she's progressively stopped jumping up on stuff and walking more poorly. Not all at once, but she stopped jumping up on the bed, stopped going upstairs, etc.

When we're back in for the next blood check, I'll ask about the tumor. It's certainly a possiblility!

david

[Blue Diadem]

21. hmmmmm..my dog also had weird spasms

he had something similar to humping episodes when he was walking. It didn't happen often, an episode every few months. He'd be in the middle of stepping forward and his back half would well..I think you get the drift. He would look freaked out over it. He was about 10-11 at the time. That's when he stopped climbing the stairs and jumping up on the window seat. The vet thought it was some kind of epilepsy. It wasn't until he began to salivate non-stop and whine along with the pacing that further testing found the tumor.

Hope your cat will be ok.

[mordarlar]

15. The urine issue is pretty uncomfortable for them...

Did the vet give you special food? The blood in the urine is caused by a problem with their diet.

[4_Legs_Good]

19. They mentioned cystosis, I *think*...

They put her on Clavamox for a week for it.

no special food, though.

david

[barb162]

16. cats will often pace when they are in pain, just like a human will

shake a limb if it is burned. I had a house calls vet come to my house because my cat was dying of cancer. She noticed he kept pacing around the kitchen and meowing over and over...it's like they move because being still hurts more. Now of course they may pace because they think I should be feeding them too, but I wanted to make the point to people that pacing can indicate pain.

May I ask if the blood work showed everything else to be in order? Any numbers too high or too low????? By the way did the vet do a minipanel or the full blood chemistry work-up. If you aren't familiar with it,The mini panel has about 8 or so values on it, whereas the full blood work test would be about three pages long and have probably over 50 values. Do you have a copy. If so, would you advise which values are over or under the norm values and write them out here. Do you know another vet where you might want to get a second opinion (you know, tell the vet you want the vet to look at the blood work-up, talk about the pacing but not bring the cat in,etc. But after talking to the consult vet, that vet will of course want to see the cat)

[4_Legs_Good]

20. Makes sense...

on the pacing. It also explains why she's been in such a testy mood for a few months now.

I don't have the bloodwork reslults, but I'll try to get a copy next time we go in. We've been using the same vet forever. He's so-so, but gives us a lot of attention. He's often prone to think that whatever is going on is some new "state-of-the-art" disease that he just heard about at some vet convention somewhere. A second opinion is probably a good idea. Hmmmmm...

david

[barb162]

22. look I don't want to be in your face, but how about call the vet 's

receptionist and ask him/her to fax the blood work copy to you???? Just a thought. The 3 page blood work tests show how all the guts are working. I am wondering so much right now if the cat might have another problem.

I used a vet for 12 years and the vet had a great bedside manner. Then I found out she didn't tell me about this blood test and the values were off in some areas and she didn't call me and say to bring the cat back in. That was in the days, prior to 9/2003, when I trusted vets. Now I take a copy home with me of every test result (who is paying for them, you know?) and I have a new vet. By the way, there are some exellent web sites that are out there these days that will explain in detail and in easy to understand language, what each value of the mini-chem or full chemistry panels mean.

Here's one more idea, call your state veterinary school and ask to speak with one of the internal medicine specialist teachers at the vet school. I have done this and these teachers will usually call back for zero bucks. Good luck with this kitty.