Hello Everyone, this is my first post here and I am really hoping somebody might be able to help us. I am writing because I found my cat tuesday morning paralysed from the tops of his back legs and tail. He was completely cold, there was a definited divide between warm and cold. He is a happy, healthy 7 year old may cat, all be it a stray. This was so sudden, with no warnings. I immediately thought he had a blood clot blocking his artery where it splits to go down both legs. When visiting the vet it was found that his temp was extremely low at 35.2°C and that in both thighs he had 2 masses where his lymph glands were swollen, no sign of injury. He has been treated with antibiotics and now cortisone. His temp has increase and the paralysis has reduced somewhat but he is still paralysed from the lower joint down, he tries to walk but his toes simply curl under. We are completely stumped as to what is causing this. He is not eating but drinking a little. We are concerned as everything seems to be getting better slowly but the paralysis remains. I am writing this in the vain hope that somebody has encountered or heard about this condition before. As you can imagine we are starting to get desparate here, a cat simply cannot live paralysed.

I thank you all in advance for giving me time to read this post, I simply pray that someone will be able to help me. I like all of us cannot imagine life without my cat.

many thanks
Amelia & Family

I'm so sorry I have no experience of this at all,but couldnt just read and run.What is your vet saying,does he/she have any idea's about his chances of improving further.Does he have control of his bowel/bladder.The only comment I can make is that if he doesnt start to eat soon he may need to be helped as cats can become quite ill if they dont eat.I hope he continues to improve and I wish you all the best with him,please keep us updated.Hope someone with a bit more knowledge will be along soon.

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Swollen lymph nodes sounds like an infection of some sort - sorry I'm not a vet and may well be wrong. If it is an infection perhaps the antibiotics haven't had chance to take effect properly yet - I know with humans it can take three or four days.
If he is not eating I would try tempting him with something like tuna or sardines. As Buffie says, cats can go downhill very quickly when not eating. They seem to become depressed and give up on trying to get better
I hope your vet can shed more light on the problem and your poor cat recovers soon

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How we behave toward cats here below determines our status in heaven. - Robert A. Heinlein
http://www.lambchopsiamese.webs.com

Swollen lymph nodes point to infection or cancer. The fact that his paws were paralyzed and cold is worrying, it means the blood flow was pretty much blocked. But if it is cancer, there should be a tumour pressing the artery closed, and the vet would have found it.
On the other hand, if the artery was blocked by an infection, that should be visible, too.

But what is even more mystifying is that his condition is improving. If he has the use of part of his legs again, chances are that the rest will come back, too. Don't be too hasty in making a decision, and do get him to eat.

You might want to consider a second opinion, as it is a very unusual case.

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Jiskefet & the mognificent Dutch bunch

My little angels at the rainbow bridge

thanks for replying,

our vet simply has no idea at all, he cannot for any reason know why he would have matching swollen glands on both legs, one he could explain but not both. He is a fat/solid hunter of a cat so he has a reserve a some sort without food. Our vet just wants to keep on with the cortisone injections and he will see him every day until next week when he says if the paralysis is still not improving then there really isnt much hope. In himself he seems to be getting more alert, wanting to move more, he soon pricked his ears up when another cat brought a mouse in! He seems a bit down and quiet because he cannot move around. He has not done a poo since it happened and he does not wet himself, he did a wee on the way to the vets yesterday but thats all.

It is the re reason I am asking you guys as I'm clutching at straws due to our vet being so in the dark too.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

Could he perhaps have an undetected abscess somewhere?

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RIP Charcoal my shy girl 1987-2000, Patch the wanderer 1987-?, Tabby my darling fluffball 1988-2002 & Panda the rascal 1988-2008

sorry to hear about your cat. my NFC kitten last year developed a strange walking pattern. He was walking on his belly rather than using his front legs. He would walk in short fast bursts and then stop. He had very swollen lymph nodes. He got better after AB only to get worse when they stopped, only to get better again after AB, only to get worse again. After loads of tests which proved inconclusive eventually we had biopsy done. Turned out he had a bad belly as he was suffering from Irritable Bowel Disease. He didn't have any of the more usual symptoms of IBD such as diarrhoea, sickness or loss of weight either.

Hope your vet can get to the bottom of your cats problems.

thanks,
I am hoping it is something so rare and that it will just keep getting better, we can only hope after all until we are faced with the end. If it was an abcess I would have thought he would have a fever rather than be cold. We did think that perhaps the lymph nodes were compressing the arteries and slowing blood flow. As these have reduced and the legs are warming up this suggests to me that the blood is flowing better now but does not explain why he is still paraylised. We are just searching every possibility at the moment.

Sorry to hear about your cat and it sounds as if he was very lucky indeed you found him when you did!

How much sensation has he actually regained so far? Yes, of course his initial temperature would be really low given the bloodflow had been restricted to area and I'm sure shock played a part as well. This would make diagnosing an infection which the enlarged lymph nodes appears to point to impossible via this method. Did the vet do any bloodwork which would be more reliable in terms of ruling this or inflammation out as an inciting cause?

Like you my first thoughts would have been a blood clot and like your vet the swollen lymph nodes on both sides struch me as very strange indeed. I'm wondering about a possible autoimmune link here. Have the vets completely ruled out spinal/disc involvement? This might explain why the paralysis is still remaining although bloodflow has been restored.

Believe this is one for the referral centre or at least I would request your vet to consult with a specialist there in the interim. You do need to find out what's behind the compression here given the inherent dangers.

Actually, I'm now wondering if this was actually a lilac thrombois after all but the clot managed to disintegrate or move, hence the restored bloodflow. Was he in a lot of pain as this is usually the case with a thrombosis? I'd like to know why/how vet ruled this out in the first place.It's possible therefore there's some residual damage to tissue owing to blood supply being cut off to affected areas. Wonder if some gently massage of limbs would help.

I've also noticed he's a hunter. What about Lyme's disease particularly if you're located in one of the high risk regions. Do remember that mice as well as deer can also be carriers of the bacterium responsible though transmission is through tick bites.