Marbles at the ER

We had to take Marbles to the Emergency Vet around 4:30 am. He was twitching
his tail severely, kept flopping over on his side and then getting up right
away and twitching his tail again. Sometimes his mouth stayed open, not really
panting but just open. He was very vocal but he is anyway so that was hard to
differentiate from his normal behavior. It was very scary to witness. Anyway,
at the vet, he didn't do it, of course, and he was too scared to walk normally.
A general exam turned up nothing and I think the vet may have thought I was
insane.

A couple hours prior to this episode, he had a hairball and then a bowel
movement in his litter box. Prior to all this he had been asleep for several
hours under the bed and I didn't really think this was all that unusual and I
was watching movies and Tony was out so it was pleasant to not have Marbles
yowling to get out of his room so I thought nothing of it. He is, of course, a
totally indoor cat and I'm sure he couldn't have gotten into anything. Earlier
yesterday afternoon he had been out with the other cats for a while and, while
I was back in another room, he managed to chase Scottie from where he had been
hiding from Marbles to under the futon. It was quick and brief and I went and
got him away from Scottie right away and put him back in his room. He acted
normal, crying to get back out again but finally giving up and going about his
business, looking out the window, etc. He ate his dinner at around 6 and went
to sleep soon after that under the bed as I mentioned previously.

When we got home from the vet, he once again exhibited the tail twitching and
seemed restless. I fed him breakfast and he ate all of it and then went under
the bed to sleep. He is still there but that was only about 5.5 hours ago. He
looks at me when I look under there, his eyes look alright, but he isn't making
any attempt to come out. He is on amitryptiline for his aggressive behavior to
the other cats (2.5 mg twice a day). I'm very worried. He hasn't been vocal
at all since he went under the bed.

I'm wondering if it's feline hyperesthesia syndrome. Tony had been petting him
and he was purring up a storm when his tail began the twitching. It escalated
from there and became more violent tail twitching and the other symptoms I
mentioned. He is a cat with aggressive issues and we have thought he must be
part siamese because of his incessant meowing. Apparently, siamese and
aggressive cats are more prone to having this. I don't know. The weather has
been nice here in Phx so we had the doors and windows open and we do feed feral
cats outside. Maybe something triggered this episode? A scent from them?
When I look at him under the bed now I don't see any tail twitching or flailing
about as he did last night/early this am but he seems very tired and not
interested in coming out.

I can't miss work tomorrow so I am very nervous about all this. I suppose I
could drop him off at the vet before I go in and leave him there for the day if
he is continuing to act this way. When he chased Scottie early yesterday
afternoon, Tony said he heard a bang like someone ran into something. I
assumed it was Scottie because he was the one being chased but maybe Marbles
hit something and has a slight injury that didn't show up until later? The
vet, of course, palpated him all over and didn't notice anything unusual but
maybe he banged his tail or tailbone chasing Scottie under the futon? I guess
I will try to just leave him be for now. Maybe rest is all he needs? I was
thinking that if he is still acting that way when he comes out, I may give him
a prednisone 5mg in case he has a little inflammation.

By the way, he is 6 years old, neutered, tested neg for all cat diseases 3
months ago, has current vaccs from the rescue group we got him from. He had a
complete blood workup on 9/2 prior to starting him on amitryptiline and
everything was normal.

Right now he just looks exhausted but this is the time of day when he often
sleeps a lot. If he were an unspayed female cat, it would have almost looked
like severe heat behavior. Any ideas?

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

Myself and the cats will be thinking of Marbles. Did the emergency vet do
any blood work when you took him in? If Marbles got into something he
shouldn't have it might show up in his bloodstream. It might not help but
maybe this Site has an answer
http://www.sniksnak.com/resources/diseases.html. I probably would drop
Marbles off at another Vet on your way to work. It helps to have a second
opinion and the vet would have more time to witness the behavior than just a
quick glance. Has Marbles been sneezing at all? If so, as strange as it
sounds it could be an allergy. My Isis has been sneezing and she is healthy
otherwise.

With the weather cooling down the molds and pollens are heavy in the air
right now. I am going to be giving Isis a bath and see what happens because
we humans can carry these things in with us. I heard on the news that
because of the high pollen and mold count, that it is being recommended that
humans take a shower to wash off all the allergens. I figured in Isis' case
I should do the same thing. Good luck with Marbles and hope everything with
him turns out ok and he gets better.

--
Cat Galaxy: All Cats! All The Time!
www.catgalaxymedia.com

"MacCandace" wrote in message
...
We had to take Marbles to the Emergency Vet around 4:30 am. He was
twitching
his tail severely, kept flopping over on his side and then getting up
right
away and twitching his tail again. Sometimes his mouth stayed open, not
really
panting but just open. He was very vocal but he is anyway so that was
hard to
differentiate from his normal behavior. It was very scary to witness.
Anyway,
at the vet, he didn't do it, of course, and he was too scared to walk
normally.
A general exam turned up nothing and I think the vet may have thought I
was
insane.

A couple hours prior to this episode, he had a hairball and then a bowel
movement in his litter box. Prior to all this he had been asleep for
several
hours under the bed and I didn't really think this was all that unusual
and I
was watching movies and Tony was out so it was pleasant to not have
Marbles
yowling to get out of his room so I thought nothing of it. He is, of
course, a
totally indoor cat and I'm sure he couldn't have gotten into anything.
Earlier
yesterday afternoon he had been out with the other cats for a while and,
while
I was back in another room, he managed to chase Scottie from where he had
been
hiding from Marbles to under the futon. It was quick and brief and I went
and
got him away from Scottie right away and put him back in his room. He
acted
normal, crying to get back out again but finally giving up and going about
his
business, looking out the window, etc. He ate his dinner at around 6 and
went
to sleep soon after that under the bed as I mentioned previously.

When we got home from the vet, he once again exhibited the tail twitching
and
seemed restless. I fed him breakfast and he ate all of it and then went
under
the bed to sleep. He is still there but that was only about 5.5 hours
ago. He
looks at me when I look under there, his eyes look alright, but he isn't
making
any attempt to come out. He is on amitryptiline for his aggressive
behavior to
the other cats (2.5 mg twice a day). I'm very worried. He hasn't been
vocal
at all since he went under the bed.

I'm wondering if it's feline hyperesthesia syndrome. Tony had been
petting him
and he was purring up a storm when his tail began the twitching. It
escalated
from there and became more violent tail twitching and the other symptoms I
mentioned. He is a cat with aggressive issues and we have thought he must
be
part siamese because of his incessant meowing. Apparently, siamese and
aggressive cats are more prone to having this. I don't know. The weather
has
been nice here in Phx so we had the doors and windows open and we do feed
feral
cats outside. Maybe something triggered this episode? A scent from them?
When I look at him under the bed now I don't see any tail twitching or
flailing
about as he did last night/early this am but he seems very tired and not
interested in coming out.

I can't miss work tomorrow so I am very nervous about all this. I suppose
I
could drop him off at the vet before I go in and leave him there for the
day if
he is continuing to act this way. When he chased Scottie early yesterday
afternoon, Tony said he heard a bang like someone ran into something. I
assumed it was Scottie because he was the one being chased but maybe
Marbles
hit something and has a slight injury that didn't show up until later?
The
vet, of course, palpated him all over and didn't notice anything unusual
but
maybe he banged his tail or tailbone chasing Scottie under the futon? I
guess
I will try to just leave him be for now. Maybe rest is all he needs? I
was
thinking that if he is still acting that way when he comes out, I may give
him
a prednisone 5mg in case he has a little inflammation.

By the way, he is 6 years old, neutered, tested neg for all cat diseases 3
months ago, has current vaccs from the rescue group we got him from. He
had a
complete blood workup on 9/2 prior to starting him on amitryptiline and
everything was normal.

Right now he just looks exhausted but this is the time of day when he
often
sleeps a lot. If he were an unspayed female cat, it would have almost
looked
like severe heat behavior. Any ideas?

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye
other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

Myself and the cats will be thinking of Marbles. Did the emergency vet do
any blood work when you took him in? If Marbles got into something he
shouldn't have it might show up in his bloodstream. It might not help but
maybe this Site has an answer
http://www.sniksnak.com/resources/diseases.html. I probably would drop
Marbles off at another Vet on your way to work. It helps to have a second
opinion and the vet would have more time to witness the behavior than just a
quick glance. Has Marbles been sneezing at all? If so, as strange as it
sounds it could be an allergy. My Isis has been sneezing and she is healthy
otherwise.

With the weather cooling down the molds and pollens are heavy in the air
right now. I am going to be giving Isis a bath and see what happens because
we humans can carry these things in with us. I heard on the news that
because of the high pollen and mold count, that it is being recommended that
humans take a shower to wash off all the allergens. I figured in Isis' case
I should do the same thing. Good luck with Marbles and hope everything with
him turns out ok and he gets better.

--
Cat Galaxy: All Cats! All The Time!
www.catgalaxymedia.com

"MacCandace" wrote in message
...
We had to take Marbles to the Emergency Vet around 4:30 am. He was
twitching
his tail severely, kept flopping over on his side and then getting up
right
away and twitching his tail again. Sometimes his mouth stayed open, not
really
panting but just open. He was very vocal but he is anyway so that was
hard to
differentiate from his normal behavior. It was very scary to witness.
Anyway,
at the vet, he didn't do it, of course, and he was too scared to walk
normally.
A general exam turned up nothing and I think the vet may have thought I
was
insane.

A couple hours prior to this episode, he had a hairball and then a bowel
movement in his litter box. Prior to all this he had been asleep for
several
hours under the bed and I didn't really think this was all that unusual
and I
was watching movies and Tony was out so it was pleasant to not have
Marbles
yowling to get out of his room so I thought nothing of it. He is, of
course, a
totally indoor cat and I'm sure he couldn't have gotten into anything.
Earlier
yesterday afternoon he had been out with the other cats for a while and,
while
I was back in another room, he managed to chase Scottie from where he had
been
hiding from Marbles to under the futon. It was quick and brief and I went
and
got him away from Scottie right away and put him back in his room. He
acted
normal, crying to get back out again but finally giving up and going about
his
business, looking out the window, etc. He ate his dinner at around 6 and
went
to sleep soon after that under the bed as I mentioned previously.

When we got home from the vet, he once again exhibited the tail twitching
and
seemed restless. I fed him breakfast and he ate all of it and then went
under
the bed to sleep. He is still there but that was only about 5.5 hours
ago. He
looks at me when I look under there, his eyes look alright, but he isn't
making
any attempt to come out. He is on amitryptiline for his aggressive
behavior to
the other cats (2.5 mg twice a day). I'm very worried. He hasn't been
vocal
at all since he went under the bed.

I'm wondering if it's feline hyperesthesia syndrome. Tony had been
petting him
and he was purring up a storm when his tail began the twitching. It
escalated
from there and became more violent tail twitching and the other symptoms I
mentioned. He is a cat with aggressive issues and we have thought he must
be
part siamese because of his incessant meowing. Apparently, siamese and
aggressive cats are more prone to having this. I don't know. The weather
has
been nice here in Phx so we had the doors and windows open and we do feed
feral
cats outside. Maybe something triggered this episode? A scent from them?
When I look at him under the bed now I don't see any tail twitching or
flailing
about as he did last night/early this am but he seems very tired and not
interested in coming out.

I can't miss work tomorrow so I am very nervous about all this. I suppose
I
could drop him off at the vet before I go in and leave him there for the
day if
he is continuing to act this way. When he chased Scottie early yesterday
afternoon, Tony said he heard a bang like someone ran into something. I
assumed it was Scottie because he was the one being chased but maybe
Marbles
hit something and has a slight injury that didn't show up until later?
The
vet, of course, palpated him all over and didn't notice anything unusual
but
maybe he banged his tail or tailbone chasing Scottie under the futon? I
guess
I will try to just leave him be for now. Maybe rest is all he needs? I
was
thinking that if he is still acting that way when he comes out, I may give
him
a prednisone 5mg in case he has a little inflammation.

By the way, he is 6 years old, neutered, tested neg for all cat diseases 3
months ago, has current vaccs from the rescue group we got him from. He
had a
complete blood workup on 9/2 prior to starting him on amitryptiline and
everything was normal.

Right now he just looks exhausted but this is the time of day when he
often
sleeps a lot. If he were an unspayed female cat, it would have almost
looked
like severe heat behavior. Any ideas?

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye
other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

"MacCandace" wrote in message
...
We had to take Marbles to the Emergency Vet around 4:30 am. He was
twitching
his tail severely, kept flopping over on his side and then getting up
right
away and twitching his tail again. Sometimes his mouth stayed open, not
really
panting but just open. He was very vocal but he is anyway so that was
hard to
differentiate from his normal behavior. It was very scary to witness.
Anyway,
at the vet, he didn't do it, of course, and he was too scared to walk
normally.
A general exam turned up nothing and I think the vet may have thought I
was
insane.


Candace, this sounds similar to what happened with our Buddha.
(She is the one who has hyperthyroid and hyperesthesia.) The listing
or flopping to one side is the most similar thing. Is his heart rate normal?
My vet (not the best, that is for sure) attributed Boo's episode to fainting
due to
the 300+ bpm heart rate after doing an ultrasound and finding a healthy
heart in this obese cat. (Yes, obese and hyPERthyroid, very weird. And
she has only gotten fatter since the Tapazole has her thyroid levels
regulated.) He then put her on beta blockers plus a pretty high
(10mgs per day) does of Tapazole and she has had no more strange
episodes since. (Last one was August 7 or so.)

[snips for space]

I'm wondering if it's feline hyperesthesia syndrome. Tony had been
petting him
and he was purring up a storm when his tail began the twitching. It
escalated
from there and became more violent tail twitching and the other symptoms I
mentioned. He is a cat with aggressive issues and we have thought he must
be
part siamese because of his incessant meowing. Apparently, siamese and
aggressive cats are more prone to having this. I don't know. The weather
has
been nice here in Phx so we had the doors and windows open and we do feed
feral
cats outside. Maybe something triggered this episode? A scent from them?
When I look at him under the bed now I don't see any tail twitching or
flailing
about as he did last night/early this am but he seems very tired and not
interested in coming out.

Since aggression often accompanies hyperesthesia, it sounds like
Marbles might have it. From what I have read vets don't really
fully understand hyperesthesia. It is a nervous system disorder, so
even though fainting or listing or whatever you want to call the
weird "trancelike" behavior is not listed as a side effect, it
seems to me like it certainly might be. (When Boo did her
listing to one side, feeling around with her paws thing, I
spoke to her and spoke to her but she did not
acknowledge me in any way--as though she couldn't
or couldn't hear me.) The only conditions Boo has are
hyperT and hyperesthesia--she has normal kidney and
liver function, etc.

I know how scary this is for you. If you have a good
vet you might want to leave Marbles there over a
period so they can see a fit. I balked at that because
I couldn't bear to be away from her and just don't
trust my babies with strangers. (Stupid, maybe. I
would leave her in an emergency, though.)

Does he have a normal heart rate? Someone here told me
I could get a stethoscope at a drug store and I did and it
cost like $8. I check Boo's heart every day, it is now
160-190 all the time. Maybe your Marbles has a rapid
heart rate or arrythmia? Keep us posted. I think you
might consider taking him in tomorrow to see if they
might observe him while you are at work, if you can
stand it. Keep us posted.

"MacCandace" wrote in message
...
We had to take Marbles to the Emergency Vet around 4:30 am. He was
twitching
his tail severely, kept flopping over on his side and then getting up
right
away and twitching his tail again. Sometimes his mouth stayed open, not
really
panting but just open. He was very vocal but he is anyway so that was
hard to
differentiate from his normal behavior. It was very scary to witness.
Anyway,
at the vet, he didn't do it, of course, and he was too scared to walk
normally.
A general exam turned up nothing and I think the vet may have thought I
was
insane.


Candace, this sounds similar to what happened with our Buddha.
(She is the one who has hyperthyroid and hyperesthesia.) The listing
or flopping to one side is the most similar thing. Is his heart rate normal?
My vet (not the best, that is for sure) attributed Boo's episode to fainting
due to
the 300+ bpm heart rate after doing an ultrasound and finding a healthy
heart in this obese cat. (Yes, obese and hyPERthyroid, very weird. And
she has only gotten fatter since the Tapazole has her thyroid levels
regulated.) He then put her on beta blockers plus a pretty high
(10mgs per day) does of Tapazole and she has had no more strange
episodes since. (Last one was August 7 or so.)

[snips for space]

I'm wondering if it's feline hyperesthesia syndrome. Tony had been
petting him
and he was purring up a storm when his tail began the twitching. It
escalated
from there and became more violent tail twitching and the other symptoms I
mentioned. He is a cat with aggressive issues and we have thought he must
be
part siamese because of his incessant meowing. Apparently, siamese and
aggressive cats are more prone to having this. I don't know. The weather
has
been nice here in Phx so we had the doors and windows open and we do feed
feral
cats outside. Maybe something triggered this episode? A scent from them?
When I look at him under the bed now I don't see any tail twitching or
flailing
about as he did last night/early this am but he seems very tired and not
interested in coming out.

Since aggression often accompanies hyperesthesia, it sounds like
Marbles might have it. From what I have read vets don't really
fully understand hyperesthesia. It is a nervous system disorder, so
even though fainting or listing or whatever you want to call the
weird "trancelike" behavior is not listed as a side effect, it
seems to me like it certainly might be. (When Boo did her
listing to one side, feeling around with her paws thing, I
spoke to her and spoke to her but she did not
acknowledge me in any way--as though she couldn't
or couldn't hear me.) The only conditions Boo has are
hyperT and hyperesthesia--she has normal kidney and
liver function, etc.

I know how scary this is for you. If you have a good
vet you might want to leave Marbles there over a
period so they can see a fit. I balked at that because
I couldn't bear to be away from her and just don't
trust my babies with strangers. (Stupid, maybe. I
would leave her in an emergency, though.)

Does he have a normal heart rate? Someone here told me
I could get a stethoscope at a drug store and I did and it
cost like $8. I check Boo's heart every day, it is now
160-190 all the time. Maybe your Marbles has a rapid
heart rate or arrythmia? Keep us posted. I think you
might consider taking him in tomorrow to see if they
might observe him while you are at work, if you can
stand it. Keep us posted.

Maybe your Marbles has a rapid
heart rate or arrythmia? Keep us posted. I think you
might consider taking him in tomorrow to see if they
might observe him while you are at work, if you can
stand it.

His heart rate was 180 and he was upset so it's probably really lower than
that. Now I'm thinking it might be a tail injury instead of feline
hyperesthesia. He wasn't like Buddha was; he never seemed in a trance or out
of it and he responded to us. The vet did ask that. He didn't flop to one
side in particular.

I have an update; he came out from under the bed, sat in the window for awhile.
I fed him an extra meal and he ate all of it. Then he wanted to get out to
resume stalking Scottie and Abbey so he's out right now. He holds his tail
funny, like an inverted U instead of straight up (I forgot to mention that in
my first post). However, if I touch his tail and gently squeeze it, it doesn't
seem to hurt him or bother him. He is still twitching it but not to the extent
he was last night. Sometimes as he is getting ready to sit or while he is
standing, he swishes it back and forth really hard a couple of times. He's
alert, able to jump up on things, seems almost normal except for holding his
tail funny and twitching it. I would think if it was broken, and I don't know
how it could be broken, that the vet would have felt that. He repeatedly
examined his tail when I was in the room.

But I wonder if he could have a slight injury or sprain and not have felt that?
I did think of a way where he might have injured his tail slightly on Friday
night but that was about 30 hours prior to me noticing the tail twitching. For
the first time, he managed to jimmy the screen door separating him from the
others open by somehow wedging his body in there. The door is held closed by a
bungie cord and the door is heavy now that I had to repair the ripped screen
with a big sheet of plexiglass. I imagine after he got his body through that
the door might have sprung shut on his tail. I was here and he didn't cry out
or anything but I suppose it's a possibility but I don't know if he could have
an injury and the vet not feel it.

I did give him a prednisone 5mg an hour or so ago. I agree with you about
leaving him at the vet. I have a feeling they wouldn't be able to take the
time to spend all day watching him so they might not even see it. I imagine
they would order blood work and x-rays and who knows what. I think if it
continues to improve or not get worse that I may hold off on taking him because
I would rather not leave him. He would have to be there for about 10 hours and
he would be scared. Since he's very vocal, I imagine they wouldn't really
enjoy his company much. I just hope he doesn't have some weird nerve damage to
the tail. I don't know how that would have happened. Or maybe it is feling
hyperesthesia syndrome and the episode is slowly ending. I don't know if it
can last several hours? Do you?

I'm obsessing. So much for enjoying the weekend off. Marbles is having a gay
old time and I feel sick.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

Maybe your Marbles has a rapid
heart rate or arrythmia? Keep us posted. I think you
might consider taking him in tomorrow to see if they
might observe him while you are at work, if you can
stand it.

His heart rate was 180 and he was upset so it's probably really lower than
that. Now I'm thinking it might be a tail injury instead of feline
hyperesthesia. He wasn't like Buddha was; he never seemed in a trance or out
of it and he responded to us. The vet did ask that. He didn't flop to one
side in particular.

I have an update; he came out from under the bed, sat in the window for awhile.
I fed him an extra meal and he ate all of it. Then he wanted to get out to
resume stalking Scottie and Abbey so he's out right now. He holds his tail
funny, like an inverted U instead of straight up (I forgot to mention that in
my first post). However, if I touch his tail and gently squeeze it, it doesn't
seem to hurt him or bother him. He is still twitching it but not to the extent
he was last night. Sometimes as he is getting ready to sit or while he is
standing, he swishes it back and forth really hard a couple of times. He's
alert, able to jump up on things, seems almost normal except for holding his
tail funny and twitching it. I would think if it was broken, and I don't know
how it could be broken, that the vet would have felt that. He repeatedly
examined his tail when I was in the room.

But I wonder if he could have a slight injury or sprain and not have felt that?
I did think of a way where he might have injured his tail slightly on Friday
night but that was about 30 hours prior to me noticing the tail twitching. For
the first time, he managed to jimmy the screen door separating him from the
others open by somehow wedging his body in there. The door is held closed by a
bungie cord and the door is heavy now that I had to repair the ripped screen
with a big sheet of plexiglass. I imagine after he got his body through that
the door might have sprung shut on his tail. I was here and he didn't cry out
or anything but I suppose it's a possibility but I don't know if he could have
an injury and the vet not feel it.

I did give him a prednisone 5mg an hour or so ago. I agree with you about
leaving him at the vet. I have a feeling they wouldn't be able to take the
time to spend all day watching him so they might not even see it. I imagine
they would order blood work and x-rays and who knows what. I think if it
continues to improve or not get worse that I may hold off on taking him because
I would rather not leave him. He would have to be there for about 10 hours and
he would be scared. Since he's very vocal, I imagine they wouldn't really
enjoy his company much. I just hope he doesn't have some weird nerve damage to
the tail. I don't know how that would have happened. Or maybe it is feling
hyperesthesia syndrome and the episode is slowly ending. I don't know if it
can last several hours? Do you?

I'm obsessing. So much for enjoying the weekend off. Marbles is having a gay
old time and I feel sick.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

"MacCandace" wrote in message
...
Maybe your Marbles has a rapid
heart rate or arrythmia? Keep us posted. I think you
might consider taking him in tomorrow to see if they
might observe him while you are at work, if you can
stand it.

His heart rate was 180 and he was upset so it's probably really lower than
that. Now I'm thinking it might be a tail injury instead of feline
hyperesthesia. He wasn't like Buddha was; he never seemed in a trance or
out
of it and he responded to us. The vet did ask that. He didn't flop to
one
side in particular.

I see. Well, the tail is connected to the spinal column, so I imagine
tail injuries can cause nervous system abnormalities? Maybe Phil
might know something.


I have an update; he came out from under the bed, sat in the window for
awhile.
I fed him an extra meal and he ate all of it. Then he wanted to get out
to
resume stalking Scottie and Abbey so he's out right now. He holds his
tail
funny, like an inverted U instead of straight up (I forgot to mention that
in
my first post). However, if I touch his tail and gently squeeze it, it
doesn't
seem to hurt him or bother him. He is still twitching it but not to the
extent
he was last night. Sometimes as he is getting ready to sit or while he is
standing, he swishes it back and forth really hard a couple of times.
He's
alert, able to jump up on things, seems almost normal except for holding
his
tail funny and twitching it. I would think if it was broken, and I don't
know
how it could be broken, that the vet would have felt that. He repeatedly
examined his tail when I was in the room.

The fact that he is holding it funny suggests an injury, but the tail
doesn't
have to be broken for their to be an injury, I would imagine. Just like
with us, perhaps cats can get compression-type injuries--in other words
an injury that causes nerves in the spine to be compressed? Like disc
subluxation or what we call a "pinched nerve?"


But I wonder if he could have a slight injury or sprain and not have felt
that?
I did think of a way where he might have injured his tail slightly on
Friday
night but that was about 30 hours prior to me noticing the tail twitching.
For
the first time, he managed to jimmy the screen door separating him from
the
others open by somehow wedging his body in there. The door is held closed
by a
bungie cord and the door is heavy now that I had to repair the ripped
screen
with a big sheet of plexiglass. I imagine after he got his body through
that
the door might have sprung shut on his tail. I was here and he didn't cry
out
or anything but I suppose it's a possibility but I don't know if he could
have
an injury and the vet not feel it.

That setup sounds ripe for injury. (I'm not criticizing you--I just mean
that
I can see it happening. I think better a door that will close all the way
than
one on a spring, though.) The thing is, one sign of nerve injury is
numbness.
It could be the fact that he is *not* feeling anything that indicates an
injury.
In any case I feel sure the vet can test for proper nerve function.


I did give him a prednisone 5mg an hour or so ago. I agree with you about
leaving him at the vet. I have a feeling they wouldn't be able to take
the
time to spend all day watching him so they might not even see it. I
imagine
they would order blood work and x-rays and who knows what. I think if it
continues to improve or not get worse that I may hold off on taking him
because
I would rather not leave him. He would have to be there for about 10
hours and
he would be scared. Since he's very vocal, I imagine they wouldn't really
enjoy his company much. I just hope he doesn't have some weird nerve
damage to
the tail. I don't know how that would have happened. Or maybe it is
feling
hyperesthesia syndrome and the episode is slowly ending. I don't know if
it
can last several hours? Do you?

Candace, I don't, I'm sorry. I wish I could be of help. I do want to say
that
Cheeks injured herself jumping up on her new cat shelf and it just went away
by itself. She was actually limping. Of course when I took her to the vet
she
was perfectly normal, did a standing high jump right from the floor to the
table
unsolicited, etc. (The little sh*t! :[) Then we got home and she limped
again,
and flinched. Packed her up and off to the emergency vet, who gave me
pain medicine in case she showed pain again, but she never did. And has
never limped again. Let us know what the vet says when you take Marbles in,
and I really hope it is just something transient. Maybe you could just keep
him
shut in a room where the door closes all the way, too, so the bungee thing
can't close on him. Or just secure that screen door? It must be hard having
a cat that is agressive to your other cats.

"MacCandace" wrote in message
...
Maybe your Marbles has a rapid
heart rate or arrythmia? Keep us posted. I think you
might consider taking him in tomorrow to see if they
might observe him while you are at work, if you can
stand it.

His heart rate was 180 and he was upset so it's probably really lower than
that. Now I'm thinking it might be a tail injury instead of feline
hyperesthesia. He wasn't like Buddha was; he never seemed in a trance or
out
of it and he responded to us. The vet did ask that. He didn't flop to
one
side in particular.

I see. Well, the tail is connected to the spinal column, so I imagine
tail injuries can cause nervous system abnormalities? Maybe Phil
might know something.


I have an update; he came out from under the bed, sat in the window for
awhile.
I fed him an extra meal and he ate all of it. Then he wanted to get out
to
resume stalking Scottie and Abbey so he's out right now. He holds his
tail
funny, like an inverted U instead of straight up (I forgot to mention that
in
my first post). However, if I touch his tail and gently squeeze it, it
doesn't
seem to hurt him or bother him. He is still twitching it but not to the
extent
he was last night. Sometimes as he is getting ready to sit or while he is
standing, he swishes it back and forth really hard a couple of times.
He's
alert, able to jump up on things, seems almost normal except for holding
his
tail funny and twitching it. I would think if it was broken, and I don't
know
how it could be broken, that the vet would have felt that. He repeatedly
examined his tail when I was in the room.

The fact that he is holding it funny suggests an injury, but the tail
doesn't
have to be broken for their to be an injury, I would imagine. Just like
with us, perhaps cats can get compression-type injuries--in other words
an injury that causes nerves in the spine to be compressed? Like disc
subluxation or what we call a "pinched nerve?"


But I wonder if he could have a slight injury or sprain and not have felt
that?
I did think of a way where he might have injured his tail slightly on
Friday
night but that was about 30 hours prior to me noticing the tail twitching.
For
the first time, he managed to jimmy the screen door separating him from
the
others open by somehow wedging his body in there. The door is held closed
by a
bungie cord and the door is heavy now that I had to repair the ripped
screen
with a big sheet of plexiglass. I imagine after he got his body through
that
the door might have sprung shut on his tail. I was here and he didn't cry
out
or anything but I suppose it's a possibility but I don't know if he could
have
an injury and the vet not feel it.

That setup sounds ripe for injury. (I'm not criticizing you--I just mean
that
I can see it happening. I think better a door that will close all the way
than
one on a spring, though.) The thing is, one sign of nerve injury is
numbness.
It could be the fact that he is *not* feeling anything that indicates an
injury.
In any case I feel sure the vet can test for proper nerve function.


I did give him a prednisone 5mg an hour or so ago. I agree with you about
leaving him at the vet. I have a feeling they wouldn't be able to take
the
time to spend all day watching him so they might not even see it. I
imagine
they would order blood work and x-rays and who knows what. I think if it
continues to improve or not get worse that I may hold off on taking him
because
I would rather not leave him. He would have to be there for about 10
hours and
he would be scared. Since he's very vocal, I imagine they wouldn't really
enjoy his company much. I just hope he doesn't have some weird nerve
damage to
the tail. I don't know how that would have happened. Or maybe it is
feling
hyperesthesia syndrome and the episode is slowly ending. I don't know if
it
can last several hours? Do you?

Candace, I don't, I'm sorry. I wish I could be of help. I do want to say
that
Cheeks injured herself jumping up on her new cat shelf and it just went away
by itself. She was actually limping. Of course when I took her to the vet
she
was perfectly normal, did a standing high jump right from the floor to the
table
unsolicited, etc. (The little sh*t! :[) Then we got home and she limped
again,
and flinched. Packed her up and off to the emergency vet, who gave me
pain medicine in case she showed pain again, but she never did. And has
never limped again. Let us know what the vet says when you take Marbles in,
and I really hope it is just something transient. Maybe you could just keep
him
shut in a room where the door closes all the way, too, so the bungee thing
can't close on him. Or just secure that screen door? It must be hard having
a cat that is agressive to your other cats.

Or just secure that screen door? It must be hard having
a cat that is agressive to your other cats.

Yup, it is but if they weren't such weiners, he wouldn't be so frightening.
Anyway, he appears to be almost totally healed. This morning his tail was
almost straight and by the time we got home from work, it was totally straight.
I guess he's okay. I still don't know why it came on so abruptly while he was
just lying there being petted. Cats are too odd. But I'm relieved.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)