Back Legs Giving Out

My friend's 7 year old cat has diabetes. In the past two weeks, he has been
having on and off again diarhhea and his back legs give out on him. She
brought him to the vet on Monday in fear that it was his diabetes acting up
and was told that his blood and feces were fine and that it may be
neurological. She is waiting for them to run more tests. Other than these
symptoms, he is fine. Normal appetite, not lethargic, goes to the bathroom
normally (besides the occassional diarhhea). While we wait for more test
results (she is always trying to get a urine sample from him), does anyone
have any idea what this could be?

--
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"MoMo via CatKB.com" u27647@uwe wrote in message news:729eea194ed06@uwe...
My friend's 7 year old cat has diabetes. In the past two weeks, he has
been
having on and off again diarhhea and his back legs give out on him. She
brought him to the vet on Monday in fear that it was his diabetes acting
up
and was told that his blood and feces were fine and that it may be
neurological. She is waiting for them to run more tests. Other than
these
symptoms, he is fine. Normal appetite, not lethargic, goes to the
bathroom
normally (besides the occassional diarhhea). While we wait for more test
results (she is always trying to get a urine sample from him), does anyone
have any idea what this could be?

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200705/1


Has he been tested for kidney function (testing both blood and urine)?

MaryL

MoMo via CatKB.com wrote:
My friend's 7 year old cat has diabetes. In the past two weeks, he has been
having on and off again diarhhea and his back legs give out on him. She
brought him to the vet on Monday in fear that it was his diabetes acting up
and was told that his blood and feces were fine and that it may be
neurological. She is waiting for them to run more tests. Other than these
symptoms, he is fine. Normal appetite, not lethargic, goes to the bathroom
normally (besides the occassional diarhhea). While we wait for more test
results (she is always trying to get a urine sample from him), does anyone
have any idea what this could be?


Jesus! Back legs giving out and other than that plus the digestive
issues and diabetes and everything is fine you say?!?!

"The house burned down last week, other than that everything is fine at
home."

Yes Joe, other than his back legs giving out and the diarhhea, everything
else is fine. I see you can read which is good.

Joe Canuck wrote:
My friend's 7 year old cat has diabetes. In the past two weeks, he has been
having on and off again diarhhea and his back legs give out on him. She
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
results (she is always trying to get a urine sample from him), does anyone
have any idea what this could be?

Jesus! Back legs giving out and other than that plus the digestive
issues and diabetes and everything is fine you say?!?!

"The house burned down last week, other than that everything is fine at
home."

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200705/1

MoMo via CatKB.com wrote:
Yes Joe, other than his back legs giving out and the diarhhea, everything
else is fine. I see you can read which is good.

Joe Canuck wrote:
My friend's 7 year old cat has diabetes. In the past two weeks, he has been
having on and off again diarhhea and his back legs give out on him. She
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
results (she is always trying to get a urine sample from him), does anyone
have any idea what this could be?
Jesus! Back legs giving out and other than that plus the digestive
issues and diabetes and everything is fine you say?!?!

"The house burned down last week, other than that everything is fine at
home."


The whole point is... there needs to be more of a sense of urgency over
this issue because back legs giving out is a serious condition.

Trading insults doesn't help the cat.

First of all Joe, as far as trading insults, you need to take your own advice.
Second of all, my friend brought her cat to the vet on Monday, as soon as the
symptoms started and they are presently running tests. I would say she acted
quickly and with "urgency", what else do you want? I came on here to get
some advice while we wait for the remainder of the test results. Now please,
if you have no advice to offer in this matter, please keep your thoughts to
yourself. Thank you.

Joe Canuck wrote:
Yes Joe, other than his back legs giving out and the diarhhea, everything
else is fine. I see you can read which is good.
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
"The house burned down last week, other than that everything is fine at
home."

The whole point is... there needs to be more of a sense of urgency over
this issue because back legs giving out is a serious condition.

Trading insults doesn't help the cat.

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200705/1

MoMo via CatKB.com wrote:
First of all Joe, as far as trading insults, you need to take your own advice.
Second of all, my friend brought her cat to the vet on Monday, as soon as the
symptoms started and they are presently running tests. I would say she acted
quickly and with "urgency", what else do you want? I came on here to get
some advice while we wait for the remainder of the test results. Now please,
if you have no advice to offer in this matter, please keep your thoughts to
yourself. Thank you.

Joe Canuck wrote:
Yes Joe, other than his back legs giving out and the diarhhea, everything
else is fine. I see you can read which is good.
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
"The house burned down last week, other than that everything is fine at
home."
The whole point is... there needs to be more of a sense of urgency over
this issue because back legs giving out is a serious condition.

Trading insults doesn't help the cat.


This is about the cat, not about the personalities in this group.

One week is long enough for the vet to diddle about.

"MoMo via CatKB.com" u27647@uwe wrote in message news:729eea194ed06@uwe...
My friend's 7 year old cat has diabetes. In the past two weeks, he has
been
having on and off again diarhhea and his back legs give out on him. She
brought him to the vet on Monday in fear that it was his diabetes acting
up
and was told that his blood and feces were fine and that it may be
neurological. She is waiting for them to run more tests. Other than
these
symptoms, he is fine. Normal appetite, not lethargic, goes to the
bathroom
normally (besides the occassional diarhhea). While we wait for more test
results (she is always trying to get a urine sample from him), does anyone
have any idea what this could be?

Hello,

We once had a diabetic cat. He also did fine except that his legs became
progressively weaker. Eventually, he waddled sort of like a duck on the
hind legs, but his front legs were fine. When he could not get in the
litter box, we put those pads they use on hospital beds next to the box and
he used them.

He accepted the insulin injections without any problems.

After he got to the point where we took him in to have him euthanized, I got
a computer and Internet access. I wish I could have had access to help when
he was still alive.

I learned that the weakness in the hind legs can be caused by a potassium
deficiency. You should suggest to your friend that she ask the vet about
potassium supplementation. She can also research this online.

Best wishes to your friend and her cat.

Annie

Thank you both for your responses.

Mary - When she called the vet this morning (she takes her kitty to the
Humane Society) she was just told that the blood and stool sample showed that
his diabetes has not flared up and they were waiting for the results of other
tests (what those are, I don't know). I will have her call tomorrow and ask
if they are running kidney tests.

Narnia - Thank you for the websites! I will give them to her tomorrow. The
neuopathy does sound like what she was explaining to me but would that have
showed up when they tested him to see if his diabetes had flared up (they
said that he was fine in that department) or is there a seperate test for
that? Would that also cause the diarhhea he is experiencing?

Thanks again guys!

~ narnia ~ wrote:
My friend's 7 year old cat has diabetes. In the past two weeks, he has been
having on and off again diarhhea and his back legs give out on him. She
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
results (she is always trying to get a urine sample from him), does anyone
have any idea what this could be?

This is diabetic neuropathy. The wiki of the Feline Diabetes website
has an explanation he

http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Neuropathy

I highly recommend this site to your friend. The people who post on
the forum are very knowledgable and it's a great support group:

http://felinediabetes.com/

~ narnia ~

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200705/1

"MoMo via CatKB.com" u27647@uwe wrote in message news:72a0b8311d9bd@uwe...
Thank you both for your responses.

Mary - When she called the vet this morning (she takes her kitty to the
Humane Society) she was just told that the blood and stool sample showed
that
his diabetes has not flared up and they were waiting for the results of
other
tests (what those are, I don't know). I will have her call tomorrow and
ask
if they are running kidney tests.

Narnia - Thank you for the websites! I will give them to her tomorrow.
The
neuopathy does sound like what she was explaining to me but would that
have
showed up when they tested him to see if his diabetes had flared up (they
said that he was fine in that department) or is there a seperate test for
that?
----------
In humans, the way one tests for neuropathy is with EMG (electromyography)
and nerve conduction studies which generally involve a series of electrodes
and inserting a small needle in various locations and measuring the rate at
which a nerve impulse moves from one location to another along a given
nerve. I have never heard of such an exam being performed on a cat (which is
not to say that it isn't done, just that I've never heard of it). But
neuropathy cannot be detected from a blood or urine test.

I don't know about cats, but humans can experience diabetic neuropathy even
without technically having diabetes, just glucose intolerance (which is a
precursor to diabetes). Additionally, diabetic neuropathy can develop in
humans even if the diabetes is kept under control, although the greater the
control, the lower the likelihood of developing neuropathy. In humans, when
the diabetes is under control, the diabetic neuropathy can sometimes be
stabilized but improvement is generally minimal. Another possibility (I
haven't looked at the website) is that the kitty is experiencing muscle
weakness from loss of potassium due to frequent urination. A
potassium/vitamin B supplement may improve the latter situation.
Best regards,
---Cindy S.