Abelard has gone stupid!

in article , Tree Line at
wrote on 7/11/04 8:35AM:

"Pat" wrote in message
...
"Tree Line" wrote in message
om...

Diabetic coma would have this also, the shakes, the inability to wake up.

If you were to feel what he's doing, you wouldn't call it "the shakes." It's
more of a high-speed vibration, and it's barely perceptible unless you're
holding the cat and feeling closely for it.

You don't mention the age or weight of your cat.

He was born Jul 27, 2002. He's rather small and thin.

How are his glucose levels?

I have no idea.

When people go into coma or epileptic seizures of the petit mal type,
they appear "stupid" but it's not really so. They are ill and need
help.

Like I said in the first message, he *does* awaken upon hearing certain
noises or being touched, so he's *not* going into a coma.


It may not be a full-bore coma, but some type of comatose situation.
It's a disconnect. Like the words pre-syncope. Don't get hung upon on
the words. There are degrees of fainting, ven half-fainting, and
disorientation and getting slightly comatose to completely unable to
be awakened.


The situation is risky, albeit dangerous. It's like falling asleep at
the wheel while driving a car. I have had these arguments with
"doctors" in quotes because of their stupidity and rigid definitions.

Something is seriously or appears seriously out of whack. The
vibrations are definitely to my layman's point of view a very bad sign
of something not working correctly, whether it's a slight seizure to a
slight state of shock to a slight coma or comatose or coma-type.

In any case, do get back and let us know what you found out.
I assume you'll have to get a blood panel and maybe even an x-ray of
the brain to rule out lesions which can cause these problems, like
getting hit in the head when he was born because he sounds a bit like
the runt of the litter.

Hopefully it turns out to be trivial, but it's much safer to start
with assuming something is seriously out of whack. I find this true
for myself and for all living creatures.

And it just occured to me, you'd better have the vet test for anemia,
considering the recent tragedy with Patrick.

"Karen Chuplis" wrote in message
...

And it just occured to me, you'd better have the vet test for anemia,
considering the recent tragedy with Patrick.

I forgot to post an update on Patrick! Friday Gloria once again spoke with
the vet who did the autopsy. It's been ascertained that he ate some hemp
dogbane. (Some babies will try anything once, and Patrick was a very
"mouthy" baby, from the moment he was born. Nibbling everything.) Gloria and
I walked through every pasture and weeded out every piece of the stuff.

No cat would eat that plant. Anyway, there wasn't any of it within 100 yards
of my house, which is the farthest I've ever seen Abelard go. And if he
*had* eaten it, he would be dead, anyway!

"Karen Chuplis" wrote in message
...

And it just occured to me, you'd better have the vet test for anemia,
considering the recent tragedy with Patrick.

I forgot to post an update on Patrick! Friday Gloria once again spoke with
the vet who did the autopsy. It's been ascertained that he ate some hemp
dogbane. (Some babies will try anything once, and Patrick was a very
"mouthy" baby, from the moment he was born. Nibbling everything.) Gloria and
I walked through every pasture and weeded out every piece of the stuff.

No cat would eat that plant. Anyway, there wasn't any of it within 100 yards
of my house, which is the farthest I've ever seen Abelard go. And if he
*had* eaten it, he would be dead, anyway!

"Pat" wrote in message
...

"Karen Chuplis" wrote in message
...

And it just occured to me, you'd better have the vet test for anemia,
considering the recent tragedy with Patrick.

I forgot to post an update on Patrick! Friday Gloria once again spoke with
the vet who did the autopsy. It's been ascertained that he ate some hemp
dogbane. (Some babies will try anything once, and Patrick was a very
"mouthy" baby, from the moment he was born. Nibbling everything.) Gloria
and
I walked through every pasture and weeded out every piece of the stuff.


At least you have answers. It wasn't anything you did like the fertilizer
you used. And the other horses are safe. But Patrick was really a beauty
and a love wasn't he?

Jo

"Pat" wrote in message
...

"Karen Chuplis" wrote in message
...

And it just occured to me, you'd better have the vet test for anemia,
considering the recent tragedy with Patrick.

I forgot to post an update on Patrick! Friday Gloria once again spoke with
the vet who did the autopsy. It's been ascertained that he ate some hemp
dogbane. (Some babies will try anything once, and Patrick was a very
"mouthy" baby, from the moment he was born. Nibbling everything.) Gloria
and
I walked through every pasture and weeded out every piece of the stuff.


At least you have answers. It wasn't anything you did like the fertilizer
you used. And the other horses are safe. But Patrick was really a beauty
and a love wasn't he?

Jo

On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 19:09:54 -0500, "Pat"
wrote:

One day last week he was sleeping on the driveway and called out to him. He
did not wake up. I called louder. He still did not wake up. I panicked. I
thought he was laying there dead. I ran over closer and yelled "ABELARD!!
WAKE UP!!!" and he still did not wake up. Then I started taking the chain
off the gate, making a loud clanking sound, and he woke up.
snip
Sorry, no ideas, so I can only tell you we're sending purrs and
keeping you in our thoughts.

--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky

[remove Junk for email]
Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html
Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html

On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 19:09:54 -0500, "Pat"
wrote:

One day last week he was sleeping on the driveway and called out to him. He
did not wake up. I called louder. He still did not wake up. I panicked. I
thought he was laying there dead. I ran over closer and yelled "ABELARD!!
WAKE UP!!!" and he still did not wake up. Then I started taking the chain
off the gate, making a loud clanking sound, and he woke up.
snip
Sorry, no ideas, so I can only tell you we're sending purrs and
keeping you in our thoughts.

--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky

[remove Junk for email]
Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html
Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html

On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 19:09:54 -0500, "Pat"
wrote:

One day last week he was sleeping on the driveway and called out to him.
He
did not wake up. I called louder. He still did not wake up. I panicked.
I
thought he was laying there dead. I ran over closer and yelled
"ABELARD!!
WAKE UP!!!" and he still did not wake up. Then I started taking the
chain
off the gate, making a loud clanking sound, and he woke up.

Been thinking about this, again from a human medical perspective, and my
first suspicion would be one of the epilepsies. What will be needed is
close observation, to see if he suddenly falls asleep on his feet, or
gets enough warning to lie down. Once he is asleep, there would then be
a question of what reflexes go away, and how long it takes them to
return. In children, this is often done by videotaping them throughout
the day.

The good news is that such disorders usually are treatable with
medication. The diagnosis will be the problem. I'd certainly get
thorough toxic screening to see if it might be some intermittent or
chronic poisoning. Is there a veterinary referral center in your area,
which would have a neurologist?

On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 19:09:54 -0500, "Pat"
wrote:

One day last week he was sleeping on the driveway and called out to him.
He
did not wake up. I called louder. He still did not wake up. I panicked.
I
thought he was laying there dead. I ran over closer and yelled
"ABELARD!!
WAKE UP!!!" and he still did not wake up. Then I started taking the
chain
off the gate, making a loud clanking sound, and he woke up.

Been thinking about this, again from a human medical perspective, and my
first suspicion would be one of the epilepsies. What will be needed is
close observation, to see if he suddenly falls asleep on his feet, or
gets enough warning to lie down. Once he is asleep, there would then be
a question of what reflexes go away, and how long it takes them to
return. In children, this is often done by videotaping them throughout
the day.

The good news is that such disorders usually are treatable with
medication. The diagnosis will be the problem. I'd certainly get
thorough toxic screening to see if it might be some intermittent or
chronic poisoning. Is there a veterinary referral center in your area,
which would have a neurologist?

"Jo Firey" wrote in message ...

It's Friday night and I can't talk to the vet until Monday. Has anyone got
any ideas?

One last thought until you can see a vet tomorrow.

If a cat has neurological problems, like epilepsy or strange episodes,
the drug of choice for cats is phenobarbital, sp? Don't know if most
regular vets know this but it's been known for decades. It's not
Dilantin which is the drug or used to be the drug of choice for dogs
and humans a while ago.

Took a lot of vets to find out this very simple thing for a cat who
had seizures. These seizures were caused by a brain lesion when the
cat was probably kicked while being born or shortly after. She was the
runt of the litter. X-rays of the brain confirmed this without any
doubt. This was before the use of MRI's. I would gather an MRI would
be quite expensive compared to an X-ray.

Phenobarbital controlled the seizures, very small pill and dosage,
maybe 1/8th of a grain. Took a highly specialized vet, a professor of
neurology, to make this call. A call all the local vets did not know
which was frightening in their ignorance where they prescribed
antibiotics and Dilantin which in this case were quite wrong.