Presentation of disorientation

Hi all,

My cat, approx. 12 years old, presented this evening with some strange
symptoms. He was walking slowly around the room, always hugging one
wall, seemingly disorientated. Ollie is an insulin-dependent diabetic
cat and has also been suffering from hyperthyroidism.

We've seen similar behvaiour in a previous diabetic cat when it was
associated with a hypoglycaemic attack, so we squirted some sucrose
solution down his throat and got him to eat some cat food. After a
while, the symptoms seemed to get somewhat better. However, a few
hours later, and he still seems disorientated, restless and keeps
slowly moving his head from side to side. The persistence of symptoms
for this long, after he's eaten well, seems inconsistent with
hypoglycaemia.

We'll be off to the vet tomorrow morning, but I wondered whether
anyone had any thoughts as to what's going on.
--
Henry

I am not a vet, but this sounds like a stroke to me.

wrote
We'll be off to the vet tomorrow morning, but I wondered whether
anyone had any thoughts as to what's going on.

An update... this morning, his blood sugar was normal (well, high
actually), normal temperature, pupil response to light normal, but
heart rate very high (240), which might suggest the hyperthyroidism
isn't being adequately controlled. Battery of blood tests being
done...
--
Henry

On Jul 4, 11:33 am, wrote:
wrote

We'll be off to the vet tomorrow morning, but I wondered whether
anyone had any thoughts as to what's going on.

An update... this morning, his blood sugar was normal (well, high
actually), normal temperature, pupil response to light normal, but
heart rate very high (240), which might suggest the hyperthyroidism
isn't being adequately controlled. Battery of blood tests being
done...

Further update... It appears the disorientation was caused by
tachycardia. That may be a result of hyperthyroidism, or it may be
something else (old age?). We're now treating the hyperthyroidism
(with Felimazole) and also the tachycardia (with atenolol).
--
Henry