I don't really know why I am posting this. I've just been very stressed all day and needed to get it off my chest.
We have a kitten, Auggie, around 6-ish months old who wandered into our lives at a very young age. We found her in a vent outside and took her in. I have basically raised her and, as one can imagine, have become extremely attached to her over the past 5 months. She's my baby. She's been very sick this past week with what our vet believes to be just an average stomach bug, but it has hit her pretty hard. For the first couple of days she couldn't even move, would vomit excessively and has had severe diarrhea. The vets seem pretty sure it's nothing serious, however and she's been on meds and antibiotics.
Just in the past day or two she has seemed to really be getting back to her old self, running around, picking on our other cats and dogs. But this morning she was eating a bowl of crunchies on a side table in the kitchen and, though neither my mom nor myself saw it, we heard a loud, sudden thud and turned around to see Auggie on the hard kitchen floor. She had landed on the right side of her body. I was startled and quickly rushed to see if she was okay. She appeared okay at first, just a bit stunned. I picked her up after a moment and tried to put her back down on the floor. Her left front and back leg both shot out at odd angles. We were worried she had somehow sprained, fractured, possibly broken her limbs. She wasn't crying. We moved them around a little bit, still no crying, she seemed okay. I put her back down on the floor and she stood fine on her own this time. She began to walk into the living room and I followed her to see how she was doing. Her legs appeared to be fine now, but she seemed like she was drunk. She walked right into the vacuum cleaner in the corner, even though the entire middle of the floor was clear. Then she wandered tipsily into the kitchen again, and walked right into the bar on the lower part of one of our dining chairs. This is where I start to really freak out.
It's been snowing a lot around here lately, so my mom wanted to just leave Auggie alone and keep an eye on her to see how she was doing for a while before deciding to drive through the rough roads to get to the vet. We waited a few hours, Auggie seemed to have settled down and was resting, nothing very suspicious about her behavior at this point. When she finally woke up from her nap in my bedroom, she looked a little alarmed, but was mostly calm. She began to walk. She proceeded to walk in a huge, dazed circle-ish type movement, went straight up to my bedroom wall, leaned her head against it, and continued walking while leaning her head against my wall. I picked her up and took her to the kitchen, put her down once more and she proceeded to do the same motion once again. Walked in a huge circle, came to the sliding glass doors, touched it with her head and continued walking. I'd seen enough, we took her to the vet immediately.
The vets were only working a half-day due to the weather, but there were a lot of other patients there and they were very busy and ended up staying open way later than they had planned to. I mention this because in hind sight, I think they rushed our visit a little. I don't blame them, it was rather hectic in there when we showed up, but I do wish I had been more persistent when they were seeing Auggie. We explained everything that had happened, then we had to put her on the floor in the exam room. Auggie suddenly was very alert. She stood in the middle of the floor, looked around the room, sniffed the air cautiously and began to walk like a normal cat. She stopped at the leg of the exam table, sniffed it, wide-eyed. The vet remarked that her sight seemed to be okay. She was looking around, focusing, noticing things. They continued with a normal checkup, felt her bones, organs, looked into her ears and eyes. They saw nothing out of the ordinary. We were informed that it was possible that she had been born with an inner-ear balance issue, as we have told them in the past that she has always been a little clumsy and uncoordinated. Which is true. But the way she was behaving was totally different than before. I knew something was going on, but I took the vet's words that she seemed okay for now and to just watch her closely.
We brought her home, let her out of her crate. She walked up to my dad's bed, jumped on it and settled in for a few minutes. Then she got up and stared at the wall. I put her on the floor again. Circles. She bumped into our other cat, Luna. More circles, bumped into my dad's chair leg. Cue another freak out from me. I picked her up and looked into her eyes. Something is off. She isn't focusing. I waved my fingers in front of her and there was no reaction. I made a noise with this same fingers and she moved her head towards them finally. I'm seriously convinced my cat has gone blind. I picked her up and began to cry, told her it's okay, don't worry. Meaningless words to a cat. I think they were more for me than her. She starts to go to sleep in my arms. Suddenly, she feels like dead weight. I'm not sure what's going on. I lay her on my bed and she continues in a deep sleep.
I am so worried. I really, really want to take her to the vet right now, but the one close to us is closed this late and the emergency vet is clear across the city for us, and the roads are icier now that the sun has gone down. I don't know what caused all of this. I am worried that she had a stroke. I can't figure out why she fell off the table. Did she have a stroke and that caused her to fall, or did she just fall and hit her head, causing internal damage? I can't help but wonder if it is related to her stomach flu, or possibly even the meds she has been taking for the stomach flu. I am so mad at myself for blowing it all off once we got to the vet, but I also don't understand how she seemed so normal at her visit. They checked her out, she seemed to be able to get around the exam room just fine. I am very scared and confused. Needless to say, she will be going to the vet that is closest to us immediately in the morning, but I am fearing the worse for the night and I don't think I will get one wink of sleep.
Just a minute ago, Auggie got up and walked in another circle on my bed, gently butted her head into my wall, turned around and almost walked right off of the bed. I caught her and took her to the water bowl. She hasn't really had much to eat or drink today, thanks to all the commotion. I had to literally guide her little face to the water. I am seriously bawling right now. I don't want this to be happening to my baby. She's so young, she has her whole life ahead of her. I am fearing the worse.
I am sorry for rambling for so long, but it does feel a little nice to be able to gather my thoughts about all of this. Thanks if you were able to read this far.
We have a kitten, Auggie, around 6-ish months old who wandered into our lives at a very young age. We found her in a vent outside and took her in. I have basically raised her and, as one can imagine, have become extremely attached to her over the past 5 months. She's my baby. She's been very sick this past week with what our vet believes to be just an average stomach bug, but it has hit her pretty hard. For the first couple of days she couldn't even move, would vomit excessively and has had severe diarrhea. The vets seem pretty sure it's nothing serious, however and she's been on meds and antibiotics.
Just in the past day or two she has seemed to really be getting back to her old self, running around, picking on our other cats and dogs. But this morning she was eating a bowl of crunchies on a side table in the kitchen and, though neither my mom nor myself saw it, we heard a loud, sudden thud and turned around to see Auggie on the hard kitchen floor. She had landed on the right side of her body. I was startled and quickly rushed to see if she was okay. She appeared okay at first, just a bit stunned. I picked her up after a moment and tried to put her back down on the floor. Her left front and back leg both shot out at odd angles. We were worried she had somehow sprained, fractured, possibly broken her limbs. She wasn't crying. We moved them around a little bit, still no crying, she seemed okay. I put her back down on the floor and she stood fine on her own this time. She began to walk into the living room and I followed her to see how she was doing. Her legs appeared to be fine now, but she seemed like she was drunk. She walked right into the vacuum cleaner in the corner, even though the entire middle of the floor was clear. Then she wandered tipsily into the kitchen again, and walked right into the bar on the lower part of one of our dining chairs. This is where I start to really freak out.
It's been snowing a lot around here lately, so my mom wanted to just leave Auggie alone and keep an eye on her to see how she was doing for a while before deciding to drive through the rough roads to get to the vet. We waited a few hours, Auggie seemed to have settled down and was resting, nothing very suspicious about her behavior at this point. When she finally woke up from her nap in my bedroom, she looked a little alarmed, but was mostly calm. She began to walk. She proceeded to walk in a huge, dazed circle-ish type movement, went straight up to my bedroom wall, leaned her head against it, and continued walking while leaning her head against my wall. I picked her up and took her to the kitchen, put her down once more and she proceeded to do the same motion once again. Walked in a huge circle, came to the sliding glass doors, touched it with her head and continued walking. I'd seen enough, we took her to the vet immediately.
The vets were only working a half-day due to the weather, but there were a lot of other patients there and they were very busy and ended up staying open way later than they had planned to. I mention this because in hind sight, I think they rushed our visit a little. I don't blame them, it was rather hectic in there when we showed up, but I do wish I had been more persistent when they were seeing Auggie. We explained everything that had happened, then we had to put her on the floor in the exam room. Auggie suddenly was very alert. She stood in the middle of the floor, looked around the room, sniffed the air cautiously and began to walk like a normal cat. She stopped at the leg of the exam table, sniffed it, wide-eyed. The vet remarked that her sight seemed to be okay. She was looking around, focusing, noticing things. They continued with a normal checkup, felt her bones, organs, looked into her ears and eyes. They saw nothing out of the ordinary. We were informed that it was possible that she had been born with an inner-ear balance issue, as we have told them in the past that she has always been a little clumsy and uncoordinated. Which is true. But the way she was behaving was totally different than before. I knew something was going on, but I took the vet's words that she seemed okay for now and to just watch her closely.
We brought her home, let her out of her crate. She walked up to my dad's bed, jumped on it and settled in for a few minutes. Then she got up and stared at the wall. I put her on the floor again. Circles. She bumped into our other cat, Luna. More circles, bumped into my dad's chair leg. Cue another freak out from me. I picked her up and looked into her eyes. Something is off. She isn't focusing. I waved my fingers in front of her and there was no reaction. I made a noise with this same fingers and she moved her head towards them finally. I'm seriously convinced my cat has gone blind. I picked her up and began to cry, told her it's okay, don't worry. Meaningless words to a cat. I think they were more for me than her. She starts to go to sleep in my arms. Suddenly, she feels like dead weight. I'm not sure what's going on. I lay her on my bed and she continues in a deep sleep.
I am so worried. I really, really want to take her to the vet right now, but the one close to us is closed this late and the emergency vet is clear across the city for us, and the roads are icier now that the sun has gone down. I don't know what caused all of this. I am worried that she had a stroke. I can't figure out why she fell off the table. Did she have a stroke and that caused her to fall, or did she just fall and hit her head, causing internal damage? I can't help but wonder if it is related to her stomach flu, or possibly even the meds she has been taking for the stomach flu. I am so mad at myself for blowing it all off once we got to the vet, but I also don't understand how she seemed so normal at her visit. They checked her out, she seemed to be able to get around the exam room just fine. I am very scared and confused. Needless to say, she will be going to the vet that is closest to us immediately in the morning, but I am fearing the worse for the night and I don't think I will get one wink of sleep.
Just a minute ago, Auggie got up and walked in another circle on my bed, gently butted her head into my wall, turned around and almost walked right off of the bed. I caught her and took her to the water bowl. She hasn't really had much to eat or drink today, thanks to all the commotion. I had to literally guide her little face to the water. I am seriously bawling right now. I don't want this to be happening to my baby. She's so young, she has her whole life ahead of her. I am fearing the worse.
I am sorry for rambling for so long, but it does feel a little nice to be able to gather my thoughts about all of this. Thanks if you were able to read this far.
