# Neurological disorder is kittens



## cat woman (Dec 29, 2008)

Hello Everyone. I am a new member here and this is my first post.

I have been fostering for my local humane society for about 20 years. I take in all the newly born to 6 week old kittens who for some reason or another are orphans. I also take in older cats who have medical issues. 

I currently have 13 cats and three dogs who we have kept. All, of whom, would have either been left outside to die or put to sleep after being taken to the animals shelter. (Cats are put to sleep immediately after arriving at the shelter) I have several fosters currently, also.

One of my foster kittens (who I quickly decided to keep) is currently 7 months old. I have raised her since she was one day old and her mother left her out in a thunderstorm and refused to take care of her. The mother cat did, however, take care care of her other three babies. Two of those kittens died shortly before their adoption dates. The other kitten was adopted out but I have no idea how it is doing now as I did not take part in the fostering of those kittens as the owner of the mother cat was willing. I only took care of the one kiten the mother cat refused to take care of. 

Anyway, she is a beautiful 7 month old kitten who is a long haired red tabby. She has had diarrhea all of her life which I keep controlled with daily yogurt treats and sometimes canned pumpkin. She has been tested for parasites and she has none. She has been de wormed; just in case. She tested negative for lukemia and she has had all of her vacinations.

She has had balance problems since she started walking. She is very weak in her entire hind area; from her waist down into her back legs. She falls over frequently and drags her back side to get around. She has good days and bad days with this. She cannot jump up on the couch, the beds or the cat trees. I have placed stairs at the couch and the beds to try and make things easier for her to get around. Once she is on the couch she can then jump on the cat tree as it is convenently located next to the couch. She doesn't play much but she enjoys sleeping in the house/box part of the cat tree during the day. The others play with her but sometimes get a little rough with her. She tries to hang out with another cat we fostered and kept this year who is 9 months old. We had to have his front leg amputated once he arrived; the vet thinks he was hit by a car. But, anyway, she and him seem to do better together playing and they are easy with each other.

She only weighs 3 3/4 pounds and even though she is curently 7 months old we, just last week, had her spayed. I usually do this much earlier but kept putting it off due to her low weight and fragile health. She did excellent through the surgery. However my vet wanted to do some extras to her while she was asleep. She was x rayed to see if anything was wrong with her back bones and legs. The x ray was normal. My vet also explored her bowels and that came back good as well. The only thing bad was that the vet said she saw upwards of 20 extremely enlarged lymph nodes in the area of her spay and bowel area. She couldn't feel any enlarged glands in her neck area or anywhere else. 

I am concerned as I do not know what to expect. The vet sent samples of the lymph nodes out to a lab to be tested and I should know something later this week. She mentioned that it could be lymphoma. However, she didn't mention what else it could be. I am trying to think positively and hoping that it isn't anything bad but I don't know enough about the lymph nodes and problems with them to know what to hope it is. 

After her spay surgery, it has been exactly one week since she was spayed, her hind area seems to have gotten weaker. She trips almost constantly and she was having troubles with the litter boxes. She could get her front half inside the box but left her hind side outside and pottied on the floor. I have since gotten even lower entranced litter boxes and this has helped a bit. She falls over a lot and gets her legs twisted up and has been walking with the tops of her back paws on the bottom until she gets going. 

Before her spay surgery my vet suggested seeing a neurologist at the vet school. Our thoughts were that she wasn't in any pain and was happy and she seemed to think she was normal so we wouldn't make an appointment. However, with her new developments and her seeming to get worse after her spay my husband and I are rethinking this decision. We absolutely love her to death. She loves for me to carry her around the house while I am doing my household and animal care duties. She is the sweetest little thing ever. I want her to be around for a very very long time! 

Does anyone have any suggestions of what could be wrong with her and if the lymph node enlargment has anything to do with the neurological disorder? Also, do cats with neurological disorders live a nice long life like cats without neurological disorders? It really wories me that I may lose her early. She has a huge place in my heart! I have no problems taking her to the neurologist expect that I do not think I would go as far as letting them do brain surgery on her. 

Any advice or informatin would be greatly appreciated! I worry constantly about her.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Welcome, and Wow! What a story...

First, I think you've been very thorough and I certainly don't think I have much to add, other than this kitty is very lucky to be loved by you for as long as she has. We had an older cat who developed back end problems, much like your beautiful girl. Reilly had always been 'clumsy' and it really began to be noticeable in 2004 when he was about 5yrs old. It progressed from wobbley back legs, to having to sit suddenly because his back legs couldn't hold him up, to his back legs 'hesitating/pausing' with every step, to dragging himself around the house with his front claws. 
Vet determined he probably had a type of cancer in his spinal column that created all the problems he experienced from the center of his back down to his tail/toes. There really wasn't much we could do for him except to keep him healthy and happy for as long as we could. As he deteriorated, I made concessions for him when he couldn't use the litterbox. He had difficulty keeping his balance in the shifting litter so I gave him a tray with a towel in it. As his leg control worsened, I gave him a tray with lower sides and when that wasn't sufficient I switched to plastic carpet protector mats with towels on top of them. Eventually, whatever was interferring with his spinal nerves also began to affect his bowels and the medications we were given became ineffective and he let us know it was time to go. We lost him in mid-2007 when he was a fairly young cat at only 8yrs old.
Best of luck you and your kitty,
Heidi


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## Michelle L (Sep 4, 2008)

I can't supply any help but I wanted to say bless you for doing the work that you do and for loving this little girl. She's just beautiful and has such a sweet expression.


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## cat woman (Dec 29, 2008)

Thanks for replying to me Heidi and Michelle. I greatly appreciate it! 

Michelle, thanks so much for your post. She is absolutely beautiful and the sweetest litle thing ever!

Heidi, I felt so badly reading about your cat with similar problems to my own. I don't understand why things like this has to happen to our cats. I've been around cats all of my life and this is my very first experience with this type of issue. It breaks my heart to watch her try and get around as I am sure you can relate to also. She was having a very good day this morning. She jumped up on the couch and didn't even think about using those stairs. She was also running up the stairway to he upstairs rooms and playing with several of her cat buddies. She was also playing the wagging dog tail for a while. She was still weak and wobly but had more control over her movements. However, about an hour ago she I saw her trying to get up on the couch using the stairs and she was having difficulty, falling over and such. I don't understand why she has good times and then bad times. Our whole family calls her "special" and we mean that in the best of good indearing terms not a derogatory manner. I try and take care of her the same way the vet told me take care of my kitten that had his leg amputated. She told me that I would feel like I must help me do things and want to baby him but it was best to let him do it himself. He has done great with his disability! I try to let Itty Bitty do things on her own. I do see that she gets helping "things" like the stairs and lower litter boxes and such. I feel like she will get more strength if I allow her to "help" herself. At the same time I say this, I also have to admit that I carry her around the house any and all the times that she wants me to. 

When I first spoke to my vet about her and took her in to have the vet watch her walk and get around she told me that her cat mom probably knew she had something wrong with her and that is why she refused to take care of her. She said that cat mothers have instincts about their babies and know if something is wrong with them immediately. I was just so happy I could give her a second chance at life and now I want to make sure she lives a nice long happy life. 

Right now I am having that anxious nervous feeling wanting my vet to call me and le tme know the results of her lymph nodes. I think I am scared to death to know the results actually. 

I appreciate both of your replies!


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Reilly was very happy with us. He never behaved as if his infirmities bothered him. It wasn't until the very last week or two that he was having any problems that truly affected his happiness. 
That was when we 'knew'. I don't regret the time we had with him, even though I had my Mother harping at me for 'being cruel' by making him stay. I wasn't cruel, Rei was happy and hadn't shown me that he was ready. She didn't live with us to see how happy he was. I didn't care about the extra steps I had to take with having him, it was enough for me to see him happy and healthy. We knew we would lose him, but we enjoyed every moment we had with him because of that knowledge.
You'll see. It won't really matter. As long as the cat is happy, we can do anything.
h


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## cat woman (Dec 29, 2008)

Heidi, I am so happy you didn't listen to your mom. Reilly was so lucky to have you as his family! Itty Bitty doesn't seem to be bothered by her disabilities either. It hurts my heart to watch her getting around at times but she really doesn't know she is a "different" cat. I worry about when the times comes when it will start to affect her happiness. 

I've had the "being cruel" lecture also but by a few people mainly that I see at he vet office in the waiting room. They don't really see her walk or anything they just ask why we are there and I usually get an immediate, "I'd put her to sleep" reply or the "it seems cruel to her." 

Thanks for this statement; As long as the cat is happy, we can do anything. 

Itty Bitty is happy and that's what matters.

Thanks for making Reilly happy for his 8 years!


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Rei was an abandoned cat who kept running into our rental as we were moving in. I kept putting him out, telling him we had our own cats and he needed to go home. I found out later, our rental used to BE his home. 
A lady threatened to have him PTS because he was digging through her trash to survive so my Hubby and I took him. Well, actually Hubby took him. We had him neutered and vaccinated and Hubby took him to the power plant he worked at. I was shocked when he brought Reilly home with him on Friday for the weekend. I freaked! I just knew it was going to cause turmoil with our housecats.
Not. One. Peep.
Our cats accepted Rei like he'd always been part of the family. Monday, Hubby and Rei left for work in the AM. That evening, they came home together. And so began their daily routine: Rei would run out the front door and to the side of the house where the BroncoII was parked and wait for Hubby to open the driver's door so he could hop in. There came a period of time where they had contractors working an outage at the power plant and Hubby didn't want to take Rei and risk someone leaving a door open and losing him. Poor Rei! He ran from window to window, following Hubby walking around the house, meowing to tell him he had forgotten him!
After we moved Rei could not go to work with Hubby anymore so we made sure to "take him for a drive" at least a few times a month. He thought he was "it" whenever we took him out. He loved riding in a car!
2003








2005, orange cat at the lowest point of the pic








Day before we had to make The Big Decision. Husband took his loss VERY hard.


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## cat woman (Dec 29, 2008)

It is such a shame when people move out and leave their furr kids behind to fend for themselves. With today's economy this seems to be happening more and more; unfortunately it seems to be a normal/acceptable thing to do. I cannot understand this.

The last picture of Reilly made me cry. He looked like he was such a sweet cat! I could tell by the look in his eyes that he loved everyone in your home. He was a beautiful cat. I had a cat that looked very similiar to him that had diabetes and I had to put to sleep in August. Broke my heart but she was 17 1/2 years old so her age helped a bit. Plus, I knew it was "the time" this particular
time she was sick. It is never an easy thing to do. 

I loved his story. I read "spoiled cat" all the way through it. I think he was a very lucky cat to have had you in his life!


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

We do what we can with those who come to us. I wish we could save them all...I know I could love them all. Your IttyBitty will have a wonderful life with you. _ A life she may not have had a chance to have, if not for you._


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## cat woman (Dec 29, 2008)

I got the results of Itty Bitty's biopsy this morning. The vet said she doesn't have lymphoma, which is excellent news. However, what do the results mean? My vet explaned things to me but it was too much for me to take in. We talked about taking her to VA Tech to get an MRI and she also said that she could take her back into surgery and get samples taken from her bowels to be biopsied. What really do these results mean?

*



There is severe lymphoid nodular hyperplasia. Medullary sinuses are filled with small lymphocytes, plasma cells, and fewer macrophages.

She was diagnosed with moderate to severe lymphoid hyperplasia.

The reactive changes noted are consistent with the response to chronic regional or systemic antigenic stimulation. Exploration of the drainage field of the nodes for primary sites of inflammation or infection maybe informative. No evidence of predisp[osing factors was found in the sections examined. There was no evidence of neoplasia.


Click to expand...

*


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## Kittys Mom (May 7, 2004)

*



There is server lymphoid nodular hyperplasia. Medullary sinuses are filled with small lymphocytes, plasma cells, and fewer macrophages.

She was diagnosed with moderate to severe lymphoid hyperplasia.

The reactive changes noted are consistent with the response to chronic regional or systemic antigenic stimulation. Exploration of the drainage field of the nodes for primary sites of inflammation or infection maybe informative. No evidence of predisp[osing factors was found in the sections examined. There was no evidence of neoplasia.


Click to expand...

*Here's what I see it saying...not sure my interpretation is at all correct...I'll ask my nurse sister later...

She's got lots of "fake" lymph nodes in her medullary sinuses.

She was diagnosed with moderate to severe lymphoid hyperplasia.

Lymphoid hyperplasia can be caused by something else (chronic inflammatory lesions, tumor antigens,chronic regional antigenic stimulation, systemic antigenic stimulation, etc). What they saw was in keeping with some sort of anitgenic stimulation. Exploring the area, surigically, they may be able to find the cause of the lymphoid hyperplasia. They didn't see anything in the sections that were biopsied. No evidence of cancer (neoplasia - fast growth).


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## Michelle L (Sep 4, 2008)

I took medical terminology but unfortunately I have forgotten a lot of it. Macrophages and lymphocytes fight infection, so seeing an elevation in those appears to mean that there is some sort of infection she is fighting. I took the following definitions from MedicineNet.com so that we understand what the words mean:

"_*Macrophage*_: A type of white blood that ingests (takes in) foreign material. Macrophages are key players in the immune response to foreign invaders such as infectious microorganisms. Blood monocytes migrate into the tissues of the body and there differentiate (evolve) into macrophages. Macrophages help destroy bacteria, protozoa, and tumor cells. They also release substances that stimulate other cells of the immune system. And they are involved in antigen presentation. To do this, they carry the antigen on their surface and present it to a T cells."

"_*Lymphocytes*_: A small white blood cell (leukocyte) that plays a large role in defending the body against disease. Lymphocytes are responsible for immune responses. There are two main types of lymphocytes: B cells and T cells. The B cells make antibodies that attack bacteria and toxins while the T cells attack body cells themselves when they have been taken over by viruses or have become cancerous. Lymphocytes secrete products (lymphokines) that modulate the functional activities of many other types of cells and are often present at sites of chronic inflammation."

"_*Lymphoid*_: Referring to lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. Also refers to tissue in which lymphocytes develop. _*Nodular*_: Bumpy. _*Hyperplasia*_: A condition in which there is an increase in the number of normal cells in a tissue or organ."

When the vet says that she was diagnosed with "moderate to severe lymphoid hyperplasia", that really doesn't tell me a whole lot. The definition of that is: "*Lymphoid hyperplasia* is the rapid growth (proliferation) of normal cells that resemble lymph tissue." But I don't understand really what that means in term of diagnosis?

The ending "-ic" just means "pertaining to," so for _*antigenic*_, the word means "pertaining to _*Antigen*_: A substance that is capable of causing the production of an antibody. Antigens may or may not lead to an allergic reaction. Allergens are antigens that cause an allergic reaction and the production of IgE." 

"_*Systemic*_: Affecting the entire body. A systemic disease such as diabetes can affect the whole body. Systemic chemotherapy employs drugs that travel through the bloodstream and reach and affect cells all over the body."

"_*Neoplasia*_: The process of abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells. The product of neoplasia is a neoplasm (a tumor)."

Medullary sinuses are part of the lymph node, in the lymph system of the body, which fights infection. 

Check out the picture here on Wikipedia, and you can find the medullary sinus in the middle of the lymph node in the diagram:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medullary_sinuses

So, what this all says to me is that she is fighting some kind of infection or tumor...but what kind? This sentence: "_Exploration of the drainage field of the nodes for primary sites of inflammation or infection maybe informative_" tells me that the vet may think analyzing the nodes may be able to pinpoint where the infection is coming from ("primary sites")? At least, that's the feeling I get.

Please, keep us posted.


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## cat woman (Dec 29, 2008)

Thanks so much for the help with Itty Bitty's biopsy results Michelle and Kittys Mom. My vet is very good but for some reason today, I just couldn't "get it." My fear was cancer, of course. When she said it wasn't lymphoma I was just so thrilled that I'm not sure I even heard anything else. She gave me a copy of the results to take home and then I started having all those "after the appointment" questions. Like can it be some other type of cancer?

My fear now it that what isn't lymphoma now could become it later or that it actually is cancer but they need to biopsy more to find this out. Am I understanding this right? I hate to be such a pain. So, sorry for all the questions. 

My husband and I decided to wait for a while before we do anything else to her. It has just been 10 days since she was spayed and had the exploratory surgery. She seemed to deteriorate after the surgery in that her hind area got weaker. She was unable to get into her "before surgery" litter boxes so we went out and replaced them all with lower entrance ones. She did well with those for a few days but then she again started to be unable to get her back half inside the boxes and would instead potty in the front of the boxes with her front half inside the box. Since then, my husband made little kitty ramps and she doesn't have to take any major steps to get into the boxes which has helped so much. I think I am afriad of having her deteriorate more with further surgeries and perhaps end up making her worse. My absolute worst fear is having to put her to sleep. Since her spay didn't go all that well for her I am worried about paralyzing her or putting her through too much and she dies. 

I've already decided that if she has a slipped disc in her spine that I wouldn't put her through the surgery. I think it is too risky and at his point I wouldn't put her through it. I spoke to my vet today about this possiblity and she said that she could have a slipped disc and not be in any pain from it at all. She doesn't seem to be in any pain in my and my vets opinions. With Itty Bity not experiencing any pain and my thoughts on not doing any surgery if she does have a slipped disc is it even neccessary to do the MRI? 

Anyway, do you think that waiting a while will hurt her any or do you think she needs to have this taken care of now? 

I feel like something bad is wrong with her but I don't know how far to persue it. 

I guess what I am saying is that I want her with me as long as I can have her in this state and in no pain (a happy, lovable and cuddly kitten, able to get around with "helpers" placed throughout the house like ramps at the litter boxes and stairs at the couch) instead of being without her all together or possibly making her worse or even putting her in pain with further surgeries that might no go well or perhaps her death from a surgery?

Is my thinking wrong?


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Your thinking is NOT wrong. I would also opt out of doing the MRI, because you have already said you wouldn't put her through surgery. In that case, I wouldn't spend money on diagnostics. That is what I did with Rei. The vet wanted to do some expensive test but she told me unless I was prepared to do an even more expensive surgery after their findings of that test, she didn't recommend doing further diagnostics. (talking me out of giving her more money!) Since surgery was not an option, there was no reason for me to spend so much money in finding out what was wrong for a condition that probably would not be repairable so we concentrated on treating his symptoms and maintaining an good quality of life for him.


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