Wobbly cat . . .

My mothers cat, Fox, has been walking a little strange lately. It's like she loose control of her rear end, and it swerves (?) to one side while she continues to walk forward... :| I went to visit two days ago, and it didn't happen as often as it used to (it's been going on for about a month). Could this be a sympthom of anything? Otherwise she is acting normal.

 

Sounds like she needs to go to a vet, you dont say how old she is, does she go outside? I would definitely have her checked out.

 

my neighbor's cat wobbles like that and she has encholitis (can't spell it) gotten from a mosquito...vet

 

I think she is 4 years old, and yes she is an outdoor cat.
Mary, what is this encholitis thing? I'll tell my mother she should take her to the vet...

Here she is

 

if I could spell it I could look it up. Let me try to sound it out and find something

 

apparently this is now referred to as West Nile Virus (no one else could probably spell it either). Very rare in cats and dogs - although not entirely unheard of. I did find this....chances of it being this would be very rare, but I would worry that something neurological would be going on

http://www.healthypet.com/library_view.aspx?ID=43&sid=3

 

As she does go outside it may be possible she was hit by a car, fell down from a fence or building, so it could be anything from fractured pelvis to, as Mary said a neurological problem. Ive seen a lot of pets that weve taken x-rays of for one problem and found old healed up fractures that the owners were unaware of. It could even be something metabolic except you say she is improving gradually, so maybe not, I definitely think she should see a vet.

 

Mary, were you trying to say encephalitis? Or maybe erlichiosis?

 

I was thinking encephelitits but thats not the same as West Nile Virus...Ive been looking on the net for a while for it now...Mary...where are you...what is it :lol:

 

We have several kinds of equine encephalitis down here that can be passed to dogs, cats and people, but in Norway? And I know I already have mosquitos, but isn't it still cold over there? I don't think the skeeters here ever died. :0011: Could it be a poison?

 

Thanks for all the advice and info. I'll keep you updated
DeLaUK, are you a vet yourself? If I told my mom that a vet told her to have a checkup on Fox, it could help. lol

 

I think DeLaUK is a vet tech, if I'm not mistaken.

West Nile causes encephalitis, doesn't it? Encephalitis just means "swelling of the brain" (and maybe spinal cord, too).

 

encephalitis I had found the correct spelling and when I put that into a google search along with the word cat and/or symptoms cat it always came up with West Nile

 

You're right, it's too cold for mosquitos here yet... Are there other ways cats can get this... long-word-that-is-hard-to-spell?

 

lol, we get west nile a lot here in texas, they'll start worrying about it in a month or two. i don't know about your mom's cat though, but she should definately be taken to the vet.

 

Really though, those symptoms could be cause by any number of things including ingrown claw or arthritis. This is definitely a thing to take to the vet.

 

Just a tech not a vet.
I know a couple of people that came down with West Nile last year but encephelitis wasnt one of the symptoms, they were all flu like, one was in ICU but all recovered, the last I read about it or spoke to a vet (West Nile, not encephelitis) it hadnt been found in dogs and cats.....time to read some updated reports I think. So if it is being found in cats and dogs now are they being vaccinated, I know horses can get it and are vaccinated. Has the virus mutated already? Has anyone seen any good updated websites on it?
Im in Germany right now so we dont have any mosquitos around here just yet, itll be another month or two from what Ive been told.