Bette Has Another Vet Visit Monday-Weak Tail, Possible Weak Ability to Express Urine/Fecal, Inability to Walk Rear Legs

Bette: unable to walk well, unable to fully use back legs, back legs slide underneath her, lethargic, not eating as well as she should, cannot lift her tail, cannot jump or climb, and back legs have lower blood pressure and feel tepid and not warm. Was put on prednisolone. 

After Friday's visit to the vet that revealed numerous issues for Bette Davis, I noticed later that evening that she was walking strangely, wobbling a bit. I thought it was from the expressing of anal glands and fecal matter dug out of her rectum. But on Saturday I realized that she was not lifting nor moving her tail and that her back legs were weak and sliding out from her. Over the weekend they seem to grow tepid to touch unlike her front and unlike the other cats' legs. I almost took her to the ER because I feared it was thrombosis-a clot the heart throws when a cat has heart disease which Bette so far, as far as we know, does not.

I took her back to the vet on Monday January 9, and vet checked the blood pressure of her back legs-only the left because the right is slightly annoying or painful for Bette. The left leg had 80 (over?) bp while the front had normal 120 (over?). But the new xray as the one Friday, showed a normal size heart, clear lungs; the vet didn't hear congestion nor a heart murmur (murmurs are not always present with heart disease but can indicate the presence of heart disease.) So the vet doesn't think it's thrombosis. She watched her walk and was concerned. She said she realized that when they cleaned her out Friday, and drained the anal glands, she did not resist. That indicates that Bette was already numb on her back and back legs. 

Unfortunately, this might also mean she's unable to express fecal matter AND unable to fully urinate. URINE RETENTION can lead to bladder infection which can lead to kidney infection which leads to another vet or ER vet visit. We must monitor her ability to urinate regularly and we may need to learn to express her by squeezing the bladder and forcing out the urine. We are also giving her Methigel to help prevent stones and irritants in the bladder. We will keep her separated as much as possible to monitor output. I secluded her when we returned then let her out for the evening and will seclude her overnight. 

The vet gave her a steroid-prednisolone-to bring down any inflammation in the rear that could be the cause of any pressure on the back nerves. We are hoping that this is the reason for the lameness and that soon her tail will heal. The tip of the tail moves but only the last two inches of her tail responds. She is unable to lift it to use the litter box. 

Bette is eating but small amounts at a time. We need to continue giving Miralax and monitoring to make sure she does not have diarrhea. She needs more water by mouth to help the bladder stay healthy, the body stay hydrated. 

She did try to use the litter box after being home an hour but nothing came out. But she seemed to think something had and covered it in the box but nothing was there when I scooped. But two hours later, she had produced a small urine and bowel movement. 

I called her cardiologist so that we can rule out thrombosis and she will see her Wednesday.