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Feline Vestibular Disorder

cforan Jan 25, 2008 12:27 AM

Hi there,

I am new to this msg board and I do have a question about my cats health. His name is Gizmo and he is just about one of the sweetest cats you would ever meet, of course I am biased because he is one of the five loves of my life.

When I got Gizmo a year and a half ago he appeared to be healthy, I brought him to a vet and got the health check and the ok. Then about a week later I woke up one fearful morning to find my baby walking in circles with eye tracing and all the characteristic signs of Vestibular problems. He was rushed to the vet and put on amoxicillen (originally diagnosed with an inner ear infection). I called the cattery in which he came and found out a few other cats had ear infections at the time.

After my own researching and a trip to a different vet we came to the conclusion that it was his Vestibular apparatus that was causing the problems. As I am sure you know, this disorder is very confusing and I couldn't find as much information on it as I had hoped. Thankfully now he only has a slight head tilt, mild balance problems and eye tracing when stressed.

Now my questions to you are; could it have been an inner ear infection that originally caused this? Could his flight have been the cause of the problem? Or is it more then likely idiopathic? Are there any alternative meds for his problem that I don't know about? And last question... Do you know of any other tests or non-invasive procedures that can be done to shed light on his situation? (blood scans and x-rays have been done)

Replies (3)

PHDrTobin Jan 30, 2008 02:57 PM

The cause of Gizmo's problem is likely to be either in the ear or in the brain. An inner ear infection often affects the vestibular aparatus, since that is a part of the inner ear. These are likely due to an infection, for which the treatment would likely be an antibiotic. The other possibility is a stroke, or a blood clot in a part of the brain. You might be able to dissolve the clot giving Nattokinase daily, but since it has been quite a while, the damage may be permanent. It is still worthwhile trying.

cforan Feb 01, 2008 11:50 AM

He has been on antibiotics a few times... nothing has taken away the head tilt. Is it possible that the tilt is permanent but everything else is ok?

PHDrTobin Feb 04, 2008 04:31 PM

It is possible the head tilt is permanent, but I would try the Nattokinase before concluding that there is nothing that can be done.

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