Bujang and Idiopathic Vestibular Disease

 

He has the characteristic  head tilt of sufferers of this disease. This was taken on the day that he had physiotherapy with Dr Lalani 4 June.

This was Bujang yesterday 8 June 2021. 

Here he was able to walk. Although he stumbled a bit, his legs did not collapse from under him. He was stronger as well and did not have to make wide circles when he needed to turn. He did decide to pee in front of my cupboard but that was an accident. This morning 9 June, he went to his bins twice and did everything well. 

This is my record of his progress. Usually I would do a blog but I think this would also suffice for me to keep a record. This was the advice given to me by Dr Ly when my cat Megat had lymphoma. He said many people with pets search for information and all notes would be useful. When Bujang was diagnosed with this, I also looked for information about cats with this disease but there were few. It seemed this disease would affect mostly dogs and there were a few that I found on FB but no one has managed to give me new information about cats. So I thought I should begin but have not decided if I should do up a separate blog just for this or just to write the progress here. But I should begin from the beginning.

15 days into idiopathic vestibular disease (26 May - 9 Jun 2021)

This is a very long post about his journey with Idiopathic Vestibular Disease. Still ongoing.

26 May (Wed) - fell off when he wanted to get to his cat seat that was about 1 foot off the floor. I heard a loud bang and it seemed that he had hit his head. He then fell off the cupboard where his carrier was. The cupboard was about 5 feet off the floor. He would usually get to the carrier by jumping on my bed. onto the headboard and then to his carrier.

27 May (Thur) - went to vet, unable to check thoroughly as B was angry and hissing. At home he could not walk and hid under chairs and finally camped in the study. He was upset and confused.

29 May (sat) - went to vet; did senior checkup for kidney and blood, X-rays done. X-ray showed deteriorating spine condition. Vet diagnosed inability to walk could be from a collapsed intervertebral disc space. However, Bujang was referred to a specialist vet Dr L. Still could not walk and stumbled his way , sometimes his legs would collapse under him. Still confused (both Bujang and me and his vet)

1 Jun (Tue) - MRI with Dr L. Diagnosed with Idiopathic Vestibular Disease as his head was tilted to the right and he tilted to the right when he walked. The vet said it could not be a spinal cause as he was walking in that way. Did MRI and found his head to be clear of tumours. His right ear canal was clear as well but his left ear was filled with fluids. Dr L said it could be from a previous infection but that fluid needed to be resolved as it was like a soup of infection. (‘Soup’ is my word, not Dr L’s but I understood it to be like that). The test had yet to be read and Dr L said I was to bring Bujang back in 2 weeks. The fluids in his left ear did not explain the right head tilt as there were no fluids in his right ear. He still walked poorly and had poor motor skills. Was miserable and confused.

4 Jun (Fri) - went to physiotherapy with Dr Lalani with all his reports from the 2 vets and his other tests. He said that we knew from 5 years ago that he had a back problem and so that was not new but the vestibular problem was the new one. He worked with Bujang for 30 minutes, manipulating his neck where the muscle had frozen. Dr L ( who had been working with him for almost 5 years to increase his mobility and decrease his back pain) massaged Bujang’s neck muscles and did a cranial manipulation to relieve the stress on the spine. I think it was more like your body being able to take deep relaxing breath.

When Bujang came home I was quite relieved that he was able to move his neck a little more. Dr L showed me how to massage his neck muscles to relax it and also how to put a cold compress on it. This I had done every day. I was also asked to take pictures of his progress so we can keep track of his walk.

8 June 2021

Bujang was a little better. His head tilt was a little gentler instead of that very sharp downward angle that he had in the 1st week. As a result of this, he was now able to do sharper turns and not have to do wide sweeping angles to go where he wanted. But if he missed his step, he still had to do the wide sweeps. But he was able to walk a little more quickly without falling.

The other cats were also less worried. Tanaka has stopped pulling his hair (from anxiety) as well. Rezki has turned from the gangsta boy to a sweet little brother.

We also like to thank everyone who has thought of Bujang kindly and given us support.

9 June 2021

He was able to go to the bins and we are keeping close watch. He still stumbles a little, if you see from the video, but he was quite able to maneuver himself without hitting things.

Medication:

• 1 week of antibiotics for ear infection (the only presciption meds from vet)
• pumpkin puree (for constipation) plus Turmeric from NHV
• daily neck massages (advice from Dr Lalani)
• a lot of care and attention and treats for antibiotics

Close-up of Akira's memorial stone

It quite delighted me that the Esty vendor lived at Shakespeare Road. I am sure Akira would be amused as well. This is the close-up. We decided on a monochromatic presentation with her sitting on the grass.

Memorial stone for Akira

 I am sorry to say that it is impossible to get her a kitty that she would approve of. COVID 19 has shut down a lot of ETSY artists. Finally I found her  a small one. After some discussion with the artist, we finally decided on this - of her sitting under a tree. During her last few moths with us, she became quite brave and did a lot of exploring of different spaces. I hope she likes this one. 

Fly High Akira

 

20 Feb 2005 - 8 March 2021

Happy Gotcha Day Rez

 

Rez came to live with us in early December. He began as a commcat, then we fostered him because he got very sick. He lived in boarding some of the time as he was naughty and the amigos were stressed out with his constant harassment. He was more aggressive and didn't care for anyone. He wanted to be BOSS.

Then Bujang told me that it was a very bad idea to board him and make him live such an uncertain life. "Then he won't know how to live with us san." So finally on 31 Dec, 2015 he became our newest amigos. 

He has learnt that Bujang is the BOSS and Poppy is the Supervisor. Akira is the one with the whip but Tanaka is easy. He is now a muscular cat and one of these days, he will get what he wants. He will be the BOSS although I hope not for some time yet. 

Popsicle Poppy

 

Its December and the rainy season is here. This morning it started to drizzle so it was a good time to nap. san bought a mat for Akira and it came with this frilly pillow so she gave it to me. I was glad she didn't get us the one with rampaging blue monkeys!

My New Cat Cave

 

san got me a new cat cave as I was using my brothers' carrier to sleep in. Because of that they could not go out for a stroll together. This came  last night and san put it out for me this morning. I am still not used to it as it is bigger than the carrier but it is spacious and cool. I noticed that no one else tried to use it though. I think its because there is the 'new' smell. san will try to put our old blankets in it to see if anyone else likes it as well. 

I can see pretty much everything from this cave as well. So I must say that I am very pleased with san. I sit here with my tiger (that I had when I was only 6 months old). The best part is the colour of course. 

I am doing well. I went to the vet and my weight is 4.28. So I have not gone any thinner from last week. He was pleased and so were we all.  Tomorrow is my second acupuncture appointment with Dr Oh. My vet said that acupuncture has been  very effective in pain management so san was very comforted.                             

Today I spent much of the time sleeping under san's quilt on the couch. san was a little nervous as I didn't eat much by myself but slept much. But since I didn't look dazed or disoriented (like I did the first week of my flare), san left me alone to rest. I just had some food and now am going to nap again.

 

GOODNIGHT

Just Because

 

This is my new Christmas ribbon. We don't have new collars this year as San thinks we have too many already. So san decided to give away a few of our collars to other catses. I was very relieved she didn't give away my red one.

Today I also went to see my acupuncturist to get him to help with my pain issues.  I have 2 more sessions and then san says we will have to see what to do then. Right now I need to rest for a bit...maybe the whole day. 

Welcome...

These two are always at the door but both prefer the morning breeze and the fact that almost no one passes by the house at that time. Tanaka likes the breeze but Popps likes looking outside at all hours. No one  pays them particular attention but I notice they are also less afraid of passersby. Rez however has not yet understood that he would be okay inside even if a noisy crowd passes by  the house as he is protected by the gate. 

Akira

 

Akira this evening, sleeping on the couch, feeling much better.

Akira has had chronic pancreatitis for about 5 years or so but it was only this March that she suffered her first pancreatic flare. She was hospitalised for a week and suffered through many tests. The vet said that pancreatitis can only be managed and not cured and sent her home with some meds. She was ok for a few months until last month when she began the morning with diarrhea (as she has IBD) and then she vomitted her food. I read from blog posts that the IBD usually precedes a flare. My vet did not tell me this though. And that pancreatic flares are very painful to begin with. 

It has taken us 6 weeks for her to recover from this flare. She also had very bad indicators for her failing kidneys and her phosphorus was 7.3. So since there was nothing new that the vet could offer my cat, I decided on a regime that would be workable. So instead of ALOH which would take us a long time and stress her out even more, I decided on Niacinamide, which the Kidney FB recommended to bring down phosphorus quickly. I also decided on Astro Oil, protein and creatinine scubbers. She also gets the triad meds for a flare - buprenorphine (pain meds) (very expensive here), cerenia (anti emetic) and mirtazapine (for her appetite). After 4 weeks we did all her tests again and I am glad to say her numbers are a little better. I can now just give her the pain meds only once a day instead of twice and the mirtazapine only when she needs it. 

Although I don't think she will be her old self again as she is now thinner and had lost much of her muscle tone, she is cheery at home and eats well enough (with assisted feeding as well). She hangs out at new places in the house and yesterday actually reprimanded Rez for disturbing Bujang. She is also now sleeping better and getting up on the couch more. Even though her creatinine and BUN indicators were a little better, it is too soon to say  if she her kidneys are better. The vet said it cold be because she has less muscle. What is important now is of course her quality of life and I think she still has that one down. We hope for prayers and good thoughts. 

Just Because and some words...

These days I have been sitting with san quite a lot.  She has been writing things in red on many papers. I thought I should give her some company being the BOSS cat. Also I found out that If I sit close to her, she would stop doing using the red pens and she would talk to me instead, or fall asleep or even better, she would get up and give me treats. No tuna but at least something just as delicious. Yummy!