Sunday, August 25, 2013

Ivan has a new ailment

My veterinarian is hitting the books and checking with other veterinarians. She is leaning toward narcolepsy, except this only hits Ivan when he's already asleep. He doesn't have any episodes when he's walking around or just watching the world.

Please forgive me for yelling at him and shaking him so. I did it so the veterinarian could see what he does and does not respond to. Normally I just leave him be. Lately I've discovered a sharp whistle often wakes him up.



He went in for an exam yesterday and more blood tests. It was time for that to happen anyway. He has been shaking his ears and I wanted to have them checked. The vet says they are clean as a whistle, so something else is going on. Other than that, he's a content 16 year old cat. She says other than his oddities, he's in great shape. He's happy at home, has a good appetite, smacks the other cats when he's had enough of them, cuddles up with them when he wants to, and treats me like a goddess.

You don't need to watch the whole thing, but do advance it to the end, to watch him wake up and walk away like nothing happened.

Brain tumor? Who knows. As long as he's comfortable, I want him with me.

11 comments:

  1. Poor Ivan. We're purring and praying that the vet will be able to figure out what ails him, and that he will be with you for some time to come.

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  2. Diabetic related deep sleep? Seizure? But I've known people you cannot wake up, and your video reminded me of two of them. That is so strange, the way he reacted to touch, with paw movements to move your hand.

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  3. WOW! That is pretty amazing.
    We also hope the Vet can do something for this cute kitty.

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  4. He's diabetic isn't he? What if he really has diabetes insipidous is it called, something like that, that is caused by a brain tumor, in the pituatary gland or is it hypothalmus?

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    1. I looked that up, and it sounds like a possibility.I'll send that along to my vet. Thank you!

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    2. toxoplasmosis? They do encyst in the brain.

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    3. Hey, I left a message for my vet and she reported back that diabetes insipidous can indeed be caused by brain tumors, however that type of diabetes does not cause elevated blood glucose. Ivan has diabetes mellitus, which does. However a brain tumor is still quite likely even if it's not the cause of his diabetes, given his neurological signs and his tendency to act like his ears are bothering him when no problem with them can be seen.

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    4. Yeah, I looked it up too, and seems there are like three types of diabetes insipidous but most commonly it causes a cat to be unable to control water in its body. I also saw some site about the most frequent cat cancers and brain tumors are not among them, unless they metastisize from cancerous nasal polyps. It was an interesting article. Lymphoma remains top cancer amongst cats, both digestive tract and the kind they get from having Felk. Second most common is mouth and throat. I guess the thought about digestive tract lymphoma and mouth and throat cancers in cats is their grooming habits. They ingest thru grooming everything in the air, or on bedding or the floor, or on grass they walk through, etc.

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  5. Wow, that is something.

    Certainly it looks neurological. I hope your vet works it out!

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  6. It looks like he's having a seizure. Dang that would scare the piss out of me!

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  7. http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/vertebrobasilar-circulatory-disorders/overview.html

    So this morning, due to a scary vertigo attack I had, somehow, when trying to look up symptoms, I found this page on verticular insufficiency, which can cause vertigo. Anyhow, look at the symptom list, it caught my eye, in reference to your kitty. It talks about sleeping or appearance of sleeping but being unable to wake the person up. I thought of your cat and the video of him you posted.

    This is a condition (vertigo being one possible symptom which is how I landed on the page), where blood supply to the back of the brain is for one reason or another, restricted.

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