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He ran!



 
 
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  #11  
Old July 19th 08, 11:05 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
polonca12000
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Default He ran!

Pat wrote:
Today for the first time since he took ill on the 8th of May, Abelard felt
good enough to RUN -- not very fast, more of a "bounding through the tall
grass" sort of gait, but it sure is an indicator of a cat regaining his
balance and confidence. I'm happy for him.



Great news!
Purrs,
Polonca and Soncek
  #12  
Old July 20th 08, 03:47 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
John F. Eldredge
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Default He ran!

On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:20:38 +0000, bastXXXette wrote:

Pat wrote:

"Christina Websell" wrote


However if it *was* a vestibular attack that he had please remember
that they rarely recover completely and are often left with a degree
of disability around balance that can be permanent.


You've done so well nursing him and getting him as far as you have.
I don't want you to be disappointed if he doesn't fully recover back
to his old self. Rather be glad you've got him at all since some do
not improve from the first stages of not being able to stand up and
extreme nausea which prevents them from eating.


Did you ever witness one of these attacks? If so, I would like to
hear what it looked like. In retrospect, Abelard's initial onset
doesn't really fit with the classic appearance of "seizure" because
it went on for half an hour and he never lost consciousness, and
somehow I don't think a stroke would look like this did either.


A vestibular attack is caused by an inner ear infection. It messes with
one's sense of balance and can cause vertigo and nausea. It's not
neurological like a seizure, nor is it a stroke.

I think what Christina's saying is that the damage done by the ear
infection could be permanent and chronic, and that he might always have
trouble with balance and occasional dizziness and nausea. Or maybe not,
but it sounds like something you might have to keep an eye out for.

eating well and plenty, and no longer barfing so often (only when he
has a hairball or eats too much grass at one time), but he still has
a head tilt (not so pronounced as before) and can be unsteady on his
feet at times.


That would be consistent with what Christina was saying - maybe he will
always have some problems with balance.

One positive effect this illness has had on him is to make him much
more talkative than he ever was before, and his voice is louder and
not as breathy.


This could also be from the ear infection, which could have affected his
hearing.

In any case, it doesn't mean his future is bleak, it just sounds like
you need to be aware that this could come up again, even if not as
severely as the first time. I'm sure Christina could give you better
info though - I'm lucky in never having had to deal with that myself.

I am glad that he's up and about, eating, gaining weight, enjoying being
outside, and becoming a cuddly mama's boy.


Many years ago, I had an inner ear infection which left me with chronic
vertigo. The advice that I was given by an ear-nose-throat specialist
was to deliberately induce vertigo by sitting on a bed and repeatedly
lying down on my right side, sitting up, lying down on my left side,
sitting up again, etc. The reason for doing this while sitting on the
bed was so that, if I lost my balance and fell over, I would have a soft
landing. The doctor explained to me that our inner ears have chambers
containing small crystals, secreted by the body, surrounded by pockets of
cilia (like tiny hairs). When you shift position, the crystals shift
position, brushing against the cilia. An inner ear infection can cause
the chambers to change shape, leaving the brain confused by the fact that
the information coming from the cilia is different than it was before.
Flooding the brain with lots of change-of-position data, by repeatedly
sitting up and lying down again, causes the brain to discard its old
stored information about how the sensation relates to your actual
position, and recalibrate, so to speak. This process did, indeed, cure
my vertigo within a few days.

Obviously, you can't explain to a pet that they need to go through this
procedure. Hopefully, however, this recalibration process will take
place gradually through the pet's normal moving around.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from
http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria
  #13  
Old July 21st 08, 03:30 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
[email protected]
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Posts: 9,349
Default He ran!

John F. Eldredge wrote:

Many years ago, I had an inner ear infection which left me with chronic
vertigo. The advice that I was given by an ear-nose-throat specialist
was to deliberately induce vertigo by sitting on a bed and repeatedly
lying down on my right side, sitting up, lying down on my left side,
sitting up again, etc. [snip] Flooding the brain with lots of change-
of-position data, by repeatedly sitting up and lying down again, causes
the brain to discard its old stored information about how the sensation
relates to your actual position, and recalibrate, so to speak.


I've never heard this before, how interesting! It must have been pretty
nauseating before you finally got "recalibrated", though.

Obviously, you can't explain to a pet that they need to go through this
procedure.


No, but if it were Roxy, I could just take her for rides in the laundry
basket.

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)
 




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