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#11
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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
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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
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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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