State of the Harlow: Seizure??? :(
Thursday was simply not Harlow's day. It started out by my noticing him sort of dragging his hind quarters around/limping a bit while he gallomped around waiting for his breakfast. He was still voracious for his food, though, so I decided to opt for "watchful waiting" throughout the rest of the day.
Fast forward to around 1430. J was home with stomach woes, and had decided it was time go find something to eat to help fill his somewhat calmer tummy. We were about to leave and I turned to look into the living room and saw a pile of very Harlow looking diarrhea BM on the living room floor! Holy Hannah! Harlow is NOT an errant pottier! The only time he's ever messed outside of a litter box was when I brought him home from the shelter back last September and that was inside his carrier on the way home. He was also laying on his side, looking somewhat out of sorts, on some stuff J'd left on the floor to deal with later. Not Good. Cleaned up the mess, petted Harlow and checked him over, and decided to go out for a quick bite and to re-evaluate when we came back home shortly thereafter.
Get back home and he's still laying in the same spot, still looking out of it. We decide to check his "Treat Reflex" as we call it--rattle the bag of Temptations" treats and see if he's interested and comes a runnin' for them. While he did get up and come into the kitchen, there was little fight in him to get his fair share among his "sibling" kitties. He even let Dorene bully him out of a couple of treats. Since he's usually the big bully when it comes to treats, we really knew something was amiss. Time to call the vet.
Talked to Dr. Lehal, described Harlow's day, and he said he wanted to see Harlow that evening, to come in right away. He thought it sounded like Harlow might have had a seizure that we didn't witness, but because Harlow's been on high-powered antibiotics and NSAIDs for awhile now, he wanted to do some labs to rule out any kidney or liver issues. Thorough physical exam was done, liver, kidney and CBC panels drawn and x-rays of his spine and hips taken to rule out arthritis. During the physical exam, Harlow's left leg made a distinct pop upon manipulation, which is what prompted the x-rays; which showed his hips and spine to be okay, but arthritis in his hind knees. CBC came back right away and was normal. Had to wait for the rest til Friday afternoon. Thankfully, the rest of his labs also came back within normal ranges, too. :)
Dr. Lehal suspected that, based on our behavioral descriptions, Harlow had a small seizure sometime on Thursday; the behaviors we were witnessing were post-dictal behaviors. Asked us if Harlow was hydrating well enough--we admitted we didn't see him drinking from the fountain very often, so he advised us to give him 100cc of sub-qs when we got home. Also prescribed Cosequin for Harlow's knees once he's off the Metacam he's almost done with for his sinuses.
The good news is that Harlow bounced right back once he got those sub-qs. He's been acting fine ever since. :) But did he ever put a scare into us on Thursday!! :/ Poor Cheeto Burrito! :/
Fast forward to around 1430. J was home with stomach woes, and had decided it was time go find something to eat to help fill his somewhat calmer tummy. We were about to leave and I turned to look into the living room and saw a pile of very Harlow looking diarrhea BM on the living room floor! Holy Hannah! Harlow is NOT an errant pottier! The only time he's ever messed outside of a litter box was when I brought him home from the shelter back last September and that was inside his carrier on the way home. He was also laying on his side, looking somewhat out of sorts, on some stuff J'd left on the floor to deal with later. Not Good. Cleaned up the mess, petted Harlow and checked him over, and decided to go out for a quick bite and to re-evaluate when we came back home shortly thereafter.
Get back home and he's still laying in the same spot, still looking out of it. We decide to check his "Treat Reflex" as we call it--rattle the bag of Temptations" treats and see if he's interested and comes a runnin' for them. While he did get up and come into the kitchen, there was little fight in him to get his fair share among his "sibling" kitties. He even let Dorene bully him out of a couple of treats. Since he's usually the big bully when it comes to treats, we really knew something was amiss. Time to call the vet.
Talked to Dr. Lehal, described Harlow's day, and he said he wanted to see Harlow that evening, to come in right away. He thought it sounded like Harlow might have had a seizure that we didn't witness, but because Harlow's been on high-powered antibiotics and NSAIDs for awhile now, he wanted to do some labs to rule out any kidney or liver issues. Thorough physical exam was done, liver, kidney and CBC panels drawn and x-rays of his spine and hips taken to rule out arthritis. During the physical exam, Harlow's left leg made a distinct pop upon manipulation, which is what prompted the x-rays; which showed his hips and spine to be okay, but arthritis in his hind knees. CBC came back right away and was normal. Had to wait for the rest til Friday afternoon. Thankfully, the rest of his labs also came back within normal ranges, too. :)
Dr. Lehal suspected that, based on our behavioral descriptions, Harlow had a small seizure sometime on Thursday; the behaviors we were witnessing were post-dictal behaviors. Asked us if Harlow was hydrating well enough--we admitted we didn't see him drinking from the fountain very often, so he advised us to give him 100cc of sub-qs when we got home. Also prescribed Cosequin for Harlow's knees once he's off the Metacam he's almost done with for his sinuses.
The good news is that Harlow bounced right back once he got those sub-qs. He's been acting fine ever since. :) But did he ever put a scare into us on Thursday!! :/ Poor Cheeto Burrito! :/