In the early hours of Sunday morning, Louis Catorze had some sort of “episode”. I don’t know exactly what to call it, but it has never happened before and I hope someone will tell us that it happens to all cats.
At 5am, Catorze did his usual walk up the bed to scream in my face. He then whined and collapsed onto my stomach, and I had to grab his hindquarters to stop him from sliding off the bed.
When I turned on the light, the little sod was holding his right leg strangely and appeared to have lost use of it. I am cross with myself for not taking the advice that I always give to others when their pets have funny turns – which is to film them in order to have evidence to show the vet – but I just didn’t think of it.
After around 15-20 minutes of the little sod whining, hissing and struggling to right his body, and me stroking him and feeling utterly useless, he was fine again. And I will now have to explain everything verbally to the vet which is never as good as them seeing it. I would not want him to lose control of his body in some inopportune situation e.g. whilst sneaking into a fox hole to steal decomposing animal parts, or whilst sitting atop Twiggy the greyhound’s fence.
His face is not looking great, either. His eyes are very puffy and sore, and he has cut the inside of his left ear (most likely through over-scratching). The fact that he left the boiler repair man alone on Saturday, instead of annoying the hell out of him, is a huge indicator that all is not well. And, would you believe, just as I was about to phone the emergency vet to tell them about the leg thing, Catorze strolled in from The Back with a swollen, only-partially-open eye. It hadn’t looked that way an hour earlier.
The emergency vet lady told us that, since Catorze’s legs were now fine and he was behaving normally, we didn’t need to rush him in immediately. However, we will take him into our local branch tomorrow (Monday) and, by the time you read this, we will hopefully have been to the appointment.
At least we will get good value out of the visit, with two problems to deal with at once. Although, knowing Catorze, it’s highly likely that he will create a third between now and then.

Oh dear….poor little mite! I can’t say I’ve come across anything like that (leg not functioning) Sounds a bit like a human TIA….if cats can have them.
Let’s hope the vet has some answers and treatment for him.
Big head bumps from my two!
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Thank you. We hope it’s cramp or something related to his dodgy knees, and not some horrible blood clot or something. Will keep you posted.
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Poor sweet kitty guy! I’m so sorry to hear that. I feel the vets will be able to sort this out. Let us know how things go!
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Thank you! The vet appointment can’t come soon enough!
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Oh dear, Q does not look great. Comforting purrs from Katerina in Seattle U.S.A.
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Thank you! We are mystified. Will update Le Blog when we can.
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Alternatively, by the time of your vet appointment his eye will be normal as will his behavior (relatively speaking)
Bowie, at the Lone Star Cats blog had a similar episode a few weeks ago – he was wobbly, his blood pressure went dangerously high and he even lost vision. He is now back to normal (thank goodness) and the vets never did figure out what happened. So we send purrayers and Power of the Paw to Catorze.
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Thank you! We really hope we will get some answers.
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Oh no, my poor little furry friend… Wishing you all the best!
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Thank you! We now have an appointment time and will be heading over in the next few minutes.
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I hope he is ok.
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Thank you! It seems to be patellar luxation which isn’t great but it sure as heck beats a blood clot!
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Wishing him a very positive visit today, sending love for him being back to full rascal mode asap from Dippy and the little gang here x
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Thank you! It’s better news than we thought (patellar luxation) and he’s on top form at the moment, having just jumped over the fence – the worst thing he can do with this condition! – to annoy That Neighbour.
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Just seen your FB update and am so relieved. Let’s hope the hard drugs work xxxxxx
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Thank you! We are relieved too! Cat Daddy was certain that the loss of the back legs was a sign of the kidneys packing up. 😥
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Marigold had that in both her back legs when she was 2 years old – had to have operations but then she was fine. xxxxx
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How old was she when she had the ops? I think Sa Maj is probably a bit too old.
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Marigold was 2 and they were quite major operations requiring 6 weeks of cage rest, so let’s hope the condition can be managed without surgery xxxx
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Oh my word, that is drastic. Was she a cooperative patient? Catorze would be horrendous. The screaming just doesn’t bear thinking about.
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I wouldn’t recommend the operation unless as a last resort – it was pretty major xxxxxx
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Yes, it sounds like it. Can you imagine Catorze in a cage?
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I had a cat that got lame in the back legs after a vaccine shot. We didn’t give her that shot again. It doesn’t relate to your cat because…well…your cat isn’t quite normal. I admire your tenacity to keep him healthy whether he’s want to be or not. When I come back in my next life, I want to be your pet cat. I promise no dead critters in your bed…maybe.
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“Isn’t quite normal”? Whatever gave you that idea? 🤣🤣🤣
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Oh poor sweet Prince. Hope all is well!
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It’s nothing life-threatening, luckily. Just his silly knees. 😊
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So sorry to hear this! Very glad to hear it’s nothing serious! Am thinking perhaps it may have been a misjudged-distance jump that may have landed him in something thorny. Cats act like aging humans at times, having no concept of “I can’t be reckless anymore”.. Sending lots of love and good paw vibes to the little sod et famille 🙂
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Thank you! He’s in pretty good spirits today, much better than he was at the weekend. 😊
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So pleased it’s nothing more serious.
Scooby had a luxating patella when he was a kitten. The vet was able to pop it back into position and she said it may or may not happen again, but the most likely scenario would be that every now and then I’d notice him flicking his leg out as he learned to click his kneecap back into place himself.
Only thing is it apparently makes him more susceptible to arthritis in that joint, but 8 years on he appears to be fine x
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That’s good to know. Has the problem deteriorated with age or is it much the same as it was when he was a kitten?
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As far as I’m aware it’s never happened again. If it has, then he’s done as the vet said he might and flicked it back into place himself. As he’s just a little bit thick though, I’m assuming that all’s been well up to now…
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There were signs of the problem for a couple of weeks in 2017, and nothing whatsoever between then and now.
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Let’s hope both Scooby and Sa Maj have been lucky then and that they won’t have many (if any) problems with their joints in the future.
Up until today I thought all they had in common was colour and lack of intellect!
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Sending prayers and the darkest, glossiest of House Panther magic!
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The little sod thanks you very much! Luckily it’s not anything awful, but I don’t know how we can help his knee.
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Maybe tell him to bounce around as much as Felinely possible in the hopes that he’ll do the opposite?
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Yup, that’s the plan. I might even put some signs up (in English and in French, as he is adept at ignoring instructions in both languages).
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Poor thing. He looks miserable
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He wasn’t very happy when this was taken. But he is perking up a little.
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Poor guy 😦
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I know. 😢 He’s taking it all quite well, though.
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