[Hart and Leigh]

We have a cat that our family found 8 years ago that has been a treasured family member ever since. Her name is Kit Kit, we believe she is anywhere between 10 and 13 years of age as she was not a kitten when we found her. 3 weeks ago she just stopped moving around the house and when she had to move her back end would stay low to the ground. We immediately took her to the vet and were told that it could be several different problems ranging from kidney failure to arthritis to a bad accident. Even though she is an outdoor cat, it is the dead of winter and she has not gone outside for awhile. That forgoes any situation of her being hit by a car. Before we put her through several hundred dollars worth of treatments and tests, we agreed to give it a couple of days to see how she would recover. Her symptoms in the past few weeks improved and are as follows: she eats, she sleeps, she has NOT vomitted, she will do a limited range of motions on her pillow, she will get up to use her kitty litter, and she purrs when we pet her. However, she does not move very much from her pillow and stays pretty much stationary throughout the day. This is very unusual behaviour for Kit Kit. Her hind seems to be very sensitive when we pet it, and my wife and I think it could be related to her spine. But she does not seem to be in pain when she is sitting there but is timid in her movements. Does anyone have any ideas of what this might be? Is it a stroke? Arthritis? Cold weather joint issues? We would really appreciate some input. Thanks very much.

[RubyPitbull]

I know how expensive vet bills can be. But it is very hard to diagnose an animal without being able to physically examine her. It could be any number of things. I am very hesitant to speculate what the problem is. Anyone who gives you his/her definite opinion here on this site is not doing the right thing by you or your cat. Since your cat is older, please have the vet run all the tests necessary to find out what is going on. She may just simply need arthritis medication. Or she may very well have kidney problems. The main thing is that you want your cat to as comfortable as possible and the vet is the only one who can accurately diagnose and treat what is going on with her.

[AKaeTrue]

I agree with Ruby... I'm so sorry that there are no real answers.
Your post struck me though because I just went through a similar situation with a 6 month old cat. One day he didn't seem to be moving much, walking low with the hind legs, tender to the touch and did a lot of tale flicking (which is an indicator of pain).
I took him to the vet and they told me the same thing your vet told you. Since they didn't feel any broken bones and he was putting pressure on both legs when he would walk, I opted to watch him for a few days before I had a million tests ran on him. He improved within 3 days and now 1.5 weeks later he is back to his old self.
If your cat does not seem to recover within a reasonable amount of time, the kindest thing to do would be to have the tests ran.
I hope things go well,
Kae

[Hart and Leigh]

Thanks very much for your suggestions. Although Kit Kit appears to be improving, I'll take your advice to run some tests. I really appreciate your quick responses.