saavedra77 | A Surprise ... (Reply)

I took Puig to a different vet, last week, who told me that what's ailing him may not be exactly what we thought: For one thing, the new vet came to the conclusion that Puig's problem isn't neurological, per se: it's spinal. More specifically, he hasn't been having problems with his balance, but with his back--possibly slipped disk, possibly a (possibly cancerous) spinal lesion. (Interestingly, the new vet didn't find evidence of the vision problems or disorientation her predecessor had, either.) Of course, this doesn't necessarily improve Puig's prognosis, particularly if the underlying illness is cancer--but this diagnosis makes a great deal more sense, given the symptoms I've been seeing.

Since Puig is evidently suffering from some kind of inflammation in the vicinity of his spine--whether due to cancer or another cause--we started him on an anti-inflammatory medication the night of the visit--a feline form of prednisone. This produced some striking results--within just a couple of days: On Saturday morning, Puig woke me by jumping up onto the bed under his own power, clambering energetically onto my chest, nudging his wet nose into my face, and mewling his old familiar "feed me" mew. Mind you, this is a cat who's barely been able to walk, and who's scarcely emitted a peep, for the past few weeks. I then spent a few hours hanging out with the little guy: he wolfed down breakfast, followed me around the apartment as I did chores, jumped on and off the bed several more times--without once falling over, nor even noticeably stumbling or wobbling. Amazingly, two days' prednisone treatment seemed to have made Puig's most worrisome symptoms disappear--which I guess confirms that he has been suffering from some form of disabling inflammation, whatever its etiology.

And, you know, even if the effect is fleeting--as it may well be--it's a real gift to see the little fella so much himself again, for however long we can sustain this.