Apparently Duchess had a stroke

[cjsmith]

She acted totally normal in front of the vet. Of course. Goober. After asking me whether the head was TILTED or just TURNED as in a car turning on a road (I confirmed her ears had been level), and after asking me about eye movement (I confirmed no nystagmus), the vet said she'd probably had a small stroke and she had recovered.

They're taking her blood pressure now, to see if she needs meds for it, but basically the answer is "take her home and hope it doesn't happen again".

edit: and now she's on blood pressure meds.

Comments

[recordersmith.livejournal.com]

I didnt know cats got strokes. Are there potentially ongoing side effects as when humans get strokes? I also didnt know that a stroke could be something that you got over with no lasting effects.

You know, when you mentioned the turning in a circle thing, it did cross my mind that that is a behavior I've seen in lab rats in a lab looking at hypoxia. But, that was A Scary Thing and I didnt think to mention it (mostly because in the rats it was a result of an operation, not an illness). Those are very sick rats and I'm glad Duchess is OK.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

This might have been more like a TIA than a stroke, since she did recover so quickly with (as far as we can tell yet) no lasting damage.

I wonder what it would be like to be so hypoxic I couldn't walk a straight line. I've only ever (to my knowledge) been badly hypoxic in small airplanes, and I can't exactly stand up in one of those, much less check my balance and coordination. :) (Don't worry - if I'm the pilot I use oxygen!)

[recordersmith.livejournal.com]

I imagine, not much fun. Glad it wasnt more serious!

If you're not the pilot you dont use oxygen? Be careful with that!

The hypoxic and ischemic rats were.....messed up. Oh, and the oddest of them all, the rats on speed. Yep. Made them pretty hyper. There was this one, it was doing circuits of the cage at top speed, round and round and round.....backwards.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

No worries - we don't fly all that much higher than "cabin altitude" in a commercial jet. I'm not courting major medical trouble, but I'm a bit slower to do arithmetic and that sort of thing. Suboptimal for a pilot, though not so troublesome for a passenger. :)

Oh man, the hyper rats must have been something to see. I've seen a kitten do that sort of thing, once, trying to get out of her don't-eat-your-stitches collar. Full speed all over the house, backwards. But she got over it!