Possible horners syndrome

Hello vets, Main question, would the speed at which horners syndrome presents be different if she hit her head compared to cancer. Like would it be more gradual if she had cancer compared to sudden onset on 6-8hrs. I believe she may have fallen off her cat perch maybe. One is 8ft ugh and the other is 4ft, the lead down from high to the 4ft one and then she jumps to the floor. Would an xray show up cancer? They said she should improve on 4 days or so but I am afraid. My husband had stage 4 cancer, Thursday we Bury a friend with stage 4 cancer, my father in law just got a biopsy that may be cancer. My freaking father has cancer. I don't think I can deal with the cat having it to, I will obviously but jesus I kinda just want to get a scan now so I can just tell immediately ya know? My cats pupil is enlarged on the right side. It still changes size but stays wide than the other side. I can't tell but it looks like the eyeball is larger. The vets we went to early today said it may be horners syndrome. The vet said she has never seen this before. She is an indoor cat and may have slipped from her feeding area. It's about 7ft high with a pole she climbs up. To get down there is a 3ft jump and then a 4ft jump down. I'm wondering if she slipped maybe. She meowed loudly at 4am. I didn't see anything but she just wanted a bit of attention, no soreness. It came on in the matter of like 6 hrs or so I think. She's been given anti inflammatory medications and am antibiotic. What's got me worried is that I overheard "we had that in one cat, had to take the eye. It started like that and we had to put them down eventually" which yeah has me freaked.

Hello and here is a huge hug.  It sounds as if you are having an horrendous run of bad luck and as though the last thing you need at the moment is another poorly family member. Frustratingly, Horners' Syndrome is just that - a syndrome.  A syndrome is a group of symptoms that appear at the same time, but different things can cause that collection of symptoms; it is not the name of a single disease.  I cannot see the patient and nor am I their vet, but the hallmarks of Horners are ptosis, miosis and endopthalmos.  Ptosis is where the upper eyelid droops.  Miosis is where the pupil goes smaller, with the net effect usually being two pupils of different size.  Endopthlamos is where the eyeball retreats somewhat into the head.  It sounds as though your vet has recognized Horners' (which is much less common in cats than in dogs).  However, having recognised the syndrome, it is much more difficult to pin-point a cause.  Causes, I'm afraid, can often include tumours affecting the nerves involved (perhaps in the brain or the chest);  they can include trauma and they can involve ear disease. You could play the numbers game;  I am sure that your vet will find a pathologist or neurological expert who can explain which is currently thought to be the most likely cause in the cat.  However, the only way to know what is happening in YOUR cat, would be to do what is known as a 'work up' in order to get as close as possible to the cause.  This may involve neurological exams, brain scans and so on, and might be carried out by your own vet or by a specialist, depending on their situation. When deciding how far to go into a work-up, good questions include 'What might we find that we could do something about?'  'What if it wasn't that?'   'How would referral to, or consultation with, a specialist help in this case?'  and 'What would you do if you were in my situation?' (you may or may not want to talk about money in that question - because although everyone wants what is best for your cat, vets have a careerful of experience in deciding and finding compromises between the 'best' and the 'affordable' options). I hope that this helps to some extent and please, do keep us in touch with decisions that you make and how you get on.  Your experience might indeed help someone else.

To answer your main question, usually Horners happens fairly quickly when it's associated with trauma.  However, it can also happen very quickly when associated with a tumour:  I can't remember hearing of Horners' starting slowly.  Wishing you the very best possible outcome for both yourself and your loved one:  if I have one piece of advice, it's to keep asking your vet questions.  'How common is this in a cat?  How does this affect the likely outcome?' and 'What would you do in my position?' are excellent questions.