Cat - advice potential nerve damage back legs

·       Species: unknown – a mixed breed from Myanmar ·       Age: 5 ·       Sex/Neuter status: Male, Neutered ·       Breed: Unknown ·       Body weight: 3.5 kg ·       History: No issues until this past year ·       Clinical signs: , I have a small cat aged 5. I got back from a trip around 6 weeks ago and notice that my cat seemed to be in a lot of pain. He was stretching his legs in an odd way and was shivering. For the next couple days, he could not jump on the bed or couch. Then he deteriorated very quickly and seemed to be in extreme pain around his stomach area, hind legs and lower spine. Although in a lot of pain, he had a good appetite and has continued to eat his breakfast and dry food. He still does not have much issue going to the bathroom apart from his mobility. We took him to three different vets. They did a full ultrasound and didn’t find any issues with his organs. Also negative for feline leukemia. A few days later his back legs almost completely stopped working. We immediately went to the vet again, but the ruled out a saddle thrombus because his legs were not cold, and he still had some reaction. The vets said they haven’t seen anything like this before, but said they thought it is a neurological issue or some kind of spinal damage, and to wait and see how he does. They gave him Metacam for a week, but this didn’t seem to help much. It’s now been around 3 weeks since the last vet visit. I’ve noticed that he seems better able to use his legs (ie they don’t collapse anymore), but he still twitches all over his lower back and stomach, and is very sore when touched in certain areas of his stomach. He has a healthy appetite and can walk across the room to the litter, but the rest of the day he rests in his bed. Does anyone have advise or seen anything like this before? ·       Duration: 6 weeks ·       Your general location: Netherlands

Hello - I wonder what your vet found after a neurological examination?  This is a series of tests designed to check the functions of the main nerves, and can help to separate neurological problems from eg manifestations of pain.  Sometimes both are present.  If neurological defecits are involved then your vet will hopefully be able to use this exam to identify which nerves are not normal and thereby where exacly in the nervous system any problem is.  Sometimes, abdominal pain and neurological problems can occur together - eg after an RTA, road traffic accident.  Vets can refer their clients to a neurologist if more specialist advice if needed, but sometimes more advanced tests are required.  Good questions for your vets include, 'what do you know about whats going on?'  and 'what do we need to find out?'  This may help to focus understanding of the investigations.  Please will you let us know how the case finishes up?