My cat has vomited and fell sideways

by Izi Fenek
(Canada)

Hi,

I really appreciate that you answer questions for people who need help with their pets.
My cat,13 yrs old, has been having problems for about a year. Sometimes, his head is twitching, some days more that others. It started when we put him on high protein diet(The Wild), couple of months later, he started to urinate more, his head was twitching almost all the time when resting and then we switched his food to the previous one (Solid Gold). He seemed he was doing better. Couple of months ago, he had started to twitch again. Today, he vomited, kind of yellowish stuff (very small amount)and then lost his balance and fell to his left side. It seemed that his right back leg went ridgid (maybe it just looked like that).
He panicked a bit then he got up and walked slowly and carefully. He was walking straight. After a few steps he sat on the floor, trying to figure out what just happened. He sat there for several minutes. Then, I called him and he came to me and then jumped on the kitchen table.
Could you please tell me what could be affecting him this way? He always stays inside, unless under my supervision in the backyard, he has never been sick.
Thank You for your help.
Izi Fenek

Reply
Hi
Of course it is impossible to diagnose properly what could be wrong so I will give you a few of my thoughts.

Firstly have you checked his ears for ear mites? See this page for more on ear mites.

ear mites

This could account for the head shaking and possible balance problems.

If you cannot see any signs of ear mites then it becomes more difficult. He may be suffering from some neurological issue. But I'm more inclined to think there is an issue with his ears and balance problems.

My advice would be to check his ears for mites and treat accordingly. If you cannot see evidence of mites or you are unsure then I think if it were me I would want to make my cat for a check up at the vets. This behavior is definitely not right and needs to be prevented from getting any worse.

best wishes kate

Comments for My cat has vomited and fell sideways

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News is never good.
by: Anonymous

My cat Midnight is 15 now, when he was 10 or so he experienced some sort of head injury. he got small black spots in his eyes and has had balance issues since. he holds his tail straight out and when shaking his head he loses his balance and in the last couple years he has started druleing sometimes. i wish this was where it ended but in the last year he has started vomiting unless given small amounts of food. last month he had a seizure and was very confused for an hour or so but resumed his normal routine. today he was just laying next to me and had another seizure he didn't lose control of his bowels but his eyes did get very cloudy. he responds to his name and he still has his eye sight. I don't know what to do, hes my best friend.
Ear mites or ????
by: Anonymous

My cat is epliplic. I give her phenoaritol twice every day since she was a year old and she is doing fine. The episodes kept getting worse and worse until we got the right diagntics. She started off like your cat, then started going into seizures which caused her to lose her bowls and urine. She would shake and look really scared. Now that she is 8, her seizures are better, but now she has more problems.

Good luck.
Stroke?
by: Kevin Johnson

Balance problems from mites are very possible, but in a 13 year old cat it also could be seizures due to stroke.

Take your cat to the vet.

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