Sydney Goes to the Vet

I was considering writing a recap today about my race last week… or writing a post about how I signed up for the St. George Marathon in October. But that’s not the most important thing going on right now. Instead, I’m going tell you about my really really bad day and it is not at all running related.

Last night after work, Frank and I went over to the climbing gym. We met up with some friends for a night of top-roping, bouldering, and yoga. We were only there for about 2-3 hours and then we came home. As I was fixing myself dinner, I noticed that Sydney (my brown tabby cat) kept attacking Elly (my calico cat). Sydney was being so relentless that I eventually picked Elly up and carried her to get her away from Sydney’s constant attacks. It was really upsetting me and I was confused by the strange behavior.

As I was watching Sydney, I noticed she was doing some weird stuff. She kept walking sideways, as if she were very drunk, and falling over. She couldn’t make the jump to the couch, which is typically very easy. She seemed dizzy and was having trouble even sitting up right. As you would assume, this was very upsetting. When I had seen her just several hours earlier, she was fine, so whatever this was, it came on fast.

All night long, Sydney paced. She kept walking over my back and waking me up. I barely slept at all. Obviously, the next morning she went straight to the vet. However, by the time I got her there, the symptoms had mostly cleared up. She still seemed a little agitated, but nothing like the night before.

The vet didn’t have a ton of answers, but did think that Sydney had a seizure. Likely, I came in on the aftermath of that seizure and that was what caused the drunken and agitated behavior. We are monitoring her for now, but if she continues having seizures, she’s going to have to have some extensive (and expensive) tests done.

Those of you with pets probably know how upsetting an experience like this can be. Cats are especially difficult because they really don’t let on that they are sick until they are very sick. Although Sydney is not nearly as friendly to me as Elly is (who follows me everywhere, including into the bathroom), she is still my furry child. Send Sydney some good vibes! I think she needs them.

The “C word” (cancer) was spoken to me as a potential explanation, which of course has me very bothered. Sydney is no spring chicken, so a seizure disorder is not the likely cause. I’m hoping that maybe her electrolytes were off and that we can avoid this again in the future.

Have you ever had a cat act like this? Honestly, any thoughts on what might be wrong would be greatly appreciated.